“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. -Matthew 5:3-12
This is how Jesus begins the greatest sermon ever preached... how often do we really sit back and soak this in.
Blessed... Happy... Chosen... Given... how can we be all of these... does Jesus expect this? Or is this something we can choose? What did He really mean by starting this way?
Meditate. Read. Pray. Trust in these words.
They are life changing.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Happy Father's Day!
Happy Father's Day to all of the fathers out there.
Thank you for investing in the lives of your children... Thank you for being the men you are. Our culture needs more Fathers. Not more baby-daddys. More Fathers. And those who have stepped up to that calling... you have no idea how much younger guys like me look up to you.
For those of us who never had that chance to call someone their father... know this... your Heavenly Father looks down upon you and desires for you to reach out to Him. He loves you with a love that can never be matched.
He speaks so much about being there for you, defending you, desiring the absolute best for you:
Exodus 22:22
“Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless.
Deuteronomy 10:18
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 24:17
Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.
Deuteronomy 27:19
“Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Psalm 10:14
But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
Psalm 10:17-18
You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.
Psalm 68:5-6
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
Psalm 82:3
Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
And there are so many more.
God loves you.
God wants so much for you.
He looks upon you with a love no one can match, and defends your case, demands justice for you.
When everyone else may fail you... God never will.
Thank you for investing in the lives of your children... Thank you for being the men you are. Our culture needs more Fathers. Not more baby-daddys. More Fathers. And those who have stepped up to that calling... you have no idea how much younger guys like me look up to you.
For those of us who never had that chance to call someone their father... know this... your Heavenly Father looks down upon you and desires for you to reach out to Him. He loves you with a love that can never be matched.
He speaks so much about being there for you, defending you, desiring the absolute best for you:
Exodus 22:22
“Do not take advantage of the widow or the fatherless.
Deuteronomy 10:18
He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.
Deuteronomy 24:17
Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge.
Deuteronomy 27:19
“Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.” Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”
Psalm 10:14
But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.
Psalm 10:17-18
You, LORD, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that mere earthly mortals will never again strike terror.
Psalm 68:5-6
A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
Psalm 82:3
Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.
And there are so many more.
God loves you.
God wants so much for you.
He looks upon you with a love no one can match, and defends your case, demands justice for you.
When everyone else may fail you... God never will.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Joplin Mission Trip
I know I haven't been posting much these past two weeks and the reason is I'm preparing for a mission trip that leaves today to Joplin, MO. I have a few things scheduled to be posted through the week. Different quotes, pictures, and other things from some of my friends on tumblr. And when I get back next Saturday, I should have a nice post on what we did and what we saw.
We'll be helping and cleaning up whatever we can for all of the tornado victims and their families.
Please pray for us.
Your Brother in Christ,
Nate
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. -1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT
We'll be helping and cleaning up whatever we can for all of the tornado victims and their families.
Please pray for us.
Your Brother in Christ,
Nate
So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and immovable. Always work enthusiastically for the Lord, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless. -1 Corinthians 15:58 NLT
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Making All Things New
"STOP!
STOP. Stop basing your worth on your past, on how you were treated, on your current circumstances or your uncertainty of your future. Stop basing your worth on the things you may or may not have, or the things people may or may not have said to you. Don’t you see? You’re not worthless, like you were made to believe.
Your worth is based solely upon the price Jesus paid for you.
That makes you PRICELESS!"
...this was written today by a young girl who almost attempted suicide yesterday. Her identity I'm keeping confidential.
She posted on her tumblr, that she was tired of fighting, and she was just going to let Satan win.
And I thought I was having issues yesterday.
Physically and sexually abused by her family as a young child, she is the only Christian in her family, and suffers from mental diseases.
Something happened yesterday that put her over the edge. I didn't know her, I read a few of her posts before, that's all I knew about her.
All who follow her blog, and even those who don't spread the message around... the Christian blogging community began praying. Praying hard. And messaging her words of hope.
Last night she posted this:
"I Love You.
My beautiful brothers and sisters,
I am overwhelmed and finding it hard to place what is on my heart into words, but I need to write to you.
It’s been nearly 3 hours since the enemy started attacking.
He just shoved so much in my face. All the memories of my past, all the times I had upset a person I love, all the times I didn’t seek Christ and my own weakness took over. He is so deceiving. I remember him screaming “What are you waiting for?! Just do it!!!” My answer? I didn’t know. I didn’t know what I was waiting for. But I laid there anyway. And it came to a point where the thoughts stopped attacking me, and I tried to force them, because I believed I deserve that pain. But nothing would come… Instead, there was peace. Peace?! Yes. The peace of the Holy Spirit knocked down every wall I had built up, even though I was convinced I deserved to die tonight, Jesus took hold of me and held me. I fought. I wriggled. I tried to get away. I told Him I didn’t belong here and that I wasn’t worth His love. He wept with me. He kept hold. He kept whispering that He loved me and that I would see clearly once again.
I just wanted to stay in bed. The tablets were there, ready to be taken.
But something pulled me to the computer. Jesus. I came onto tumblr.
Beginning to scroll down, the enemy screamed in my own voice “I don’t deserve that! I don’t deserve these messages or the love of others!” And then there was a voice, like the roar of a lion, and He shouted “BE GONE!” and there was quietness.
And there I was, in my brokenness. Jesus told me to keep scrolling. Every post I came across, He said, “This is how much we love you”, “This is what you are worth”, “This is how precious you are”…
I promised Jesus that I would never attempt to take my life again, just as long as He would continue to fight for me. He kept His end of the bargain up.
I’m sitting here, completely and utterly broken, but resting in the arms of our Precious Savior. The storm is still raging, things are just as they were before, only… God’s voice is louder. God’s love is stronger. God’s light is brighter."
I will never again doubt the power of consistent prayer... never doubt that God works in the strangest and weirdest ways... she didn't find this peace from a church staff, from a counseling center, from parents, or even mentors in her life... God used a bunch of teens who just want to write their heart out on a blog. God used a bunch of teens who love Jesus, but sometimes feel that they can only do anything for Him if it's over the internet.
God moved.
Recently my tweets, facebook status's, and my meditation has been on a song by Sanctus Real called 'The Redeemer'
Some of those lyrics go like this-
I don't have every answer in life
But I'm trusting You one day at a time
'Cause You can make a weak heart stay alive forever
this is where Heaven and Earth collide
I lift my hands and give my life
This is how my weary heart stays alive
But I'm still a dreamer, a believer
Oh, I've lost my faith in so many things, but I still believe in You
'Cause You can make anything new
Yeah, You can make anything new
What shocks me is the peace and the turnaround in this young lady's life that she is able to post what i started this post with... less than a day after feeling so broken.
Our God moves mountains...
Our God answers prayers...
Our God makes all things new...
And don't you for one minute feel like you are somehow outside of this... that you are somehow not eligible for that kind of love or grace.
Whether by things you've done, things that have been done to you, or a mixture of both... because they always seem to collide together to wreck our lives.
God LOVES you.
God ADORES you.
God NEVER let's you go.
And He is in the business of making you a new creation...
He never grows weak or weary... nothing is too much for Him.
He's a Father to the fatherless and the ones who have fathers already.
He is everything.
How awesome is that?
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Simple Sunday: Longing to Long
It can't get more simple than with a quote. It's about putting it into practice that's when it's simplicity runs out.
How would our lives change if we prayed the way A.W. Tozer once did:
"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, ‘Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.’ Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long."
How would our lives change if we prayed the way A.W. Tozer once did:
"O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need for further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, so that I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, ‘Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away.’ Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wandered so long."
Friday, June 10, 2011
Collision
It's the place where Heaven and Earth collide.
While we're walking about in our anxiety and unpreparedness.
Dreaming of a better time,
barely keeping my weary heart alive.
In the midst of battling an unstoppable foe.
But the collision changes everything.
Walking without knowing
Dreaming of answering
Battling defeat itself.
Though something cries out, this not of me, this not of the world,
Nothing suppresses it, nothing but ourselves.
It's the sound when Heaven and Earth collide.
Saying is the easy part, believing is just another story,
But in these dreams...
The stories become one.
The collision changes everything.
Questions always boil down to the circumstance...
But we've all been there... wherever there is for you.
Losing faith in oh so many things...
Yet we are all in that place where Heaven and Earth collide.
It's where we get the courage to stand, pain... ignoring,
just to keep this tattered heart beating.
It's where dreams slip away,
bringing us back to our starting point... the beginning of play.
The collision changes everything.
It's in the moment of our brokenness...
Mending begins.
In the moment of our doubt...
Faith holds out.
It doesn't give up on you.
In the moment of our hurting...
Healing's promise becomes reality.
In the moment of confusion...
Peace stills us.
Collision makes all things new.
My life declares it to be true.
It's when Heaven and Earth collide...
We grow tired of defending what we've become,
that no longer being the difference maker.
The place where our heart breaks,
the times we see how much we're a faker,
the place where we feel we are falling from grace,
the times of confusion and pain,
the moment of troubled taste,
the place honesty makes a gain...
It's in THAT place...
Where the collision changes everything.
In this world I lose faith in so many things,
but I can't give up on this.
Trusting just one day at a time,
it is the answer in the middle, of this rhyme.
We don't need every answer in life.
Yet deep calls out to itself, all the time.
It brings about an idea trend,
of things I'll never get back again.
But Redemption is here.
It's what happens when Heaven and Earth collide.
Remaking everything in this dismal time.
Call me a dreamer,
I'm still a believer.
I've met the redeemer.
I've given up on so many things, but I'm not giving up on you...
Because the collision can make everything...
New.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Lovelution
Journeys.
We all take them.
We all have them.
We all are on one.
Life.
We've probably heard the phrase before, "Life isn't fair."
Praise be to God.
Our journey of life isn't fair.
No one's is.
It's the question, 'Why do bad things happen to good people?'
We wrestle with this idea when we are talking to other people about how good God is.
We wrestle with this idea when we look at God's promises of abundance, protection, and provision... and compare them to His promises of trouble, persecution, and his call to give away everything we have.
Tough issues.
Tough things to think about.
Tough to find answers.
Maybe the biggest issue though is when we wrestle with it in our own minds, about ourselves.
'Why are bad things happening to me?'
When the tables get turned... we want answers.
The call to wait on God, to trust that good will come out of all of the trouble in your own life isn't enough when it's us.
We don't see the daylight.
I thank God for the friends He has blessed me with. Because a few weeks ago, I was there. I'm still there.
Thinking to myself, 'God, why is my world crashing down around me?'
It's like a bad dream that is crashing down and that I won't wake up from.
I think we've all been there.
Places in our life where all we see is the dark tunnel, the desert, the cliff... sometimes we see all of them at once.
And we want to know why God is putting us through this turmoil.
Friends, pastors, and teachers will point us to Job... which is a fantastic story to meditate on... but it's not where I want to go with this post.
My question is actually many questions consisting of the attitude I see within the church these days.
Why do we assume we are good soil?
Why do we assume we have built our house on the rock?
Why do we assume we are good?
God's forgiveness, God's redemption... doesn't consist of just one act.
There's a reason Paul talks so much about perseverance, fighting the fight, running the race, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.
Fear and trembling?
I thought God was our Father, our lover, our shepherd? Why would we fear Him?
Because God is still a Holy and Righteous Creator and King... and we are un-holy, unrighteous, law breaking, created servants.
What's wrong here?
God hasn't failed her.
The church has.
People have.
People who claim to know and serve and love Christ.
And she isn't an exception...
Not when shows like 'Teen Mom' and 'Jersey Shore' are some of the most popular shows on television.
Not when the most popular songs, on the charts have some of the most depressing lyrics ever written.
Something's wrong.
And it's been wrong for a long time... the only difference is that people are beginning to care.
I believe it begins at the basics... We no longer grasp who Christ really is.
We know longer WANT to grasp who Christ really is.
The church is selling Jesus as if He is a product.
'Come meet Jesus, He can redeem you, save you, heal you, be your best friend. He does all of these great things for you... yes you may have more trouble, more persecution, but stick close to Jesus, stay close to Him and it'll all be worth it. ALL you have to do is pray this prayer, come to church, stop doing this and stop doing that. Don't live that way anymore, and instead tithe and give to THIS church. Oh and don't forget to pray, and serve the church. You can have it all for this little bit of sacrifice.'
I can't sit in churches who proclaim this type of message anymore.
Jesus told us that people will see Him, see the change in His disciples by the way they love.
Love each other and love Him.
The brand of Christianity that has been created and sold, especially in advanced countries like the United States, has been watered down and has become a religion. Jesus wants us to love. Not be religiously astute.
He regularly called out the religiously astute.
He regularly condemned the religious attitude of His day.
The question I think we need to begin asking is not, 'Are you a Christian?' but rather, 'Do you love Jesus?'
Do we love Jesus?
Do we REALLY love HIM!?
Not what he can do for us, not even the aspect of Him saving us from ourselves, and our sin, and the devil, but rather who He is. He is God, the only God, our God.
By the grace given us, we can fall in love with Him. All of us. But it takes more than one simple prayer and getting rid of some things in our life.
We do all of those things in response to love, a powerful love within our relationship.
The church is not a business.
I hate when pastors and church staff call and treat the church as a business.
Jesus isn't a product to be bought and sold.
Jesus isn't a moral to ascribe to.
Jesus isn't a rent-a- God.
The church is a family. A family who needs adopted.
Jesus comes in and says, 'Do you know my Father? He's adopting you, you will be my family, my brothers, my sisters, He will be YOUR Father too.'
And some of us say, 'No, we will rather take what you can give us and we'll run off and do our own thing.'
And some of us say, 'Sure, we will work for you and continue to serve you and do all of these things for you... hoping for things in return.'
The parable of the Prodigal Son and his brother comes to life. Our lives.
The parable is a story of the church.
There are those of us who say, 'I need to go back, this isn't working out on my own.' And we come into the party that the Father throws for us and our brothers and sisters who also returned.
The Father runs out to greet us and bring us into the party.
There we meet Jesus who hugs us and loves us, He says to the Father, 'I love them, all of them. I know them, they are my family.'
The Father says, 'I love them too.'
Will our response be, 'I love you too.'?
So far I don't think it has been.
Not when people are believing that love doesn't exist.
Love needs to be evident. Shown. People need to see love emanating from the church. We need to stop being judgmental, stop selling Jesus, and start loving Him, beginning by loving each other, accepting each other. God has placed people in our lives to love.
Relationships, that's what Jesus did.
He built relationships with His disciples.
He spoke in a way that would drive people away unless they truly wanted to be His disciple, to truly know Him, and Him know them.
Jesus called us to Go into all of the world and make disciples of all nations... we start by building friendships with people. We love like Christ, we use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us to start the conversations.
Are we ready to be relationship minded missionaries?
Christ minded missionaries?
Loving your neighbor across the street... loving the homeless man who sits on the street corner... loving the teen mom... loving the ex that broke your heart... loving the man who stole what wasn't his to take... loving the ones who never heard about Jesus... loving the ones who don't love you...
What if we gave love a chance?
Not just liking... not just giving of our time... not just starting a conversation or spending some time with out of guilt or demand... but having the spirit the will to love... to be patient with them, to always be kind, never envying what they may have, never boasting of what you may have, not being elite or feeling better than them because of pride, never dishonoring them, not trying to get something out of them for yourself, never getting angry for petty reasons, and not staying angry with them even for good reasons, always forgiving, not keeping a count of all of the good things you do and the bad ones they do. Love never delights in their suffering or misery, but weeps with them when they are weeping, mourning with those who are in mourning, and being happy with those who are happy. We need to always be protecting them and the things they tell us, always trusting their word and their motives, always hoping for the best for them, and always being there for them even when it's an inconvenience for you. Never fail them as long as it is up to you.
How revolutionary would Christianity become?
How much like Jesus would we start looking?
I say this from experience, my friends have been there and continue to be there for me in times of trouble and turmoil, and I try to be there for all of my friends as well.
God has definitely prepared me to start living this idea out.
God prepares all of us to live more like Him.
The question is: Are we ready?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why aren't loving things happening to bad people?
Love conquers all... even the worst evil.
Love covers all... even the worst circumstances.
Love remains... because God remains.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." -1 Corinthians 13:13
We all take them.
We all have them.
We all are on one.
Life.
We've probably heard the phrase before, "Life isn't fair."
Praise be to God.
Our journey of life isn't fair.
No one's is.
It's the question, 'Why do bad things happen to good people?'
We wrestle with this idea when we are talking to other people about how good God is.
We wrestle with this idea when we look at God's promises of abundance, protection, and provision... and compare them to His promises of trouble, persecution, and his call to give away everything we have.
Tough issues.
Tough things to think about.
Tough to find answers.
Maybe the biggest issue though is when we wrestle with it in our own minds, about ourselves.
'Why are bad things happening to me?'
When the tables get turned... we want answers.
The call to wait on God, to trust that good will come out of all of the trouble in your own life isn't enough when it's us.
We don't see the daylight.
I thank God for the friends He has blessed me with. Because a few weeks ago, I was there. I'm still there.
Thinking to myself, 'God, why is my world crashing down around me?'
It's like a bad dream that is crashing down and that I won't wake up from.
I think we've all been there.
Places in our life where all we see is the dark tunnel, the desert, the cliff... sometimes we see all of them at once.
And we want to know why God is putting us through this turmoil.
Friends, pastors, and teachers will point us to Job... which is a fantastic story to meditate on... but it's not where I want to go with this post.
My question is actually many questions consisting of the attitude I see within the church these days.
Why do we assume we are good soil?
Why do we assume we have built our house on the rock?
Why do we assume we are good?
God's forgiveness, God's redemption... doesn't consist of just one act.
Justification isn't sanctification.
There's a reason Paul talks so much about perseverance, fighting the fight, running the race, working out our salvation with fear and trembling.
Fear and trembling?
I thought God was our Father, our lover, our shepherd? Why would we fear Him?
Because God is still a Holy and Righteous Creator and King... and we are un-holy, unrighteous, law breaking, created servants.
"Nothing lasts forever. No one is who they say they are. Love doesn't exist, its as plain and simple as that."
She's sixteen.
Now, while most would just pass over it thinking she is just having a bad day... This stopped me.
She claims to be a Christian.
She claims to know Christ, who does last forever.
She claims to know Christ, who is who He says He is.
She was created by a loving God.
And it's not as plain and simple as that.
What's wrong here?
God hasn't failed her.
The church has.
People have.
People who claim to know and serve and love Christ.
And she isn't an exception...
Not when shows like 'Teen Mom' and 'Jersey Shore' are some of the most popular shows on television.
Not when the most popular songs, on the charts have some of the most depressing lyrics ever written.
Something's wrong.
And it's been wrong for a long time... the only difference is that people are beginning to care.
I believe it begins at the basics... We no longer grasp who Christ really is.
We know longer WANT to grasp who Christ really is.
The church is selling Jesus as if He is a product.
'Come meet Jesus, He can redeem you, save you, heal you, be your best friend. He does all of these great things for you... yes you may have more trouble, more persecution, but stick close to Jesus, stay close to Him and it'll all be worth it. ALL you have to do is pray this prayer, come to church, stop doing this and stop doing that. Don't live that way anymore, and instead tithe and give to THIS church. Oh and don't forget to pray, and serve the church. You can have it all for this little bit of sacrifice.'
I can't sit in churches who proclaim this type of message anymore.
Jesus told us that people will see Him, see the change in His disciples by the way they love.
Love each other and love Him.
The brand of Christianity that has been created and sold, especially in advanced countries like the United States, has been watered down and has become a religion. Jesus wants us to love. Not be religiously astute.
He regularly called out the religiously astute.
He regularly condemned the religious attitude of His day.
The question I think we need to begin asking is not, 'Are you a Christian?' but rather, 'Do you love Jesus?'
Do we love Jesus?
Do we REALLY love HIM!?
Not what he can do for us, not even the aspect of Him saving us from ourselves, and our sin, and the devil, but rather who He is. He is God, the only God, our God.
By the grace given us, we can fall in love with Him. All of us. But it takes more than one simple prayer and getting rid of some things in our life.
We do all of those things in response to love, a powerful love within our relationship.
The church is not a business.
I hate when pastors and church staff call and treat the church as a business.
Jesus isn't a product to be bought and sold.
Jesus isn't a moral to ascribe to.
Jesus isn't a rent-a- God.
The church is a family. A family who needs adopted.
Jesus comes in and says, 'Do you know my Father? He's adopting you, you will be my family, my brothers, my sisters, He will be YOUR Father too.'
And some of us say, 'No, we will rather take what you can give us and we'll run off and do our own thing.'
And some of us say, 'Sure, we will work for you and continue to serve you and do all of these things for you... hoping for things in return.'
The parable of the Prodigal Son and his brother comes to life. Our lives.
The parable is a story of the church.
There are those of us who say, 'I need to go back, this isn't working out on my own.' And we come into the party that the Father throws for us and our brothers and sisters who also returned.
The Father runs out to greet us and bring us into the party.
There we meet Jesus who hugs us and loves us, He says to the Father, 'I love them, all of them. I know them, they are my family.'
The Father says, 'I love them too.'
Will our response be, 'I love you too.'?
So far I don't think it has been.
Not when people are believing that love doesn't exist.
Love needs to be evident. Shown. People need to see love emanating from the church. We need to stop being judgmental, stop selling Jesus, and start loving Him, beginning by loving each other, accepting each other. God has placed people in our lives to love.
Relationships, that's what Jesus did.
He built relationships with His disciples.
He spoke in a way that would drive people away unless they truly wanted to be His disciple, to truly know Him, and Him know them.
Jesus called us to Go into all of the world and make disciples of all nations... we start by building friendships with people. We love like Christ, we use the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us to start the conversations.
Are we ready to be relationship minded missionaries?
Christ minded missionaries?
Loving your neighbor across the street... loving the homeless man who sits on the street corner... loving the teen mom... loving the ex that broke your heart... loving the man who stole what wasn't his to take... loving the ones who never heard about Jesus... loving the ones who don't love you...
What if we gave love a chance?
Not just liking... not just giving of our time... not just starting a conversation or spending some time with out of guilt or demand... but having the spirit the will to love... to be patient with them, to always be kind, never envying what they may have, never boasting of what you may have, not being elite or feeling better than them because of pride, never dishonoring them, not trying to get something out of them for yourself, never getting angry for petty reasons, and not staying angry with them even for good reasons, always forgiving, not keeping a count of all of the good things you do and the bad ones they do. Love never delights in their suffering or misery, but weeps with them when they are weeping, mourning with those who are in mourning, and being happy with those who are happy. We need to always be protecting them and the things they tell us, always trusting their word and their motives, always hoping for the best for them, and always being there for them even when it's an inconvenience for you. Never fail them as long as it is up to you.
How revolutionary would Christianity become?
How much like Jesus would we start looking?
I say this from experience, my friends have been there and continue to be there for me in times of trouble and turmoil, and I try to be there for all of my friends as well.
God has definitely prepared me to start living this idea out.
God prepares all of us to live more like Him.
The question is: Are we ready?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why aren't loving things happening to bad people?
Love conquers all... even the worst evil.
Love covers all... even the worst circumstances.
Love remains... because God remains.
"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." -1 Corinthians 13:13
Friday, June 3, 2011
All I Have to Give
Words...
That's All I have to give.
Just these simple words.
My deeds are nothing but a mess.
And I don't know how else to express...
all the ways I feel toward you.
I'm disgusted with the ways I have acted...
yet in this moment all I have are words.
Will you please forgive?
Even though I'm so passive.
Will you continue to love?
Enthroned from above.
Maybe it's this sin disease that I have contracted
in fact I know it is... this sin has left me devastated.
I know you say that my faults, my failures have been subtracted.
Everything, wiped out... negated.
And all I have to give are my words in this moment.
Though I wish there was something else I could give.
Something, Anything good out of this heart, this body, this compartment.
And when I finally look, I see you, through your Word alive and active.
There you stand with arms open out
I'm wondering what it is you are speaking about.
I notice all that you created,
the beauty, the magnificence, just as you dictated.
I love the mystery and the majesty behind your thoughts,
how could I ever compare, ever come close with all of my faults?
I love the compassion in your voice,
when I'm with you everything begins to rejoice.
Most of all I love how you speak to me,
Me, you take the time to listen to my plea.
But it's just what you choose to speak...
More words, but yours have meaning.
you coming down to love, intervening.
And it's as if those scars on your wrists are still bleeding...
Bleeding out your love for me
It's real, it's true, despite my insecurity.
All I can say, All I have to give are my words:
Jesus, I love you, and I say it with complete sincerity.
That's All I have to give.
Just these simple words.
My deeds are nothing but a mess.
And I don't know how else to express...
all the ways I feel toward you.
I'm disgusted with the ways I have acted...
yet in this moment all I have are words.
Will you please forgive?
Even though I'm so passive.
Will you continue to love?
Enthroned from above.
Maybe it's this sin disease that I have contracted
in fact I know it is... this sin has left me devastated.
I know you say that my faults, my failures have been subtracted.
Everything, wiped out... negated.
And all I have to give are my words in this moment.
Though I wish there was something else I could give.
Something, Anything good out of this heart, this body, this compartment.
And when I finally look, I see you, through your Word alive and active.
There you stand with arms open out
I'm wondering what it is you are speaking about.
I notice all that you created,
the beauty, the magnificence, just as you dictated.
I love the mystery and the majesty behind your thoughts,
how could I ever compare, ever come close with all of my faults?
I love the compassion in your voice,
when I'm with you everything begins to rejoice.
Most of all I love how you speak to me,
Me, you take the time to listen to my plea.
But it's just what you choose to speak...
More words, but yours have meaning.you coming down to love, intervening.
And it's as if those scars on your wrists are still bleeding...
Bleeding out your love for me
It's real, it's true, despite my insecurity.
All I can say, All I have to give are my words:
Jesus, I love you, and I say it with complete sincerity.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Thoughts
My 12th grade debate teacher had a poster in his classroom with a picture of Albert Einstein, it had written on it "I want to know God's thoughts, the rest are details." A quote by Mr. Einstein.
I have a vivid memory of walking in every day and seeing that poster... but only until recently, after I've been out of his classroom for going on 2 years now... am I really letting that sink in.
What if we all lived that way?
What if we all thought that way?
I could describe an object to you in vivid detail: A rather large, extremely heavy, all black... with two very small tan stripes running down both sides, awkwardly shaped, but very powerful object. It cost me a lot of money, and continues to cost me a lot of money on an almost daily basis.
Good details.
But those details are meaningless unless I first told you that it was my family's new car.
Details are useless, meaningless, completely un-necessary... unless we first know what it is that we are talking about.
God thought out everything around us. He spoke and it was.
And what do we do?
We specialize, build our whole lives, careers, and activities around things in this world... details.
I want to know God's thoughts.
There's some power in that quote... I think Mr. Einstein was on to something... this is the man after all who spent the majority of his life figuring out the physics and workings of the world and the universe around us.
And in essence he calls it all meaningless unless he first could know God's thoughts.
What are God's thoughts?
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:8-9
The closest we can get to God's thoughts are by reading and understanding His written Word.
And we know from John, that God's Word, isn't JUST the Bible... but that God's Word is a being, the person of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews tells us that the word is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword.
I don't think it's coincidental, that John saw Jesus holding a sword in Revelation.
Jesus is the Word.
Hold that thought for a second.
Switching gears before we get back to that, I want to talk about something else.
Love.
The Bible talks about love being the most powerful, most important 'thing' we could possess.
More than faith... and we know how much Jesus talked about faith.
More than hope... and we know how much the apostles talked about hope.
When you experience love...
When you fall in love... it's a crazy feeling isn't it?
And I'm not speaking from much experience but rather what I've seen and heard. (I'm far from an expert.)
But when you fall in love that person steals something from you... you can't stop thinking about them... they overwhelm your thoughts, you want to do everything and anything just to be with that person.
You don't get upset with their imperfections, you actually find them funny, or even attractive. You want to be the first person there for them when they need someone to confide in or just cry to. You want to be the first person they go to... you want them to be comfortable around you. In any situation. In any circumstance.
The LORD says:
"My thoughts and my ways
are not like yours.
Just as the heavens
are higher than the earth,
my thoughts and my ways
are higher than yours.
"Rain and snow fall from the sky.
But they don't return
without watering the earth
that produces seeds to plant
and grain to eat.
That's how it is with my words.
They don't return to me
without doing everything
I send them to do." -Isaiah 55:8-11 (CEV)
God's thoughts, God's words concerning us don't return to him empty... they fulfill everything he set them to do.
Jesus came to show us the Way... and He never stopped loving.
God tells us how much he loves us.
He tells us He is thinking about us.
From the moment we were conceived, until life's last breath.
O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me! -Psalm 139:1-18 (NLT)
We can't number His thoughts about us... they are constant, always, even as we sleep... even when we first awake. Read that again. Do you see how much God thinks about you? Do you understand what that means?
We were created in God's image, we share a lot of the basic characteristics of God, we were created to live like Him... when we accept Christ, the Spirit begins to transform us... we put away the desires of the flesh, we begin to crave the things that are of God. We become sanctified... changed, changing to be changed... and will be transformed on that glorious day to be just like Him for all of eternity.
God is crazy in love with us... he continues to think about us, always, non-stop. And his thoughts are of peace, to give us a hope and a future.
Do we want to know God's thoughts?
God wants us to know His thoughts, He wants us to begin to think of Him as our groom, our lover, the only one who will fulfill every hole, every need, everything we could ever need to live, and live abundantly.
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. -Exodus 3:7
He is concerned over our suffering too.
He sees.
He hears.
Our slave drivers... our flesh desires.
And He is concerned over our suffering, whether we brought onto ourselves or whether we were 'innocent' bystanders.
His promise holds true:
God never fails.
God's thoughts never fail.
God's love never fails.
When we make our mistakes, our sins, when we fall back into our total depravity apart from Him... when we move away from Him...
He wants to be the first person we go to, He wants to be our comforter, our healer, our redeemer, our closest and best friend.
That's how he wants us to think of Him.
Tenth Avenue North, my favorite band, and the inspiration behind the title of this blog, wrote a song called, 'Beloved'
I think it fits rather well here:
I have a vivid memory of walking in every day and seeing that poster... but only until recently, after I've been out of his classroom for going on 2 years now... am I really letting that sink in.
What if we all lived that way?
What if we all thought that way?
I could describe an object to you in vivid detail: A rather large, extremely heavy, all black... with two very small tan stripes running down both sides, awkwardly shaped, but very powerful object. It cost me a lot of money, and continues to cost me a lot of money on an almost daily basis.
Good details.
But those details are meaningless unless I first told you that it was my family's new car.
Details are useless, meaningless, completely un-necessary... unless we first know what it is that we are talking about.
God thought out everything around us. He spoke and it was.
And what do we do?
We specialize, build our whole lives, careers, and activities around things in this world... details.
I want to know God's thoughts.
There's some power in that quote... I think Mr. Einstein was on to something... this is the man after all who spent the majority of his life figuring out the physics and workings of the world and the universe around us.
And in essence he calls it all meaningless unless he first could know God's thoughts.
What are God's thoughts?
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11 NKJV
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the LORD.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts. -Isaiah 55:8-9
The closest we can get to God's thoughts are by reading and understanding His written Word.
And we know from John, that God's Word, isn't JUST the Bible... but that God's Word is a being, the person of Jesus Christ.
Hebrews tells us that the word is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword.
I don't think it's coincidental, that John saw Jesus holding a sword in Revelation.
Jesus is the Word.
Hold that thought for a second.
Switching gears before we get back to that, I want to talk about something else.
Love.
The Bible talks about love being the most powerful, most important 'thing' we could possess.
More than faith... and we know how much Jesus talked about faith.
More than hope... and we know how much the apostles talked about hope.
When you experience love...
When you fall in love... it's a crazy feeling isn't it?
And I'm not speaking from much experience but rather what I've seen and heard. (I'm far from an expert.)
But when you fall in love that person steals something from you... you can't stop thinking about them... they overwhelm your thoughts, you want to do everything and anything just to be with that person.
Love makes people do crazy things.
You don't get upset with their imperfections, you actually find them funny, or even attractive. You want to be the first person there for them when they need someone to confide in or just cry to. You want to be the first person they go to... you want them to be comfortable around you. In any situation. In any circumstance.
The LORD says:
"My thoughts and my ways
are not like yours.
Just as the heavens
are higher than the earth,
my thoughts and my ways
are higher than yours.
"Rain and snow fall from the sky.
But they don't return
without watering the earth
that produces seeds to plant
and grain to eat.
That's how it is with my words.
They don't return to me
without doing everything
I send them to do." -Isaiah 55:8-11 (CEV)
God's thoughts, God's words concerning us don't return to him empty... they fulfill everything he set them to do.
Jesus came to show us the Way... and He never stopped loving.
God tells us how much he loves us.
He tells us He is thinking about us.
From the moment we were conceived, until life's last breath.
O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!
I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me! -Psalm 139:1-18 (NLT)
We can't number His thoughts about us... they are constant, always, even as we sleep... even when we first awake. Read that again. Do you see how much God thinks about you? Do you understand what that means?
We were created in God's image, we share a lot of the basic characteristics of God, we were created to live like Him... when we accept Christ, the Spirit begins to transform us... we put away the desires of the flesh, we begin to crave the things that are of God. We become sanctified... changed, changing to be changed... and will be transformed on that glorious day to be just like Him for all of eternity.
God is crazy in love with us... he continues to think about us, always, non-stop. And his thoughts are of peace, to give us a hope and a future.
Do we want to know God's thoughts?
Or are we still craving our details of nothingness?
God wants us to know His thoughts, He wants us to begin to think of Him as our groom, our lover, the only one who will fulfill every hole, every need, everything we could ever need to live, and live abundantly.
The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. -Exodus 3:7
He is concerned over our suffering too.
He sees.
He hears.
Our slave drivers... our flesh desires.
And He is concerned over our suffering, whether we brought onto ourselves or whether we were 'innocent' bystanders.
His promise holds true:
God never fails.
God's thoughts never fail.
God's love never fails.
When we make our mistakes, our sins, when we fall back into our total depravity apart from Him... when we move away from Him...
He runs to us.
He wants to be the first person we go to, He wants to be our comforter, our healer, our redeemer, our closest and best friend.
That's how he wants us to think of Him.
Those are His thoughts.
Tenth Avenue North, my favorite band, and the inspiration behind the title of this blog, wrote a song called, 'Beloved'
I think it fits rather well here:
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