Hey guys..
It's been a while..
I've wanted to write, but I haven't been moved to write in a while. I can't quite put into words everything that I've been experiencing with God. This journey with God is awesome. So, just let this be a postcard from my journey. I hope you are enjoying your own personal journey with Jesus. Check out this video and be blessed.
The Biggest Lie in Your Life
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Everything means EVERYTHING
This has definitely been a week of journeying. It included some back tracking, some back sliding and some getting back on track. As the week began I was feeling pretty good about the journey. It had been nearly 40 days and I was feeling delivered from some of the sins that I had struggled with for so long. And then I fell. I found myself right back in the very pit that I had just climbed out of. I felt horrible.
And therein lies part of the problem. I felt.
I'd been gaging my growth on how I felt. If I felt empowered then I thought I was doing well. I hadn't surrendered anything to God. I had simply decided to refrain from certain activities. Yes, I've been praying more and in my Word and listening to sermons. But it's been a journey of convenience still. Transformation requires surrender. Surrendering everything. My identity, relationships, dreams, hopes, desires, opinions, EVERYTHING. I Peter 5:6-11 says:
5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
God's desire isn't to make us feel better, but to make us new. And that newness isn't limited to just us but EVERYTHING that concerns us. Psalm 138:8 says:
8 The LORD will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
The initial process of surrendering everything to God isn't going to feel good. [please note that this message is for me as much as it is for you.] Praying and reading the Word and going to church are part of it. But that's like the strength training and conditioning; yes, it will strengthen and empower you to take action, but you still have to do something. You still have to surrender and submit. Personally, as I reflect I think I somehow got the idea that by praying and reading the Word and being in church and fasting I could somehow change myself or handle my burdens. I thought that these practices had given me some super human abilities to do what only God can do. When in actuality it's praying, reading the Word, fellowshipping with others at church, engaging in praise and worship, and fasting.. these practices, develop the fortitude within you to complete the assignment of submitting to the will of God. These practices do not make us God, but it builds up our spirit so that we are empowered to exercise our faith and trust God with everything.
And therein lies part of the problem. I felt.
I'd been gaging my growth on how I felt. If I felt empowered then I thought I was doing well. I hadn't surrendered anything to God. I had simply decided to refrain from certain activities. Yes, I've been praying more and in my Word and listening to sermons. But it's been a journey of convenience still. Transformation requires surrender. Surrendering everything. My identity, relationships, dreams, hopes, desires, opinions, EVERYTHING. I Peter 5:6-11 says:
6Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
7Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
8Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
10But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
11To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
I was too proud to give it all to God. To "cast all my cares upon Him." The process of humbling yourself requires that you take off your superman/superwoman cape and put everything that you've been carrying in the capable hands of God. It's a process of submitting to God. He wants everything. He wants to exalt (raise) us up, but not with us clinging to things that will weigh us down, or cause us to fall. Anything that we have to sustain on our own will cause us to fall. If we can't trust God to sustain our identity or a relationship or career or dream, then sooner or later the burden of trying to sustain it on our own will cause us to fall. And when we fall, our adversary the devil is waiting to pounce on and devour us.
The awesome thing about God is that He is more than able to sift through those things that we are trying to sustain and balance our load. Somethings we were never meant to carry others are expired and others we have simply mis-prioritized and the weight distribution is causing us to stumble and fall. But He know exactly what we should be carrying and how we should carry it. And He can sustain us and everything that He has placed in our lives for us to carry. But first we have to give Him everything so that He can fix our load and renew us. Revelations 21:4-8 says:
4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
God's desire isn't to make us feel better, but to make us new. And that newness isn't limited to just us but EVERYTHING that concerns us. Psalm 138:8 says:
8 The LORD will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O LORD, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
The initial process of surrendering everything to God isn't going to feel good. [please note that this message is for me as much as it is for you.] Praying and reading the Word and going to church are part of it. But that's like the strength training and conditioning; yes, it will strengthen and empower you to take action, but you still have to do something. You still have to surrender and submit. Personally, as I reflect I think I somehow got the idea that by praying and reading the Word and being in church and fasting I could somehow change myself or handle my burdens. I thought that these practices had given me some super human abilities to do what only God can do. When in actuality it's praying, reading the Word, fellowshipping with others at church, engaging in praise and worship, and fasting.. these practices, develop the fortitude within you to complete the assignment of submitting to the will of God. These practices do not make us God, but it builds up our spirit so that we are empowered to exercise our faith and trust God with everything.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
I wasn't expecting this
Have you ever started out on a trip somewhere and become utterly surprised along the way? Perhaps you had printed out mapquest directions or put the address in your gps, had your oil changed, checked your tires, you've told everyone when you'll be arriving and made plans for once you get there. You got on your way and then a few hours into your drive the unexpected occurs. It could be a flat tire, car trouble, you left your wallet at the last gas stop and didn't realize it until you were trying to fill up again, sunny skies turn gray and you can't see more than a 2 feet ahead of you, there's a horrible accident that ties up traffic for 3 hours, you're in the horrible accident, there's road work, the road is closed and you have to detour, you get the point. Well, I'm not sure why I was expecting this spiritual journey to be as predictable as a run to the grocery store.
Today is day 34 and I've encountered all of those issues and then some. Where shall I start...
I was just reading over my earlier posts and everyday that I don't post I'm tempted to feel condemned because in my first post I made the statement that I'd post everyday for the first 40 days. Now ain't that just like the devil to try to make you feel about something you're doing for God? Craziness. All God said was seek me and be transparent. It's a trick of satan to try and turn your spiritual transformation and relationship with God into some legalistic exercise. And it was slipping in on my journey. Which brings me to another point- motive, but we'll come back to that later.
If you're anything like me, you may be a little impetuous. You hear the first part of instructions, get excited and move forward full steam ahead without making sure you've heard everything or understood properly. My antsy-ness has often been to my detriment. When God started speaking to me about a month ago about seriously submitting to His process to unleaven my life, I heard part of what He said and I mixed it with part of what I thought sounded good. But trust, God isn't going to tell you the entire travel plan at once and send you on your way alone. As He says in Habukkuk 2:2-3, God gives us a vision of the destination. The vision is to encourage us while we're on the journey. I've been guilty of misusing the vision; rather than referring to it as a promise that God has waiting for me as a result of obeying Him, at times I've taken the vision and told God, thanks for the great idea, but I think I know a better way to get there. And so, then I set off trying to chart my own course to a destination that He has showed me. The problem is that apart from following His direction every step of the way, not only will I not arrive at the destination, but the destination may not even come into existence. There could be something in the instructions that He plans on laying before me that will trigger the vision to be built, but if I'm assuming that it already exists and that I know how to get there. I'm way off and will never get to what He has in store.
I started out on this journey expecting that I could "do this" that it was all a matter of simply decided to make the right choices. But what I've found out it is I can't do anything, including making the right choices, without first being led by God for the entire journey. It's easy to become more motivated by attaining the vision or promise than loving God. I've been guilty of doing so. How do I know? because I'd do anything except obey Him to obtain the vision. I did things my way. Just like disobeying the rules of the road and detour signs can delay your arrival to a destination, dismissing the importance of obeying God will delay your arrival to the promise that God has for us.
Today is day 34 and I've encountered all of those issues and then some. Where shall I start...
I was just reading over my earlier posts and everyday that I don't post I'm tempted to feel condemned because in my first post I made the statement that I'd post everyday for the first 40 days. Now ain't that just like the devil to try to make you feel about something you're doing for God? Craziness. All God said was seek me and be transparent. It's a trick of satan to try and turn your spiritual transformation and relationship with God into some legalistic exercise. And it was slipping in on my journey. Which brings me to another point- motive, but we'll come back to that later.
If you're anything like me, you may be a little impetuous. You hear the first part of instructions, get excited and move forward full steam ahead without making sure you've heard everything or understood properly. My antsy-ness has often been to my detriment. When God started speaking to me about a month ago about seriously submitting to His process to unleaven my life, I heard part of what He said and I mixed it with part of what I thought sounded good. But trust, God isn't going to tell you the entire travel plan at once and send you on your way alone. As He says in Habukkuk 2:2-3, God gives us a vision of the destination. The vision is to encourage us while we're on the journey. I've been guilty of misusing the vision; rather than referring to it as a promise that God has waiting for me as a result of obeying Him, at times I've taken the vision and told God, thanks for the great idea, but I think I know a better way to get there. And so, then I set off trying to chart my own course to a destination that He has showed me. The problem is that apart from following His direction every step of the way, not only will I not arrive at the destination, but the destination may not even come into existence. There could be something in the instructions that He plans on laying before me that will trigger the vision to be built, but if I'm assuming that it already exists and that I know how to get there. I'm way off and will never get to what He has in store.
I started out on this journey expecting that I could "do this" that it was all a matter of simply decided to make the right choices. But what I've found out it is I can't do anything, including making the right choices, without first being led by God for the entire journey. It's easy to become more motivated by attaining the vision or promise than loving God. I've been guilty of doing so. How do I know? because I'd do anything except obey Him to obtain the vision. I did things my way. Just like disobeying the rules of the road and detour signs can delay your arrival to a destination, dismissing the importance of obeying God will delay your arrival to the promise that God has for us.
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