Love Without Partiality

I heard Francis Chan reference this video in a sermon this weekend and it was so convicting. Even though he is lost he still speaks truth. "How much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize." It's strong, but I believe it's something the Church in America needs to hear.

Matthew 22:38-39

³⁸This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

1 John 2:3-6

³And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. ⁴Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, ⁵but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: ⁶whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

Let's pray for the truth to come into us so that we can love like Christ. So that we won't be afraid or embarrassed to share the good news with someone that we know needs it. We know Heaven and Hell are real and because of that the gospel should be the most important thing in our lives. I pray that God will make the gospel the center of our lives. That are hearts will be opened to the truth and to the transforming glory of God.

"There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal...But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit-immortal horrors or everlasting splendours."

~C.S. Lewis

Endure

2 Timothy 2:11-13

¹¹The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him; ¹² if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; ¹³ if we are faithless, he remains faithful—

for he cannot deny himself.

I just read through 2 Timothy and that is a powerful book. In every chapter Paul enforces that we are to endure for the sake of the gospel. He talks a lot about suffering and remembering Christ. It's so refreshing and something we need to focus on. Like Francis Chan says we all have spiritual amnesia and it is so nice to remember. Paul is writing to Timothy and charging him in the presence of God to be an evangelist. I don't think Timothy is going to forget about Jesus. But that's not the point. The point is to endure, to pursue righteousness, and to above all remember Jesus and rejoice in His eternal glory. There is so much that sticks out in this book in the Bible, but I've really just been feeling the need for strength to endure lately. This race we are in is not a sprint, but a marathon and we are going to need the strength of the Holy Spirit to see it all the way through. I definitely encourage you all to read through this short book and to remember that we need to pray for strength through the Holy Spirit so that we can be a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Let our aim be to glorify God by rejoicing in His love and sharing it with our neighbors.

2 Timothy 2:4

⁴No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

Your Kingdom Come

Matthew 6:10

¹⁰ Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Isaiah 58:6-7

⁶"Is not this the fast that I choose:
to loose the bonds of wickedness,
to undo the straps of the yoke,
to let the oppressed go free,
and to break every yoke?
⁷Is it not to share your bread with the hungry
and bring the homeless poor into your house;
when you see the naked, to cover him,
and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?

Are we bringing God's Kingdom to earth? Are we actively participating in the fast that God Almighty has chosen? I know personally I feel like I am contributing to an extent, but I want to be doing so much more. I want to see more fruit of the Spirit in my life.

This weekend I went to Jacksonville to spend some time with Jon it was really good. Sam came up all day Saturday too and then I spent Sunday afternoon in St. Augustine with Sam. It was an awesome weekend getting to hang out with great Christian brothers and learn about what God has been doing in their lives. The highlight of the weekend by far though was being able to feed and pray for these two homeless guys in St. Augustine with Sam. In life group we have been talking a lot about James and how he says specifically in chapter two to show no partiality and I've been praying that God will work on my heart and help me with that. And last week we discussed chapter four from Crazy Love which is called Profile Of The Lukewarm and I was praying like mad for opportunities to serve our Lord and people out of love. This weekend Sam and I were able to do just that and I praise the Lord for it.

Sam and I were just walking around downtown St. Augustine after eating lunch and Eddie and Danny asked us for some money and they were telling us that they were was starving. So we offered to get them food and they gladly accepted. Sam got them some burgers from Flagler's Student Center and I was able to talk them a little bit about what they were going through. Eddie has been out of work for seventeen years and Danny has only been in St. Augustine a couple of months since moving from California. My heart just broke for these two guys. Both of them were penniless, and then I remembered Jarah had given me twenty bucks for food for our Bible Study. I had made a promise to myself that I would use everything I got from that ministry to build up the kingdom of God, but I thought I had spent it all when I was in Jacksonville. I opened my wallet and I had still had two ten dollar bills, and right then I knew this money was not meant for me. After talking with them a little more I asked them for what they needed prayer for and they both said jobs. I really would like anyone who reads this to lift up Danny and Eddie in prayer. They both said they were Christians and they both seemed interested in the homeless church Sam is going to be help starting soon in St. Augustine. I'm not writing this to brag about my works, because it was not me acting but the Holy Spirit within me. We need to open our eyes our hearts should be breaking for all of these people. Please lift these two up in prayer and all the other homeless and starving people. Many of us in America have been blessed with an abundance let's give all that we have to help these people.

We need to be actively participating in bringing God's kingdom to earth, and I really hope and pray the Lord will give me more opportunities to give all that I have to these poor and hurting people. Let's be the revolution and love everyone like Christ. I pray that we will be ready at any moment to spread the good news and love of the gospel to people who need it. Let's not just pray for God's kingdom to come let's submit our lives to the Spirit and bring God's kingdom here now.

1 John 3:16

¹⁶By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Just Today

The Bible says taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). I heard someone talking about this verse, and they warned not to be choked out by the world. They said when we are choking, we can not taste the goodness of God. I had just read the parable of the sower, and this idea of being choked out was very fresh on my mind. In Mark chapter 4, Jesus tells the parable of the sower. Different seeds land in different places, and each of them experience something unique. The third seed lands among the thorns and weeds. It sprouts and takes root, but the weeds and thorns choke it out. That is to say the world choked out the love and word of God.

I have been feeling very discouraged this week for some reason, and I think part of that is the world trying to choke me out. The thing I love about that verse from the Psalms though is that it NOWHERE says taste and see that the world is bad. It says only to taste and see that the Lord is good. YHVH is so so so good.

I find this very easy to say. God is good. I also find it easy to forget God in the midst of being choked out by the world. Something just isn't adding up. I wonder if Jesus were to look at my life, look at my possessions, and just look at me, if he would say I was to caught up in the world?

Proverbs 30:7-9 says this:

⁷ "Two things I ask of you, O LORD;
do not refuse me before I die:

⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
give me neither poverty nor riches,
but give me only my daily bread.

⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
and say, 'Who is the LORD ?'
Or I may become poor and steal,
and so dishonor the name of my God.

Two things; keep lies away from me, and don't give me too much or to little. I can guarantee you I don't have too little, but do I have to much? Do I have so much that at times I get caught up in that stuff and think to myself, "Who is the LORD?"

So many people wake up every morning and their prayer is this: "God... just get me through the day. Lord, PLEASE just get me through the day." When is the last time we prayed that? Why would we pray that. we have plenty of stuff to get us through the day. That's the problem though, we have stuff to get us through the day. I have weeds and thorns to get me through my day. How would my life change if I prayed, LORD, JUST get me though the day? What if we prayed just to get through today? That would mean we need to deny ourselves. I don't like believing that I have to deny myself. You may not like believing that you have to deny yourself. You might also be saying, " Sam, now wait a minute. Denying yourself can be good, but we don't have to deny ourselves." I wish that were the case. Denying ourselves is not comfortable, but it is something we HAVE TO do. We must believe that Jesus called us to do this.

Mark 8:34: Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

There are things that I don't like to believe, but believe because they are truth. God is God, and I have no right to question Him. I heard Francis Chan say that we spend our lives judging God, and that it's going to be a big shock for us on judgement day when we stand before this God that we have been judging and realize that he is the one judging us. That was powerful to me.

I want my prayer to be, "God, just get me through the day." That is a prayer we would get to pray. We are not forced to pray that by poverty or persecution like some people are. I believe that if we pray that prayer, then less people would be forced to pray that prayer.

Content With Being Discontent

Revelation 3:15-16

¹⁵"'I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! ¹⁶So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.

Today I watched a Francis Chan sermon from a long time ago titled "Lukewarm and Lovin' It!" It was powerful and extremely convicting. I definitely recommend checking it out on iTunes. The whole point of the sermon is that we as a church are lukewarm, and the worst part of it is some of us aim for that. We want just a little bit of God. We aren't as a whole consumed by God. We don't want to have to rely on him daily for much of anything. It's heartbreaking and it doesn't make any sense when you read Scripture. There are parables in the Gospels explaining quite literally that the Kingdom of Heaven is worth selling everything we have to obtain. It's that much better. It's not about being rich or poor. It's not about being comfortable and secure. It's about being on fire for God. Being in love with Jesus. Wanting to live by faith in the Son of God.

I know this harsh and it seems critical, but if we don't realize this and pray for repentance and change our ways we are going to Hell. I'm not trying to scare anybody with this, but the road to Heaven is narrow. Are we on it? Are we fighting against the flow of the world? Do we see that we are wretched and poor as the passage goes on to explain in Revelation 3? We need Jesus, and He wants to be with us. The end of the passage says if anyone lets me in I will eat with them. Jesus wants to be a part of our lives. Do we want him more than anything? I know we hear this all the time, but do we really think about? Most of the time we are too busy counting the cost and lamenting over everything we will lose in this world, because we just don't get it. Nothing in this world is eternal. It doesn't matter. The Kingdom of Heaven is eternal and through totally submitting to and desiring Jesus we are granted citizenship. Not by just having a little bit of God.

After Francis preached his sermon he came up with three things to ask God for that he shared and wanted people to pray about. I found myself reading these and praying like I had never done before. I was crying over my sin and shame and just begging God to forgive me and to give me strength. I pray that as we read and pray through these requests that our hearts will cry out Abba Father and that the Creator will create a new experience bringing us closer to Him than ever before.

Reveal to us areas in which we are lukewarm.

Give us strength in our areas of weakness.

Do whatever it takes to make us on fire for You.

Lord I beg that you will radically change our lives and the American Church. I pray that we will longer be content with the discontent lives that live. That being lukewarm will repulse us as much as it does You. Lord I pray that you will consume us with your fire and that we will live completely and radically for you in ways we never have before.

There is a great prayer for strength I came across today in Ephesians that I feel I also need to share, because I think it so relevant after hearing a tough message.

Ephesians 3:14-21

¹⁴For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, ¹⁵from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, ¹⁶that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Fear of God

Lamentations 1:18

¹⁸ "The LORD is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.

Yesterday when I got back in town and Sam got here we went to a coffee shop to do homework. Part of Sam's assignment was to read Lamentations so I did the same because I didn't have anything else to do. Even though it's only five chapters it is a powerful book. There is so much to digest in each chapter so I decided to go through it one chapter at a time this week. Today after reading and thinking and reflecting on the first chapter more I realize that most of us take God's grace and forgiveness for granted. We do not have a reverent fear of God that is so prevalent throughout the Bible.

Lamentations 1:9

⁹Her uncleanness was in her skirts;
she took no thought of her future;
therefore her fall is terrible;
she has no comforter.
"O LORD, behold my affliction,
for the enemy has triumphed!"

Although this book is specifically about Jerusalem under the captivity of Babylon the same situations still exist. The first verse describes how Jerusalem who was once a princess has now become a slave. It immediately reminded me of what I just read in Galatians chapter five. We have been set free by Christ, but we still turn back to the yoke of the world. And later in Lamentations 1:14 it describes the yoke of transgressions that causes our strength to fail. Contrasted with the freedom and easy yoke of Christ we still turn to the ways of the world, because we do not have a fear of God. Jerusalem is suffering because they didn't think about the future that had been prophesied to them. Are we concerned with the future with the end or are we living in the world?

The imagery and rhetoric throughout the majority of this book is not uplifting, but it recognizes God as in the right and sovereign. Later on in chapter three there is a section reflecting on the hope and love of the Lord, but much of the book is dedicated to repentance. After reading just the first chapter it is clear that we do not even repent with the right mindset. For the most part we just count on God's grace being there. But even though His grace exists sin is still punished and the Lord is in the right for doing this.

My prayer is that we as a church will read these Scriptures and that Lord will instill within us a healthy fear of the Lord. This isn't meant to be depressing or to scare you, but to help us realize that our lives do not match up with this aspect of Scripture. I really think once we begin to develop a more holy fear of the Lord we will see a huge shift in our lives and the way interact with others. We need to remember that life is short and being focused on God and eternity is all that matters.

"If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this."

~C.S. Lewis

Glorify Him

Philippians 2:1-2

¹So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.

It has recently come to my attention that I like to try and fix things. I read Scripture I look at my life and the lives of my friends and I want to fix us, so that our lives look more like Christ. It's not a bad quality, but when it's consuming all of my focus it results in more stress than anything. Today I was listening to a Francis Chan podcast called Reflecting on God's Faithfulness and I wanted to take the time to do just that. A lot of Scripture and sermons I have been hearing lately have been talking about slowing down and showing grace, dwelling on God's grace, and just taking the time to thank God for being constant and faithful.

This past weekend I spent back home was amazing. Last time I came home when I got back to Gainesville I just felt so grieved, because I felt like we weren't living enough like Christ. Basically I came home and I wanted to fix everything, so when I got back to Gainesville I just spent a lot of time in prayer. And God definitely answered those prayers. We all still have some strugs, but man this weekend I saw people seeking after Christ and His will for their life. It was awesome. I had so many great conversations about the cross and Christ I don't even know where to begin. I just want to glorify God by slowing down and taking the time to remind us that He is faithful.

When I came back to town I really saw people striving for one mind centered on Christ. There are still things that we need the Lord and the Spirit to fix, but that comes through prayer and taking the time to slow down and see the grace God has given us. We cannot fix everything, but nothing is impossible for our God. It was beyond encouraging to come back and talk about what we have been learning and to see the fruit in the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ. My prayer for all of us is that we will slow down and glorify Him who is above all. That we will take the time to slow down and dwell on the grace that he has so freely given to us. Praise God for who He is and remember that He is above all.

Isaiah 55:10-11

¹⁰ "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Freedom To Walk By The Spirit

Galatians 5:1

¹For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Lately I've been reading Galatians, and I've really been focusing and praying about the last two chapters in specific. The whole book is characterized by Paul stressing the importance of faith and denouncing legalistic beliefs, and the fifth chapter in particular I feel like is the main message of his letter. Christ has set us free, yet we still submit ourselves to a yoke of slavery. Why?

Christ's death set us free from the law, but we still submit ourselves to the law and not the Spirit. The Galatians were preaching circumcision and today we aren't necessarily preaching the law, but we aren't as a church characterized by the fruit of the Spirit. When we submit ourselves to the law we fall away from grace and Christ (Gal. 5:4).

We do not receive justification from the law, but from the Spirit and faith working through love (Gal. 5:6). As sons and heirs of God we belong to Christ and we have crucified the flesh and its desires, but still our lives and the church do not look radically different. The works of the flesh are more evident than the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:19-23

¹⁹Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, ²⁰idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, ²¹envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness,self-control; against such things there is no law.

The works of the flesh do not receive the kingdom they receive death. They are subject to the law, but if we live and walk by the Spirit we will bear the fruit and we will not be under the law. I don't want to scare people into living differently, but the wrath of God will be poured out on those whose lives are marked the works of the flesh. Yesterday I read through Revelation, and it's a beautiful book. Its tragic and frightening, but it so full of worship and a reverent fear of God. A fear of God that our culture lacks. I think it's impossible to read through Revelation and read the prayers of the angels and elders and not come to that realization. I also think it's impossible to read through Revelation and not bow down and worship are glorious God. Anyways the point I want to stress and the same point Paul is stressing is that we are set free to live by the Spirit.

Not only are we called to walk by the Spirit as followers of Christ, but we are called to be in this together. Paul states that legalism doesn't count for anything, but only faith working through love (Galatians 5:6). And the first two verses of chapter six call us to admonish our brothers and sisters and bear one another's burden. We are all the body and the bride of Christ. I think what grieves me the most when I look at the church and how we interact is that we aren't characterized as a body that loves one another, serves one another, and bears one another's burdens. Instead most of us seem to be focused on ourselves. And yes we have to bear our own loads, but at the same time we are the body and we should be helping each other to sow to the Spirit and to reap eternal life.

But again I want to make it clear just as Paul does that this isn't meant to be legalistic.

Galatians 6:15

¹⁵For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

The only thing that matters is becoming a new creation. Being transformed into the image of Christ, and this is done through the Spirit (2 Cor. 3:18). That is why it so important to lean on the Spirit, to walk by the Spirit, and to live by the Spirit. No matter how hard we work we cannot do this on our own. It is the Spirit that reveals God to us, and it is through seeing and savoring the glory of God that we are transformed. Christ died on the cross, so that we could have this freedom so that we could have the Spirit to reveal God to us. But instead we submit ourselves back to a yoke of slavery and death. We can only bear the fruit of the Spirit if we walk by the Spirit and continually seek the face of the Lord. And it is important to remember that the fruit of the Spirit is singular. If we are walking by the Spirit all of those characteristics will be seen not just a few.

So my prayer for us as the body of Christ, the bride of Christ is that we will walk daily with the Spirit. That we will deny ourselves and daily and submit our lives to the will of God. That the Spirit will continue to reveal the transforming glory of God to us. That we will be a church body marked by the fruit of the spirit and not the works of the flesh. That the Lord will draw us near to him with his grace and that we will not receive it in vain.

God Of All Grace

James 1:19

¹⁹ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak,slow to anger;

This afternoon I listened to a Francis Chan sermon title "Slow Down and Show Grace." It was great, and it was definitely just what I needed to hear after last week. Francis started off the sermon focusing on this verse in James. Do our lives look like that? Are we slowing down and taking the time to show grace to those around us? Are we just showing grace to the people who treat us well?

The story of David and Saul always amazes me. It was the first place Francis Chan went after discussing his lack of restraint and grace. David was anointed by God to be the next king of Israel, but his popularity and status angered Saul and he attempted to kill him several times. And in two instances in particular we see David slow down, not rush into action, and show Saul grace. Twice Saul is delivered to him and it seems like the perfect opportunity to kill him, but David responds with grace.

1 Samuel 24:10

¹⁰Behold, this day your eyes have seen how the LORD gave you today into my hand in the cave. And some told me to kill you, but I spared you. I said, 'I will not put out my hand against my lord, for he is the LORD’s anointed.'

1 Samuel 24:12

¹² May the LORD judge between me and you, may the LORD avenge me against you, but my hand shall not be against you.

After this Saul seems to make peace with David. Two chapters later he tries to kill him again, but David's response is no different.

1 Samuel 26:9-11

⁹But David said to Abishai, "Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand against the LORD’s anointed and be guiltless?" ¹⁰And David said, "As the LORD lives, the LORD will strike him, or his day will come to die, or he will go down into battle and perish. ¹¹ The LORD forbid that I should put out my hand against the LORD’s anointed. But take now the spear that is at his head and the jar of water, and let us go."

Saul is still trying to kill David, but he shows him nothing but grace again acknowledging that Saul is the Lord's anointed. David recognized that God put Saul in power and that he must not strike him. Later in David's life a descendant of Saul's came to David throwing stones at him and cursing him and all his men. David's response was just as simple then as it was with Saul.

2 Samuel 16:11

¹¹And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, "Behold, my own son seeks my life; how much more now may this Benjaminite! Leave him alone, and let him curse, for the LORD has told him to.

David responds by saying let him curse me because the Lord has told him to. When was the last time any of us listened to someone cursing us because we thought it might be from the Lord? We are prideful so we are quick to defend ourselves and to get angry and that's sin. When we are stressed out and exhausted it is so hard to exhibit the grace that David did, because when we are stressed we aren't focused on God. In Francis Chan's sermon he said stress shows: a lack of humility, a lack of rejoicing (Philippians 4:1), and a problem in your prayer life. In Crazy Love he defines Stress as this: "Stress says that things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control."

He goes as far as to say stress is sin. And we don't like that, but we are supposed to offer all our anxieties up to the Lord. We need to listen and respond with love and grace, and the only way we can do this is by meditating and dwelling on God's grace more often. Last week I was stressed and I was begging for God's grace, and I now see that as ignorance of the grace I have already received. There are promises of God's grace all throughout Scripture and we need to remember them and focus on them daily. We are saved by grace. We are justified by grace. And there are so many more promises of God's grace that we just need to read and take the time to praise God and rejoice over.

At the end of his sermon Francis read some Scriptures discussing the grace of God and just asked for the congregation to listen and rejoice in the promises of their Lord. I'm going to put the references on here and I really encourage anyone who reads this just to take thirty minutes and read over these passages and to rejoice and dwell on the grace we have been given.

Ephesians 2:1-10

Romans 5:1-11

1 Peter 5:6-11

Lets remember and find peace in the fact that we are safe in God's arms, so that we may take the time to respond with grace and love to those around us.

Why Not Be Utterly Changed Into Fire?

Isaiah 55:10-11

¹⁰"For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
¹¹so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

I can clearly remember the day this summer when Billy and I were meeting over coffee and discussing God's Word and Billy shared it with me. It came up several times over the course of the summer, but for some reason I had forgotten about it lately. Today at church the message was on being committed to God's Word and the first point made was this.

Every Christian can be committed to God's Word by being encouraged by God in one major way: Changed Lives

God's Word changes lives. This past week I was so busy with school. I was exhausted every day, and on Friday at the Crazy Love Study Jarah brought up how we should think about God's word as receiving life and not as forcing growth. And today at church I received life. I feel so refreshed, and it is all because of His love. My mom texted me during the service telling me about my video about the same time we were reading Isaiah 55, and I just started crying. I had forgotten how much God has changed my life. The rest of the service I was in tears. It was intense, but so beautiful. The Word of the Lord will not return empty. It has accomplished its purpose and it will continue to do so. It amazes me how when life gets overwhelming so often we forget what God has done in our lives.

Then the service proceeded to get even more personal. Michael was talking about claiming and owning the promises and truths in Scripture, and he read two verses that have been on my heart lately.

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

That is a truth and a promise that we need to claim and own as ours. God has changed us. And then next he read Galatians 2:20. It's crazy how even though that reference is tattooed on my arm I still forget what it says and I lose track of that awesome promise God gave to us.

Galatians 2:20

²⁰I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Then we proceeded to worship and I could barely sing I was crying so much. I was so overcome with the joy of our Lord. The power of the cross and His grace were hitting me hard, and I loved every second of it. And it was awesome, because afterwards I was able to share how great I felt with some friends from GCL and now I am able to share it with everyone who reads this blog. God has definitely been teaching me lately that we need to own the promises that He has given us in His Word. We need to cling to them no matter what, because God is what brings us joy. God alone transforms our lives. "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." And that is what our lives are all about glorifying God. Yesterday I was reading through Galatians chapter 1 and the last verse hit me really hard.

Galatians 1:24

²⁴And they glorified God because of me.

Do people glorify God because of my life? It's a convicting and humbling question. I was really wrestling with it until this morning when I realized that God has transformed me, and if my life reflects that it will glorify God. This past week I was really focused on God's grace and I was just begging God for it daily, because I was so busy with everything but Him. I came across a promise in 2 Corinthians this week while I was reading and I wanted so bad to be able to own it as a truth in my life.

2 Corinthians 12:9

⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

God's grace is enough and His power is made perfect through weakness. This morning in church I was able to say amidst all the tears and joy that yes this true. God's grace is sufficient. This week might have been a little rough, but this morning I received life from the our Creator. It was beautiful, and the entire time I kept thinking about Hebrews 12:29 "for our God is a consuming fire." My prayer for us as a body of believers is that we will claim the promises and truths in the Bible. That they will become personal and that we will see the Word of the Lord accomplishing its purpose. That we will be filled with the joy of the Lord, so that others will see us and glorify God because of us.

Our God is an all consuming fire.

So why not be utterly changed into fire?

a virgin wearing sackcloth

I'm reading through Joel right now (all 3 chapters, i know it's a lot), and I feel like lately everything that God is teaching me somehow relates to our betrothal to Christ as His bride. We are in fact the bride of Christ. I am, and you are the bride of Christ. This relationship comes with a lot of responsibility and a massive amount of theological implications (Ref. Gen. 2:24, Eph. 5:22-24, Col. 3:18).

This relationship between ourselves and Christ is tragically beautiful. I feel like so much of the gospel, so much of God's love for us, and so much of our reception of that love is tragically beautiful. Robbie Seay Band has this song out called "Beautiful Scandalous Night," and it's all about the crucifixion of Jesus, and what that means for us.

Here are some of the lyrics:

On the hillside, you will be delivered

At the foot of the cross justified

And your spirit restored

By the river that poured

From our blessed Savior's side

At the wonderful, tragic, mysterious tree

On that beautiful, scandalous night you and me

Were atoned by His blood and forever washed white

On that beautiful, scandalous night

Here's the tragicness of this marriage relationship with God. Numbers 25:1 says "While Israel lived in Shittim, the people began to whore with the daughters of Moab." I think that we aren't much different today. We pick things in this world to whore ourselves too. And this whoring is not confined to sexual sin. As the bride of Christ, any sin is adultery. This includes "little things" like gossip and an occasional crude joke. I am amazed at my own willingness to accept sin in "small" forms. That's like saying, "well, it was just a little bit of adultery. I only whored myself a little today...." That wouldn't fly with your spouse, and it won't fly with God either.

Here's the immense beauty of this relationship though. You might have heard the story of the woman caught in adultery. This story from John 8 is often used to teach on judgment, and our place in condemning others (as to say we have no place in condemning others). I however want to look at this story in another light. What if instead of imagining a random adulterous woman in this scene, we imagined ourselves as the bride of Christ, the adulterous bride of Christ no less. What does Jesus do? He first defends us, and then forgives us. He doesn't let one person throw a stone at us, and He Himself does not condemn us. His love is so beautiful, it is so powerfully moving, and it is so real.

I started writing with the intent to talk about Joel, and I will proceed to do so now. Thank you for bearing with me, this is the first time I've written a blog (This is Sam btw).

Joel, whose name means "Yahweh is God," has a lot to say to Israel. Joel first talks about a plague of locusts that ravages Israel. Israel is devastated, and all of the fields and vineyards are gone. Apart from the effect on Israel's personal needs, this is significant because the offerings are now cut off from God. Israel literally has nothing to offer God, and for this Joel says in chapter one, verse eight, "lament like a virgin wearing sackcloth for the bridegroom of her youth." Israel is called to mourn like a virgin whose husband dies before the marriage is consummated. The husband died before he knew his wife. In this sense the word knew has to do with sexual intimacy. "Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived" Gen. 4:1. I read this in Joel and my heart weighed so heavy because I thought of this in terms of us being God's bride. As the Bride of Christ, we are to intimately know God. This is not in a sexual way, but a spiritually intimate way. And my heart broke because I thought of a person dying before they intimately knew God.

My encouragement and prayer for myself and everyone reading along is this. That we could slow down, stop whoring ourselves to this world, be the bride of Christ, and intimately know Him. That we could take time to know God, to search after Him, and find His heart. I think the best way to intimately know God, is to find and share His heart.

Seek The Lord First

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

So to put it mildly I have been having some strugs recently. Some things were grieving me and I wasn't seeking the Lord first. I talked with a friend about everything for like an hour, and at moments the conversation did seem to be a little hated. And to be honest I wanted to be mad, because I wanted to be right. But God has definitely been teaching me to listen more lately. Immediately after the conversation I decided to dive into Scripture, because I definitely my focus wasn't definitely shot. And check out what I read.

2 Corinthians 8:3-5

For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints-and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.

You know what is absolutely insane and awesome about God. I was talking and venting about taking part in relieving the saints, but I wasn't seeking the Lord first. Did you notice the phrase right before that? "Not as we expected." I did just as they expected. I was focused on my mission and what I thought was truth. That's pride, and that's sin. The same passage where Jesus says seek first the kingdom he says do not being anxious about anything. We are supposed to give up everything to the Lord, and there is no possible way for us to do that if we aren't seeking Him first.

We need to focus on God daily and seek Him first no matter what. And it's hard. Especially when you feel like you are doing something godly. But how can you be doing something godly if you have not sought Him first? It doesn't make sense, and that is what I was trying to do. Instead of us just being so convinced we know what is right, and that we know what God wants let's seek the kingdom first. Let's run to our Lord for the answer and not to ourselves. God alone is good. He is constant. He is all that matters. Let's rejoice in that and behold His glory first.

Cut The Ties

This past weekend I was back in Niceville, and I was talking about how I am going to be back three weekends in the month of October. In response I was told by someone to cut the ties. I definitely wasn't a fan of that, because I don't think they understood why I was back. But that's not the problem. The problem is that is how the world wants us to feel. Most of us when we leave for college want and plan on cutting the ties back home. But after thinking about this a lot I see it as a misguided way of thinking and acting.

Ephesians 4:1-6

¹I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, ²with all humility and gentleness, with patience,bearing with one another in love, ³eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one^>hope that belongs to your call— ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

If we are called to maintain a unity of the Spirit how can we do this by cutting ties with people just because they are from our hometown? We can't do it. We have to be unified with believers across the world not just from our hometown, and the truth is we aren't going to like some of them. We aren't going to like where they live or whatever. It doesn't matter. What matters is that we lived consumed by the Spirit maintaining a unity among the church. If we aren't living a life defined by the Spirit back home location isn't going to change anything. We can't run from our problems read Jonah's story. We have to offer up our lives completely and wholly to our Lord and live consumed by the Spirit everywhere.

Ephesians 4:11-16

¹¹And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, ¹²^> to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, ¹⁴so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. ¹⁵Rather,^> speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ 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.

I didn't just write this blog, because what was said to me angered me. I wrote it because after leaving Niceville my heart was grieving for our church back home. I didn't see a lot of people being transformed by the Spirit, and I felt like there was an attitude of love missing. Granted I was only there for a weekend, but it tore me to pieces. I want us to get it. I want us to live and speak the truth in love. The second greatest commandment is to love your neighbor as yourself. And yes that includes people you don't like. They are plenty of people in Gainesville I hang out with, and the only thing we have in common is the Spirit of God. That is powerful. That is noticeable and genuine. I'm not trying to say I have it all together, but it pains me so much when the church isn't acting like a family. So let's love like we mean it. Let's ask the Holy Spirit into all of our lives so that people will see us and praise our God.

Colossians 3:14

¹⁴And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

Love is above all. Jesus overcame the world, but our lives don't show it. Let's overcome the world with good and with love like Paul tells us to in Romans. Jesus didn't shed his blood so we could meet once a week and talk about Scripture. He died so we could spend eternity with God, and so we could have the Holy Spirit to transform us. Let's plead and beg for the Holy Spirit to transform our lives into lives defined by fruit.

Galatians 5:22-24

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. ²⁴And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Encouragement

1 Thessalonians 5:11

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

A popular topic of conversation I've been hearing among believers recently is encouragement. I've asked and I have heard many others ask some of these questions: What is it exactly? How do we encourage? and many others. So I decided to study up on it in Scripture and it turns out the book I am reading by Francis Chan right now Forgotten God addresses many of these same questions.

I know this seems kind of obvious, but I think it's important to understand that the word courage is in the word encourage. The prefix -en means to put in to instill courage into somebody. So the whole point of encouragement is not to compliment someone or to make them feel better about themselves, but to instill within them courage. Courage to walk closer with the Lord. Courage to overcome trials and suffering in their life with joy. This true definition of encouragement is stated pretty clearly in Hebrews.

Hebrews 10:24-25

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.

A lot of times we hear this verse as a reminded that we need to go to church, but that is not the main point of the verse. The main point is to encourage, to stir up one another to love and good works. What good is church or fellowship if we aren't participating in this? Are we even gathered in His name if we aren't focusing on Christ and encouraging one another to be more like him? When we meet for church and fellowship we should be considering the first part of this verse. We should be considering how to stir up one another.

So how do we stir up one another?

Romans 1:12

that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

We are encouraged by the faith of others. One of the most encouraging moments for me in the past week was at life group on Thursday night when people just started asking questions about what they were struggling with and as a community we talked about them. I was greatly encouraged by the faith of these men and they didn't even know it. I feel like a lot of times we want to know how and when we are encouraging others so that we can boost our ego, but that's pride. The Lord knows and our Father who sees in secret will reward us. Jesus repeats that same phrase several times during the Sermon on the Mount. We don't need to be consumed with knowing how and when we are being encouraging, but rather we need to be consumed by the love of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

When the love of Christ controls us that is encouraging. I've been reading Forgotten God lately and at the end of every chapter there is a short biography of people that are consumed with Christ's love and quite clearly controlled by it. It's so encouraging and uplifting to see the faith of others and to know that their God is my God. That He is alive. That He is faithful. That He loves us.

Not only are we encouraged by the good works of others, but their suffering and struggling for our sake.

Colossians 2:1-3

For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

It is so encouraging to hear about other people struggling for us, because it reflects Christ. It imitates Christ. It demonstrates to us the love of Christ. Giving yourself for others. It's beautiful and it is powerful. We cannot deny the Spirit working within someone when we see and hear of the suffering they are enduring for the sake of the gospel. It's contagious. It makes us want more of Christ and it instills within us a boldness.

The most encouraging thing to me though is continually remembering that the Spirit dwells within me.

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

This verse gets taken out of context a lot, and it's a shame because it's so powerful. The Spirit is within us. Christ is alive he didn't just die. He rose from the dead. And it is through him we are strengthened. Not physically, but spiritually and eternally. Isn't that what matters? Our God can raise the dead. Our God can part the sea. Our God can do anything and through him so can we.

Philippians 4:12

I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Christ is all that matters. It is through the realization of this and understanding that his Spirit dwells within us that we are able to do anything through him. We need to hold on to this truth that our God is all powerful. We need to remind others and ourselves of this truth frequently, because we forget. Just like the story of Joshua and Caleb in Numbers we need to be like them. Remembering that our God can do anything and encouraging one another of the same. Not falling into the same snare the other ten did resulting in death. The faith of Joshua and Caleb is so encouraging. They had the faith and boldness to stand firm. They didn't diminish the power of God. Let's follow their example and hold on to the fact that our God can do anything.

Our God is alive let's live like it.