We all have a desire to be known, not just recognized by our name or our looks, but to be truly known for who we are as a person. So where does this desire come from? I believe it comes from God, as we are created in His image, and He, like us desires to be known.
I guess we could say the Bible is God's autobiography. It tells us everything God wants us to know about Himself, and more. He tells of His relationships with His children and how much He loves them. He tells us about His enemies and why they hate Him so much. He tells us of His character, His likes and dislikes, He talks about His past, and His plans for the future. From Genesis to Revelation it's all about Him and His view of relationships and life, and how He designed them to be.
Many times I have found myself believing one thing about God, only to find out, what I thought wasn't really true. I came to realize, I kept trying to make Him into the god I wanted Him to be and placing Him in a box of my making, and not the God He is, who can not be contained in a box.
The more I learn about God, the more I see His Holiness, but along with that comes a deeper understanding of my own sinfulness before Him, which in turn makes me appreciate the sacrifice He made for me all the more.
Sunday, September 03, 2006
Unconditional Love, Does it exist?
Yes, it does it exist.
Like parents love their children and children love their parents, God loves us.
We don't stop loving our children when they make mistakes or hurt us, and they will do both at some point.
We tend to believe we only love them like that because they are our children, or because they are our parents, but truth be told, even if they weren't you could still love them.
We may not like the actions or choices of other people all the time, but we must ask ourselves do we always like the actions and choices of our parents and children? You may argue that other people are different, but I would ask in what way are they different? They don't share your blood line?
How does that make them different? They, like your parents and children or even your brothers and sisters are still created by and in the image of God, are they not? So, how are they different?
Maybe the answer lies in what we believe love is about. So what does it mean to love someone? Isn't love really just caring for and about another person and wanting the best for them, even if what is best for them might hurt them a bit?
Consider, someone who is addicted to drugs, it doesn't matter what kind of drug, we know that drug addiction is bad for them, and we want them to stop.
Sometimes it takes setting boundaries and removing yourself from their life for them to realize they need help. Removing yourself from their life doesn't mean you no longer love them, they might feel you are abandoning and as if you don't love them, and you might feel you are abandoning them, but really your not. Your setting in place something that protects you from being hurt by their actions and allowing them to suffer the consequences of their own choices.
You are in essence telling them, I love you, but I also love and respect myself. If you want to do drugs, you are free to do them all you want. However, if you want to spend time with me, then please respect my choice also, that you must be sober when we are with me. The love is NOT conditional, the being in relationship with the other person however, IS based on certain conditions being met.
Believing we must spend time with people we love when they are hurting us or even themselves is a lie. I mean, if we can continue to love and care about our parents, children and siblings when they hurt us, after we move away from home, we can certainly be the same with others, can we not?
God is the same way. He sets conditions on having a relationship with Him, does it mean He doesn't love us? By no means. He continues to love us, but like us, He doesn't always like our actions, so He will not fellowship with us, when we are making the choice to live in sin.
We don't have to believe God is like that, anymore than we have to believe others choose not to spend time with us because of our choices, but what we believe is not always true. But that is most certainly what the bible teaches us to be true about God and the example He sets in Matthew 18:15-17 and John 3:18-21, as well as many other passages in the Bible.
We must come to the point of understanding and accepting, people no matter who they are, will hurt us at some point in our lives, just as we will also at some point hurt other people. Not, necessarily because we or they want to hurt each other, but because we are all sinners who fall short of God's perfection.
Like parents love their children and children love their parents, God loves us.
We don't stop loving our children when they make mistakes or hurt us, and they will do both at some point.
We tend to believe we only love them like that because they are our children, or because they are our parents, but truth be told, even if they weren't you could still love them.
We may not like the actions or choices of other people all the time, but we must ask ourselves do we always like the actions and choices of our parents and children? You may argue that other people are different, but I would ask in what way are they different? They don't share your blood line?
How does that make them different? They, like your parents and children or even your brothers and sisters are still created by and in the image of God, are they not? So, how are they different?
Maybe the answer lies in what we believe love is about. So what does it mean to love someone? Isn't love really just caring for and about another person and wanting the best for them, even if what is best for them might hurt them a bit?
Consider, someone who is addicted to drugs, it doesn't matter what kind of drug, we know that drug addiction is bad for them, and we want them to stop.
Sometimes it takes setting boundaries and removing yourself from their life for them to realize they need help. Removing yourself from their life doesn't mean you no longer love them, they might feel you are abandoning and as if you don't love them, and you might feel you are abandoning them, but really your not. Your setting in place something that protects you from being hurt by their actions and allowing them to suffer the consequences of their own choices.
You are in essence telling them, I love you, but I also love and respect myself. If you want to do drugs, you are free to do them all you want. However, if you want to spend time with me, then please respect my choice also, that you must be sober when we are with me. The love is NOT conditional, the being in relationship with the other person however, IS based on certain conditions being met.
Believing we must spend time with people we love when they are hurting us or even themselves is a lie. I mean, if we can continue to love and care about our parents, children and siblings when they hurt us, after we move away from home, we can certainly be the same with others, can we not?
God is the same way. He sets conditions on having a relationship with Him, does it mean He doesn't love us? By no means. He continues to love us, but like us, He doesn't always like our actions, so He will not fellowship with us, when we are making the choice to live in sin.
We don't have to believe God is like that, anymore than we have to believe others choose not to spend time with us because of our choices, but what we believe is not always true. But that is most certainly what the bible teaches us to be true about God and the example He sets in Matthew 18:15-17 and John 3:18-21, as well as many other passages in the Bible.
We must come to the point of understanding and accepting, people no matter who they are, will hurt us at some point in our lives, just as we will also at some point hurt other people. Not, necessarily because we or they want to hurt each other, but because we are all sinners who fall short of God's perfection.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Only One Way
Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life; No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6)
By this statement we see Jesus is telling us, there is only one way to get to Heaven, and He is the way.
It is much like giving directions to our own homes, not all roads to lead our house. When I give people directions to my house they may come from different areas of town so they make take various streets to get here, but in the end they all must turn on my street to get to my house.
Getting to Heaven is the same way. You might belong to a different denomination than I do, or or you may even believe in different gods at some point, but to get to heaven you must eventually turn to Jesus to get there.
By this statement we see Jesus is telling us, there is only one way to get to Heaven, and He is the way.
It is much like giving directions to our own homes, not all roads to lead our house. When I give people directions to my house they may come from different areas of town so they make take various streets to get here, but in the end they all must turn on my street to get to my house.
Getting to Heaven is the same way. You might belong to a different denomination than I do, or or you may even believe in different gods at some point, but to get to heaven you must eventually turn to Jesus to get there.
Thursday, April 14, 2005
When Pastors Pray for Revival
Over the years I have heard many pastors pray for revival, and I've often wondered what that really means.
I've come to understand that revival starts in the hearts of each individual person. It comes when we look honestly at our lives before God's word and acknowledge our own sinfulness, repent, and turn away from those sins.
It happens when we stop looking at what others are doing wrong (the speck in our brothers eye), and start looking at our own actions (the plank in our own eye) and begin to make changes within ourselves. (Matthew 7:3)
When we stop placing our focus on what others are doing or not doing, and begin looking at what we are doing ourselves, and asking "Are MY actions pleasing to God?, if not, what does God desire for me to change in myself?"
So when will there be a revival? That depends, on when we start turning God's mirror back on ourselves and praying as the Psalmist did:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there be any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV)
I've come to understand that revival starts in the hearts of each individual person. It comes when we look honestly at our lives before God's word and acknowledge our own sinfulness, repent, and turn away from those sins.
It happens when we stop looking at what others are doing wrong (the speck in our brothers eye), and start looking at our own actions (the plank in our own eye) and begin to make changes within ourselves. (Matthew 7:3)
When we stop placing our focus on what others are doing or not doing, and begin looking at what we are doing ourselves, and asking "Are MY actions pleasing to God?, if not, what does God desire for me to change in myself?"
So when will there be a revival? That depends, on when we start turning God's mirror back on ourselves and praying as the Psalmist did:
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there be any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV)
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Stones
How often have we thrown verbal stones at others, or picked up the stones others have thrown at us and continually threw them at ourselves?
Anytime someone puts you down, calls you names or talks badly about you to others, they are throwing stones. When we play those words in our minds about ourselves, we have picked up the stones and started throwing them at ourselves.
So how do we stop throwing the stones at ourselves? We can begin by learning what God says about us, and look to Him to find our value and worth as a person.
We don't measure our value as a person by what others say about us. We measure our value as a person by what God says.
God says we are all sinners. Not just one person is a sinner, but all of us are, and in that we see that we are no better or no worse than anyone else in the eyes of God.
Despite the fact we are all sinners, God sent His Son to die on a cross for us. That is how much value God sees in us. He sent His Son to die, just so that we can have a relationship with Him.
God knows everything there is to know about us, even our inner most thoughts about others, and despite what others might say, you were not a mistake per Psalm 139.
Here are some other verses to look up and read at your leisure so that you may read for yourselves How much value God sees in us.
Matthew 5:48; 6:31-33; 7:11; 10:29-31
Genesis 1:27
Acts 17:26, 28
Jeremiah 1:4-5; 29:11; 31:3; 32:40; 33:3
Ephesians 1:11-12
Psalm 71::6
John 8:41-44
1 John 4:16; 3:1
Zephaniah 3:17
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
2 Corinthians 1:3-4; 5:18-19
Psalm 34:18
Isiah 40:11
Revelation 21:3-4
1 John 2:23
Romans 8:38-39
Knowing what God says is so much more important than worrying about what other people think about you, As God is our creator.
Anytime someone puts you down, calls you names or talks badly about you to others, they are throwing stones. When we play those words in our minds about ourselves, we have picked up the stones and started throwing them at ourselves.
So how do we stop throwing the stones at ourselves? We can begin by learning what God says about us, and look to Him to find our value and worth as a person.
We don't measure our value as a person by what others say about us. We measure our value as a person by what God says.
God says we are all sinners. Not just one person is a sinner, but all of us are, and in that we see that we are no better or no worse than anyone else in the eyes of God.
Despite the fact we are all sinners, God sent His Son to die on a cross for us. That is how much value God sees in us. He sent His Son to die, just so that we can have a relationship with Him.
God knows everything there is to know about us, even our inner most thoughts about others, and despite what others might say, you were not a mistake per Psalm 139.
Here are some other verses to look up and read at your leisure so that you may read for yourselves How much value God sees in us.
Matthew 5:48; 6:31-33; 7:11; 10:29-31
Genesis 1:27
Acts 17:26, 28
Jeremiah 1:4-5; 29:11; 31:3; 32:40; 33:3
Ephesians 1:11-12
Psalm 71::6
John 8:41-44
1 John 4:16; 3:1
Zephaniah 3:17
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
2 Corinthians 1:3-4; 5:18-19
Psalm 34:18
Isiah 40:11
Revelation 21:3-4
1 John 2:23
Romans 8:38-39
Knowing what God says is so much more important than worrying about what other people think about you, As God is our creator.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
After Salvation, then what?
What's next depends on the person, and what kind of relationship they wish to have with the living God.
A relationship with God is much like any other relationship we have, and It depends on how much time we both put into it on how close we are to God. We know God has given 100% and that will never change. So, the deciding factor on our relationship with God is what we put into it.
Will we put ten, twenty, ninety or one hundred percent of ourselves into the relationship?
If we put ten percent of ourselves, the relationship will never grow to much more than the acquantance stage. However, if we put one hundred percent of ourselves, He will be closer than a brother.
So, what does it mean to give one hundred percent of ourselves? It means, we are open and honest with Him and ourselves in ALL things, from what we consider little white lies, taking a pen from the office, or leaving work early. To be honest with God in all things, we must first look within ourselves and face the deep secrets of our heart, those we prefer to run and hide from and share them openly with God.
It is realizing God gives us each breath we take, every beat of our heart and knowing He can stop either at any point and being thankful for each moment He chooses to give. The bible tells us not to fear what man can do to us, but only to fear what God can do.
He alone has control of whether we live or die, He alone chooses the day and hour in which we will die, no man can hurt us past what God allows, to make us depend more on Him or to turn further away from Him.
His desire is that all be saved, but He will not force a relationship on any of us, He will use our circumstances to show us our need for Him, we can choose to lean on Him or not.
So again, the type of relationship we have with God, is totally up to us and what we are willing to put in to it, as He has already given His all.
A relationship with God is much like any other relationship we have, and It depends on how much time we both put into it on how close we are to God. We know God has given 100% and that will never change. So, the deciding factor on our relationship with God is what we put into it.
Will we put ten, twenty, ninety or one hundred percent of ourselves into the relationship?
If we put ten percent of ourselves, the relationship will never grow to much more than the acquantance stage. However, if we put one hundred percent of ourselves, He will be closer than a brother.
So, what does it mean to give one hundred percent of ourselves? It means, we are open and honest with Him and ourselves in ALL things, from what we consider little white lies, taking a pen from the office, or leaving work early. To be honest with God in all things, we must first look within ourselves and face the deep secrets of our heart, those we prefer to run and hide from and share them openly with God.
It is realizing God gives us each breath we take, every beat of our heart and knowing He can stop either at any point and being thankful for each moment He chooses to give. The bible tells us not to fear what man can do to us, but only to fear what God can do.
He alone has control of whether we live or die, He alone chooses the day and hour in which we will die, no man can hurt us past what God allows, to make us depend more on Him or to turn further away from Him.
His desire is that all be saved, but He will not force a relationship on any of us, He will use our circumstances to show us our need for Him, we can choose to lean on Him or not.
So again, the type of relationship we have with God, is totally up to us and what we are willing to put in to it, as He has already given His all.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Are you eatting daily?
Christians require both physical and spiritual food in order to grow into mature adults physically and spiritually.
While we were infants we ate a diet of baby food and formula which were easier to digest, and help our physical bodies grow and develop. As we grew physically our teeth came in and we were gradually introduced to solid foods and various drinks. Our bodies matured and became capable of digesting and processing those foods for our continued growth. The more nourishment we received the stronger our physical bodies grew.
Spiritual growth is much the same. When we first come to know Jesus as our Savior, we become babies in Gods Spiritual family. As babies in God’s family we require spiritual food in order to grow and mature into healthy adults. However, our spiritual growth is determined by how much we eat and drink of God’s Word. As we feed on God’s word through bible studies, going to church, and reading the Word ourselves the more spiritually mature we can grow.
If we don’t eat daily our physical bodies become weak and unable to fight off illness and disease. If we don’t eat spiritual foods daily our spiritual health becomes weak and we are unable to fight temptations or spiritual battles and we fall to sin.
Where are you spiritually? Are you still a baby who has yet to cut their teeth? A young child just beginning to walk? An adult who has been growing, maturing, exercising your spiritual muscles in Gods Word for many years? Or are you, like many others starving from lack of food, barely getting by on little bites and appetizers going to Church or a Bible study only on occasion? Or are you feasting on God’s manna eating and drinking daily from God’s table?
While we were infants we ate a diet of baby food and formula which were easier to digest, and help our physical bodies grow and develop. As we grew physically our teeth came in and we were gradually introduced to solid foods and various drinks. Our bodies matured and became capable of digesting and processing those foods for our continued growth. The more nourishment we received the stronger our physical bodies grew.
Spiritual growth is much the same. When we first come to know Jesus as our Savior, we become babies in Gods Spiritual family. As babies in God’s family we require spiritual food in order to grow and mature into healthy adults. However, our spiritual growth is determined by how much we eat and drink of God’s Word. As we feed on God’s word through bible studies, going to church, and reading the Word ourselves the more spiritually mature we can grow.
If we don’t eat daily our physical bodies become weak and unable to fight off illness and disease. If we don’t eat spiritual foods daily our spiritual health becomes weak and we are unable to fight temptations or spiritual battles and we fall to sin.
Where are you spiritually? Are you still a baby who has yet to cut their teeth? A young child just beginning to walk? An adult who has been growing, maturing, exercising your spiritual muscles in Gods Word for many years? Or are you, like many others starving from lack of food, barely getting by on little bites and appetizers going to Church or a Bible study only on occasion? Or are you feasting on God’s manna eating and drinking daily from God’s table?
Friday, January 28, 2005
What's in a Name?
What's in a name, what does it represent?
Are you named after someone? An ancestor, someone famous? Or is your name some what orginal to your family?
If you were named after someone, what were they like, were they someone you could look up to and respect?
Or were they someone in whom you would be disgraced or embarassed to be associated?
When or even if you have children and grandchildren will they be able to look at your life and say: "I really respected this person, they lived an honorable life and I want to honor them by passing on their name." ?
Look at the businesses in your community, how many of them carry the name of the owner? How many of those are built on integrity and honesty? I think most businesses that carry a persons name encourages integrity by all their employees, as the work they produce represents the person whose name is on the business. When you do business with others and are required to give your name, are you proud to say my name is and I work for... or are you ashamed to say your name is and I work for....as they may have heard a few bad things about you, or the company in which you do business for?
How many have named their children after themselves, I wonder if they have thought: based on my actions and my life choices will my child have to live down my reputation? Or will they have to live up to a certain standard, in which they may never be able to?
Jesus, had His own Name and it stood for many things; He wasn't called God Jr., or Joseph Jr. He was Jesus, Immanuel, God is with us, Christ. The Son of the Living God. A name in which He built His own reputation, a name that represents Honesty, Love, Integrity, Truth, Justice, Compassion, Forgiveness, and so many other things.
When people think of your name, what do they think? Do think that louse, they never cared for anyone but themselves? Or do they say what a wonderful person, they always treated everyone they met with honor and respect?
What will your obituary say about you? I've read a few obituaries in the past one of which said "She was a Godly woman, a praying woman, taught her children Gods ways" and her husbands said much the same about him, He shared the love of Christ where ever he went. But then there was another one that said this man was a member of this gulf club, and that social organization, but nothing of a love for Christ. In reading those, I began to wonder what will be said about me? What will my children say? My other family and friends? Will they say my lifes walk matched my words?
As Christians, we carry the name of Christ, so we should ask ourselves, do we bring honor or shame to His name? Do our actions and words reflect the name in which we say is ours? Do they reflect the name of Christ
and all that His name represents?
Are you named after someone? An ancestor, someone famous? Or is your name some what orginal to your family?
If you were named after someone, what were they like, were they someone you could look up to and respect?
Or were they someone in whom you would be disgraced or embarassed to be associated?
When or even if you have children and grandchildren will they be able to look at your life and say: "I really respected this person, they lived an honorable life and I want to honor them by passing on their name." ?
Look at the businesses in your community, how many of them carry the name of the owner? How many of those are built on integrity and honesty? I think most businesses that carry a persons name encourages integrity by all their employees, as the work they produce represents the person whose name is on the business. When you do business with others and are required to give your name, are you proud to say my name is and I work for... or are you ashamed to say your name is and I work for....as they may have heard a few bad things about you, or the company in which you do business for?
How many have named their children after themselves, I wonder if they have thought: based on my actions and my life choices will my child have to live down my reputation? Or will they have to live up to a certain standard, in which they may never be able to?
Jesus, had His own Name and it stood for many things; He wasn't called God Jr., or Joseph Jr. He was Jesus, Immanuel, God is with us, Christ. The Son of the Living God. A name in which He built His own reputation, a name that represents Honesty, Love, Integrity, Truth, Justice, Compassion, Forgiveness, and so many other things.
When people think of your name, what do they think? Do think that louse, they never cared for anyone but themselves? Or do they say what a wonderful person, they always treated everyone they met with honor and respect?
What will your obituary say about you? I've read a few obituaries in the past one of which said "She was a Godly woman, a praying woman, taught her children Gods ways" and her husbands said much the same about him, He shared the love of Christ where ever he went. But then there was another one that said this man was a member of this gulf club, and that social organization, but nothing of a love for Christ. In reading those, I began to wonder what will be said about me? What will my children say? My other family and friends? Will they say my lifes walk matched my words?
As Christians, we carry the name of Christ, so we should ask ourselves, do we bring honor or shame to His name? Do our actions and words reflect the name in which we say is ours? Do they reflect the name of Christ
and all that His name represents?
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Making God Lord over our life
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, even his own life also, He can not be my disciple.” Luke 14:26
Have you ever wondered who the “they’s” of society are? Have you ever been more concerned about pleasing everyone else in your life? Those are the “they’s” in your life. Whose ever opinions become more important to you than what God’s wants and is calling you to do, they become the ‘god’ you worship.
I was never one to try and keep up with the preverbial “Joneses,” but I used to be so concerned about what “they” would think. Having come from a background of abuse, I never learned to trust my own instincts, and didn’t believe I knew what was best for me. I began to look at how everyone else seemed to have it more together than I did. They hadn’t lived the abuse I did, so they must some how be smarter than me. I began valuing their thought’s and opinions more than my own. I believed since they had been Christian’s longer than I had, they must know what God wanted for my life.
Who were the “they’s’ in my life? The ‘theys’ were everyone from family, and friends, to complete strangers. Everyone became the ‘they’s’ in my life. It wasn’t until God spoke to me through this verse did I understand God wanted me to listen to Him and not everyone else. God was showing me how I was putting everyone else before Him. It wasn’t that their opinions weren’t valuable, and God couldn’t use them to show me direction, but it’s that we should seek God’s direction first and foremost and not only depend on the opinions and thought’s of everyone else around us.
What God want’s for us should be more important to us than what other’s think. If we are listening to God more than to others, it will appear that we hate them, not that we do, but it will seem that way. So ask yourself whose opinion do you value more, God’s or the "they’s" in your life?
Lord, I ask that you will give me eye’s to see whose thought’s and opinions I value more than yours. Show me who I put before you in my life, is it family, friends, my boss, or strangers? Give me wisdom to discern if you are using them to direct my path more clearly, or are they stumbling block’s in my walk with you? Lord, if I have learned not to trust my instincts, teach me to see that you have given me those instinct’s and you will use them to direct my path. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
Have you ever wondered who the “they’s” of society are? Have you ever been more concerned about pleasing everyone else in your life? Those are the “they’s” in your life. Whose ever opinions become more important to you than what God’s wants and is calling you to do, they become the ‘god’ you worship.
I was never one to try and keep up with the preverbial “Joneses,” but I used to be so concerned about what “they” would think. Having come from a background of abuse, I never learned to trust my own instincts, and didn’t believe I knew what was best for me. I began to look at how everyone else seemed to have it more together than I did. They hadn’t lived the abuse I did, so they must some how be smarter than me. I began valuing their thought’s and opinions more than my own. I believed since they had been Christian’s longer than I had, they must know what God wanted for my life.
Who were the “they’s’ in my life? The ‘theys’ were everyone from family, and friends, to complete strangers. Everyone became the ‘they’s’ in my life. It wasn’t until God spoke to me through this verse did I understand God wanted me to listen to Him and not everyone else. God was showing me how I was putting everyone else before Him. It wasn’t that their opinions weren’t valuable, and God couldn’t use them to show me direction, but it’s that we should seek God’s direction first and foremost and not only depend on the opinions and thought’s of everyone else around us.
What God want’s for us should be more important to us than what other’s think. If we are listening to God more than to others, it will appear that we hate them, not that we do, but it will seem that way. So ask yourself whose opinion do you value more, God’s or the "they’s" in your life?
Lord, I ask that you will give me eye’s to see whose thought’s and opinions I value more than yours. Show me who I put before you in my life, is it family, friends, my boss, or strangers? Give me wisdom to discern if you are using them to direct my path more clearly, or are they stumbling block’s in my walk with you? Lord, if I have learned not to trust my instincts, teach me to see that you have given me those instinct’s and you will use them to direct my path. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
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