Windows of Light

Relationship with God is necessary to life. By necessary, I mean that without a relationship with God, we are broken individuals who are running in circles trying fill a hole in our hearts and vainly searching for meaning that can only be found in God. This doesn’t mean that when we seek after God, our troubles are over and everything becomes crystal clear. Rather it means that we are opening ourselves up for the direct and furious attack of Satan. I’ve seen this just recently. The more I’ve been seeking God and truly focusing on Him, discovering who He is, the more intense and severe the attacks of Satan have become. It’s like he knows he’s losing hold and is doing everything in his power to keep that from happening. In a way, being attacked ferociously by Satan should excite us. It means that we are that much closer to God and what is true, than we are to Satan and what is false. The world will look at us and call us crazy, but God tells us in James 1 to “2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” Satan tries to deceive us when we’re going through these trials and put thoughts in our heads such as “this is too hard” or “I’ll never be good enough.” Those are lies though! Look at Philippians 4:12-13 “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. 13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” How did Paul know how to be content? Because he trusted God in every difficult and prosperous time. And notice that he didn’t say he could only do the little or easy things. No, rather he said that he could do anything with God’s help. Our God can do ANYTHING. You have only to believe. Truly believe. Not halfheartedly, not 60% / 40%. 110%!!! When you don't wholeheartedly believe that He will do what He has said He will do, then you limit what He can do in your life. So why don’t you step back, quit trying to control the situation, and watch what God does. We also don’t deserve His mercy and grace, yet He sent His son to die for us. How do we thank Him? We often offer thanks by trying to prove that we’re “good enough.” We are never going to be “good enough” for it says in Romans that “22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:22-24) None of us are worthy to escape God’s wrath. So quit trying to be “good enough” by reading Bible three times a day, or mumbling a prayer before bed, or working with the poor etc. Rather do those things as a response to what God has done for you. Do them to show your love and devotion to, and desire for, the One who gave you a life and a purpose.

One final note is that, having a relationship with God requires constant work, as many already know. But look at your relationship this way for a moment... Imagine that your life, in connection to your relationship with God, is like a window. What shines through this window is what the world sees. When you lose focus on God, and what He has done and is doing in your life, you become a dirty window and darkness begins to cover the light that was shining through. The less you focus on God, the dirtier your window becomes, and the less God’s light can shine through into the lives of those around you. Then God brings a storm into your life to bring your focus back to Him and to wash clean your dirty window, allowing light to once more to spill out into the dark paths of others. What if we were to spend time daily with God, listening to Him, and asking Him to reveal Himself to us? Imagine how much more of God’s light would be able to shine through our windows, into the dark world we live, in if we did that? 

New Creation

This post is particularly for people who are struggling to let go of the past. I've been there, and believe me, it isn't easy to let go and move on. It's so hard just to say "I'm done with this and I'm not letting it control my thoughts, actions, emotions, or time any more." When you don't let it go, you let whatever this thing in the past is, whether you've been abused, rejected, neglected, etc, control you. This probably isn't new to many, but for those who haven't heard this before, it can be eye-opening. I believe that Satan uses your past to take your attention off of God and put it on yourselves. He doesn't want you to draw closer to God, because he knows that when you do, he is powerless. So He tries to tell you that you need to figure out a way to fix the past. Then you spend countless hours analyzing the past from several different angles, looking for the loop-holes that will enable you to fix it. And yet, while all of this searching is taking place, God is sitting there, waiting for the moment when you stop and realize, you can do absolutely nothing about your past. It is what it is. What happened in the past has helped shape your life, yes. However, the past does not, in any way, define who you are in Christ. Your worth and your value is not based upon what people have thought or said, are thinking or saying, or will think or say about you. Your worth and your value is found in the blood that was shed for you on the cross. That is what defines you. Things in life may refine you, but they do not define you. When you ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, you are saying goodbye to the past, once and for all. In God's eyes, we become His sons and daughters. You and everyone else around you are so precious to Him, that He sent His son to die on the cross for you. Look at what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:13-17: "13 If we are “out of our mind,” as some say, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" Pay close attention to verse 17. "The old has gone, the new is here." That means that you don't have to hold onto your old past. All the lies that were told to you mean nothing and should be cast out. If they are not, then you are listening to Satan's lies and giving him power over your life. I'm not at all saying that letting go is easy, like I said before, it isn't. Letting go of a hurtful past may be one of the hardest things you'll ever have to do. But, it is 100% worth it. No one can tell you when that moment will come. At some point though, you will have to decide that you are no longer going to let your past define who you are and realize that who you are in Christ defines you. Getting to this place will be harder for some than others, but I pray that you get there. And that when you get there, to the place that seems like a pit of despair, anger, and hurt, that you cry out to God with all that is in you and ask Him to show you how and help you let go of the past. I promise you, He will answer, He promises this is His Word. Never forget that you are loved, that you are special, and that He died so that you could be set free from the bondage of sin and its curse.

Counting the Cost

Over the last couple of years, I've been on a slow journey of rediscovering who God really is. What He has shown me, and is continuing to show me, is too much to keep to myself. So I am starting this blog. I can't promise that anything that I post will be mind-blowing, nor do I want this to be about me. I simply want this to be a place, where I can share with others what an amazing God I serve and what He is revealing to me, about Himself. 

Last night I went to the youth group at my church. Granted, I'm a little old for youth group, but over the past couple of weeks I think God has been telling me that I need to go and help pour into the lives of the youth at my church, even though I still have a lot to learn. I think there was an additional reason that He wanted me there last night. The teaching was on the passage of scripture where Jesus goes into the temple and drives out the people doing business. Our assistant pastor talked about how Israel had forgotten God and was defiling this sacred place, turning it into a market instead of a holy place where they could meet with God. This is analogous to us when we pursue worldly things instead of pursuing the things of God. We have all probably heard this message or one similar many times. What caught my attention was something he said at the end... He said "I'm sure many of you have heard this phrase numerous times before. I want you to know that it is false." "Have you ever heard anyone say 'God just wants to give you the free gift of salvation? You don't have to pay anything, it's completely free." "That's not true. It cost God sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross. And it costs you, your whole life. When you say 'Yes, Jesus come into my life and make me new,' you are surrendering your life to Him. It is no longer yours. That is what salvation costs you."

Simple right? Yet, this almost left me dumbfounded. I know it may seem to be a fundamental part of following Jesus, but I think so many people miss the true meaning of what it is to follow Him. I know I did. Sure I had heard the whole "you have to surrender your life" part before, but never in connection to understanding the cost of salvation. As I was sitting there, the verses from Luke 14 about counting the cost came to mind and I realized that I understood them in a whole new light. 

Luke 14:25-33 "25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples."

I believe God used all of this to stop me, and make me fully realize, maybe for the first time, that my life is not my own. It excites and fills me with joy, while at the same time it gives me peace, that I can honestly say, that I have counted the cost and am more than willing to pay the price. My life, and all that I have and ever will have, are His, from now until eternity.