Living Free…

I haven’t been posting all of the chapters from the book in this blog, but this is an essential follow up chapter to chapter 13 (freedom) that was posted previously so I am posting this rough draft chapter for those of you who are my “faithful readers” and may benefit from the continuation of the teaching…

Chapter 14- Living Free!

John 8:34-36

The Message (MSG)

 ^34-36Jesus said, “I tell you most solemnly that anyone who chooses a life of sin is trapped in a dead-end life and is, in fact, a slave. A slave is a transient, who can’t come and go at will. The Son, though, has an established position, the run of the house. So if the Son sets you free, you are free through and through…

 

 

After repenting of sin, renouncing the strongholds in our lives and experiencing our first tastes of freedom, there is a tendency to let our guard down in the arena of temptation and sin.  We hear the truths from God’s Word, like the scripture above stating that we are free through and through and even emotionally we feel so different, in that time it is easy to assume that those days of warring against those strongholds are over… But I want to caution you in this area of thinking because there is still a battle and there is still an enemy that we have to fight against!

So often I have spoken with people who are attempting to walk out their relationship with Christ, many for the first time, and when they come to this understanding of freedom that they can experience from the strongholds and sin that they have warred against their entire lives there is an excitement!  Emotionally, the realization of having freedom in an area that has been such a burden for them for so long is absolutely liberating! And rightfully so!

Although I do not want to discourage the excitement and anticipation of continued breakthrough in your life, I also have to warn you that when the emotion fades and reality sets in, the devil will be waiting for an opportunity to try to slap those chains of bondage back on you!  It may not be today or tomorrow, but it will absolutely happen at some point and you need to be ready both mentally and spiritually for it when it happens.  Failure to prepare yourself for the attack will likely result in significant disappointment and feelings of failure if you are not expecting the attack and prepared for it.

As we stated in previous chapters, we are in a battle and our enemy is not a physical enemy but a spiritual enemy.

Ephesians 6:12

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹²For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.

 

Recognizing that Satan had a plan to destroy your life from very early on and that he obviously had a reason for placing those strongholds in your life at a young age, it would be safe to assume that he had a reason for doing what he was doing.  The devil does not want for you to reach your God ordained destiny!  He wants you to go through life and never reach your fullest potential because as long as you are deceived into believing that you are less than God created you be, then, you are no threat to Satan and he is free to operate unrestricted in authority in this realm and in your life.  The problems arise for Satan when those he has deceived, come to the knowledge of truth that they do not have to be bound any longer!  When this happens, Satan loses his authority to operate and cannot fulfill his hate filled desires to destroy man and rob them of their destiny!

Many people do not really think about this, but we were created in the image of God, and Satan HATES God!  We are a constant reminder of everything that he is not and never can be!  We represent the authority that stripped him of his every selfish desire to be greater than God!  So, he accomplishes several purposes when he attacks man.  He hurts God because God loves us, he fulfills his own depraved desires to destroy and pervert that which God created to be good and he fulfills the pride that got him kicked out of heaven to begin with when men surrender their will to Satans desires for their lives instead of Gods.

With that understanding, you must know that the devil is not done trying to own you!  For years he has occupied a thrown in your life through the strongholds that you submitted to and he will not be content to simply give up the ground that he gained over you during your lifetime.  He’ll be back…and when he comes, you need to be ready!

1 Peter 5:8

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁸Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [^[a]in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour.

The authority that the devil had in our lives through sin and strongholds was surrendered to him by our choices.  And although you have taken a stand and renounced his authority in your life, your choices can open the doors once again to allow him access to reestablish the strongholds that you just overcame!  1 Peter 5:8 (above) was talking to CHRISTIANS warning us as Christians that we need to be vigilant and cautious because the devil is looking for an opportunity to destroy us!

It will not likely be very long after experiencing a victory over Satan that he will come back and try to take back what was previously his.  He uses all kinds of tactics, all are deceptive, but one I have seen time and time again.  The devil comes in confronting what you experienced with doubt.  He tries to get you to question the truth that you just encountered posing questions like, Did you REALLY get free or is this just emotional?  He’ll say things like, You’re never going to be able to make it, you are a failure and always have been! etc…

What the devil is attempting to do is uproot the faith that you have placed in the truth of God’s Word so that you do not have anything to stand on for your victory!  He knows if he can deceive you into believing that you have not experienced real breakthrough, then you are likely to simply go back to the stronghold that once ruled your life.  What you have to realize is this, Satan is a liar!  He can’t tell the truth and when he attempts to twist the truth to deceive us into believing a lie he is doing it with an ulterior motive!  Below is a scripture reference that further substantiates my position.  Here Jesus is describing Satan’s nature by confronting those who are bound by his strongholds.

John 8:44

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁴⁴You are of your father, the devil, and it is your will to practice the lusts and gratify the desires [which are characteristic] of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false.

 

In Matthew Chapter 13 Jesus actually addresses the very thing that I am talking about in this chapter as it pertains to Satan coming against us and attempting to uproot the truth that we have come to understand in an attempt to reestablish the strongholds in our lives.

Matthew 13:3-8 & 18-23

The Message (MSG)

Matthew 13

A Harvest Story

 ^1-3 At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation, telling stories.

 ^3-8“What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.

 

The Meaning of the Harvest Story

 ^18-19“Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.

 ^20-21“The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.

 ²²“The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.

 ²³“The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.”

Each person reading this book are the person Jesus was talking about in verse 23.  You are the ones who have heard the truth and are applying what you have learned to your life so that it can produce a harvest in your life beyond your wildest dreams.  But you will need to be aware that you are not beyond the devils attempts to deceive you into believing a lie. You can overcome him EVERY TIME but he will try to find a way back into your life!

What he wants for you to do is to reopen the door to him through your choices.  What I have noticed is that the devil will almost never throw a huge temptation your way initially.  Most of the time he will attempt to deceive you into making small compromises.  If you previously struggled with a stronghold, he will likely tempt you with sins that you perceive to be not as bad but lead you back to the bondage that you obtained freedom from.

I was speaking with woman named Gina who used to be a meth addict.  She came to me asking about smoking marijuana.  Gina said, I don’t have any desire to shoot up or smoke crack or do meth anymore, but recently I have been smoking a little pot just to relax at night… Based upon her experiences, she did not view smoking weed as a stronghold because she was never really addicted to smoking weed.  As a result, it seemed acceptable to her.

I asked Gina to think back on her life, before she was ever an addict, before she was ever involved in the sex industry, before her life spiraled out of control by her own admission.  Then I asked her, what was the first drug you used to get high?  She smiled at me and said, Marijuana… I then asked her, Did you ever planned on being an addict when you smoked that first joint?  She said, No… Then I asked her, If it had been meth or cocaine that was offered to you all those years ago instead of marijuana would you have taken it…? Again she responded, No…

I went on to explain to Gina how what she perceived to be a small compromise many years ago in smoking marijuana was the catalyst for her addiction and the horrible decisions that accompanied that addiction years later.  I then asked her, Why are you willing to take a detour from Gods destiny for your life through the neighborhood of your past weaknesses?

 

I pose that same question to you today… When the Devil attempts to tempt you with sins that seem trivial in comparison to what you used to do, take a moment and realize that you didn’t get to that point of bondage overnight and the way you ended up there last time was by making one small compromise at a time.

It’s in what we perceive to be little compromises that our lives become bound by sin and strongholds. How many of you have ever looked back on your life and said, How in the world did I get so messed up?! The reason for that feeling of shock is because it didn’t happen overnight and the small compromises didn’t appear to have much consequence attached to them until they set you up for the fall that the devil had been orchestrating for years!  Then, when you least expected it and likely in a moment of weakness, BOOM you are looking around at destruction and feel completely overwhelmed and dumbfounded as to how you ended up there…

The devil doesn’t care if it takes a year or ten years to get you back into bondage as long as your are progressing toward your destruction.  He has a plan and when you are blindly allowing yourself to submit to the small compromises, you are being deceived and manipulated like a pawn toward his big destruction for your life…One small move at a time!

This is why you have to be diligent and determined to not fall back into the devils trap for your life!  I have a saying that I use frequently when I counsel with people, Do what is right because it is right…  So many times I see people looking for a loophole to justify sin.  They are attempting to find a reason that it will be ok for them to compromise a little and they excuse it because they feel like they are doing so much better than they did before.

What you absolutely have to realize is this, sin is sin.  Big or small, the bible says that the wages of sin is death!

James 4:17

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁷So any person who knows what is right to do but does not do it, to him it is sin.

You’ve already spent enough time Doing Time or living life in bondage to sin and strongholds!  Don’t get free and then let your guard down assuming that you won’t go back to that bondage.  You’ve already proven to yourself that you are capable and even in some cases, predisposed to being bound by those strongholds so it is necessary at this point, once you have repented of the sin and renounced your agreement with the strongholds that previously bound you, that you now place your agreement in the truth of God’s Word.

When the devil comes against you with his lies, deceits and manipulations, stand your ground and speak out loud against him!

I love what Jesus exampled in the Bible as it pertains to Satan trying to tempt him.  Jesus was physically very weak.  He had gone 40 days without food and the devil attacked him, much like he does us…When we are already weak…

Luke 4:1-13

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Luke 4

 ¹THEN JESUS, full of and controlled by the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led in [by] the [Holy] Spirit

    ²For (during) forty days in the wilderness (desert), where He was tempted (^[a]tried, tested exceedingly) by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they were completed, He was hungry.

    ³Then the devil said to Him, If You are the Son of God, order this stone to turn into a loaf [of bread].

    ⁴And Jesus replied to him, It is written, Man shall not live and be sustained by (on) bread alone ^[b]but by every word and expression of God.

    ⁵Then the devil took Him up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time [^[c]in the twinkling of an eye].

    ⁶And he said to Him, To You I will give all this power and authority and their glory (all their magnificence, excellence, preeminence, dignity, and grace), for it has been turned over to me, and I give it to whomever I will.

    ⁷Therefore if You will do homage to and worship me [^[d]just once], it shall all be Yours.

    ⁸And Jesus replied to him, ^[e]Get behind Me, Satan! It is written, You shall do homage to and worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.

    ⁹Then he took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on ^[f]a gable of the temple, and said to Him, If You are the Son of God, cast Yourself down from here;

    ¹⁰For it is written, He will give His angels charge over you to guard and watch over you closely and carefully;

    ¹¹And on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

    ¹²And Jesus replied to him, [The Scripture] says, You shall not tempt (try, ^[g]test exceedingly) the Lord your God.

    ¹³And when the devil had ended every [the complete cycle of] temptation, he [temporarily] left Him [that is, ^[h]stood off from Him] until another more opportune and favorable time.

There are a couple of things I would like to point out from this passage of scripture as we close out this chapter.  When Jesus combated the devils temptation, He did it with his spoken words!  As we addressed in the previous chapter, speaking out loud to the mountains in our lives is an aspect of how we use our God given authority in this earth.

The next thing I would like to emphasize is that Jesus spoke the Word of God against the Devil!  God has given us His Word and it is so important that we learn what it says as it pertains to the areas that we have previously struggled under bondage of strongholds!  That way, when the devil does attack, we can speak what God says about us and declare our agreement with the Word of God and who we are now in Christ, rather than allowing the lies of Satan to deceive us!

Finally, even after we experience victory, we have to realize that the Devil will be back when the timing is favorable or opportune (see verse 13).  So it is important that we continue to do what is right because it is right and make the choices for our lives that we know will please God.

If you are unsure of what that means completely, it’s ok, God is faithful to continue to reveal Himself to you and show you more and more what He desires for you and from you.  Just do your part by talking to God and asking Him to show you what you need to understand!

That’s the amazing thing about God, He loves us and wants us to succeed!  As we seek His desires for our lives, He will fill in the blanks with the necessary relationships, knowledge and understanding… This book is just one of those fill in the blanks for you today…  He is faithful!

Proverbs 3:5-6

Amplified Bible (AMP)

⁵Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding.

    ⁶In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.

I AM Inspired

I AM inspired

As I’m coming to the end of this book, I find myself reflecting on so much that has transpired in this season… So many ups and downs, so many tests of my character, so many opportunities to “give up or GET UP”.  It’s interesting for me to look back over the course of the past few years and to see how much I have learned and as a direct result, grown.  It has been these God lessons that have inspired me to document the journey in a season where many times I did not feel like picking up a pen.

In a previous chapter, I addressed a conversation I had with God where I was talking to Him and asked, “Don’t you think I’ve been in this season a long time”, only to have him respond with a very direct and unexpected, “You had a lot to unlearn”.

I believe that I’m finally on the “other side” of that season in my life…Not that I don’t still have things to “learn and unlearn” but that a new chapter seems to be beginning as I am now seeing multiple doors opening and opportunities presenting themselves that I’m confident this past season has equipped me to handle.

As I spoke into a Television camera on Sunday, addressing a live audience all around the world, my mind was flooded with a myriad of memories.  In a matter of seconds I reflected on how confident and fearless I used to be and how several circumstances over an extended season stripped that from me in what I believe was an attempt of the devil to not only end my life but also to derail my destiny.  But in true God form, He worked those things together for my good and used those circumstances that were intended for my destruction, to actually build me.

As I reflected, I thought about how God has restored and continues to restore a confidence in me that is now so much less a “Self-Confidence” but “God-Confidence”.  I have come to realize that it is HE who has begun a work in me and HE that will complete it as I surrender to His will.  And that leads me to one more moment of transparency and expose’ of weakness, trusting that it will offer you strength as it relates to your own circumstances.  Some of what I am about to share I’ve never shared with anyone but my wife.

I’m not any different than most, in that Transparency for me has been a difficult pill to swallow.  I don’t like to admit or acknowledge failure, weakness or difficulty, yet I realize that transparency has been the MOST significant tool of ministry that God has ever used in me.  Like so many of you reading this, I have struggled in the past with feeling guarded concerning my emotions and not wanting to reveal areas where I felt wounded.  But, truth be told, every chapter in this book was written in one of those seasons as I determined to declare the Word of God over my circumstances and encourage myself in Him while trusting that what I have written would also be instrumental in your development and progress.  And I feel like these final chapters needed to be written from that same perspective…I can say confidently,  every chapter thus far was without a doubt a revelation exposed through blood, sweat and many times… tears.

I have found through my experiences that the Devil is methodical in his attempts at derailing our destiny.  Like a chess match he will intentionally plan several moves ahead and will often use the pawns or “little pieces” to set up the greater failures one small move at a time, many times not even revealing what the set up was until the hammer falls and we see everything in hindsight from a 20/20 perspective.  I addressed some of what I am referring to with my own life and the issue of confidence in an earlier chapter, Embracing the Mamma’s Boy, but I can say that the Devil didn’t stop attacking the area of confidence with one move…as a matter of fact there have been several attacks since then that I had to overcome.  And I’d like to share a few more examples from my life with you in this chapter to model how the attack of the enemy comes against us as believers and how the Word of God is applied in those situations…

As explained in previous chapters, having an attempt made on my life in many ways sent my world into what felt like a chaotic downward spiral.  Physically I was a mess, not being able to accomplish many of the normal daily functions that I previously took for granted, walking, driving, making my own dinner…etc.  In addition, I also lost my job, benefits, even my ability to work in familiar conditions.

Emotionally, I struggled more than I ever had as I worked through the difficulties of physical therapy and psychological therapy, both of which at the time did not seem to adequately address the needs that I felt that I had.  Not to mention the attacks on my perspective of what it meant to be a man and provider for my family.  I felt very broken and inadequate… These were all foundations for some of the future attacks as the battlefield for the mental assault on my confidence and self-esteem was established.

One area that I never previously struggled with, was my ability to communicate or speak publicly.  In years past I was one of the most self-assured communicators that I knew.  Even in college I took a public speaking class and aced it without ever writing a speech.  I recall several times, on the day I was to make a classroom presentation, writing an outline in class while other students performed their speeches and then getting up in front of the class with nothing but a sloppy outline and not only “winging it” but “NAILING IT”!

This confidence proved to be a two sided coin and could be interpreted as blessing and a curse as I can also recall seasons of laziness, where I did not invest adequate “study time” into a sermon that I was to preach as a Youth Pastor or Associate Pastor or even as an Evangelist because I knew that I would be able to once again rely on that communication gift and even with very little time invested, I would be able to pull off a decent “performance”.

I believe that when God told me that I had a lot to unlearn, self-assuredness was a significant aspect of what I had to unlearn.  There is a difference between having head knowledge about a subject and having heart knowledge about it…and what I’m about to say, I have always known in my head but I don’t know that I understood it in my heart until the past few years revealed it to me.

Every day is a gift, and I realize now, in a much more intense way, that every opportunity that God presents for us to speak into peoples lives should be recognized to potentially have eternal significance and/or consequence.  In years past, I simply didn’t weigh in my heart the depth of not hearing from God before addressing people.  I knew what the scripture said and how to present something that was “good” and then, relied on my gift to carry me through…and although God was still faithful to minister to people IN SPITE of me I was not fulfilling my end with any form of excellence.

In hindsight, it comes as no surprise that while I was already dealing with issues regarding confidence, that the one area I still felt “Strong” in was also brought under attack in three occurrences that played a significant role in me struggling with the area that I believe my future and destiny (from a ministry perspective) were tied to…Communication.

The first was a Sunday morning.  My pastor, who is internationally recognized among top communicators and worship leaders, had the flu.  As is his M/O he was still at church and was going to preach even though he felt horrible.  Just before the offering he turned to me sitting next to him on the front row and said, “Aaron, will you greet the people and receive the offering, I need to save my strength”.

I didn’t even bat an eye. Before joining our church I had been a youth pastor and/or an associate pastor for 9 years and had conducted that part of the service hundreds of times.   So, I simply said, “SURE!”

When it was time to receive the offering, I took the microphone, jumped up on the stage, and in front of hundreds of people I froze!  For the first time in my life, I completely drew a blank in front of a crowd!  I looked out at the congregation, I looked at my pastor and for a brief second I literally considered running out of the church!  (which now seems very funny but at the time felt devastating… )

Then I heard it, in the awkward silence, a woman in the second or third row said the words that I had heard many times over the years as someone had difficulty with a special song or didn’t remember the words in the church Christmas play…but never in reference to me…!  Lil’ miss second row whispers out…”Help him Jesus…” and for the first time in my public speaking life, I was the “Help him Jesus guy”!

After an awkward 30 seconds (which seemed like an hour) of trying to get my bearings, I was able to complete the task that I was asked to attend to, but it felt like a train wreck to me!  It was no help that one of the pastors on staff (a good friend that was just joking with me) came up after the service pretending to be an airplane with outstretched arms crashing into the ground while laughing and then asking “What in the world happened to you Aaron…?!” I had no answer for what happened, but this situation literally plagued my mind for months as I began questioning my ability to do what I previously believed God had called me to do.  Although this occurrence was frequently in the back of my mind, I did my best to not think about it and figured that it was a bit of a fluke and wouldn’t likely happen again…Until IT DID!

On a Friday night during a special service, my pastor turned to me out of the blue and said, “Aaron, can you go and greet our online audience?”  Which basically entailed taking the microphone, walking over to the television camera and saying hello to everyone watching.  This time, I immediately reflected on my “last failure” and as I approached the camera I became more and more uneasy.  When the red light came on letting me know that I was “Live”, once again I drew a blank and had difficulty even completing a thought.  As I recall I gave the wrong website address, the wrong email address for contacting us… I may have even gave them the wrong church name…I stumbled over nearly every word and I was completely humiliated!  I hid it well, but this failure, after beating myself up as bad as I had the last time, floored me!  The first time I wrote off as a fluke, but after this time, I felt like I was seeing a pattern…and at that Y in the road, my already damaged confidence plummeted.  I questioned my calling and whether or not I was even pursuing something that was “God ordained”.  The devil made sure to keep it very alive in my mind and I struggled daily with feelings of frustration and inadequacy.

The final blow came a few months later, adding insult to what was already significant injury.  I was in our youth chapel with a member of our staff.  We were attempting to watch a video for a service that we were collaborating on.  Our youth chapel has a HUGE video screen where song lyrics, graphics and videos are projected for the youth services, and this seemed a good place to watch the video so that we could get an adequate feel for what we were desiring to present on the big screen the following Sunday.  While accessing the video clip on the computer, the staff member clicked on an icon in the computer to play a video and by mistake, the video footage from a few months ago of me stumbling over my words in front of a live audience came on and I had to relive one of the greatest feelings of failure that I had ever experienced… He fumbled with the computer, attempting to get quickly off of the screen, but by that time the damage had been done.  Not only had I experienced it the first time, but now I had seen it with my own eyes.  It was never intended that I see that by whoever put it there, but I did… and at that point, I also had to contemplate the reasons that the footage had been taken off of our server, made a copy of and placed on a huge screen in a different part of the church for others to view and to put it lightly, I felt horrible.

Let’s just say, the devil had a hay day with that one in my head…Although, I KNEW what I was feeling and thinking was not even realistic because I was dealing with people who loved me, I warred with the most improbable thoughts as I found myself feeling betrayed and exploited.  I pictured people laughing while watching me fail in bigger than life form, I felt anger, I felt sadness, I felt a lot of things…but a resounding Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure, Failure was what I heard constantly in my head!

Isn’t it typical, in circumstances where we do not know the answer to “why” , that the devil makes sure to try to get us to focus on the absolute WORST case scenario, regardless of how unrealistic that perspective may be…?  I had to reel in those thoughts quickly and not allow them to take root, particularly the ones leading me to feel offended.  I knew that these thoughts were not sensible and were intended to be a distraction and if they took root that the results could be destructive.

In reality, I realized, even as I was going through it, that this entire scenario was orchestrated in an attempt to continue to further discourage me, but it was still an incredible struggle to not feel disheartened…And, at that point, I pondered the possibility of giving up and throwing in the towel all together…Anyone been there?  Of course you have… We all have…

While meditating on this subject I was reminded of a story from the Old Testament. In Genesis chapter 11 we see the family tree of Abraham (Abram at this time because it was before his covenant with God).  Here are the last couple verses from that chapter in the Message version of the bible:

^27-28 This is the story of Terah. Terah had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Haran had Lot. Haran died before his father, Terah, in the country of his family, Ur of the Chaldees.

²⁹ Abram and Nahor each got married. Abram’s wife was Sarai; Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. Haran had two daughters, Milcah and Iscah.

³⁰ Sarai was barren; she had no children.

³¹ Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram’s wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.

³² Terah lived 205 years. He died in Haran.

There is SO much that can be considered in this passage!  Abraham’s father Terah, had a son named Haran who died.  Although this was not elaborated upon any further, as a parent, placing myself in his shoes and imagining how overwhelming the death of his son must have been for him, I believe it would be safe to assume that this was an unplanned event in Terah’s life that rocked him to the core!

It is interesting to me that the bible says that Terah set out for Canaan.  Although there is no biblical reference for why he set out from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan, I think, based upon God’s direct instruction to Abraham in the first verse of the following chapter to “Leave for a land that I will show you”, that Terah was at least being led by God if not directed by God to go to Canaan.

Gen 12:1-6 (The Message Version)

¹ God told Abram: “Leave your country, your family, and your father’s home for a land that I will show you.

^2-3 I’ll make you a great nation
and bless you.
I’ll make you famous;
you’ll be a blessing.
I’ll bless those who bless you;
those who curse you I’ll curse.
All the families of the Earth
will be blessed through you.”

^4-6 So Abram left just as God said, and Lot left with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he left Haran. Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot with him, along with all the possessions and people they had gotten in Haran, and set out for the land of Canaan and arrived safe and sound.

A point of particular interest to me in the short story of Terah is what happened in route to the “destination” and perhaps even fulfilling his God ordained destiny.  Terah, the patriarch of his family, reached a place called Haran. Now, whether this is a place that was named after his deceased son, or a place his son was named after, it shared the name of what was likely the single most impacting event of his life, the death of his son and it WAS where he settled.

Genesis 11:31

…set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.

How many times does the memory of our single most impacting life event effect how or if we progress to pursue our God ordained destiny?!  How many times have we set out to the place where God has called us only to settle at the point in the journey where we are reminded of our own limitations, inadequacy, failures, or pain?

My mind immediately questions, What if Terah had not settled?  Would he have gone down in biblical history as one of the mighty men of faith?  Would God have been referred to for generations to come as the God of Terah, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?  Terahs entire life is summed up in six verses…But, what would have been his legacy if he had continued on through the painful memory of his greatest relational failure?  What if…?  I believe that these are at the very least logical questions to ponder.

Each of us has to face our place of Haran in our journey of life and each of us have to decide whether or not we will set up camp and settle or press through in those places.

The choice is ours.  We must determine that we will not be defined by our failures or willing to stop short of our God intended destiny!  In my life I have come to realize that my abilities are limited and there are areas that I fall short, BUT my bible says:

1 John 4:4 (Amplified version)

…He Who lives in you is greater (mightier) than he who is in the world.

Philippians 4:13 (Amplified Bible)

I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ's sufficiency].

There is NOTHING that will derail our destiny if we will determine to press on through the adversity!  It is God who has begun the work in you and it is He who will complete it!

We simply must align our thoughts and intentions with God’s direction.  When contrary voices or memories or failures come against what we believe to be Gods directive, we must stand in the belief and understanding that God loves us, He believes in us, He placed destiny in each one of us and we will overcome!!!

Proverbs 23:7

“as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he…”

How do you see yourself?  We must choose to see ourselves as God sees us!  In Him we are MORE than sufficient!  God makes up in every area where we lack! If we are not careful we will view ourselves in light of our circumstances and failures and human inadequacy, but God sees us from the perspective of the work in us that is completed through Christ!

Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed you in the womb I knew^[a] you,
before you were born I set you apart

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Several times during the course of these chapters I have written about how we establish the Word of God as our final authority and truth!  When our circumstances contradict the Word of God we simply go to His Word, find out what it says about what we are contending with and then stand upon the truth of His Word in spite of our circumstances… When the devil comes against your mind attempting to derail destiny we are to take that Word and apply it to our circumstances and CRUSH the devils warped philosophy concerning the outcome of our future!

2 Corinthians 10:5

We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.

We are who God says we are…PERIOD!

I am not anybody special and God is not a respecter of persons… What He has done for me, He will do for anyone who calls upon Him…He simply is faithful to His Word.

As I bring this to a close I would just like to encourage you to press forward even if it seems to be at a snails pace at times… Allow God to teach you through His Word and your circumstances and He will take those things that the devil intended for your destruction and use them as the foundation for fulfilling your intended purposes.  He is FOREVER FAITHFUL!  God placed you on this earth for a divinely inspired purpose!  He can’t wait til’ you get to see what that looks like!  You’re gonna love it!

… As I spoke into a Television camera on Sunday addressing a live audience all around the world, my mind was flooded with a myriad of memories…I smiled as I left Haran behind and set out toward my land of promise…

…I will fulfill my destiny!

I AM Inspired

www.AaronDavisMinistries.com

It Is NOT Over!

 

It is NOT over!!!

 

Dec 31^st 2010

 

I’m sitting in my living room listening to Ricardo Sanchez’s song, I Call Your Name playing silently on my Ipod which plays around the clock in my house and reflecting on the past year.  The good times…The not so good times… The laughter… The tears… The fun… The Pain…and I’m thankful.

 

Things didn’t always go the way I wanted them to go or even the way I thought that they should have gone… But, as I sit here and reflect, through the good and the not so good, I’ve been blessed.

 

The lyrics of the song really convey my heart and the emotion that I feel as I reflect back over the past 12 months that seemingly flew by…

 

Holy
Lord God Almighty
ancient of days
giver of faith
Lord I need you
Worthy
Lord your deserving
of all I have
I lay me down
Lord I need you

I call your name
Lord you reply
You bring your kingdom
To stand by my side
giver of life
all that I need
father your everything that is precious to me
There is no one like you lord in all the earth

 

 

I’m not sure where I would be or in many cases how I would have made it  without Him…As I said earlier, I am thankful…  I’m thankful because I choose to be… I could focus on what didn’t happen in 2010 and if I chose to allow that to be what I highlighted in my mind and heart for 2010 then I would enter 2011 with an ungrateful attitude…  But I CHOOSE to see how much good there was in this year and let the things that weren’t on my “happy list” simply be a small part of a greater whole.  God is so faithful!

 

I stood two feet from where I am typing this yesterday holding my almost 3 year old son, listening to music and carrying him around a dark living room praying over him remembering the day he was born… the weeks following in the NICU when machines were breathing for him and I couldn’t hold him or let him put his head on my shoulder like he was at that moment… and I was thankful…. Just him being here and all the fun experiences that I had this past year that he was a part of is enough to have made 2010 a good…a GREAT year!

 

The memories created with my family and friends… The people that I was able to influence… The lives that were saved and changed because God used me to be his hands, feet, and/or voice…. I choose today to remember those times… and I believe that 2011 will be full of MORE of those kinds of memories!

 

I believe that the rest of my life is the best of my life… I believe that seed sown always produces a harvest… I believe that what God observes in secret He rewards openly… I believe that my tomorrows are filled with hope and destiny!  …I believe!

 

I heard my pastor say yesterday, “Once you are where God needs you to be, you are one day from stepping into destiny”… He was referencing Joseph in the old testament who at 17 was sold into slavery by his brothers who told his father he was killed by an animal, then he was lied about, he was lied to, he was cheated, he wronged, he was put into prison for crimes he didn’t commit and he spent 13 years in that repetitive cycle that he didn’t deserve…but he was being molded and God used that season in his life to prepare him for the responsibility of becoming the second in command over all of Egypt (the most powerful nation on earth at the time) under Pharaoh…and that promotion took place for him overnight.  That promotion saved Egypt from starvation and devastation.  Although, the road to the palace was not paved with gold…It was that season that positioned him to save the lives of every one of his family members and an entire nation… I believe that, in spite of what we have had to endure, each of us has destiny to fulfill!  If you are still here, you still have a voice of influence!

 

A friend of mine recently said to me, “Aaron, I’m convinced that God never wastes pain”… I love that and am actually a walking model of it!  I’m not saying He is the author of it…I’m not saying that He is the reason for it…I’m saying that He will use it to better you and propel you beyond where you have been to where you need to be to have the most significant impact…I, for one will not be satisfied leaving this life without changing the world…Literally!  As the scripture says, “He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to his purpose…So, as we close out a year that many have struggled through with blood, sweat and tears…Be encouraged!  He who has begun a good work in you IS FAITHFUL TO COMPLETE IT!  It may be the end of a season called 2010, but IT IS NOT OVER!!!  2011 is MINE!!!  Who’s coming with me?!

 

The rest of your life IS the best of your life!

 

I love you all!  Happy New Year!

 

Aaron

 

Where Life Begins…

Being Connected…

 

As I was walking into the house today something caught my eye. Recently, I had cut my bushes with hedge clippers. I threw most of the cut branches away but one, rather long branch, laid across the top of the bush. It was completely brown, withered and dead. When I saw it I had a thought…

 

That branch was in the same proximity as all of the other branches. If not for the difference of color, I would not even be able to differentiate the detached from the attached branches (which is likely why it was overlooked when throwing away the other branches when it was originally cut). It was surrounded by the other branches, it was even loosely connected to the other branches by literally laying on them, but it was not tied in to the bush any more and even the close proximity to the bush was not enough to sustain its life…

 

Then I had a bit of an epiphany… How many in the church experience the same parallel (spiritually)?

 

John 15:4-5

4Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and Iwill live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.

5I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

 

How many surround themselves and blend in to the surroundings yet are not actually “Connected” to the vine? One translation of the bible uses the words “Remain” in place of “Dwell” and would read, Remain in me and I will remain in you…

 

Those words Dwell and Remain are action rooted. There is an indication in using those words that there is an expectation or an effort needed to “Remain”, or “Stay Connected” to the vine. And if that is the case then there must be potential for us to “Disconnect” from the vine. I’m not of the opinion that you can be unknowingly disconnected per se’ but I do think that we can intentionally make choices that will disconnect us from the provision (or at the very least “fullness” of life) that is had when we are connected to the vine…

 

6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

 

When verse 6 says, “He is like a branch…” I believe it is pointing out that (from a physical parallel) the withered, lifeless branch cannot be used and is the type of branch that is usually simply discarded and burned up as “useless” because it’s dead…

 

Some preachers have paralleled “Hell” as the “fire” in their explanation of this portion of scripture, but I’m not sure that is what is being referenced. I think it is painting a detailed picture that apart from God and a life giving connection to Him (by having a relationship WITH him) there is no REAL life to be had and we find ourselves, ultimately, in a place where we feel used up, dried out,withered and NEEDING LIFE like a dead branch that, without HIS life would be alife “thrown away”… (as if our choices to operate outside of His provision and His best for us is the equivalent of throwing away our own lives by killing our true potential and destiny…)

 

There is also a promise at the end of that scripture for those who do “Remain” in Him… (remain indicates “Constant” connection to) Jesus says, “ask what you WISH and I’ll give it to ya…because, ultimately, your bearing fruit is giving glory to God and showing people that you are my disciples…” I think that’s cool…and I’m not to the point yet where I’m seeing EVERY one of my prayers and even”wishes” getting a green card… So I have to assume that I can probably be “more connected”, “Remain more consistently or CONSTANTLY” and ultimately produce more fruit than I have in the past…

 

I have to ask myself, how many problems and issues could have been avoided had we intentionally and constantly stayed connected…? Not to discredit the attack of the enemy, but I wonder sometimes if we would have had more of an ability to divert the attack or have had more strength or life to combat the attacks had we intentional and proactively “remained”connected. It’s a thought…

 

Interesting thing is this…I had this entire download in a matter of seconds by looking at something that caught my eye IN PASSING…

 

I have to assume that it was something that God was wanting me to understand and probably equally as important for me to share today for some of you who may read it.

 

Whatever the case, I feel challenged to pursue a more intimate and life-giving connection…

 

If you can dig it…Say Word!

 

…And know I AM God

…I Am God!

Remember seeing the little kid that is lost in the mall, frantically looking for his parents? “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!!!” He is so perplexed, overwhelmed and distraught that there is little that you can say or do, short of showing him his father…

I was pondering a scripture earlier…

Matthew 11:28 (Amplified Bible)
28Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.]

As I pondered that scripture in a prayerful state, I saw the scene I explained above with the lost little boy play out in my mind… I knew God was trying to show me something so I asked Him, “What are you trying to convey to me?”… The answer tugged at the heartstrings of my own “father” nature…

This is what I believe He was showing me…For any number of circumstances, so many of God’s children run around frantically looking for God like some lost child… Crying out, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy…” Running this way and that way completely perplexed and without any guidance or intentionality of direction… They are acting as though somehow, GOD is lost and THEY have to find HIM…

God is NOT lost…and the frantic, anxiety driven, blind pursuit is NOT the solution to the problem…As a matter of fact, it will likely make it worse!

Here is the point… I KNOW my son’s cries… I could be in a room with 10,000 people and if he cried out “Daddy” I would immediately tune in to the ONE voice that matters… the voice of the one that has my heart…My Son’s!

YOU are God’s Son or Daughter…HE ADORES YOU…YOU HAVE HIS HEART! God hears the cries of His children, He is concerned about that which concerns you, He asks you to call unto Him and confirms that He will answer you…Time and time again, throughout scripture, there is confirmation of this desire of His heart to hear, answer and intervene… This is the FATHER nature of God!

As I considered this entire scenario, the scripture hit me… “Be still and know that I AM GOD…” The God who created the UNIVERSE with billions of light years between its ends, cares about YOU… He is saying with that simple statement of “be still” … “I am your loving Father! I know exactly what you need! I know exactly who you are! I know exactly WHERE you are… Be still…You’re not God, I am…So quit trying to do MY job!”

When we know who our Daddy is, and that He is watchfully aware of us… In that time of anxiousness or even disillusionment , we can be still and wait on our Father who has promised to watch over, protect and provide for us…He WILL answer and will come to us and take our hand…

Running about blindly when we feel “lost” only makes it more difficult for us to hear HIS voice calling us to the direction that He IS…

When we STOP with all the emotion and commotion, we can hear HIS voice saying, “Come unto me… You don’t have to run yourself ragged trying to find me…I’m right here and I will give you rest…”

Isn’t it amazing how when a distraught “lost” child finally slows down enough to hear their “Daddy’s voice” or see their “Daddy’s face” , the entire atmosphere changes for the them…? Everything that so perplexed them just moments before melts in the presence and realization of their Father…

Jeremiah 29:11 (Amplified Bible)
11For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome…

HE has plans for YOU! The God who created everything that we understand from the smallest atom to the unfathomable vastness of the universe has a plan that is unique and specific to YOU!!! Once that reality REALLY sinks in to our finite minds and we even vaguely understand the intense weight of who we are to the God that is THAT immense and intense… it almost seems ridiculous to concern ourselves with the circumstantial!

So at the point where we go, “I don’t know what else to do…” Just BE STILL and rest in the work that He is doing on your behalf… It’s His plan, so until He gives you a directive, simply rest in Him … Busy is not always better…particularly when, like the lost child in the mall, it’s driven from a place of fear, anxiety or lack of direction…

…and know I AM GOD!

If you can dig it…Say Word!!!

…That I Might Not…

How many times have you been in a situation where you were weak, or down, or frustrated, or angry, or sad and, to add insult to injury, it seemed that something that you thought you were long “past” comes back to tempt you or try to further steer you off course… Coincidence? I THINK NOT!!!

The bible says that the Devil comes as a roaring Lion, seeking whom he may devour… and that he comes to steal, kill and destroy…That is his Modus Operandi!

I’m a bit of a discovery/history/science channel nut and I LOVE to watch documentaries… Thanks to those who have studied and documented the hunting habits of predators like the lion, I have some insight on this scripture.

Lions, do not target the strongest, fastest, most resilient prey… They will approach a pack of “prey” animals and they often will run right into the pack and target the small, or lame, or wounded, or tired, or the one separated from the rest of the pack. In those circumstances they pose the least resistance and least likelihood for injury to the predator… They’re smart hunters, they are skillful and they are VERY methodical! With that said, it places a different perspective on the previous scripture about how the devil targets us…

In my own life and in the lives of the hundreds that have come to me seeking pastoral advice over the years, I have seen this same M/O of attack manifested time and time again in people’s lives! They are going through a hard time, they are tired, they are weak, and then they are hit with an attack that they didn’t expect or didn’t see coming…and many times they fall!!! When times were good, it seemed like they were smooth sailing, as if nothing could touch them… Then they fall on some hard times and BOOM the sneak attack takes them to the ground!

Ever been there? OF COURSE YOU HAVE! We all have! EVEN JESUS!

Think about it! In Luke chapter 4, Jesus goes into the wilderness and fasts for 40 days…After praying and fasting for 40 days, spiritually, he was likely as close to God as he had ever been! BUT His body was weak, he was hungry, he was malnourished, and the devil comes against him tempting him and attacking him with issues that naturally would be difficult for ANYONE, in his shoes! He didn’t come against Jesus when He was with his disciples, and teaching, and seeing miracles, and physically strong… He hit him when he was alone, and hungry and weak… See the pattern here?

So how does this relate to us now? The Bible says in Ephesians 6:12 That we Wrestle NOT against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places…

We see that it was Satan who came to tempt Jesus… It was a “physical temptation” but it had SPIRITUAL ROOTS! The attack was NOT physical although it did appeal to the “flesh” side of Jesus! It WAS SPIRITUAL!!! And how he dealt with this attack is the key to this entire chapter!

I had a friend come to me recently needing advice… He told me that he has been doing GREAT for so long and then, out of the blue, when other issues started going down hill, he was hit with an attack that he “thought” was long behind him… He asked me, “What do I do? Do I need to pray more or read my bible more or what?”

All those things are well and good… Yeah, you can pray more… Yeah, you can read your bible more…(especially if those are areas you have been neglecting) BUT when the devil attacked Jesus, what did HE do? He used the WORD OF GOD to take authority over the temptation…

We are in a very interesting position because we are in covenant with God…The sacrifice of Christ purchased our freedom from sin and it’s bondages…We have been given authority over circumstances and situations that would have before had authority over us… We are NO LONGER bound by sin or subject to it’s control! The Devil and his attacks are subject to the authority that we have in our covenant with God… But ultimately, it is our choice if we choose to invoke our authority!

When I was a police officer I had an authority that was recognized by my community. The badge gave me permission to take control of adverse circumstances and dictate the actions thereafter… If I chose NOT to use that authority, it did not change the fact that it was at my disposal. I was “Commissioned” and given the right to invoke the powers of that authority at my discretion…Whether I used them or not…

In previous chapters I have written about “finding out what the Word of God says concerning your circumstances”. When Jesus was attacked with hunger, he replied, “Man does not live on bread alone…” When tempted with pride and dominion he replied, “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only”… When tempted with showing the devil “his power” he replied, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test”… The bible says, that when the devil had tried to tempt Jesus and He did not give in… he left…This is the KEY to combating the Devil!

So, I ask again, “What does the Word of God say relating directly to YOUR circumstances?” Knowing that information is absolutely ESSENTIAL! If you don’t know, you NEED TO FIND OUT! Because when the Devil comes against you with temptation, it is the “Word of God” that is your weapon of defense! It’s why it is called “The Sword of the Spirit” in Ephesians chapter 6… It is the only piece in the “Armor of God” outlined in that chapter that is offensive AND defensive! It is what you are to use to defend yourself and wound your enemy!

The devil knows that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). He knows that it is SIN that can keep us from operating in the fullness of our destiny! He knows that sin kills and destroys and as we cited in the beginning of this chapter, we know that stealing from us, killing and destroying us is what Satan is out to do!

Recognizing this, it should be SO obvious to us that the temptation to submit to sinful desires is ABSOLUTELY an intentional attempt to derail us from our destiny and God’s intention for our progress! Just like he did with Jesus, the Devil is trying to keep us from stepping into what God has for us by tempting us with sin! The fact that it happens so many times when we are at our weakest is further confirmation of the Devils M/O! We have to recognize this for what it is! You ARE NOT fighting a flesh and blood enemy… These circumstances that you are warring against ARE NOT rooted in the physical and you cannot physically fight a spiritual battle! Jesus says in John 6:63 that his Word is Spirit and Life! It is THE WORD OF GOD that we use as our weapon to take authority over the spiritual attacks and temptations of the devil! WHAT DOES THE WORD SAY ABOUT YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES!!!?

So when you are struggling with temptations to worry or fret you find that John 14:27 says, “Peace I leave with you”… and when you are struggling with feelings of worthlessness, you find in the bible that Romans 3:22 says, “You are the righteousness of God in Christ”… and when you feel alone, you find that the bible says in Hebrews 13:5 that “God will never leave you or forsake you”… and when you are struggling with feelings of abandonment, you see that Psalms 68:5 says that “God is the father to the fatherless”… and when you are struggling with feelings of lust, or concerning your past, or concerning your future, or concerning anger, or concerning addiction, or concerning anxiety…etc we see in the Ps 55:22 and 1 Peter 5:7 that we are to cast our cares and anxieties on the Lord because He cares for us!

WHATEVER you are struggling with, there ARE biblical promises that you can stand upon to overcome!!! Combat the lies and deceptions with the TRUTH of God’s Word!!!

As I left my friend who was asking me “what do I do?” the other day… I offered him one final word of advice as I patted his shoulder and walked away… I said, “You’ve been given authority over it… but what you do with it is up to you…”

Psalm 119:11
I’ve hidden your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you…

If you can dig it, Say “WORD!!!”

You Just Can’t Do Enough…

Having been in ministry in the capacity that I have for many years, I have had NUMEROUS occasions to talk with people concerning what they “believe” it means to be a Christian and furthermore, what it takes to “maintain” a “Christian” status…

To many, Christianity is like a car that they have to do routine daily maintenance on in order to keep it running or they think it will quit working when they need it to run the most! (Like in an emergency situation)…

It is an interesting perspective and not one that I haven’t had to work through, in some capacities, myself.  I mean, it’s difficult to turn on the TV or sit in a church service and not hear SOMETHING that might lead you to believe that there are a laundry list of things that you have to do in order to maintain that “Christian” engine…

Being one who has written several books, both published and unpublished, I have written chapters in times past about “disciplines” in our “Christian Walk” and what I am about to say may sound contradictory if not prefaced with a bit of explanation… What I am about to address, is NOT about sin or refraining from sin…Or even disciplining our thoughts so that they line up with God’s word… I believe that sin IS under our authority and for those who love God, there should be a cognizant effort exerted to attempt to avoid circumstances or situations that may cause us to find ourselves in a “setback” situation that we know according to His Word would be displeasing to Him… but these “disciplines” are simply ways that we honor Gods leading and Word in our lives…NOT an adherence to any “rule” that somehow makes us more saved or better than others…This is where personal convictions vs legalisms take a very different stance… Personally, I know that God will deal with different people differently about issues that could cause them personal set backs, others would disagree with that statement…it is an area where we must simply agree to disagree…

For example, God may tell one person not to go down to the “Red Light” district because they are not in a place where it wouldn’t be a temptation for them, where He might ask another to go into that environment and minister to the hurting in that industry… Just because God deals differently with one does not mandate His requirement for the other… which is why we “work out our own salvation…With God”.

Too many doctrines teach a legal adherence to “rules” as an outward sign of holiness…and this is simply not a requirement from a biblical perspective.  Just this week, I have had SEVERAL people contact me with questions about leaders in their lives placing unbiblical requirements upon them for the sake of rules and/or legalism… One young man wanted to go out and minister on the street with a team of people and was not permitted because he had on shorts…Another questioned the love of God for them because of their past and sins that they have committed and they felt that they didn’t “measure up” to the other Christians that they knew or their perceived “expectations”…and the list goes on… I’ve only been a Christian “this long”… “I haven’t read the bible all the way through yet…” etc…

All of these ideas come from unbalanced teachings about doctrinal issues that do NOT have biblical foundations!  And this is why I am writing this chapter today.  My hope is, that perhaps, what I am about to present will offer a bit of balance, perspective and peace to minds and spirits that are unnecessarily burdened by “Religious Expectations” that have no biblical foundation!

Jesus said in Matthew  Chapter 11 vs 30 (Msg Version)

28-30″Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Another version says, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light”… Jesus didn’t come to make things complicated… He simplified what religion had previously made so difficult!  And even though it is so simple, PEOPLE still try to make it harder than it needs to be by adding burdensome yokes and expectations to a relationship with God that should be liberating… It’s as if they just don’t believe that it can possibly be as simple as God and the bible have made it, and they feel that they have to do something “extra” in order to measure up…

Check this out, as I wrote in a previous chapter, Paul (who wrote 2/3’s of the new testament) was at one time one of THE MOST legalistic and religiously bound individuals of his day!  He actually sought to kill Christians for what they taught because it contradicted his “religion” and belief system.  Then he has a miraculous encounter with God that completely changed his entire perspective and he became a completely new man with a new purpose in life!  He turned 180 degrees around and actually set out to undo and confront all of his previously unbalanced teachings about God and His desire/love for mankind!  He learned a truth that he simply could NOT keep silent about because he recognized that the religious chains that once bound him and thousands of others like him were UNNECESSARY!  God had provided freedom and Paul was on a mission to relay that “Good News” to the world!  Eventually, this passion and conviction cost Paul his life and he was executed… But his tenacity and willingness to die for what he came to believe and understand and ultimately convey to us just goes to show how convinced he was of the truth of it and the immense importance to him that this truth that he came to understand was passed on to the rest of the world!

In Galations Chapter 3 Paul says some profound things that, considering my recent conversations with people, leapt off of the page at me this week, as I saw something that I had never really seen before, even though I had read this passage so many times!

Let me preface by saying, Paul is writing this chapter to a group of people that he had already preached the life giving gospel of Jesus to… he left with an understanding that they “GOT IT” and that they understood that what Jesus had done for them had freed them from their previous legalistic bondages… then, some other teachers came along and messed up what Paul had taught them. The Galatian people, began to embrace a bastardized version of the gospel which once again incorporated undo burden and religious/legalistic rules.  Paul, disgusted with what was being taught and the similarities to what he himself used to be completely bound and driven by, set out, in a letter to “set the record straight” once again!

Galatians 3 (Msg Version)

Trust in Christ, Not the Law

1 You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it’s obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.

2-4Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!

5-6Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don’t these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.

7-8Is it not obvious to you that persons who put their trust in Christ (not persons who put their trust in the law!) are like Abraham: children of faith? It was all laid out beforehand in Scripture that God would set things right with non-Jews by faith. Scripture anticipated this in the promise to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed in you.”

9-10So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: “Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law.”

11-12The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: “The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that’s the real life.” Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: “The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them.”

13-14Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God’s life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it…

18-20What is the point, then, of the law, the attached addendum? It was a thoughtful addition to the original covenant promises made to Abraham. The purpose of the law was to keep a sinful people in the way of salvation until Christ (the descendant) came, inheriting the promises and distributing them to us… the original promise is the direct blessing of God, received by faith.

21-22…For if any kind of rule-keeping had power to create life in us, we would certainly have gotten it by this time.

As Paul addresses the Church at Galatia, he explains to them that serving God is not about the rules, it’s not about the legalistic adherences, it’s not even about anything that we could do for God… it’s ALL about what God has done for us!

As I read this chapter, the words in verses 11-12 were like a beam of light on the page… The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you.

That sums up the WHOLE teaching!  Doing things for God is the OPPOSITE of entering into what God does for you!

There is a “rule of thumb” that most churches adhere to when establishing “doctrine” and  I will stick to it as well as I attempt to disrupt the legalism applecart.  The rule is that “Doctrine” is established with agreement or repetition of 2 or more biblical teachings that agree and as a result make the teaching doctrinally sound… So, here are a few more just to solidify my doctrinal antithesis on this issue…

Psalm 127 (NIV)

1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.

2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Matthew 11:28-30 (The Message)

28-30″Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 (New International Version)

8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.

John 3:16 (The Message)

16-17″This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted…

Romans 10:9-10 (New International Version)

9That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

…and the list could go on… but I think these scriptural references solidify the “doctrinal” prerequisite…

I had a thought this week and it is still something that I am chewing on, but will share with you as it pertains to this whole concept about where we stand with God as it pertains to having a relationship with Him…

Jesus, in Matthew 22:14 makes a statement in a parable about salvation that “many are called but few are chosen”…

I think that every Christian denomination would agree that salvation is obtained/received through faith in agreement with the scriptures that I have listed above and additional scriptures that also parallel and establish the doctrine for salvation…  Most would agree that it is a free gift that all are able to embrace if they “will”… but this scripture in Matthew is often quoted by those who feel that there is a “work” that we can do that makes us “chosen”…

Personally, I think that, IF there is a “work” after receiving salvation that we can do that somehow puts us in a different “class” (not necessarily saved vs unsaved but maybe usable vs MORE usable) I think it may have to do with submission to the work of God in our lives as outlined in the paragraphs above and entering into what God is doing for us…

I think most just don’t submit to the work of God in their lives and instead are trying to always “make something happen” because that is what they have been wrongly taught was how we “do it”… As a result, “many are called” but simply do not step from “servant status” into their rightful “son status” in order to receive the inheritance of being a Son!

They constantly strive as a “servant” would without inheritance in hopes of somehow pleasing God instead of comprehending that they are actually more than a servant because of the work of Christ and the cross…Ultimately rendering their menial and labored “righteousness” attempts, worthless and possibly even viewed by God contemptuously on some levels because, to Him, OUR righteousness (outside of Christ and His sacrifice) is viewed as “filthy rags”… (that scriptural reference to “filthy rags” is actually referring to the uncleanness of a menstrual towel that a woman would use during her monthly cycle… During the time that this was written, under Jewish law, a woman was considered “unclean” and even “untouchable” from a intimacy/covenant perspective…For this analogy to be used in scripture to explain this point, definitely puts God’s view of “our righteousness” in perspective doesn’t it?)

Back to being “chosen vs called”, I don’t believe that “eligibility” per se’ is earned, I believe it’s simply RECEIVED by a submission to the work of the Father!

Hosea 4:6 states MY PEOPLE perish for a lack of knowledge…

Key words being “MY PEOPLE”!  Not “outsiders”, not other nations, God is speaking to HIS people dying because of a lack of knowledge… Meaning that they have a relationship with Him, they are His people, yet still perish…because they ultimately don’t understand something about what it actually means to be in a covenant relationship with Him…is it possible that perhaps this has something to do with those many who are called and few who are “chosen”?

My thoughts are, if there is a set of “rules” that we need to adhere to after salvation, it rests in a simple teaching from Jesus that states that, as we seek to Love God with all our minds and hearts and submit to allowing the love of God to extend through us, to our neighbor… Then we fulfill all of the “expectations” that God has for us!  At that point, we are postured to receive the work from Him that NO EFFORT of our own could establish!

The old testament (old covenant) is richly established in the “Law” where man, in his efforts, is in passionate pursuit of God… The New Testament (New Covenant in Christ) is established in the Love and Grace of Father God, where God is in passionate pursuit of Man and having an intimate relationship with him!

The paradigm shifted and God gave ALL so that we could have the relationship with Him that He originally created for us to have!

He makes it SO SIMPLE that it almost seems unfair on His end, yet, when this covenant is mutually embraced and the Love is reciprocated the way that He intended and we recognize that all of it is, HIS WORK and HIS DESIRE as we are just simply recipients of what He wanted to do for us!  Then, at that point, I believe that we can step into the fullness of the “chosen” destiny that He created and desires for us…I say “step into” because, it’s already established…

Anything we “attempt” to do, to make it better, or to make ourselves more “worthy” is simply futile… You just CAN’T do enough… and in actuality, anything you try to do, is too much…The great things is, Christ did for you what you NEVER COULD DO YOURSELF!!!  So just roll with it and embrace that relationship with Him that He CHOSE to have with you!

I’ll reiterate the Word one more time… “The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you…”

When Jesus said, “It is finished”…that’s exactly what He meant…

If you can dig it…SAY WORD!!!

Where Religion Failed…

Just as I set out to write this chapter, a face from the past sent me a message online… For well over a decade now, my ministry mission statement has been to “touch the untouchable and reach the unreachable”… It’s not always been an easy task.  It’s often difficult to “love” when it’s not reciprocated.  Still, I have understood the fact that loving people is the only way that many will ever come to know God.  He’s placed a passion in my heart for this subject and it’s one that I have studied in depth and is most always at the root or included in every sermon I have preached for many years.

 

The woman who just contacted me is the mother of a young man who I cared for very deeply.  When I first met Geron, I was working as an Educational Assistant in a Court Ordered program for youth who were coming out of the system and mandated to be in a very structured educational environment.  Needless to say, most of the students didn’t dig being FORCED to be there and many times the staff became the object of their frustration and/or aggression…This young man was no different from that perspective…

 

He and I had some SERIOUS nose to nose confrontations, there were times I didn’t know if they would end badly but they seemed to always work themselves out and in the end he and I had a very unique relationship.  I loved him…He knew it and so did his mother and younger sister…and I knew that he too loved me as I kind of took on that “mentor” type of roll in his life…

 

The circumstances couldn’t have been any more ironic, a young, African American teenager from the city being mentored and loved on by some yankee, half country, preacher, white boy … but it was what it was and honestly, it was pretty cool… I believe that I would be remiss if I didn’t say that, in the end, he probably taught me more than I taught him.  I’m convinced that it was because of our relationship that when I became a cop and later on a detective that I was able to not only relate with, but actually have report with a lot of the guys from his neighborhood… It was funny, but when I would pull up to a group of them in my patrol car, they would all run…until I got out of the car and whistled at them…When they saw it was me, they would all come back and talk to me… I heard many times, “Aaron, you are the only cop we will be around or talk to”… Above my being pretty strict, and definitely hard core about the law and doing what was right, they understood something else about me…They knew I cared…

 

To make a long story short…My heart was broken along with his family’s when Geron died…

 

Here’s the kicker and the reason that I shared that story as a preface to what I am attempting to convey today…

 

After nearly 12 years, I got an instant message on my computer from his mother and then his little sister who is now 24 years old herself.  At the end of our brief conversation, lil’ sister says to me, “I love you, Aaron…I’ll see you soon…”  This message could not have come at a more opportune time today as I set out to write a chapter about “Love”…

 

How does that happen?  How, can the seed sown a decade ago still be producing fruit in that capacity?  Because people were loved!  I cared about them, I cared about their family, I was willing to put myself out there for them, I was willing to love even when it was not initially “convenient” or reciprocated, I WAS hurt, I WAS broken, I WAS disheartened when he died, I DID feel like I failed him somehow… BUT, I’d do it all again in a second…It was this willingness to love them that has left a connection that even years later, when talking to me, she writes… “I love you Aaron…” and I’m not ashamed to say that when I read it, I teared up…

 

So many times, religion places emphasis on the negative…You know from your own experiences what that means…Judgment, wrath, finger pointing, pride filled self-righteousness…etc… and from what is often exampled, this is what we believe is the “way” to do things… but Jesus revealed a side of God that religion, outside of a genuine relationship with Jesus doesn’t seem to comprehend… This being the understanding that, God is Love… and Love is what is also EXPECTED of us BY GOD!

 

Now check this out, here is where things get really legit!  The apostle Paul wrote 2/3’s of the New Testament and wrote one of THE MOST QUOTED and MOST FAMOUS passages of scripture in the bible in his letter to the church at Corinth… 1 Corinthians 13- “The Love Chapter”.  It is by Jesus’ teachings and this chapter that we understand the importance of loving people from God’s perspective…

 

I’ve preached that 1 Corinthians 13 chapter over the years until I have been blue in the face!  It has been a bit of a soap-box vent and the mantra of much of my ministry and yet, a couple weeks ago, I saw something about this chapter that I have NEVER seen before and I would like to share it with you today!

 

For those of you who may not know, the first time Paul is introduced in the bible he is known as “Saul of Tarsus”.  He was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee (Pharisee = one of the MAJOR religious leaders of their day).  He grew up “in the house” of Religion…This is a man who understood ALL of the aspects of his religion!  He was educated in the most structured and revered sects of Judaism.  He knew the words of the prophets.  He understood the theological interpretations of the Torah.  He could explain the Law of Moses and likely had it memorized.  He had a depth of understanding regarding the mysteries of God and His Word that most of his day did not… He was a religious SCHOLAR!  And as I read 1 Corinthians chapter 13 for the gazillionth time a couple weeks ago, it hit me… When Paul used the word “I”…He meant it literally!  He was using not only his words to teach but he was using his life as a transparent teaching tool!  The people to whom he wrote, knew his background…They too understood the religious practices of that day and Paul was relaying to them the importance of the ONE THING that he missed in all of his training about God’s nature!

 

Paul realized that all of the knowledge and all of the training that he received was worth NOTHING if it was not conveyed in LOVE! (and verses 8,9, and 10 become ALIVE with that perspective) Paul was simply and pointedly showing the church the importance of LOVING over all else!  This was the ONE aspect of God that he did NOT understand until he came into a TRUE relationship with Jesus Christ… Paul WAS “the man” that he was writing about in this chapter!  He spoke from a place of authority because he walked it on both sides of the fence and understood what he was conveying from a depth that most never would!  He was saying, “Hey guys, learn from my life…Learn from my experiences…Learn from the very area where I once lacked the most!”

 

Now with that perspective…Read this chapter again… For me, placing myself in the shoes of the writer took it to a whole different level of ALIVE!

 

1 Corinthians 13

1 IF I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such as is inspired by God’s love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

 

2And if I have prophetic powers (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God’s love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody).

 

3Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not love (God’s love in me), I gain nothing.

 

4Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

 

5It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

 

6It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

 

7Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

 

8Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy (the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth].

 

9For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).

 

10But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).

 

11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.

 

12For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been fully and clearly known and understood [by God].

 

13And so faith, hope, love abide [faith--conviction and belief respecting man's relation to God and divine things; hope--joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love--true affection for God and man, growing out of God's love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

 

 

If we want to see the power of God displayed in our lives…If we want to see the world touched, and ministered to and saved… If fulfilling the Great Commission of relaying the gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide is what we TRULY desire to see, then we must first embrace the Great Commandment conveyed by Jesus in Matthew 22 of Loving God with our whole heart and loving our neighbor as ourselves…

 

God is LOVE…

 

It has almost become a cliché phrase, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care…” but where the rubber meets the road…Love IS the prerequisite…

 

I think the message bible says it most clearly in this final scripture…

 

1 John 4:20 (The Message)

 

20-21If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.

 

 

The arena of “Love” is where Religion Failed… When Jesus said that He came to fulfill the Law, I believe that, more than anything, Love is what He was talking about…

 

…Love Never Fails…

 

If you can dig it…Say WORD!

 

How Dead Are Ya…?

Galatians 2:20 (Amplified Bible)

20 I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

It’s interesting to me the way that we are often attacked by the same repetitive strategies of the devil. I mean, it’s a rare occasion that something comes against us that we have never had to deal with before isn’t it? In actuality, it seems like the same battle OVER AND OVER again with different circumstances. We all have had “our fleshly vices”.

Over the years my flesh has become more and more subjected to my spirit and what I know to be right, as I have seemingly grown and matured. Still, occasionally, I have had a “flesh out” moment, particularly when I am not expecting an attack and get blindsided by some catalyst that provokes an area of previous weakness…

Most of us spend a lifetime of cultivating, nurturing, protecting and even hiding our predispositions to sin and then at some point we find the conviction of the Holy Spirit prodding us to make a change and take steps in the direction of God’s leading as it pertains to our lives… For me, that “decision” to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and do what I know is right has also been a sure fire opportunity for opposition from the enemy.

Territory is usually not gained without a fight, so the opposition is not an unnecessary battle, and at least in my experience, any time I have determined that I was going to do things “God’s way” or make a change that would contradict my previously unbridled fleshly response, It’s been like volunteering for a round with the gladiators in the coliseum… It hasn’t ever come without some blood, sweat and tears… but the victory is ALWAYS worth it!

Although I believe the scripture above from Galations 2:20 is truth, I also believe that there is a responsibility on our part to guard our hearts and be EXTREMELY cautious about operating in areas of previous weaknesses. I heard a question posed once that asked, “Why would you take a detour in the neighborhood of your previous weakness?”

The point that we have “victory in Christ” and that we have “overcome” in Him does not negate the fact that we are still human beings in bodies of flesh whose nature has been redeemed but is still capable of temptation if we are not at the very least wise concerning the areas of previous difficulty.

I know that the argument can be made while citing the above scripture that it is our “old nature” and we are a new creation in Christ, I don’t argue that, as I can say I have seen some people who experienced an amazing and complete metamorphosis of their nature when they became a Christian, still, I have seen hundreds, if not THOUSANDS of occasions where people with good intentions and Godly desires have fallen HARD in areas where they previously assumed that they were unmovable. So I reiterate that it is an arguable point that wisdom is the KEY as it pertains to how we navigate our lives.

Now, I will be a bit transparent to drive this point home… Over the years, two areas in my own life that have been territories that were difficult for me to take dominion over and keep under control were, Pride and Self Control (particularly in the arena of anger/rage). I could site so many unnecessary examples, but just understand that over the years I have had to really discipline myself and seek Gods direction on how to not lose control in the arena of my temper.

In my case, I believe that one weakness actually fed off of the other as the Pride in my “size” and “ability to physically control a situation” was perhaps a catalyst in me submitting to the rage when I would become angry… Not to mention, many times the “rage” has been triggered by occasions when my “pride” was hurt… I’m glad to say that these occurrences seem to be less and less and I have continued to “grow up” and mature through the years…but I would be naïve to assume that I will never have to exercise dominion over this area again just because I am a Christian…Which leads me to my example:

A couple of years ago, Lisa and I moved into a new home. Our first purchase was a plaque that we saw in the bible bookstore which we hung on the wall above the doorway leading from our dining room to our living room. The plaque read, “Christ is the Head of this Home, the Unseen Guest at every Meal, the Silent Listener to Every Conversation”.

It sounds nice doesn’t it? Of course as Christians this is how things “should be” as we are, according to Galations 2:20 “Crucified with Christ” and “Christ lives within us”. So naturally, when we read the plaque, we were moved emotionally and wanted to have that daily declaration and reiteration posted for us to see in the most trafficked area of our home.

Well, for reasons I have long since forgotten, on this particular day, I took back the reigns from Jesus… He was NOT the head of my home on that day… It was “I who lived” and NOT the nature of Christ within me…I got stupid angry about something, lost my temper, stepped back into my previously “flesh driven” nature, threw a fit of rage, drew my leg back and kicked one of Rocky’s heavy toys (fracturing a bone in the top of my foot) while standing directly under my beautiful little wooden plaque that declared, Christ was the head of my home, which then proceeded to fall off of the wall and crack me right in the top of my head… (Tell me God doesn’t have a sense of humor- but I wasn’t laughing…) Emotions went something like this when it bonked my head, Anger/more Anger/Conviction/Regret…I knew instantly I had screwed up as my foot began to swell and I could feel the cracked bone in my foot… I had done so well for so long… and I just fell of the wagon hard enough for God to club me in the head with a lump of wood…HA!

Now, here’s the point… I can’t tell you how many people who have messed up and have come to me feeling condemned because they made a mistake and assume that because I am a pastor or evangelist or whatever that somehow I’m beyond being “touched” by difficulties and are even shocked when I share that I am no different than they are and have had to deal with the same issues…

The truth is, if you are seeking the direction of God in your life and desiring to do what is right, you can almost be guaranteed that, at some point, there is some opposition that the devil will send your way to try to distract you from the goal that is set before you. How you handle that “test” may greenlight your progress or possibly hold you back for a minute…

When the bible says that God works all things together for our good, I believe that this is EXACTLY what is being talked about…

You don’t see the what’s in the fruit until it’s squeezed…The squeeze will show you what’s in your heart and whether or not something in you needs address and to be overcome. If something comes out in the squeeze, all it lets us know is that “we are not dead enough” from a Galations 2:20 perspective…If we are willing to learn from our circumstances, then going through them will not be in vain. It’s simply a learning opportunity and the Holy Spirit WILL teach us if we will submit to His instruction EVEN IN THE MIDST OF A PERCEIVED FAILURE!

I’m not pretending to say or imply that I have “made it” per se’ and I know that if I am not diligent or cautious, I could again fall into an area of relapse … but I do believe that, since this time, I have grown…

Case in point, a few months back, I had another occurrence that, in the past would have and HAS triggered the “rage” behavior… When this event transpired I was actually amazed to notice my response, I took a deep breath, evaluated the situation, and felt “Peace” right in the middle of what previously would have been the catalyst to respond physically…

As I drove my car away, I saw the red ink stamp in the upper right hand corner of the white paper of my life that said, “PASSED”…

The truth of the matter is, all of us are in a different place as it pertains to growth and maturity, and ALL OF US are capable of moving forward! As we learn to submit to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives and feed our spirit man we find that remissions into “former” behaviors become fewer and fewer…but it’s not usually an overnight transformation…We do have to continue to seek God in our lives…

I believe that there is a place where those behaviors become completely subjected to the Spirit of God in our lives as we learn to walk closer and more intimately with Him… but we are ALL in a growing process and anyone who believes that they have “made it” is deceived as there is ALWAYS room for growth.

With that said, don’t beat yourself up if you’ve fallen down…You’ve got two choices when you drop the ball, Give Up or GET UP! But know this, you are ABSOLUTELY capable of victory when the God who is GREATER than your circumstances is given control in your life! With Him, ALL THINGS are possible! And regardless of how bad or how many times you’ve screwed up, HE LOVES YOU and wants to see you succeed and be everything that He has created you to be! He created you with DESTINY! You are the only one in this world capable of being who He created you to be!

Today is a new day! The bible says that His mercies are new EVERY morning… I looked outside today and the sun rose in the east…CLEAN SLATE… New Beginnings…Embrace them…

If you can dig it, say “WORD!!!”

Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Constituency?

Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Constituency?

A CONSTITUENCY is any cohesive body of people bound by shared identity, goals, or loyalty. Constituency can be used to describe a business’s customer base and shareholders, or a charity’s donors or those it serves. In politics, a constituency can mean either the people from whom an individual or organization hopes to attract support, or geographical area that a particular elected official represents. (from en.wikipedia.org)

Driving to church last Sunday I took the same path that I always take on a Sunday morning, which leads me past one of our “larger” churches in Nashville. This past Sunday however my drive involved a different sight than usual. I could see in the distance picketers on all four corners holding up signs in front of the church entrance. My initial thought was, “Hmmm, that’s a smart stunt for a pastor to pull to get attention”…until I got close enough to read the signs….

“God Hates Fags”, “Your Pastor’s a Whore”, “Fags are Beasts”…and several other hate filled messages for every passing motorist to read. Across the street were the “rebuttal” signs, from every other perspective…and it all just seemed so chaotic and negative to me… No, that’s an understatement…it was just plain hateful and evil feeling…

When I arrived at my church I asked around to find out what the picketing was all about. I was informed that this was the same “CHURCH” group that pickets other churches around the country and also pickets the funerals of American Soldiers who were killed in action. Apparently, they were on assignment this past weekend against two of our larger churches in Nashville.

This is actually a topic that is very difficult for me to not become emotionally involved with as it pertains to the church and Christians. I have heard it said that what you are passionate about is probably what you have been called to fix. And this topic strikes at the core of the ministry that God has called me to and placed in me!

I’m one of those guys who really enjoys watching movies… Several years ago, a movie came out that was full of political and geographical satire as it relates to the “old south”. In the movie, the character, “Homer Stokes” made a statement asking a crowd of people at his political rally, “Is you is, or is you ain’t my constituency?” Being one who incorporates movie lines into daily conversation for the sake of humor and making a point, I felt my brain highlight and file that line as one that I would want to use one day.

Pondering Sunday’s events and the inconsistency between the Word of God and what I was seeing displayed by the “picketers” in the name of God, my mind pictured a bloody Christ, flesh torn from being beaten by a cat of nine, beard pulled out, side pierced, hands run through, crown of thorns on his head, standing behind a huge archaic microphone, on a wooded floored stage in an old southern architectural concert type building with the old sepia colored lighting…looking at the crowd of people holding up their signs he asks, “Is you is or is you ain’t my constituency”…(in the language that the ignorant, unlearned, blinded crowd of picketers would understand…)

It is beyond me how anyone could perceive the ultimate act of love, service and sacrifice displayed and exampled by Christ any other way than from a love perspective. He didn’t endure such horrific punishment because of a “hate” for anyone. It was his love for man kind and his desire to restore the relationship between them and God that he was willing to lay down his life. Those who ignorantly and un-learnedly use the Bible as a weapon to spread hate, vengeance and wrath have mistaken the entire reality of redemption. Redemption from sin is a LOVE message! Not a condemnation message! Sin carried it’s own condemnation; Love set us free from it!

Look throughout scripture and see how Jesus responded to people who were living beneath their God ordained potential and you will see the heart of God displayed to people through Jesus.

God used a murderer, adulterer (David and Bathsheba) and a prostitute (Rahab) in Jesus’ bloodline. Jesus was known to prefer the company of sinners over the “religious” of the day and was criticized for it. When a woman, involved in an adulterous relationship, was caught in the act (which was punishable by death in the jewish culture), the crowd wanted judgment and death, Jesus offered a hand of love, acceptance, forgiveness and redemption. When another from a group of people who were considered unworthy to be addressed and discriminated against by the “religious” came to Jesus at a well having been divorced several times and presently living with a man who was not even her husband…Jesus didn’t offer any condemnation. He didn’t call her a sinner or a hatefully discriminate against her…He showed her love when others only judged her. Fast forward to the writer of 2/3’s of the New Testament, Paul (formerly known as Saul of Tarsus) the man who was involved in sentencing and executing several Christians… Yet God used him to pioneer Christianity for the world!

It is amazing to me to see the example of Christ and how God REALLY feels about people and His willingness to give grace and offer second and third and 50th chances to those who many would have simply written off as untouchable by religious standards…and that is the point that I am attempting to make, the religious standards are not in line with who God is or what He examples in His Word.

PEOPLE take something so simple and pure and make it so complicated and perverted! How could someone possibly believe that they were representing a “loving” God by picketing a fallen soldiers funeral with words of hatred, judgment and condemnation. How could they possibly think that they were following after the heart of Christ who prayed, “God let them be ONE as you and I are one…so that the world may know that you sent me”…How could they possibly believe that spreading discord, dissension and hatred in any way reflects the heart of God who describes himself in one word… “Love”…

In this chapter I have addressed a subject that is the OBVIOUS cancer. It is the huge, unavoidable growth in the metaphorical “body of Christ” (and I use that term very loosely as I refer to them and their actions)…but what about the more subtle, silent cancers that actually come from the same foundation or root, but just don’t “appear” as repulsive.

Holding up the sign “Fags are beasts” doesn’t feel or appear the same as holding that same hatred in your heart secretly…but it IS the same root…just producing different fruit. Hatred is STILL a cancer! Unrighteous judgment is STILL functioning outside of your God-given authority.

We have been commanded to LOVE! Nowhere did Jesus ever advocate treating people hatefully or expressing anything but LOVE as it pertained to our fellow man…the only time he ever even became visibly angry was when the religious people intentionally perverted the Word of God or used the church to misrepresent God and His intentions by cheating people.

Paul understood as well as anyone this position. He was a Pharisee and the son of a Pharisee. He was literally raised in the house of religion and stepped into the role as an adult! He understood the inconsistencies with what “religion” taught about God and who Christ exampled as it pertained to Love! And Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:

1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Why do you think he addresses “Tounges” and “Prophecy” and “understanding the intricate things of God with a depth of learned knowledge” and how it compares to “Love”…The reason is, because he WAS that man! He said “If I” over and over again in that chapter…Not “If you”… He was using their knowledge of who he was and is to be an example for them…He WAS the trained, educated, knowledgeable, learned religious man as a Pharisee! And he realized that all of those things were nothing when he did not understand the love of God and how to example it in his own life! He knew what it was like to have all the understanding but miss the essential aspect of who God is, and he wrote to the church to warn them of the dangers of allowing that “religious” spirit, that he spent a lifetime cultivating, to take root in their own lives.

It is a given that most of the churches are not out waving banners of hatred for the world to see…but there is still a cancer in the body of Christ as it pertains to “loving” people who are not like “us”. Most would adamantly oppose and deny “hatred” in their own hearts, but might balk at the question, “Do you love_____(fill in the blank)”.

Ultimately, we have a responsibility for how we conduct OURSELVES as it pertains to people and how we reflect Christ in our lives. Only we know what is in our heart. We can’t make other Christians love, but we can discipline ourselves to be the proper example of God’s love within our sphere of influence. I would challenge you today to search your heart and ask God to reveal to you the areas where your heart does not properly convey His.

If you find an inconsistency, address it. It might take time to “unlearn” some of the perspectives that we have had emotional attachment to, but it couldn’t be any harder than Paul letting go of an attachment that he was willing to kill for before God gave him the proper perspective.

If you are willing, God is able…

“Is You Is or Is You Ain’t His Constituency?”

If you can dig it, say “Word!!!”