Jesus as First and Last

In the book of Revelation, Jesus calls himself the First and the Last, four separate times; three of those he told John to write this down, pay attention, make sure this truth gets to the church. Yet I would say the majority of the body of Christ has no idea what that title means. 

Rev. 1-8;17 "I am the Alpha and Omega (speaks of Jesus' deity); I am the First and the Last (speaks of Jesus in his humanity)." 

This title emphasizes his sovereignty (supreme power and authority) and preeminence (someone who surpasses all others) as a man, and His ultimate and total victory over death. We know who Jesus is as God, but the most mysterious truth is who He is as a man. This title relates to Jesus' resurrection; the reality of Jesus as a man.

Jesus is First. What does that mean?
He's the source of all blessing 
- what he did as a human high priest
- as a human taking our place and exalted 
- and as a human He shares the fruit of that work with other humans
- as a man who paid the debt for us
- and as a man who loves humans 

He is the first cause or source of blessing in our life. 
Most of us look to people as our source for blessing, so when people are happy, we're excited. When they give us opportunities, finance, promotion; things are well - but Jesus says I am the source. I may use them, but I am your source. I gave it to you originally, therefore I can return it to you a thousand fold as I see fit. We can lose in our lives because of obedience to God (through persecution from the enemy), a changing season, through the actions of others (some through the hand of the enemy), or through pruning. Jesus says, I am the well of blessing; I am the first, lock into me. I thought of blessing you before you were even born. I have the final word on what you possess and what you lose. Neither the devil nor man has the final word on that. 

Why is this so important? 
When we get hold of this in our spirit - it changes how we perceive everything. Knowing that Jesus has the power to give back anything taken from us by man or by the devil, positions us in a place of wholehearted obedience to God. I am loved and protected by God; no one can take away from me what can be restored to me by God - then my focus shifts from worrying about what others can do to me to focusing on Jesus. This reality brings with it more than just the words but a heart conviction that if I always look to Jesus in every crisis, every circumstance, whatever has been taken away will be justified and rectified by Jesus. 

Now, he doesn't say that we will always have a correct understanding of why certain things or blessings are taken; but we can hold fast to the reality that He is the source for our blessing and He has the last word on what blessings we receive. Some believers looks to Jesus as their source, but then are offended by Him when the result to that situation or experience doesn't look the way we think it should look. This is entitlement. Trusting Jesus as first means He's not only the first source of blessing but He has your best interest in mind first. He planned a future for you before you were formed in your mother's womb; He had plans to bless you long before you existed. If every situation or outcome ended as you wanted and expected, you'd have absolutely no reason to trust in Him first. But really believing He wants the best for us (as He sees it; and He already knows the beginning and the end so His view is more informed than our own) will free us to trust His leadership regardless of how it looks or what's happening in front of us. 

He was the first one to come after you. You might say, well, I sought after God and found him. Not exactly. The Lord says, "You weren't thinking about me, I trapped you in a corner, ambushed you, took away all your options, and you said 'I want you, Lord', and now you think you sought me and found me; I'm the first reason you were saved. You didn't have any interest in me for a long time and I stirred you and blessed you and courted you in. I'm the first cause of why you even have a destiny in the first place". So when the enemy traps you or a change in season comes or you endure persecution, you don't have to worry, because the one who thought of you originally, is still thinking of you - and He's a man and he understand everything humans go through. Not from a distance or from His omniscience, but because he experienced it; He felt it, so He has sympathy. 

He has the first place of authority as a man 
- over all nations - and when he returns, all nations will give their allegiance willingly to Him, as a man, as a Jewish man. With a physical flesh body. When we get who He is - the inevitability of who He is, we don't try to get away with compromise in our spiritual life, the glory and worthiness of that - He's the first. Because He's worthy and His place is inevitable. Jesus was fully God AND fully man; but the reality that often escapes us is that when He took on the form of flesh and came to serve on this earth, He didn't use the God card; He didn't use any special power, authority or privilege of His deity to accomplish His task on earth. He did it as a man to show us as men (women) how to tap into the power of heaven available to us through Christ as adopted sons and daughters of His kingdom. 

He's the first to receive a resurrected body. 
Jesus is the first man to connect with the realm of death and lived in light of it. He is the first and only man, right now, in heaven, with a resurrected body; and that is a precursor for us to know and believe that we will also have a resurrected body, just like him, as he promised. He's called the firstborn from the dead - the guarantee everyone connected to him will have one. He's also the first place of authority over the realm of the resurrected. He is the first one in charge; God has given all dominion, all power, all glory - into the hand of the Son. 


Jesus is the last.
As the last, He's the ultimate purpose; the highest goal; the reason for our life. Our lives only make sense in a growing understanding and relationship with him. All other agendas - for real - must be secondary. If they are, we'll have a vibrant spirit. The problem is, we have the language that He's first, but really other things are, and our spirits are dull as a result. We're still saved, but we live with a dull spirit. 

He's the last word on everything.  
He declares the end from the beginning. He says I can tell you where everything is going - my council, my plan will stand if you say yes to me. He will bring His purpose to completion, if you come into agreement with Him. Doesn't matter how much persecution is after you; Jesus has the last word regarding the will of God in your life. Leaders can't cancel out blessings intended for you. You might experience a momentary hiccup as a result of someone's decision, but no one can override Jesus' authority as the last word in your life. 

He's the last word of judgement/evaluation in your life 
Your pastor isn't; your pastor might tell you your awesome but he might have a man-pleasing spirit because your walking in the flesh serves his purposes - the Lord says. "don't believe that; you're not awesome; I love you, but you're living full of compromise". Well the man of God says I'm awesome; well he's lying, he's seducing you with his flattery. Let's go the other way; the man of God says, you're a rebel - Jesus says you're not, you're obeying me. No man has the last word; Jesus does. Regardless of what it costs you, stay loyal to that man - He is the last. 

Jesus brings this title up again in Rev. 2:8-11; writing to the persecuted church in Smyrna, He calls himself the First and Last...  breaks it down again and connects it to human suffering, just like before; but this time He connects it with the confidence and the expectation that there's a resurrection and eternal reward that would far exceed the loss of human suffering related to our obedience. He said, I was dead, I had the ultimate experience of human cruelty; I get it. They beat me, not just physical - before the cruelty of his torment related to the cross, He was rejected ridiculed by his disciples - they fled in their fear. The leadership of the nations rejected Him; His own family did not believe Him.

Rev. Vs. 9: I know your works, trouble, poverty - I get your works, I get it; I worked my whole life hard and mostly nobody appreciated it. I take note of it all, your faithfulness. v.10 some of you are going to suffer - some will go to prison for me, you'll be killed - you'll be tested - be faithful unto death and I'll give you the crown of life - Jesus won't promise breakthrough in every area - some preachers will. We should have the vision of breakthrough and blessing and in believing God to double everything; if He does, believe Him for another double; if not, keep loving Him and believe anyway. Not in a woe is me, groveling sort of way - but stay steady when the seasons don't work out the way we think they should. 

There's a man that has the last word on the works of your life - your weak reachings - when you obey Him with your attitude and no one sees it, that's a work; when you serve in the most unnoticed way because you love Him, He sees that and it moves Him. We can overcome fear with revelation of Him as First and Last. We won't see the fullness of who we are to Him until the end of this age - He has last word on our value of our works and obedience, on our desire to walk in humility because we love Him that people may or may not see, the last word is down the road, and it's in His mouth and His heart. And I want to live with that hope anchored in my spirit. Jesus, as Last, has final vindication forever of how I spent my time and how I loved Him. 

- inspired by teaching from Mike Bickle - IHOP-KC

Victory is Ours

When I see tragedy happen to those who are serving God, I don't see it as a sign that God somehow forgot to protect them. I don't see it as a sign that... well maybe that person had something they were hiding that was bad or maybe that person wasn't good enough to deserve protection. I don't see it as a sign that God must somehow be complacent about these events and can't be bothered with their petty outcomes. I don't see it as that person must have somehow deserved it, right? Or else why would God allow this to happen?

What I see is a child of God that is succeeding at winning souls for God, at changing the lives of others for good, at having a dramatic positive influence in the lives of those around them. A child, who is waging an effective war against the enemy.

What I see is war. Spiritual warfare is waging all around us, every moment of every day. And regardless of whether or not we choose to acknowledge it, or whether or not we choose to engage in it purposefully; we do not negate its presence by our ignorance. We are caught in the grips of a war with our souls and the souls of others left in the balance. And unless we acknowledge and understand our enemy and the weapons he uses, we are helpless to win (or rather to take hold of our victory).

The father of lies is skilled in the art of spiritual warfare; and his lies are the 50 cal machine gun of his arsenal. His sole purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. He is a master at his chosen occupation and knows his enemy and what it takes to bring them down to their knees. His attacks are waged in the recesses of our minds, clothed in enough half-truths to keep us confused, doubting, and vulnerable.

"If you'd have done this, this other thing wouldn't have happened. If you were really favored and protected by God, he wouldn't have allowed this to happen. You don't deserve God's favor and protection. You aren't a mighty warrior for God, you can't even protect your own family. You're not really loved and accepted by God unless you do this. You yelled at your kids (spouse) last night, God's not going to use you for this. If you really had the power of Christ at your disposal, this wouldn't have happened." ......and on and on and on.

This battle is fought and won within our minds, and its root is based in what we believe. What we believe to be true is what we speak over ourselves and is what comes to pass. And what we believe with our minds cannot alone protect us against this warfare unless our spirit man believes also. But the real truth that we must arm ourselves with, is that in our smallness, we aren't able (or supposed) to fully understand and make sense of the mind of God; therefore, we can't judge him based on our experience, we can't second guess him based on attacks from the enemy - we must simply have faith and believe that he doesn't make mistakes and nothing surprises him. We must arm our minds with his word and believe in its truth with our minds, our souls, our bodies and our spirits. And the most important truth in every situation is that Jesus has already defeated Satan, death, sickness and curses on the cross.

And the only lie that has power over us is the one we give life to through our belief.

Jesus has wiped out the room full of ninja assassins and left the front door open for you to escape. If you stay in the room, mesmerized at how many ninjas there were, and how much danger you were in, or what color the paint on the wall is, or distracted by your (kids, spouses, friends family) in the room screaming bloody murder that we're all going to die, or believe that the devil standing in our open doorway has the power to stop you from walking through - then you are stuck in that room. Let me put it another way.

Jesus has defeated our enemy in every way and left a clear way out for us. The room is our experience and everything we experience in it are the lies the enemy tries to use to keep us trapped within our room. We are too distracted by his lies to escape (which sounds daunting, except it's really just to walk out the front door); we are distracted by how many things and what types of things are attacking us; we are distracted by our pain in the moment to take hold of God's promises and Jesus' victory; we are distracted by the world around us (the paint on the wall), in all it's glitz and glamour, and we think that's our escape and our reward; we are distracted by everyone else's feelings, thoughts and opinions of us to take hold of the truth of who we are in Christ; and most of all, we believe that the prisons we are in are predetermined and inescapable, and we don't realize the devil that is standing in our way has already been defeated. And the reality of that lies in what we believe to be true.

For every lie we replace with truth, we win that battle. For every fiery dart of the enemy we extinguish with the truth, we exercise our spiritual muscle (faith) and are strengthened in the promises spoken for us. But if the word of God remains only intellectual theology and are just abstract thoughts, concepts, and principles that we can pat on the head and say "good boy" to, then that's the limit to the power it will have in our lives. If we believe the word of God is true, that we are wholly loved, beloved and accepted by God, that our prayers move the throne room of God, that we have inherited all that belongs to Christ, that we can never, ever earn his love but receive it as a free gift, and that we have the power to walk in the victories Christ has secured for us (freedom from sickness, death, despair and emotional imprisonment), then it will be so. And the key isn't whether or not God wants us to have that power, or whether or not he's willing to freely give it to us - it's already been done - we simply have to claim it, believe it, and speak it over our lives to walk in it.

So in this bloody, battlefield of spiritual warfare that is our lives, we must renew the spirit of our minds continually in our training. We must teach ourselves to call forth what is not as if it is; to not believe our emotions, our experience and our failures but to take hold of the promises of the word of God and insert them as reality into our lives through the act of speaking them; and to believe in those promises regardless of what we hear, see, feel, and experience. When we implement and practice this in every area of our lives, we will begin to see our lives transformed by the power of God; we will no longer be helpless victims of an enemy that has already been defeated, but we will walk in the reality of victory because we believe we live, breathe, love and serve from a place of victory, not to obtain victory. So I say to my loved ones, my friends, my brothers in Christ; upward and onward - let us take hold of victory in our own lives and come together in agreement for victory in each others lives.  

The Importance of Relentless Mind Renewal in Your Life

I've been studying a pastor from Bethel named Steve Backlund, and he has a series on Relentless Mind Renewal that I'd just like to walk out here because it's had such a huge impact on my life already in just over a week.

I had a chance to hear him speak right before the RAIN conference. And it's awesome when God is ready to introduce higher levels of his will and thinking in your life, because that weekend I was bombarded with the same messages from two completely different, unrelated areas. So when truth hits you in the forehead at 90 mph from two different directions, it gets your attention. :-)

Many Christians think that once they become saved, we are just going to radically change - and many times we have the mindset that God is going to do it all on his end, that we just have to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Romans 12:2 says "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." The Lord wants to make dramatic transformation in our lives, and the basis for that is our mind.

Ephesians 4:23 says "...and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds" and he gives us the way by which we do this in v. 22 "...put off our old self.." and v. 24 "...put on the new self.."

Hosea 4:6; my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge (or wrong knowledge). John 10:10; the thief (Satan) comes to kill, steal and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. The devil's only hold on us is deception, and we have to come into agreement with him for his power to take hold. But through the renewal of our thoughts we begin to take hold of what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross.

Joshua 1:8 says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."   The word meditate means mutter - start muttering on my promises, (through Christ I can do all things; I am strong in Christ; I am more than an overcomer; the devil is defeated; I resist him, he must flee in the name of Jesus). These get into your heart/spirit; you'll obey.

2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds (lies within the mind). We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ...". We recognize our Christian battle is in our thoughts. If we can win in what we think, then the devil has no hold on us.

What we believe is what we experience. The word is our chief weapon (the armor of God; shield of faith, and take up the sword of the spirit which is the word of God). Our power is in our words - what we speak over our lives is what controls our path. When we equip ourselves and speak the truth of the word over our lives, we make our way prosperous and experience good success.

So our primary battle is to break down strongholds in our mind and replace it with truth. Our truth must be rooted in a vibrant love relationship with Jesus.

Proverbs 23:7 says; As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So who we are is the accumulation of our thoughts and beliefs about God, ourselves, about life and is the essence of who we are.

Philipians 4:8 says; Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

God is telling us here that we are to fill our minds with thoughts worthy of praise.


Tracing the fruit of a thought is the best way to discern its origin; ask yourself:

Does that thought help me to respect and fear the Lord and depart from evil?
Does that thought increase my faith in and or knowledge of God's word?
Actions taken by listening to this thought, will they bring purity, peace, and fruit of the spirit?
Will this thought help strengthen me in all my might to help my endurance?
Does this thought bring joyfulness and bring thanksgiving to my spirit? 

If not, then that thought is either from your flesh or from Satan. He is constantly whispering in our ears; baiting us, waiting for us to come into agreement with any of them so that he has an invitation to come in. We can and must control our thought life. And we are called to do so through repentance.

Matt 3:1-2 

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Repentance is a decision that results in change of mind and in turn, leads to change of purpose and action.

Jesus, after being tempted by the devil, began his ministry and his first words were, in Matt. chap. 4, verse 17 "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Changing our minds is the first step in God - repentance isn't going to the altar and shedding tears; it's setting our minds intentionally on if we don't change the way we think, we are not repentant - we are not actually agreeing with and walking out the changing of our mind in that area. 

Common Lies Christians Believe:

1. I do not want to move forward in God, because the enemy attacks me when I do it; something bad always happens. People who believe that are putting more faith in the power of the enemy to attack them than in their belief in God's power to protect them. If you believe things are going to get worse for you, that will be your experience. 

What to say instead: as I move forward in my faith, God's protection moves with me and covers me and my family. I am blessed and favored by God. 

2. Being in the ministry is hard; or doing God's will is hard. Your belief determines your experience. Matt. 11 says my burden is easy, my yolk is light. Romans 5: Talks about what happened in Jesus is much more and greater than (the impact of) what happened in Adam's sin. Verse 17: For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. Chapter 5 says "much more" like 5 times - there's a greater force towards good and obedience and power through Jesus because of what he did. To reign mean to rule; this is a declaration, a promise that we must take hold of to activate in our lives. 

3. I will not receive honor in my hometown or home church - yes Jesus said that; but we can't take one verse to lock ourselves in an experience. Jesus' sacrifice on the cross made ALL of God's promises in the bible available to us. 

The Path To Renewing Our Minds.

1. We must increase in our understanding of the goodness of God.

We serve a good God. God is for me, not against me. He loves us, wants to bless us, "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, then how much more will your Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask". That revelation has not been predominant in the body of Christ. People with a poverty spirit, have a difficult time conceiving of a God who is good, they think God wants them to suffer - they see themselves as little fish struggling against the current; whereas, one with a prosperous spirit believes that God's purpose is to bless us and channel blessing through us, seeing themselves in a stream of favor and blessing. How we view this area and the goodness of God and to what level you attack to that is going to be the level that you are able to impact others. 

"Matt. 6:22-23 The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy (good), your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!" What we see and how we see affects everything. Tying this verse into the concept of the goodness of God; if you see God as good, as your source of blessing, then the light that comes from that in through your eye and filters through your life in a positive way; if what you see through your eye is darkness, then that affects how you see and feel about every area of your life, what you expect to happen to you, what you expect the outcome to be. If you expect yourself to be undervalued, persecuted, treated with disrespect, unloved or any bad pattern of perpetual encounters or outcomes in your life - you are opening the door to those and manifesting those experiences in your life because that's what you expect to happen. If you are stuck in that, then your view of God is not based in the truth of who he is and what his word says about him, but is based on wrong religious beliefs passed down from whatever sphere of influence you've been subjected to. 

And verses 25-26 say to not be anxious about your life, what you'll eat or drink or your body or clothes. The birds of the air neither sow nor reap nor gather food, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? If you do not believe God's promises, that he is your source, then you're depending on yourself to provide and that is the root of your anxiety. Our greatest opponent in life is what we beleive. Worrying is meditating on the lies of the devil. The devil has no power over us unless we believe one of his lies. Jesus is tying faith into how we see his goodness. This worry, this fear, this anger is just proof that I believe I have to take care of myself and that God is really not that good of a God. Verse 33: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. We need to refocus our eye on God's goodness and his promises. 

2. God's promises (just a taste)

Psalm 34: "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul (which is my mind, will and emotions) makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad." We're speaking out boasting how big God is, how great he is, how wonderful his promises are, and how abundant his blessings are. The humble out there are going to hear your boasting and be glad and encouraged, because we have good news to share. 

One way to magnify God is to get to know his names, which talk about his character - my healer, my provider, my peace, my victory, my breakthrough, my banner, my hope - Psm. 34:4, I sought the Lord and he heard me and delivered me from all my fears - when you really seek God and touch him then you know you're delivered internally. He doesn't say we'll be delivered from all our negative circumstances; but from our fear. 

Further in the psalm, first he delivers David (us) from our fear, then from our troubles. 'The angle of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them. O' Taste and see that the Lord is good. O' fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Come, O children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is there who desires life and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. (stop speaking the lies of the devil - negativity) Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it (internal and relational). The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil (he lifts his blessing), to cut off the memory of them from the earth. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.'

We have to break the flow of negativity, past lies, past experiences in our lives. We must learn how to encourage ourselves in God in those moments of small issues so we can be prepared to use those tactics on the big stuff. Small things like discouragement, I'm bummed, that person didn't treat me right, etc. give us an opportunity to train ourselves, like spiritual boot camp, where we break off the lies in our minds; because God is preparing us for something big. That's why the bible says we should welcome difficulty - because it's our opportunity to exercise the weapons God's given us. 

Philippians 4:4 - rejoice in the Lord always; again I said rejoice. 3:13 - ...for one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

God's call for us isn't just to go to heaven; he wants to pull us up into greater usability, he wants us to walk in great influence. 

1. Forget past. The only thing in the past you need to remember are testimonies of God's victories in your life. 2. Forget failure. 3. Reach forward - I don't have time to go backwards because I have something forward calling me; then press in.

Praying and speaking aloud God's promises to us will help us to repent to what we want and not just repent from what we don't want. A right view of God is essential to breaking strongholds in the mind. As God in your prayer life to reveal his nature to you; seek out scripture that talks about the attributes of God, study them and then use them to debunk lies that are trapping you in wrong modes of thinking. The reason God says to take captive our thoughts is because he knows that our thoughts establish our beliefs, our beliefs impact our experience, and ultimately, define who we are. As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So who we are is the accumulation of our thoughts and beliefs about God, ourselves, about life and is the essence of who we are. 

Freely Receiving from the Spirit and Walking Free of Legalism

Listening today to Mike Bickle teaching about Freely Receiving from the Spirit and Walking Free of Legalism. We hear that term a lot - and I thought I knew what that meant, but today I'm getting a new perspective on that. A simple definition of legalism is: engaging in spiritual activities to earn God's favor. Praying, fasting, giving, serving, outreach, bible study - we can engage in legitimate, necessary spiritual activities, but when we do them based on favor we seek from God, we are practicing legalism.

Ask any Christian and they'll tell you they know they can't earn their salvation, that it's a free gift from God. But our natural mindset automatically kicks into the gear of wanting to earn God's favor and God's blessing. Even though we know better, we all naturally do this. Verbally we acknowledge God's grace is free; but at the emotional level, we don't really buy into it.

One of the main reasons we struggle with this is because there's no natural occurrence of this in the earth. Isaiah 55:7-8 says "God's ways are higher than man's ways, as high as the heavens are above the earth; God's ways are as superior to and different from man's ways as the heavens are from the earth." He's actually talking about His tenderness towards our brokenness - the way that God offers mercy is so superior to any human beings' ability to show mercy - there's nothing on earth to compare it to. It takes the revelation of grace to understand. This comes down to us trapping (or trying to) God's love into the same box ours is contained in; changing to definition of God's love to mean what man calls love.

God's righteousness, blessing, and favor are given freely to those who have faith or confidence in Jesus' work on the cross and in His deep love for His people. (2 Cor. 5:17-21) says anyone in Christ is a new creation... that Jesus became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. God releases His power by faith - faith is having confidence in our agreement with the Spirit and the Word of God. That means we operate in our faith from the standpoint that Jesus paid for every sin, and that we stand spotless before God as Christ does. That means we operate in the confidence that when we repent of sin, it is gone and forgotten; that we cast off our natural spirit of shame after we repent and set ourselves before God with confidence that we are blameless.

Many find it easy to believe that their initial salvation is a free gift; but then believe that God listens to them, desires them, and uses them based on how well they are performing in their spiritual life. "Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law [earning it], or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh [earning it]?...He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Gal. 3:2-5) 


There are 2 different expressions of pride that tempt God's people; the pride that seeks to gain man's praise and the pride that seeks to earn God's favor. Many of the activities related to serving God are the same - the legalistic man will pray, fast, tithe, make time commitments to God just as the man empowered by grace does. It's not the activity but the motivation behind the activity that determines legalism.

Well, why is that such an issue? Both are serving, both love God. Because if we serve from a desire to earn God's favor or from a fear of God rejecting us, we are actually trusting more in our commitment to God than in God's commitment to us. God's love and desire for us existed before we acknowledged Him; God thought of us long before we thought of Him. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2). God's desire for us doesn't change based on what we do and don't do as believers; God's desire is for us to "take and say thank you" for all that He gives us. (Ps. 116:12-17).

When we operate in our faith with a legalistic mindset, our eyes are on ourselves (and how well we're performing) instead of on Jesus, and our motivation is based on doing enough to earn God's favor instead of simply receiving it freely and thanking God for it. And focusing on ourselves as the source leaves us preoccupied in measuring our dedication, our calling, and our relationship with the Spirit and comparing it with others. But when we operate in our faith with a supernatural revelation of God's grace, we are confident that in every season of our walk, God is paying attention, desires us and is waiting to release blessing on us. Even when we fail, God will still answer our prayers and still wants to use us; He still wants us to talk to Him with extravagant language of love. We can't pray and fast and tithe our way into God's love; but those activities increase our capacity to RECEIVE the love He already has for us.

We can have seasons where we faithfully keep all our commitments to God and then slip into seasons where we fall short - but God's reaction to us is still the same, it doesn't change. We are still the righteousness of God through Jesus; we are still set before God as spotless as the Lamb of God!!! But our connection to Him is based on US. We can fail - and either fall into our shame, put ourselves in a kind of spiritual detention, and change how we relate to God because of that - OR - we can fail - have legitimate shame; repent of our weakness and walk away from that for good and set our hearts back to God in wholeheartedness, talking with Him in confidence in His love. But if we are proud when we do good and feel shame and depression when we do bad, we are operating in our own confidence in OUR commitment to God, not His commitment to us.

How are you emotionally responding to God in your walk? Is your faith based on your ability to stick to your commitments to God or based on freely receiving and accepting with thanksgiving God's commitment to you? The righteousness you received as a free gift on your bank account in Heaven, the day you were born again, can never ever be improved upon. A million years from now, you will never have more righteousness in God's eyes than you did the moment you were born again. It's the righteousness of Christ; it can't be improved upon. You didn't receive a 10% part; you received all 100% the first moment. All the hinderance from God's standpoint is gone; His heart is wide-open, there's nothing stopping Him from expressing His love for you - the only thing stopping you is your ability to receive it. Christ's desire is to guide us to maturity in our love for God. Focusing our thoughts, our feelings, our desires on Christ and not on our own morbid introspection will free us from our own emotional traffic and clear the way for God to communicate to us.

Paralysis by analysis grips us when we are focused on comparing our walk, our blessings, our gifting with others. We are engaged in a continuous conversation with ourselves; "why is this person receiving more than me, are my motives right, is the Holy Spirit really touching me, my ministry is as good as theirs, he seems more dedicated than me" - the Lord says, "ok I want you to hang the phone up on that conversation with yourself, I can't get a word in edgewise". "OK, Lord, hold on while I talk to me about me, just give me a minute, I'll be finished." We're trying to sort it all out. The Lord says - just talk to me. I'll tell you where you are at, why you're receiving what you're receiving, what my plan is for you, why your blessings look different than my blessings to someone else. Stop talking to yourself and talk to me; stop taking personal inventory of how many times you fail. When you fall short, repent, push delete and talk to Jesus.

God as Our Source

Nobody starts strong in God. The maturity of our faith has less to do with how much time has passed since we were saved, and more to do with how much time has passed since we were saved that we've spent going deeper into the things of God. What does that even mean? What does it mean to have God as our source, and how does that affect our maturity as followers of Christ?

We have seasons of plenty, and we have seasons of need. We have times when it seems we're on top of the world, everything is going our way, and then times of trouble when our world is falling apart around us. But it is our heart response to God during each of those times that determines our blessing. Our culture promotes such romantic ideals about life, and when we embrace Christianity, we bring our romanticism with us. Our expectations are that once we choose God, we expect Heaven - we believe we'll be somehow automatically transformed, full of God; that once we've chosen God, he'll do all the work in us. But in reality, we're still angry, full of lust, drawn to the things of our flesh and at odds with each other, reacting at the wrongs inflicted on us. And just as the choice to choose God is ours and ours alone, the choice to pursue him is also.

Part of those idealistic expectations, we set upon each other as the body of Christ, when we receive those new in the faith. We teach them to cultivate their works for God to establish their place in the ranks of God's people. We take the bible stories of Jesus' life and his service to others and we try to apply it to ourselves. And those are biblical concepts; but without a growing intimacy with God, without an ever-increasing fascination with Jesus, we are doomed to fail. We serve out of an obligation placed on us by each other, or from a wrong paradigm that our salvation is related to our works - not from a place of overflowing joy inside from the love of Christ. And after a season, we drop like flies, burnt out, saying "I've served and served, now I want someone to serve me".

God's purpose in our lives is to expose our sin and weakness, not to promise us a perfect, easy life. But we're offended by that - we assume that because he wants us to be transformed that he'll just do it - with or without our help. And that is the conundrum that so many live in and struggle to get out of. And many of us resent God for that or think he's mean; "well if God loves me so much, why doesn't he just make everything better in my life; I'll serve him better when everything is as it should be" - and that is wrong. We do not have an accurate picture of how much sin and entitlement is in our hearts, how prone our flesh is to seek its own reward, how fleeting the days of our existence are. We truncate God's love for us to fit our own sphere of understanding of what love looks like to us, through our broken and selfish eyes. And when God acts in our life outside of what we feel those parameters of love should look like, we stop trusting him at the heart level.

But God knows that the only way to bring us closer to him is to reveal the sin and weakness that separates us from him. And all the seasons of plenty in our lives won't motivate us to seek him out; only in our pain and weakness and misery do we finally break down, after turning to everything BUT God and failing, and call out for him. And it is by seeing God as our source for everything that will empower us to walk through every season of life, abounding in joy. Happiness is not joy. Happiness is having your every whim fancied; it changes with the fading of color, the changing of weather, the smile or frown of another. It is fleeting, momentary, and satisfying only for a time, then it is gone. Our happiness is subject to the randomness of our universe, to the whims of our fickle associates, and to the temperament of our own desires.

Joy is a biblical term that refers to many different principles. Christ is the source of our joy; and tapped in deep enough, we are promised it as a wellspring that will flow for eternity through Christ to us. That means the attributes of Christ are available to us through his joy, not to wipe out our dissatisfaction but to calm our minds, steady our thoughts, bridle our tongues, heal our hearts and our bodies, and offer us peace and rest - regardless of our outward circumstances. That means when someone hurts us, the joy of Christ gives us power to forgive, to heal our wounds, and to reach out in love back to the person who hurt us. That means when our financial situation changes or we are stricken with illness, the joy of Christ gives us the power to heal, the strength of heart to weather the storm, and the assuredness of his hand holding us up during our crisis. When we understand God as our source, we have assuredness that his strength is mighty enough; that he is the source for every blessing in our lives. No boss or church leader can take away any favor he puts upon you, no family member can remove his love for you; and he promises that if you see him as your source, you will walk in confidence that his favor will be upon you in this life and the next in fullness.

God is our source. He's the source of our salvation, the source of our person, our talent, creativity, ability, life. He's the source of our strength, he gives us every breath; the power of his name casts out demons and moves the spirit realm at his command. But if you are looking for happiness instead of joy, you'll be disappointed and not understand how he's moving in your life and your intimacy with him will suffer. If you can completely accept in your heart that he is is perfect, that his ways are righteous, that he is always right, that he desires good and magnificent things for your life, and that his love for you is unfailing, then you are on your way to walking in his joy. In every moment of your life, believe him for full blessing - when it comes, bless him as the source; when it doesn't come, believe him for it anyway in the next breath and watch and see how your attitude, your heart, and your faith are transformed by his abounding joy.  

Overcoming the Spirit of Immorality

I really feel like the Holy Spirit is emphasizing this subject right now in my life - and I feel pressed to really get down to the brass tacks of understanding and overcoming the spirit of immorality. The New Testament really emphasizes this sin, and particularly, Jesus really highlights immorality in the sermon on the mount. [Mt. 5:27-30]. 


[ You have heard that it was said to those of old, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out…it is more profitable that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off…for it is more profitable…than for your whole body to be cast into hell. ]


But I really feel like the full understanding of this is being overlooked, underemphasized, and/or whitewashed within the body of Christ today as a whole, with devastating consequences. Immorality includes all sexual activity (physical, verbal, technological) outside of a covenant of marriage between one man and woman. Jesus knows that immorality grants Satan legal doors of access to oppress and damage our heart and our relationship with God, our family, and others. 


1 Cor. 6:18 says, "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body." 


God was speaking of more than avoiding physical adultery, but also the spirit of immorality. That spirit does not start with the physical - but in the eyes, then it moves to the heart, stirring up lust, and eventually turns into action. The Pharisees thought and taught that adultery was only committed if acted out in a physical way, but Jesus makes it clear that's not so. 


So what's the big deal here - why is he making such an emphasis on this? It is because of the destructive and deceptive nature of the spirit of immorality. It is a spiritual cancer that grows and ends in death if not resisted. The reality is, many in the Church have a low view of hell; but the bible clearly and repetitively says that those who are immoral will go to hell. 


Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves…nor drunkards…will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor. 6:9-10)   


This you know, that no fornicator…has any inheritance in the kingdom…Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes… (Eph. 5:5-6)   


The sexually immoral…shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire. (Rev. 21:8)   


Enter…into the city [New Jerusalem]. But outside are…sexually immoral… (Rev. 22:14-15) 


There's a false grace message being perpetrated among the body of Christ today that suggests because we are saved, and thus, we can dabble a little bit in sexual immorality and we're fine, praise God, Jesus saves. And yes, it's true that God's grace is big enough to cover any sin that we are repentant of. 


The key word here is repentant. If you have identified and acknowledged behavior as immoral and you are fighting to overcome that and are sincerely repentant, you can be confident in God's saving grace. But in our society today, where the lines of social acceptance regarding appropriate sexuality is off the charts, more than not those seeped in sexual sin refuse to acknowledge it as sin, even within the body of Christ. And the false grace message adds to that emboldenness that puffs up the inner voice saying, "ah, it's not that bad; boys will be boys". (This message applies equally to women as it does to men.) No longer are women backstage in the game of sexuality, but are front and center; and the new norm for a woman today (by societies' measure) is her self-worth equating to the measure in which she is able to successfully present her body as a tool for lust. 


We can back-peddle all day long and say, I'm a good person, surely that counts for something... I'm saved; God will forgive me, I won't go to hell for having sex outside of marriage, or for having an affair, or for looking upon another man's wife with lust. Beloved, our version of what's good and what's not, what's righteous and what's evil won't last a second in the throne room of the Lord Almighty on the day we stand before him - God's version of what's good and what's bad is what counts. And if we aren't in agreement with him, calling sin what he calls sin, and waging war within ourselves against it, then he knows. HE'S GOD. He's searched your heart and soul and knows you through and through. 


Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption... (Gal. 6:7-8)  


Part of the verses I've quoted talks about plucking out our right eye if it sins against us. And of course Jesus didn't mean this literally; but as an illustration to show the radical measures one must take to reverse the hold that sexual sin has on them, in order to overcome it. One example of dealing radically with lust is to obey Paul’s exhortation for men to refuse what is often called “innocent touching” of women, when they know that it stirs lustful desires in them.  


It is good for a man not to touch a woman. (1 Cor. 7:1) 


Jesus emphasized how important it is to deal with immorality in a radical way. A casual approach to lust is not sufficient. We must make radical, even costly and painful proactive decisions to remove whatever stirs up lust in our members (Mt. 5:29-30). This means that some of what we cherish (people, places or things) may need to be removed from our lives. The spirit of immorality is rooted in “looking with lust” at a person directly or through media (internet porn). This fuels the heart with sexual fantasies. Adultery progresses from eye adultery to heart adultery then to physical adultery. The term fornication refers to those not married who practice sexual immorality, and adultery refers to someone within the covenant relationship, lusting physically or emotionally after someone they aren't married to. 


The spirit of immorality is unbiased and operates to the degree that anyone opens the door to it. We were all born with sinful weakness. Satan wants our weakness to escalate to wickedness, but he needs our cooperation. He wants to poison our spirit and then imprison it. Augustine wrote, “Lust yielded to becomes a habit, and a habit not resisted becomes necessity (addiction).”  


Immorality is dangerous because it grows and becomes uncontrollable. People imagine that they can “dabble with a little immorality,” then control it later. They do not understand the power of a cold heart, darkened mind, and defiled conscience with demonic activity in their life. It increases in corruption (shame, oppression, and perversion now and leading to judgment later).


In Romans 1, Paul described how people sin against their body by engaging in immorality. He explained how a “penalty” works in those who continually refuse the Spirit’s warnings to resist immorality. The penalty is that God progressively “gives them up” to greater darkness—going from uncleanness (v. 24) to vile passions (v. 26) and finally to a debased mind (v. 28). When someone is “given up” to dark desires, God lifts the natural restraints that He gracious built into our human design. Thus, they are compelled to yield to greater depths of lust.  


Jesus reveals how He feels about those who continue in immorality without repenting of it. He warned the churches in Pergamos and Thyatira to not tolerate immorality (Rev. 2:12-23). Believers are sometimes made sick and die prematurely under God’s judgment on immorality. God’s discipline includes Satan being permitted to make the unrepentant sick (1 Cor. 5:1-5; 11:30-32). Paul commanded the elders to deliver a believer over to Satan (lift God’s protection, allowing Satan to make him sick) to wake him up spiritually so that he would not fall away.  


If we judge ourselves by repenting, then we will not be disciplined by the Lord. We can reverse God’s judgment or discipline by repenting of areas of persistent compromise in our life. The Lord is the avenger of immorality in the lives of unrepentant believers (1 Thes. 4:4-8). 


For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. If we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged [by the Lord]. When we are judged, we are chastened [disciplined] by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world. (1 Cor. 11:30-32)    


We act in the opposite spirit of immorality by diligently seeking to grow in our relationship with Jesus and by meditating on His Word being implanted in us which is able to heal our hearts.  I recommend reading Proverbs 5-7 regularly to be reminded of the terrible cost of immorality.  


Many issues contribute to being able to walk free from the spirit of immorality. They include: looking inward by communing with the Spirit through the Word; looking upward to heaven and its rewards (Col. 3:1-4, 23-24); looking backward to deal with bitterness, shame, and wrong mindsets; looking forward to God’s assignment in our life and to His end-time purposes so that we are prepared by understanding the coming glory and crisis (2 Pet. 3:14); looking around  to see the pain that our immorality would cause others; looking to others in relationships with accountability (confessing our weaknesses); and looking outward by establishing boundaries to avoid circumstances that stir lust in us by what we look at, where we go, and what we do.   


Note: I borrowed heavily from one of Mike Bickle's sermons click here to access it in its entirety. 

A Message from the Recovering Individualist

I read an article this morning that stirred up the Holy Spirit in me, and when the spirit speaks, I listen. It had such personal implications for me on so many levels, it was astounding. 


http://m.relevantmagazine.com/life/relationship/blog/27747-is-sexual-sin-communal-sin


Hi, my name is Jen, and I'm a recovering individualist. 


What the heck does that mean?


Well, it starts with the basis of this article; that there are many baby steps between the knowledge of the differences between sexual individualism and sex within a covenant relationship - between porneia and agape (read the article to understand these terms).


I used to believe - as society teaches us - that I am the center of my own universe and my primary objective in life is to serve myself; to gain more, to be more, to grow more, to learn more. And I applied this to my relationships. I deserved to be happy. Fulfilled. Loved. Respected. And any relationship that did not conform to that was disposable. My sense of entitlement shaped every facet of my life, dictating the choices I made with the primary goal to be to improve the quality of my existence. But as this article illustrates, it is when we individualize our existence and remove it from its connectedness to others, we corrode the very foundations of our society; and our individual decisions have an effect not only on ourselves, but upon humanity as a whole.


Last year, I went through a complete transformation through the Holy Spirit. And it was during this time that I went through my own baby steps from believing in, practicing, and engaging in sexual individualism to a commitment of abstinence outside of the covenant of marriage. Last summer, I was having a discussion about this topic with someone I was having sex with. I was grappling with my changing heart on the matter and trying to relay that to him. As I tiptoed around the topic of abstinence, he finally asked if I was going to become a nun or something. 


The tone in his voice had a twinge of mockery and sarcasm in it that left me embarrassed at the thought of it; that it was so far off the left field of societal norm that I couldn't possibly ever take it seriously. And being still in the infancy of my walk with Christ, I did not defend that idea because I wasn't fully won over by it. My readings of the bible told me that sex was only to be experienced between husband and wife within the covenant of marriage, but the chasm I had to cross from sexual promiscuity to abstinence was too big to cross in one fail swoop. Thus began my journey through these baby steps. 


My first baby step was taken before that relationship - it was when I made a conscious choice to stop sleeping around. At the end of a marriage riddled with intimacy issues, I found myself emotionally starved and my sexual attractiveness challenged. I was wounded, broken, empty and in no position to even consider a relationship; yet my emotional starvation compelled me to seek out what I needed through sexual encounters. Six months of that and I found myself in worse shape than when I'd started; on the brink of an emotional meltdown. I knew nothing except that what I was doing wasn't working. So my first baby step was made more out of desperation than out of any sense of morality. 


My second baby step was put into action when I met someone, like myself, who needed intimacy and companionship but wasn't ready for relationship. We engaged in all the levels of intellectual, creative, physical and emotional intimacies that a real relationship is supposed to have, but without the commitment. This is commonly referred to as friends with benefits. 

The third came about around the time of our conversation (about the nun). As I read the bible, I began to be aware of what it said about sex; and because I couldn't make the stretch to abstinence outside of marriage yet, I compromised in my heart and said to myself that sex within the boundaries of love was ok. That God couldn't possibly condemn me for being intimate with someone I was in love with. And it was during this time, that playing house with him turned into reality for me. But he wasn't where I was at, and didn't want to be; creating a conundrum that threatened to rip through every facet of our lives that we had unintentionally woven together. 

Step four was when I discovered the flaw in that - that me loving him didn't mean he loved me, that it was a counterfeit for the real thing and the pain I was suffering was a result of me settling for the counterfeit. And step five came when I accepted fully in my heart the biblical definition of relationships, sex and marriage and made a commitment to God and myself not to give myself to anything less. 

You may never go through the same steps I did; you may not understand what I'm taking about or can relate to it at all. But the importance of the evolution of this in my heart, my mind, my life is screaming at me at the top of its lungs - and its message is my commission from God, to share my perspective on it with others. 

From the article: "Think about the sexual ethic that dominates our airwaves, billboards, bars and bedrooms. We are a society that believes in consequence-free sex; in sex that is first and foremost fun; sex that is removed from communities and severed from reproduction and children. At the center of sex lies not the family or even the couple but the individual, and what is paramount is that the sexual needs of the individual are met. Like any other application of rampant individualism, such a self-centered sexual ethic finds its ultimate destination in abuse and exploitation. We damage not only ourselves, but those in our midst: using people, hurting people, raping people, abandoning people."

The message of truth in this is the same message that resonates throughout the whole bible: that the freedoms we allocate to ourselves outside of the will of God become our prison, giving us enough rope to hang ourselves. It is the same idea behind the meek will inherit the earth; that in order to have power we must willingly relinquish our own; we must give more to have more; me must go lower (humble ourselves and serve others) in order to go higher (to be exalted at the right hand of the father with Jesus). The more we choose God's way over own own, the more freedom it brings. It's a paradox. 

You see, the paradox is that we have to give up our right to decide what is best for us in order to truly be free; which doesn't sound like freedom at all, until we have a supernatural realization that God's wisdom surpasses all; that his commandments are right and just and made in perfect love and wisdom and intended to bring our lives into fullness - when we embrace these truths through the lens of God's love for us, there is no resistance to him because we see the truth in it and reap the benefits of his blessings. 


But for our choices to stand against the temptations of this world, they must be made through wisdom and knowledge gained from learning about God. The reality is, most people believe they have a right to be loved, appreciated, sexually satisfied, and adored, and want a relationship that can give them all of these things. But the disconnect comes in the reality of what it takes to achieve it; that we ourselves must be willing to unconditionally give these things (without the expectation of having them returned) in order to unlock the mystery of the bliss of covenant love. And we have bred the idea of marital bliss right out of our society to the point that even mentioning it as a viable option is laughable to almost everyone. 


We convince ourselves that the message concerning sexual ethics that society feeds us is accurate; that to have freedom, we make choices based on self-satisfaction and entitlement. But by doing so, we contribute to the brokenness of the family unit, the increase in the acceptance of abortion and children out of wedlock, we increase the instances of the fatherless, and we increase and unlock a culture-wide hunger for deeper and darker levels of sexual immorality to include the exploitation and demoralization of the value of women and increase the boundaries of sexual appetites to include our children, in both, through the marketing of sex to them, and in the inclusion of them to satisfy mans' sexual appetites. 


Think about it. Just 60 years ago, divorce was an abomination in our society. And just 50 years ago, having a child out of wedlock was heresy; 30 years ago pornography was considered perverse. And in the past 20 years, divorce has become the new standard for relationships; in the past 10, pornography, sexual slavery and the sexual exploitation of women and children has become the world's biggest cash crop; and in 10 more years, the likelihood of child pornography becoming an extension of pop culture is a stark reality. 


And as the contrast between these lines become ever more blurred, we must soberly ask ourselves how our individual actions are contributing to the annihilation of the sanctity of the family unit. Because everything matters, and every choice has a consequence. Every relationship we bail on in favor of a more suitable one contributes. Every time we look upon members of the opposite sex as tools to use for our own personal gratification, we contribute. Every time we gaze upon and lust after someone's body (that we're not in covenant relationship with), we come into agreement with the sexual exploitation that dominates our society. And in our abounding lust, as we seek out ways to satiate it, we engage with society in helping to blur the lines between childhood and adulthood; with more and more girls dressing and acting in adult ways at younger and younger ages, with more and more instances of older women seducing underage boys. 


These are becoming the new norms. It's ok to make sexual passes at minors. It's ok to lust after high school girls or boys. After all, if they are presenting themselves as knowledgeable in the arena of sexuality, they are fair game, right? Because it's all about the self; my experience, my entitlement, my wants, my needs being fulfilled, regardless of the impact my actions have on society. And every time we fall victim to these norms, we are teaching those same children that there is no longer a "we", only an "I", that sex is the new love, and that FWB is the new marriage.


You may think that by me bringing this up, I am placing myself in a position of superiority; perched on my self-righteousness, looking down on you with pointed finger. And that is the devil's plan for every person; turning truth into judgement, evoking resentment and resistance instead of an epiphany and curiosity to explore the truth. The reality is, I'm a recovering individualist. My words come from a place of humility and desperation, knowing that on the path to truth in God I am only a few baby steps ahead of you. The humility comes from knowing not long ago, I had no knowledge of any of this and how much that lack of knowledge affected every sphere of my life. The desperation comes from knowing the urgency of the hour in which we live, and in the knowledge of knowing first hand the distance between an intellectual introduction to this and a mature heart connect with its truth.


What baby step are you on? Are you practicing sexual individualism? Or are you experiencing the full blessing and joy of love and sex within a covenant relationship, and actively engaging others in our society who desire to form a community of others who are doing the same? More importantly, which do you truly want for yourself, and what does the fruit of your actions say about your path to achieve it?

Growing in Love

Hebrews 6:1-12 (paraphrased)
Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying AGAIN a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God... but of instructions about washings, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgement - and this we will do if God permits.

For its impossible (once enlightened; once the heavenly gift has been tasted and the Holy Spirit received, and one has tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come - and then fallen away) it's impossible to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. For land that has drunk the rain and produces useful crops are blessed by God; but if it bears thorns and thistles it is worthless, and its end is to be burned.

I am awestruck at the many layers of meaning and the beauty in it. The Lord has really put this message upon my heart this week. The implication here is that once you speak his name on your lips, once you claim your inheritance as his child, once you are touched by the Holy Spirit and you've received his blessings - to turn away from that is bringing the cost of Christ's sacrifice upon your head. I don't say that with a spirit of condemnation but with a spirit of urgency and seriousness that every Christian be compelled to ask God where he/she stands in this. Have I received your saving grace, Lord, and then, once confronted with truths that don't fit into my lifestyle, I reject them or restructure them for my benefit? Have I been the recipient of miracles, healing and/or financial blessing only to spat on that gift by lacking a heart of humility and an authentic desire for obedience? Am I building upon the basics of my faith by going deeper in your word with a hunger for revelation of it? Have I stopped long enough in my busy life to ask you if I am doing any of these things well?

I can only answer for myself, and that answer is whatever I'm giving, it's not enough; whatever my level of hunger and obedience, it's not enough; whatever level of knowledge of his word, it is not enough to stay where I am at, wherever that may be. The very sacrifice made to purchase us compels us to a hunger that can never be fully satiated (in this age), a commitment to never stop pressing in (even when we don't feel anything), and an urgency in realigning our hearts toward him daily.

To practice a religion is to set my life by a set of moral codes, attempting to live by them, under the compulsion to compare myself to others within my sphere of religion who are attempting to do the same.

Following Christ is to set my life at his feet in total surrender, under the compulsion of love, in which I set my heart to expand in the giving and receiving of his love, and the power of that love is what compels me to compare myself to him, reconstructing my moral code to align with his, and to get and give support to others who are attempting to do the same.

There really is a difference between the two - as far as the east is from the west - but the burden of my heart lies in seeing and hearing from so many who have only seen the first and have no idea what the second even looks like. And I should know, because less than 2 years ago, I didn't know what that looked like, I didn't even know that was something that existed to even want to attain it for myself! I thought Christianity was a decision to acknowledge God as creator of the universe and a decision to live my life under a code of morals, mostly shaped through the influence of a combination of Sunday School, grandparents, the (horribly anemic) current moral temperature of this age, and a process of self-elimination, by which I decide which of those morals fit into the life I want to make for myself.

Man I was so far off in left field I was missing the game. God is not a self-improvement mechanism or a part-time job, He is the center of your universe, the author of your personality, and your biggest fan. He loves you beyond your comprehension of love, just as you are in your weakness and brokenness and sinfulness. But he loves you too much to let you stay where you are, he wants to teach you things, expand your capacity to give and receive love, and a gazillion more things. But he's a gentleman and he won't force himself upon you. What he has is too valuable to give away to someone who could take it or leave it. He is a passionate, devoted lover who wants passionate love and devotion in return. He asks so little and gives so much. And if you don't have a vision for this in your walk with God, then you may be worshiping the wrong god.

The kindness of Christians

I read an article today from Eric Metasxas, and felt the need to respond to some of the comments posted after the article. http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/%2019343

I felt compelled to respond to Jonathan's comment about evidence of instances where Christians have displayed kindness to the children of same-sex couples. 

My immediate thought would be to point out the obvious; that if you're looking for an unbiased "news accounts" of the terms "gay/lesbian" or "Christian" used with positive connotation, you're not likely to find them. Most of our western news today chooses not to report on acts of humility, but to accentuate the negative in our society, regardless of group affiliation. Anyone who strives to live according to the teachings of Christ and the sermon on the mount lifestyle would not be documenting their good deeds, as that is the opposite of humility, which is at the core of the faith in which they subscribe. And any news source reporting on something positive relating to these two groups (which in and of themselves have become their own catchphrases that take on caricature-like meaning) is most likely from a group that is like-minded; meaning Christian new sources are likely to report on the successes and positivity of their group, likewise gay and lesbian news sources. In short, if someone were to provide you with documented examples of specifically how Christians have shown the love of Christ to children of same sex households, you probably couldn't hold any stock in them because the very idea cancels out the humility needed to carry out these acts of kindness. Are there exceptions out there that cast Christians in a positive light that are not reported from Christian news sources? Sure. But the very idea that Christians must go around documenting the goodness of their deeds for the purposes of convincing others is hypocritical in and of itself. 

But the real point here is not to confuse the kindness of Christians with the kindness of Christ. Just as there are a plethora of homosexuals who believe in and act out in perverse ways, there are Christians who do the same. Clumping together ever person who exhorts themselves "Christian" and applying the actions of all of those inclusively would be just as inaccurate and inappropriate as clumping all of the homosexual community together, making each accountable for the actions and words of the worst among them. I am more offended when I see someone use the mantle of Christianity in an un-Christ-like way than I am when I hear of some perverse action or word from someone who is homosexual - because it's personal then, someone is potentially representing ME in ways I don't subscribe to. 

Christianity is represented in our society in so many conflicting ways that many outside are rightfully confused about its true face. But the reality is, is that if you expect to find an example of perfect Christianity in any person on earth today, you are looking in the wrong place and will not be able to find it in its fullness. The knowledge of God as revealed in the bible cannot be attained through intellectual interpretation; but rather, requires spiritual revelation through the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, to understand. Jonathan, there are many people who call themselves Christians who act in ways that do not honor the beliefs they supposedly subscribe to, and there are many who have only an intellectual understanding of and moral obligation to Christianity - but even the most devout and dedicated Christian falls short of displaying the full grace that belief in Jesus Christ affords them. And that is the point. You see, Christianity isn't about a moral code and list of do's and don't's to live by, it's not about group of people that use religion as a blanket for personal hatred and bigotry (although I understand that that is only face of Christianity many people see); but rather, Christianity is about the worship of one man, Jesus Christ, who is full God and fully man - it is about the revelation of who he is and what he did to offer all of humanity a way to be reunited with the uncreated God, and it's about the transformative effect that a true revelation of the love of God brings to your life. 

Mankind is fallen and broken as a result of sin; but most importantly, our sin is what keeps us separated from God. It dulls our spiritual capacity to receive love and knowledge from him. Those of us who are able to get a handle on that and in faith, set our hearts to submit to the will of God are able to establish a connection to God. His love and wisdom and knowledge are perfect, and the more he reveals to us, the more overwhelmed and humbled we are by him. But as he begins to reveal his heart to you, you have a choice to set your heart to obey the truths he shows you or not to obey. And the decision you make directly affects your ability to keep that connection open and alive and growing. Notice I didn't say "when you obey perfectly", but when you set your heart to obey. He knows we are unable to keep our commitment to obey without his intervention; but it is only through our willingness to admit our inadequacies and in humility, pray for his help do we succeed in our efforts. And this commitment has to be reaffirmed every moment of every day of our lives. It sounds like a miserable existence, constantly trying to attain a level of perfection that we can't possibly attain in this age - and for many Christians who have committed with their minds and not their hearts - it is. But nothing could be further from the truth; because when you are lovesick for God, your weakness is replaced by his strength and you are able to empty yourself to allow his endless love flow through you to others. Love your enemies. Serve your neighbors. Exalt others, not yourself. Share the good news of the healing and transforming power of God's love. This is Christianity. Hate is not a byproduct of Christianity, but is a weakness of our flesh and a tool of the devil. God's word teaches us to hate the sin, but love the sinner. So if you are the recipient of a Christian's hate of homosexual sin projected in a non-Christ-like way, that is a fault of that individual, not of Christianity. It is in those moments we are called to forgive and love, because we too fall short. 

So I cannot and will not attempt to go into detail about where and in what context God's word says that homosexuality is a sin, because I can tell you my opinions all day but what matters is the truth, and that truth can only be revealed by God and through his word. And if you are unable to separate yourself from your natural reaction to assume that God is prejudice of you and therefore must hate you, and attempt to seek out knowledge and truth for yourself, you will never have the opportunity to find out. But the truth of God is still truth whether you or anyone else ever acknowledges it. People who know the truth speak with absolution not out of the arrogance of men, but from the assuredness of God. The only way to dispute that truth is by personally exploring the word of God and praying for wisdom and revelation of it for yourself. If you are unwilling to do that then you cannot speak knowledgeably on the topic of Christian faith and their beliefs toward homosexuality. 

But the biggest point of concern Eric makes in this article is that: 

'Tolerance used to be defined as a willingness to put up with the beliefs or practices of those with whom we disagree. Today, tolerance means we must accept the beliefs and practices of others as correct — or risk being called a bigot. It's interesting that this redefinition of tolerance almost always involves debates over homosexuality — and it always seems to be people on just one side of the debate calling those with whom they disagree “intolerant.”.'

Allowing a person or group to have opinions and beliefs that are different from yours is tolerance. But today, Christians that are willing to speak openly about their belief that homosexuality is sin are seen as intolerant, and that's just not true. And in twisting that word and its application, you are actually propagating the intolerance of Christians and their rights to their beliefs and their right to express those beliefs in a respectable, non-violent way. That is the point of this article. The tolerance movement that is mounting right now is a move by society (which is prophesied about in the bible) to institute worldwide, man's version of a "moralistic society" not based on biblical truth but on a false peace and acceptance of all religions and all behaviors. Mankind is putting their wants, desires, and judgement above that of God's; replacing biblical truth with a faith-in-self spirituality that allows for and condones immorality and idolatry. This new tolerance is being used to give mankind permission to tolerate sin and turning the mass acceptance of it into its own religion. 

And Christians really need to heed (what I believe to be) the underlying message here, beyond the simple concept of the changes in these word meanings and their implications to Christians. And that is, that the persecution of Christians and Jews is inevitable, read your bible. We are not called to arm ourselves, strike back, defend ourselves to our enemies (by and through any other means but love) and strong-arm truth to others. We negate the word of God by doing so. But, as Eric stated, we are called to love our enemies, serve our neighbors, stand firm in our faith and display the love of Christ to all. We Christians need to stop reacting in anger and hate to defend our beliefs and prepare ourselves and our children for the mounting intolerance of Christians and Jews that will eventually turn to persecution. If we don't get a biblical perspective of what lies ahead and set ourselves to be diligent students of understanding God's plans for mankind and come into agreement with those, we will not have the discernment needed to stay faithful and to not be deceived. 

Response to NC Gay Marriage Issue

I wrote a response today to this article about the NC ban on gay marriage.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/gay-rights-activists-christian-leaders-react-to-nc-ban-on-gay-marriage-74733/


The protection of the definition of the institution of marriage, as designated by God, has nothing to do with hate or oppression, with segregation or lack of tolerance; but with truth and untruth. And if you believe the bible is the living word of God, then you have to believe in His definition of marriage as truth, period. The bible is explicit about what marriage is and is not. And while many may not believe in God or His word, the fact remains that our country was founded on the basis of religious freedom and in God, regardless of where our country now stands on this principle. Whether you believe in God, the bible or what the bible says about marriage or not does not negate the truth of it. And while the men that founded this great nation were fallible and prone to wander from the truths of their principles, just as every man (person) in history has/does/is doing, aside from Jesus Christ, their hearts were set toward truth in God and the institution of marriage as a sacred, life-long covenant between a man and a woman.

I grew up being taught that the women's liberation movement was a good thing, that it brought freedom and equality from the oppression of men; a freedom long overdue. My generation was taught that being a stay at home mother was all but slavery; that we should set our sights on higher things. And we did. We set our sights on higher education, equal pay for equal work, and even freedom from the traditional institution of marriage, claiming our rights to sexual equality.

And now, as we find ourselves at least two generations into this new way of thinking, something is amiss. We have all but destroyed the institution of marriage with divorce, pre-marital sex and abortion; we've traded the privilege of making love within the boundaries of a covenant relationship for internet porn, phone sex, and friends with benefits, along with a huge surge in homosexual experimentation, sexual abuse and rape, and overall immorality. But most of all, we women have given up our place as leaders in the home for the right to be as men are; with the majority of us struggling to be both, caught between our jobs and their endless demands and responsibilities and our children, who are stuck all but raising themselves.

See, the idea that being a wife and mother was oppressive was a counterfeit truth planted by Satan. Satan has made it a point to counterfeit every truth established in the bible, and present it as another option for society to embrace, with just enough truth in it to lead us astray, and society accepts it and calls it truth because it ingratiates the desires of our flesh and are easier to live by than the truth. And as history crawls ever closer to the end of this age, our society adopts more and more of these counterfeits as the norm under the guise of tolerance, equality and peace.

The sad reality is, while we were being taught to be all we could be, no one was teaching us how to be mothers and wives. But even sadder, the biblical truth about why we (women) were created, what our purpose is and the fullness of what marriage was designed to be has fallen away to progress. When I finally gained a biblical understanding of marriage (after my 3rd major relationship had come and gone) I actually was angry, angry that the truth of the privilege of being a wife and mother really was never spoken of. The truth says women were created to be man's helper (not to rise up and replace him). And sex was reserved to be enjoyed only after a life-long covenant was established between a man and a woman. The true pleasure of sex was intended to join a man and a woman physically, emotionally, intellectually and spiritually. Wives were called to submit to their husbands and husbands to treat their wives as their own flesh. There were/are bad marriages; there are abusive spouses, always have been. But the solution to those was never intended to be solved through divorce, but through prayer and fasting and living as a Godly example to the other. By choosing to look to ourselves for the solution to our problems (through divorce), we relinquished our rights to God's power to implement His solutions. Satan successfully convinced Eve and Adam that God was "keeping" knowledge from them and that they could be equal to Him. What was the reality? They traded a perfect life free of hard labor, self-consciousness; a life of  innocence and peace for a life burdened by sin and death.

So what have we gained by trading our "oppression" for "freedom"? The freedom to feel unloved; many of us fatherless, abandoned, abused, neglected? The freedom to have empty, disconnected sex with anyone we want? The freedom to try to support ourselves and our children financially, spiritually and emotionally by ourselves? We have the freedom of exchanging a life-long bond with someone with disposable relationships? The freedom to live empty, broken, unfulfilled lives? Sounds an awful lot like slavery to me. The truth is that when society as a whole had adopted and lived by many of God's commandments, the instances of divorce and immorality were the rarity, not the norm. Those ways of living were oppressed for a reason; because they are detrimental to our physical, spiritual and emotional health as people. Virtue, honor, self-respect, dignity and truth were exalted in their rightful place. What is our society like now, full of disconnected, emotionally crippled, angry, self-entitled people? (I am generalizing).

This was a long, roundabout way of coming to this - gays and lesbians can have a union equal to marriage that isn't defined as marriage. If we can pass a law to expand the definition of marriage, we can create a law that gives those unions partner rights that does not affect the institution of marriage. Ah, but that would not be simple enough. And that's not Satan's plan. Doing that does not serve his agenda. I stand with the word of God on the gay/lesbian issue - but I do not hate anyone. Any "Christian" who speaks hate and fear is as counterfeit to Christianity as Satan is. There is no gay-bashing, no beatings or afflictions, no killing - only the desire to speak truth and life to all. I have as much or more of a problem with the heterosexual sexual immorality (pre-marital sex) than I do homosexual immorality, there's no difference, it all leads to death; and it's hypocritical for straight Christians who do not live by this to single out gays and lesbians. But it is not wrong for a Christian to speak out against the defilement of an institution established by God and agreed with by our own law. Not speaking out is the true crime.