".....Apart from me you can do nothing" John 15:5

I know it has been awhile since I last posted. I’ve been very busy with school and life but I always feel drawn back to writing the things the Lord shares with me in hopes that it will encourage someone or set someone free.

So since my last post I’ve thought really hard about the working of the Holy Spirit in us in God’s effort to sanctify us. Now we know that our faith in Jesus’s finished work is what justifies us in the sight of God. This doesn’t mean our actions are perfect at the moment but it merely means we have been acquitted in God’s sight of our crimes against him. Sanctification is the subsequent work of the Holy Spirit after salvation (justification) in order to make our actions and behavior match the new nature we have been given through spiritual rebirth.

Just a couple of months ago I read James 4:6 “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”  I thought about this verse and it really hit me for some reason. I’ve probably read this verse several times and never thought about it until now. As I sat and thought about it I realized that in a sense my humility is a determining factor in how much of God’s transforming grace I walk in. Now before you get legalistic on me or try to make my words say something they aren’t read the rest of what I have to say.

Jesus said in John 15:5 that “…apart from me you can do nothing”. Jesus is the source of that transforming power that changes us into his likeness. Jesus says that if we abide in him we will produce much fruit.  So what does that have to do with humility?

We walk in humility when we can acknowledge that no effort of our own changes us but rather it is God’s grace that does the work in us.  It is in the cultivating of our relationship with Christ that we learn to draw from his grace and become like him. Most preaching I’ve heard, not all, is aimed at condemning believers of their lack of victory over sin which only leads one to exert more effort to “do” something.  It is only the preaching of God’s grace in Christ and his finished work that will lead people to victory and Christ-like character. Condemnation leads people to try to find some will or strength in themselves to carry out what God wants of them, only to find themselves exhausted or defeated.  On the opposite side though, when Christ and his finished work is preached, you are pointing people to a well spring of life where they are able to draw strength and share in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4).

 The proud man wakes up and makes no effort to commune with God and in doing so his actions say “Lord I’ve got this. I’ll call you when I need you.” I pray you wake up every day and you are driven to commune with God through his Spirit because you honestly believe that apart from him you can do nothing.  “For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” Philippians 3:3. We must realize that what it takes to live the life God has called his Church to is not possible through human will or strength but only found in the Holy Spirit. We are able to help facilitate the work of the Spirit in us through fasting, prayer, worship and other types of activities. Not only does God delight in our relationship with him but we must realize that our union with him is for our benefit, our well-being. So I pray you read this and not only delight yourself in God for your own pleasure but also out of necessity so that you can stand firm in the faith.

Continue

Humility pt 2

24 " A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. 25 And he said to them, "The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

Luke 22:24-27

So this is something that has bothered me lately. It is one thing to watch worldly people act...well worldly, but then it astonishes me to watch "born again" believers act like Gentiles or as worldly people. When you don't submit to the Holy Spirit you are hindering the regeneration of your mind that enables you to truely see the Kingdom and operate in it accordingly.

One of the best books I’ve read was by Gregory Boyd called "The Myth of a Christian Nation". In it he talks about this passage from Luke 22 and discusses how the world's mentality of authority and leadership positions people over others, exercising rule and reign over them. He talks about how this mentality demands things from people and controls them through manipulation and fear. But clearly in scripture Jesus says that it would not be so with us, born again believers. He clearly states that the greatest among us would make himself the least, meaning someone who has true authority is one who would make himself a servant of all. Boyd also goes to say that the World maintains order through force while the Kingdom of God does it through love. Jesus did that on the cross. He brought order back to men and God through self-sacrifice in love!!!

Leadership in the Kingdom always looks like Jesus, always coming underneath people in love. Always serving, always loving.

A true leader.....

-is always provoking/leading people to do good by way of word and deed

-lets other people shine.

-always sacrifices for others.

-is always in a constant state of prayer

-is confident in what he knows, but doesn't claim to know everything

-is pure, in the fact he is the same at all times

-never claims to be the boss.

-is only after the praise of Heaven not the praise of man

-is not worried about titles.

-never has to say he's in charge, it is something people see about him

-is positioned and appointed by God not by men.

I could go on all day and I’m sure you could add some as well. But the main idea of this is that we cannot adopt the model of leadership from the world and use it in the Church, because it is carnally minded. If the Kingdom is going to be advanced in this day and time we need to do so upon the example, and most of all leadership of Christ. And this is going to take regeneration of our mind through the Spirit as well as a time of humbling. Because the bible says that the humble shall be exalted.

I challenge all of you who believe that God has placed you in a place of leadership to see if you are coming over ppl or coming under ppl. And to all of you who believe that God is raising you up to lead others , remember that your job is to lead people to Christ. They don't need to see you but Christ in you. So don't promote yourself or your ministry, but promote Christ. Display Christ and he will promote you and use you. No one wants to follow a so called leader who beats ppl with criticism, harsh words, and places fear in them. Rather they need someone who is full of grace and mercy, understanding and compassion. They need someone who has encountered Jesus.

This my friends is why many people have referred to our Heavenly Kingdom as the upside down Kingdom.

Continue

Humility pt 1

I had posted this on Facebook about a year ago and I had this particular article on my heart all last night so I’ve decided to repost it in hopes that it will bless someone. This is something the Lord brings me back to time after time.

This is for those of you who know that God has called you to great things...Which I know is all of us.

Even buildings fall for the lack of integrity. The word integrity means several things but the one im focusing on is the quality or state of sound moral principles; uprightness, honesty, and sincerity. Another one is the state of being complete; unbroken condition; wholeness.

If you watch the news you’ll hear about bridges and buildings that fall for no apparent reason, they`ll talk about the integrity of the structure being COMPROMISED. This is probably because the people building it were in a hurry to build the building that they compromised in the foundation or support of the structure. So because of that, it didn’t last when pressure was applied.

Ever heard the phrase that your gift will make room for you but your character will keep you there and take you further? Well the same is true here. Sometimes we get too busy building a ministry or something the Lord has given us that we forsake the integrity of what we are building. It may look great for a time but it will fall with a storm because we favored a big ministry or influence at the time we wanted it instead of focusing on the foundation and support of it and letting the Lord grow it.

I just felt the Lord encouraging me not to rush into what he has put in me but take my time with the foundation of it all so that when it does grow it will last and withstand the storms. It doesn’t mean do nothing but as a friend of mine always says...character before anointing/gift. It is an encouragement for us all to not forsake the foundational times of our lives but work diligently to prepare for what God has called us all to. Don’t rush his hand. Let him continue to mold and shape you.

A picture that i keep seeing in my head is a soldier sitting in his room with his sword. He is diligently examining his sword and is sharpening it. Even though he is not in battle right now he is preparing for the battle so that when it comes time he will be ready and every attack he makes will be thorough and effective. He will have confidence in his weapon and in his use of it.

Brothers and Sisters, become that soldier that diligently prepares for the battle.

Even more than that, as I rode home last night I saw someone looking at blueprints for something massive. The first thing they began to do after seeing the plans was dig a deep hole. The key to successfully building a massive structure is to dig a deep hole for the foundation. In translation, if you have aspirations for something great in your life the key is going to be great humility. The key to going up is going down.

Continue

Jars of Clay

                I’ve prayed a lot recently about wanting to understand the “riches that are in Christ” or our “inheritance that is in Christ”. I’ve prayed many prayers lately modeled after the following verses,

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” Ephesians 1:18

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you the hope of glory.” Colossians 1:27

I sat at Church the other night and began to think about these verses and the Lord began speaking to me about how valuable our relationship with Christ is and how awesome it is to have the opportunity to commune with Christ and the divine life that is in him.

Lately I’ve been on this journey to constantly live by divine life, because Jesus himself said that apart from him we can do nothing, John 15:5. But recently the Lord has challenged me to draw ALL my strength from him even for situations that look easy. Scripture says in numerous places to not put confidence in the flesh. The moment we put confidence in what we can do, it sets us up for failure, maybe not immediately but somewhere down the road.

Last night I was meditating on all of this and I came to 2 Corinthians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” As I read it I just began to reflect on how fragile our life in this fleshly existence is. I reflected also on how our strength is still weak in comparison to what we have available in Christ.

I was humbled very much when I truly reckoned myself to be a jar of clay, I know that sometimes I have never really seen myself as a mortal strengthened by divine life but more so at times I saw myself as a vessel of steel and used divine life, Jesus’s strength, as a plan B, meaning I put a lot of confidence in my flesh and what I could accomplish. Many of us do it and only very few of us see it that way and even fewer are willing to admit it. A large majority of us Believers treat the Glorious riches that we have in Christ as an emergency power supply, as did I.

If we could truly understand the battle we stand in and what wages war against our souls we would see that the emergency is now and your strength and will is of no power or effect. That you must be vigilant at all times because your enemy is looking for the moment to overcome you. But we have no reason to fear because our Lord leads us into Victory by his life giving spirit.  Once we can see ourselves as those jars of clay and that we truly can do nothing apart from him it puts us in a position to truly appreciate the treasure that we have been given. Its then, that we are able to put great value on what we have obtained in Christ.

Its then we join the Apostle Paul when he stated to the Philippians “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” Phil 3:8.

Truly brethren, it is not until we reckon ourselves weak that we become strong. When we reckon our power and strength obsolete and our ways futile, then we open the way for Christ’s power to flow through us.

                “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Cor 12:9-10

Continue

Only Believe

So I've been talking about doing this blog for awhile now and it keeps changing every time I sit down to do it. Ever have that problem? So here it goes.
Its been an interesting journey the last month or so. I've been diving deep into the grace of God and having it become alive in me. Just reading the word, meditating on it, and listening to others I've come to find and believe that the Gospel truely is power to those who BELIEVE. I've come to find that what we believe has a large impact on our life.
What happens when we believe the Gospel:
Mark 16:17 - Signs and wonders follow us
John 3:36 - We receive eternal life
John 6:35 - We will never thirst
John 7:38 - Rivers of living water flow from our heart
John 12:36 - We become sons of light
John 12:46 - We do not remain in darkness
John 14:12 - We will do the same works Jesus did, and greater
Romans 3:22 - We become the righteousness of God
Romans 6:1-11 - We are united with Christ in Death, Burial and Resurrection
Romans 10:4 - Our journey of righteousness through the Law ends
Romans 10:11 - We will not be put to shame
Ephesians 1:13 - We are sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit
Hebrews 4:3 - We enter God's rest
These are just a few scriptures about what happens to us when we believe. Many people only believe that Jesus died so that we can have a changed destination from hell to heaven. That my friends is only a small portion of our salvation. His word for us contains much more than that. We have a much greater Savior than that. Many people, even after believing the word, still see themselves as sinners, feel guilt about past sins and still feel the urge to earn the Father's approval. But this shouldn't be the case.
Jesus told the Jews in John 8:31-32 that if they would abide in his word they would be his disciples and they would know the truth and it would set them free.

Continue

Dont Give Up

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

13 Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, 14 knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. 15 For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

16 So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self [1] is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Sometimes we tend to think that Christians are impervious to trouble when we should understand that it actually brings trouble towards us. When you get saved you are actually transferred from one Kingdom to another. So know you are a foreigner in the land you live in. Even though the Lord grants us favor and supernatural provision we are still at war with spirits and principalities that are at work in the minds of unbelievers.

So many people I've talked to recently have shared their urge to throw in the towel. Many people are growing weary and I won't lie when I say that I've contemplated the same thoughts of casting aside the faith in hopes of a better and easier life. I had one dear brother say that it just seems easier to do the wrong thing than continue to do the right thing. He said he just felt like he was alone on an island and everyone was watching to see what he would do.

If you look above at the words of the Apostle Paul, not me but the other Paul, you see him describing the difficulties he endured in his own life. Paul said because he preached the Gospel, his life was constantly in danger, but he did such things in order that the power and grace of God could be made manifest, or displayed, in and around him. My favorite part of what he said is verse 12 "So death is at work in us, but life in you." and on over into verse 15 "For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God."

The reason we have the word of life today is because someone before us endured and suffered persecution in order that we may come to the truth. I'm not only speaking of the founding Apostles but other heroes of the faith through the ages as well. You wont find all of them in the bible or in history books or Christian literature, but they are there. They may not have been killed and imprisoned but they may have endured public shame and humiliation, ridicule, among many other things.

Paul says that he doesn't loose heart over those things though because it was all for the cause of making Christ known so that worship would be given to God. He continues saying that his focus isn't on these troubles anyway because they will eventually disappear but his focus is on the eternal things. Those eternal things being his expectation of the return of the Lord Jesus and the pursuit making the gospel known so that more can believe and be saved. 

All of us may not have our life threatened everyday for the sake of the Gospel, but we all encounter difficulties of some form because we have placed our faith in Christ. One thing I would like to encourage you in is this. We must hold fast to the testimony of Jesus because we never know who is watching us. We never know when our steadfastness under trials and persections will sway the unbeliever to faith in Christ. Don't be dismayed, because the trials you encounter today will one day be over, the ones who sneer at you and mock you will one day perish, but the one you proclaim and believe in has died once and lives now to never die again. To throw away the precious faith you proclaim on something that will one day perish is foolish.

What has been designed to kill you, smother you and put your fire out, God will use as a testimony to the weak and the unbeliever, that is if you endure and believe until the end. If you have stumbled and fallen there is grace and forgivness, but get back up and run the race without fear for he is coming for you and we want to be found waiting on him.

Continue