1 John 5: 1-3; 1) “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2) This is how we know that we love the children of God; by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3) This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”

          So, when we accepted Christ as our Savior, we became children of God. Our faith in Jesus, even as minuet as it was, brought us to Him. To rescue us, to save us from the destruction we had made of our lives up to that point. Our faith in the world laid in pieces at our feet. “I have come into the world as a light, so that no noe who believes in me should stay in darkness.” John 12:46 (NIV). So now being in the light of His glory, we begin to look at others through a new set of eyes, eyes created by Jesus.

And we begin to really listen, through ears created by Jesus. And just as we “love[s] the father, ‘we’ love[s] his child as well,” we love the Father and the children He has created. The believer and the non-believer. “And to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:19 (NIV).

          As we look on others, through our eyes created by Jesus, we look past the outer shell. We look at the heart. Many of the hearts we see are dark, encased in stone or bound by chains. We see the miss-direction of their ways. We look at how the follow the world, not caring that destruction is coming. And with our ears, created by Jesus, we hear the worry, the anxiety, the hurt and the pain in their voices. And then we suddenly realize that our hearts are going out to them. We find ourselves calling out their names in our prayers to our Father. We have begun on the road of obedience by beginning to love them. “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV).

          Filled with the desire, at our conversion, to understand Christ better, in order to obediently follow Him, we dove into the word. Consuming its power daily. We filled our minds and hearts with His commands. And in doing so our hearts opened up to see and hear God’s children, to their fears and angers and to their hurts and disappointments. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Romans 8:16 (NIV). We now can relate to those in the dark, since we too were living in darkness, at one time. Because to the power in us, through His word and the Holy Spirit, our words, actions and life will be an example to others the power of Christ, the change that has occurred in us may bring others to Him also. Some may come to us to inquire about the change, and accept the words that God gives us to speak, others may not. But because we see everyone as His child, we will continue to pray for them. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21 (NIV). “This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God’s commandments and remain faithful to Jesus” Revelation 14:12 (NIV). As we have read in these two verses, we must be patient, praying daily for those who walk in darkness, knowing Christ is working in their lives.

          So that they have the opportunity to be welcomed into His presence at His second coming. And we also see, that we, by being obedient to the Father and proclaiming His mercy, grace and love to all He has created is storing up for us treasures in heaven. We are securing our inheritance, our birthright, along with Jesus Christ as God’s children. And so by doing this our hearts will not fear death, but we will begin to understand that death will only be a blink of an eye, if you will, between life here and eternity with Christ. And our hearts will ache until ALL have come to Christ. That ache or desire will be what pushes us to live our lives with Christ in the center. It will push us to boldly confess our faith and trust in Christ to others. And it will give us the patient endurance to continually lift up those hurting and dying children of God, to God.

 I have been watching Christian music artist’s video’s. Just as I learned to really listen to the lyrics when I listened to the radio, I see the lyrics flash across the screen as the music plays. These words have driven me to write a little something for the blog.

For the longest time my life was a train wreak!!! But at the bottom of the pit that I had dug, I heard Christ call out to me. Christ…. calling out to me? Look at what I have done! I am a mess! I don’t deserve you even uttering my name! Look Jesus I am broken and bleeding and I am a total loser!!!! “You know that means nothing to Me Todd. Look at my hands and my feet, see the nail holes? See where the crown of thorns poked holes in my forehead? I suffered, so that you would not have to. I died so that you could live. I love you Todd.”

Jesus love me? Some may think like I did, look at what a mess I have made of my life. God could not possible love me. I have not done anything for you to love me. I thought that. I tried to live the Christian life. How do you do that? You don’t and you can’t! PERIOD!!! God allowed me to come to the end of my rope before He opened my eyes to truly see Him. God allowed me to come to the end of my rope before He opened my ears to truly hear Him. My whole being changed, not just “my life,” but my spirit, my heart and my soul. And as they say “the rest is history.”

I have a passion to now tell others. To express to others that what Christ did for me, He will do for ALL HIS CREATION!! I don’t want others to have to come to Jesus Christ like I did. He wants to have a relationship with you, NOW, right where you are at in your life. I carried burdens for far too long. I now know that Christ died in order that I no longer needed to carry ANYTHING ON MY OWN!!!! I write this, and I think that there may be someone that will read this and say to themselves, “yea, right. Carry my burdens. I am doing a good job of that on my own, I don’t need Jesus.” But how truthful are you being? How long ago did these burdens have you crying, angry, depressed? Don’t need Jesus? I can’t show you my life here on paper. I can only write what as actually happened to me, how my life is now going 180 degrees, from where it had been going.

The God of creation, the One that formed you and me in our mother’s womb, loves you. I came to Him completely shattered, broken beyond what I could do to fix me. See that brokenness does not bother Jesus, our Savior. Think about this, if you, and I, were not “broken” how could He fix us. How could He put our lives on the path that He has made for us to walk? He is not here to condemn, like some think He does. He is here to restore, lift up, make new! He did that for me! He did that to me! He desires to do that for you and to you also! OUR Heavenly Father longs to walk beside you, guide you, talk with you. My past, and yours also, is not what God looks at. He is concentrating on your heart now, at your acceptance of Him as your personal Savior.

I still experience pain, sorrow, stormy weather in my life. But now I have the Lord Jesus Christ to run to, the “strong tower,” that is my refuge in the storm. He longs to make room for you, so that He can shield you from this worlds turmoil. He wishes to guide and direct your steps so that when storms appear, you have Him right there so that you can fall into His arms. Don’t let this world and its notions direct you. This world will fade away, but God is eternal. God will never leave you. Take it from me, He will walk with you always. Yes, even in prison. Allow Christ into your heart today. Quit trying to live this life by the worlds rules that are always changing, always elusive, always damaging. Christ is life, and that life is so much more abundant that anything this world has to offer.

Need to talk? Write a comment. Let’s talk. Allow me to further explain how Jesus love you more that you will ever know!

          

Allowing Him to put the pieces together

 

There are many times that the followers of Christ are taken in by this world. It is those times when work, home, life, finances seem over whelming and we tend to run away from it-----but can’t. At times like that we MUST find a quiet place and return to Him. Our dis-satisfaction in life is because our spiritual eyes have become focused on ourselves and our troubles. This is the reason for the quiet time. Our eyes and ears need to return to looking at, and listening to, Christ.

          In our walk we have seen that by daily talking with Jesus, He focuses our hearts on Him. He continually molds and shapes us, so that we desire to follow Him and His ways that we, also daily, read about. By using the quiet time effectively we can “recharge” our hearts and begin to leave the troubles of this world behind us. We unload our “baggage” and allow Christ to carry our problems and it frees our minds and hearts to again know that Jesus walks with us and to know that we can’t plan our lives.

          To try to put the pieces together for us to “get ahead” will not only frustrate us, it leads us to look to ourselves to get what we “think” we need. So to live our lives by looking to ourselves is sinful. By not taking time, daily, our hearts will drift away from the love we know Christ has for us. It is His love that makes our hearts content with what we have. It enables our eyes to clearly see Christ. His love shuts our ears to the distractions of what this world continues to scream that we need.

          Many in the world can only hear the screams of this world and not the quiet voice of Jesus. As followers we must come along side of them and be examples by the way we live our lives showing them Jesus and the love He has for them. We must express to them how our lives were, and how they are now, changed because of the love Jesus has for us by putting it in our hearts. By showing the love Jesus has for them by our treatment of them, they may turn their lives over to Jesus. Allowing Him to give them the inner peace we have been given. Allowing Him to open their eyes to understand His word, and their ears so that the power of the words they read will be heard.

Grafted Children

 

Romans 11:19-21; 19) “You will say then, ‘Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.’ 20) Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. 21) For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.”

          “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” Matthew 11:43 (NIV). Here Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees, tells them that if they fail to believe God sent Him, the Messiah, that He would go to the Samaritans and proclaim the good news to them. Since we now believe that Christ is our Savior and have accepted Him, we must go out and proclaim Him to others. We have been “grafted” into His tree. We gather our spiritual nourishment from our Creator. We must live lives diligent in leading others to know Jesus and follow Him. We must show those with little faith, or unbelief, that Christ Jesus cares for them, and desires to have a personal relationship with them. “If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us.” 2 Timothy 2:12 (NIV).

          Our faith will bond us securely into the tree of God, as we are fed by His word we begin to bear fruit. His fruit will be the love, compassion, mercy, and grace that will flow out of us in the lives we lead. And we must be willing to share this fruit in order to be obedient to Him. But there will be times when pruning is necessary times when our belief and faith will be tested. But the word, in our hearts, will be the nourishment we need to make it through those times of dryness in our lives. “that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” John 3:15 (NIV). We need to share with others the fruit of Jesus’ mercy and grace, so that they too may be grafted in to His tree of life enabling them to draw His nourishing grace and mercy for themselves.

          We also must watch ourselves, so as to not grow arrogant of what we have and know God to be. What we have comes ONLY from Jesus. We have, and are, nothing without Christ in our lives. Christ has made available His words for us to follow in order that through the power contained within we live for Him. And that our lives would also follow His pattern, that the Light of His glory would radiate out from us and into the lives of others. We accomplish this by His power in us because without Christ we are powerless. “For by the grace in me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Romans 12:3 (NIV).

          We must not take lightly the position we are in. Christ grafted us into His tree, but if we are not fruitful He will break us off. By not bearing fruit we will be considered dead in our faith, no good to anyone. “Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. “ 1 Peter 1:17 (NIV). Jesus will judge us and his judgment will be just and fair. But we MUST NOT use that as assurance that our “works” will save us. We need to also study His word and daily spend time in prayer, listening for Him to speak to our hearts and then courageously carry out His plans knowing that our professed faith in Him will carry us forward, in order that we complete what He has for us to do. We will do much to advance His kingdom, as long as we stay in Him. Through His word our hearts will be one with Him in order that we stay grafted in Jesus. And through our pruning, we will then be fruitful bringing others to Him in order that the power of the Holy Spirit will enter into their hearts filling them with the peace, love and joy our heavenly Father freely gives to ALL HIS CHILDREN!!!!

Preparing our answers

      1 Peter 3:15; “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But so this with gentleness and respect.” (NIV).

        I have accepted Christ as my Savior, and so I do revere Him in my heart. I find this passage from Isiah 8:13, from the Amplified Bible helpful; “The Lord of hosts---regard Him as holy and honor His holy name [By regarding Him as your only hope of safety], and let Him be your fear and let Him be your dread [lest you offend Him by your fear of man and distrust of Him]. My life now is centered in Christ and what He did for me on the cross. He dwells in my spirit through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the spirit he gave us.” 1 john 3:24. I have daily devotions and prayer time twice a day. I have come to believe that it is essential that every believer start the day this way. By starting my day in this manner I have in my mind the words that I have just read and put into my heart. So then those words are the light that I need to illuminate my road through this life. I can also gain a better insight about my Father, and His Son.

          Through my better insight of God my Father I have a heart that desires a close relationship with Him so that I am able to carry out the tasks that He has desired of me. To live my life worthy to be known as a believer, and in so doing I will possible lead others to a relationship with Christ also. “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 1 Peter 5:2 (NIV).

        So I live my life for Christ and others begin to see. So my actions begin to speak louder than words, actions that are guided by the Holy Spirit that is in my heart. Through trials and storms and untimely circumstances, the way I live during and after those incidents will be a key to how people react when I talk about the Holy Spirit in my heart. Reciting what Christ has done for me, when asked by others, should be ready to be brought forth because of the eagerness, through the Holy Spirit, that is in our hearts. And we too must tell others that our God loves them through all their imperfections also. By saying that, it may just open up the door for those we talk to, to go through. So that they too will receive what we have, the love of Christ. “Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” 1 John 3:3 (NIV). “so do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.” 2 Timothy 1:8 (NIV).

        So as I continue to write these papers and share with others what Christ has done in my life, I need not get pumped up and over confident. This only shows others that what I am confessing is not true. That the God I believe in is a fraud and a liar and that is definitely not true. So I must act responsibly and be kind and considerate when giving my testimony to others. By living my life patterned after my Lord and Savior, my words must lift others up and show respect for their lives, and what is going on in those lives. Again, I am trying to live my life patterned after Jesus Christ, so by treating others as He would have treated them is doing an honor in showing others Christ in me.

Nothing…but Praise

Habakkuk 3: 17-19; 17) “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18) yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19) The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.”

          The first verse may apply to anyone, believer or sinner. Both one can fall on hard times or bad circumstances and situations that they make for themselves or get thrust into that will cause either one trouble. Troubles at work. Marriage problems. Being physically or emotionally separated from loved ones.  Now the sinner, or non-believer, has only himself. He desperately tries to fix things himself. And he fails. He looks to make things right, through his power, of which is never enough. A wall keeps him continually trying something else, only to have another wall appear. “You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink. But never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” Haggi 1:6 (NIV).

          For the believer, when sinfulness brings about trouble, we first must humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness. And then we must ask for strength and courage to weather the circumstances that we are in. The Lord Jesus is true to walk with us. Difficulties will come, but as we continue to follow Him, Jesus will catch us when we stumble. He tells us the truth when He states “I will never forsake you.” Now if our situation was of our doing, there will be a time when correction and discipline takes place. But even then Christ holds our hand. He lovingly leads us back to walk on the road He has made for us to walk. So as we begin to walk that road and follow the Light of His Glory as it illuminates the path we walk, we return to His word. And we allow His word to feed and water our spirits. “O my God, I trust, lean on, rely on, and am confident in You. Let me not be put to shame or [my hope in You] be disappointed; let not my enemies triumph over me.” Psalm 25:2 (AB).

          As Christ begins to restore us. We begin to feel His love for us. As we study His word, through daily devotions or a bible study group, it begins to take root in our hearts. Our spirit begins to be uplifted. Christ faithfully restores the Holy Spirit into our hearts. As we obediently follow Jesus, we are restored and we are strengthened through that obedience. Blessings return and lift up our praises to Him. Our worship time means more to us because we now see where our Father has brought us from. He has taken our shame and hurt and embarrassment away so that our feet are walking on the firm path of His mercy and grace. We have left our circumstances and sins in the past allowing us to walk in the “Newness of life.” We lift our hands and rejoice in what Christ has done for us and to us. “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Isaiah 61:10 (NIV).

          As we mature in our walk, the power from His word and His loving voice our hearts hear, begins to build up a desire to share our faith. Our walk with Jesus has led us to live a life separate and different of that of the world. And others may have already noticed. Which may have either led to questions or ridicule. Either way the Lord has given us strength to endure, and to answer those questions. And we begin to notice that we are looking at people differently. We see those who are lost and we begin to pray for them. We see the hurting and we pray for them. God has also opened our ears to hear the hurts and fears of many and we diligently pray for them. So now our maturity brings us to realize that all of this has come about by God’s blessings because of our obedience at continually dying to our selfish ways and relying on and trusting in Jesus Christ. Our hearts now experience only a slight tinge of the total overwhelming joy we will feel when we meet Christ face to face. And God gives us an ever increasing desire to share that joy with others. It’s a desire in us for them to experience the same. Christ in us, working through us, using us to accomplish his will in our lives and in the lives of others we share with. As we begin to more clearly see this, our praise and worship of, and to, Jesus Christ will only get stronger. As our Father, through His discipline, grace, mercy and love has brought us from the despair we were facing, to the point we are now we must continually praise and worship Him for that. “Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God. “Psalm 20:7 (AB). “God is our refuge and strength, and ever-present 

Unchained Hearts

            At one time our hearts were chained, with the trappings of this world. We lived our lives concerned with only ourselves. We ran after wealth, working long hours. We ran after prestige, climbing over others to reach our goals. We ran after material things, acquiring more than our neighbors. We also gossiped, lied, had lustful thoughts, and were unaware of those less fortunate.

          But we fell, and became broken. The chains that had bound us were loosened. And we fell to our knees, crying out to the Lord for help. And because of His undying compassion and mercy for us, He helped us to our feet. He removed the chains and cast them into the sea. He sent the Holy Spirit to enter in and take root in us. He began to heal our wounds making our eyes and ears come alive. He also re-configured our hearts in order that we would follow His ways----not our own. “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:10 (NIV).

          The Holy Spirit also gave us a desire for His word. So through our study of it, we learned to more effectively pray. We learned to quiet ourselves and come humbly, but boldly, before the throne of God. And because we believed, our hearts assured us that God was listening, and working for us. We learned through trials that Christ Jesus walks with us always, when we have turned our hearts over to Him. We feel His presence and are comforted and our lives began to radiate the light of His glory that is in us. We live to follow Him, being obedient to follow His commands so that others began to notice and take heart.

          They will also begin to notice the change in our attitude toward others. Just as Christ fixed our eyes and ears, to look at and listen to, others through His love, we begin to honestly, and with heartfelt sincerity, care for them and for their wellbeing both physically and spiritually. Some will be thankful and blessed because of it. Some, due to hardened hearts, will not. But the Holy Spirit will still give us the desire to pray continually for them.

          We will also listen to the hurts and pains in their voices. So we are led by the Holy Spirit to pray with them and for them, when asked. Christ’s words come to our minds, offering an inner peace to them, that only those words can offer. Many times just ever day conversations can lead to us sharing our faith. Others will notice the change in us either through our changed way of living, our changed attitude of others, or our changed way of talking. Or all three.

          However we are seen by others, we know it is God living in us that others see, The indwelling of the Holy Spirit has not only changed our character, but also our hearts. Our interaction with others has changed because of the change in us, and in our hearts. All due to the love Jesus Christ has for us. “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart, his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:45 (NIV).

Difficulty in Kneeling

Not getting the promotion that you thought was coming. Stopping off for a drink again when you told her that you would be home right away from work. Chatting on-line with that same woman as last night, only now you want to meet her for a date, what to tell the wife? Going to that porn site again when you promised yourself that you would not go there again.

          All failures. All falling short of the mark. Failing God, again. By trying to do it ourselves, we will always fail. Matthews 19:26a says; “with man this is impossible……” If we feel defeated constantly, and Satan is always telling us we are failures, there is “Difficulty in kneeling.”

          Life is great. I got a raise at work so we were able to buy the house we wanted. We were able to buy a new car too. And next month we are going on that cruise. I have been able to accomplish a lot. 1 Corinthians 3:19a says; “for the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” When life is going our way, there is “Difficulty in Kneeling.”

          Sooner or later we get tired of listing to Satan. Sooner or later we hit bottom. Sooner or later our prosperity ends and the money is gone. In those times we cry out to Jesus, in those times there is no “Difficulty in Kneeling.” In those times many of us surrender to Jesus, we turn from this world of darkness and look to the light of His mercy and grace. We then begin to build our faith on the Rock of Christ. His light will begin to radiate from us. Luke 11:36; “Therefore if your whole body is full if light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

          As Christ comes into our hearts and we begin to study His word we come to understand the calling that Christ has for us. And we begin to tell others of what God has done for us. Matthew 10:32; “whoever acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” It is then there is no problem in “Kneeling” our hearts to Him becomes that is our desire to do just that.

          When we are empowered by the Holy Spirit we become “the voice in the desert” the light to those walking in the dark, His words, spoken through us are heard by the deaf, Christ enables us to guide others to the light of Jesus, so they too may follow Christ and not stumble and fall. We will be able to “kneel” with them asking our Lord and Savior to come into their hearts, enabling all to speak with thanksgiving and praise on their lips.  John 8:12; “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

          Following Jesus with our whole heart enables us to freely and effortlessly kneel down to Him. Kneel down to His direction for our lives. Kneel down to freely follow Him. Kneel down to giving of ourselves for His sake. With Jesus in us there is no “Difficulty in Kneeling.”

Enter into His rest

Matthew 11:28-30 28) “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29) Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30) For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

        At 2AM this morning my light bulb went on! While in prayer for a roommate, the understanding of these 3 verses hit me! Of course it is easy comparing my life to these verses. In the months leading to my confession and arrest, my life revolved around getting more and porn. And the burdens that accompanied that grew. But the end came and here I am. So allow me to now explain my understanding of these verses.

          The burdens we carry, for he most part, are past mistakes, past situations of failure, past hurts. Anger, resentment and, possibly, huge amounts of shame. We had learned that Jesus died for us.  His blood covers our sins. He took our burdens with Him to the cross. “This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.” Matthew 8:17 (NIV). But I really did not believe He would do that. In my thinking, and the world’s also, is that I needed to do something in order that the Father would love me.

          My world came down, crumbling all around me. I soon was sitting atop a heap of ash, crying out for God’s help. He came, not having to come from afar, since He was actually walking with me. So I turned to Him slowly at first, because the ingrained self, wanted to continue to control. But I soon began to give more and more control to Him. And I began to feel a peace inside. The clamor of the world began to fade. And the small voice of Jesus became more prevalent. The peace I felt inside enabled me to internally slow down, not having to keep up with the world any longer. As faith grew, my “rest” opened my ears so to better listen to Christ instructions, given to me through the word. I started to comprehend, that through the study of His word, His “yoke,” the power contained within, gave me greater faith to follow His ways. Which now has afforded me “rest” in my life knowing that the love of Christ lives in me in a greater way now. Rest in knowing He is in control and that my obedience in following His ways is something that I do not want to lose.

          With the continued cleansing of myself through the study of His word I throw my selfishness, worry and fear away. I uncovered a strength and courage I never knew I had. My spiritual gifts, long ago given, but never unwrapped. “But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14 (NIV). So now I began to realize the love my Father has for me. And I begin to more fully see how much Christ loves me as I was and as I am. The indwelling of the Holy Spirit in my hearts, through my study of His word, my heart began to swell up, hardly being able to contain the joy, peace and praise I have for the One who WILLINGLY died for me, to save me from the eternal destruction I were headed for. “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” Ezra 11:19 (NIV).

          As I walk with Christ, I fall into step with Him. I now intently listen to Him speak, through the Holy Spirit, to my hearts as I pray. And as I continue to study the word my life has begun to be that of how Jesus also lived. By denying self and putting the concerns of others ahead of myself, I now pray diligently for others. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 (NIV). “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” John 13:15 (NIV).

          And so I continue to grow in my faith, with courage and boldness to share my testimony. And I now see that the yoke Christ has us wearing now is not as burdensome and heavy as we were lead to believe. The world, and its teachings, had us believing that it’s ways were better, less restrictive. The happiness it promised never happened. We turned to Christ, out of desperation, and we found peace and the happiness we had been searching to find. In our greater understanding of Christ, we find out that He had our peace and joy and happiness all the time, ready to freely give it to us at any time. We know now that we were unable to carry the burdens of our past hurts, mistakes or pains. The world has us believing that if we worked hard enough, in order to gain God’s love, that our burdens were be easy to carry. At our conversion our eyes were opened and we learned that our past burdens were heavy, but that we no longer HAD to carry them. Christ’s death allowed us to lay them at His feet. To take them OFF our backs and lay them on His, because Jesus has the strength. Out of our desperation and despair we cried out to God and we finally heard His sweet small voice. The voice that put all the lies of the world out in the open, exposing them as they are……LIES!!!! Christ took our burdens that allowed us to finally walk unimpeded keeping our eyes on Him. The world had turned us upside down. Jesus has re-righted us so that our lives reflect the love that He has for not only us but for ALL people. We now live a life, a life where we shout praises and thanks to the Lord Jesus.

Too busy to communicate
 

          Here I was, in another restaurant, sitting with my wife eating our supper. At another table sat a family of 3, each one looking at their “I phone’s.” There was no talking, no communication between any of them, and even when the meal came there was little talking. Of course this made me think…I see a story here!

          The world today is much like that family. Busy with all the games and news and texting. Too busy to talk with one another and ultimately with our Father. See unlike talking with those in the world, and not getting anything out of it, speaking with the Father brings about peace and joy into our lives. Something that this world cannot bring to us. I have found that speaking with the Father enables me to conquer my fears and doubts. Talking with Him enables me to follow His path with a boldness and courage that no matter what, He walks with me even in the darkness of trouble and despair. Those of this world grope around in the darkness of their sin, thinking “How will God ever love me... look at me. I need to tighten up my act.” By not truly communicating with God the Father, this world is unaware of the tremendous love and grace and mercy that our Father has. We all know that Jesus died for our sins, but those of this world cannot understand that, they cannot comprehend the true meaning of that.

          Believers know though. Their lives have been transformed by His mercy and grace. They know of the love that God the Father has for ALL He has created because He allowed His Son to die, on a cross, to pay for our sins. Christ’s shed blood covers our sins; we appear spotless when we come before our Heavenly Father when we enter into His throne room to talk with Him. In my life, entering into His throne room stirs in my heart a wellspring of jubilation, of a euphoria of peace and joy. Something that I had searched for, for many years. Of course all that time I was of the world, groping around in the darkness of sin and despair just like everyone else. Seeking but never finding, listening but never hearing. But my downfall, my sinfulness, in my darkness, I fell into the pit that I had constructed for me. Yes, I dug the pit that I fell into. Like this family, I was involved with only me, myself and I. I did not communicate with others. I was too much “into my phone.” But, beauty came from the ash heap. I laid broken and shattered, in a heap that resembled mud and muck and despair. But here was the Creator of the universe wading through all of that to rescue me, lift me up, mend and repair what was broken. He carefully cleaned me up and put me back together in His image. God drew up my blueprint. He was the engineer and designer of all of me. And He showed me the gift that He had put in my spirit, leading and guiding me on how to effectively use that gift in order that His kingdom be known here on earth.

          Even though He had restored me and given me a gift, I still needed to study and learn to walk on His path, to travel along the road that He had set my feet on to walk. The road is paved, but there were still many turns to walk around and tunnels to go through. There were times when I did not follow Him and I lost my way. But with the Holy Spirit in my heart, my ears are in tuned to hear Him speak, and my faith enables me to know that I know He will never leave me. Communication is the key, because if I fail to speak, to ask questions, then I cannot effectively walk in His ways nor work as I need to in order that my life, and speech, reflect Jesus in my heart, mind and spirit. Daily prayer is our life line, if you will, to allow Christ to lead and direct us throughout our day. To use our gifts that, He has given to us as He wants, we must be in contact with Christ at all times. Through prayer, quite time during our breaks, right before bed. For many it is hard to “put down the phone” and I will be the first to admit that I find it hard myself. But we must because we do not want to be like this world because they are missing out on so much joy and peace. I, and fellow believers, know this and that is why it is so important to keep the lines of communication open. Non-communication brings only darkness into our hearts and leads us astray.

          Heavenly Father I pray now that whoever reads these words of yours written by me, that their hearts will be changed. That they will hear your knock at their door and that they open it. Allowing you to come in and set up your home there. And the Holy Spirit to also enter in and guide them in their walk, so that they will be a blessing to others that they encounter during their days. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Sing and give thanks

Colossians 3:16, 17 16) “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17) And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

        Through our study of the word, the power of those words fill our hearts. They encourage our spirits, so that we can remain obedient to love others with Christ like love. The words also open our hearts so that we can clearly hear Christ, as He speaks with us, guiding and directing our words and actions. So that these words and actions may open the hearts of others so that Jesus may enter in and give His peace, joy and forgiveness to them. “Simon peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”’ John 6:68

          As His words fill us more and more, we can then effectively use it, sharing with others. We are living examples of Christ’s unlimited love for His creation. We joyfully relate to others how Christ’s shed blood has covered our past and future sins. Our joy will hopefully begin to break the chains that bind them to this world. The chains of past hurts, anger and resentment. The chains of storms, currently in their lives. His words spoken through us, give life to those who honestly listen and then humble their hearts and accept Him as Savior. “For the commandment is a lamp, and the whole teaching [of the law] is right, and reproofs of discipline are the way of life.” Proverbs 6:23 “whoever loves discipline loves knowledge but whoever hates correction is stupid.” Proverb 12:1 “If you don’t want to learn, years of schooling will teach you very little. But if you want to be taught, there is no end to what you can learn. This includes being willing to accept discipline and correction and to learn from the wisdom of others.” (life notes from the Life Application Study Bible (copy right 2011 Zondervan) from Proverbs 12:1)

          Those we help become followers, we must rejoice with when they come to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Then we must come to our Father with praise and joyous singing on our lips. We must continue to walk alongside these new children of God so as to encourage and strengthen them in their new found faith. Continually looking to Jesus to increase our faith, hope, love and joy as we encourage our new brothers and sisters. The more that Jesus leads our lives, the more others will notice and ask us “What is it about you?” The more we share Jesus with others, by being His key, He is able to unlock hearts and enter in.

          Our obedience in using the gifts God has bestowed on us will bring us into a more intimate relationship with Christ. Our hearts will be filled with even more of the Holy Spirit. We will have a very real desire to share with others all God has done for us. All of this, the obedience in sharing, walking with new believers, blessings for our obedience is like a circle, never ending. So as His joy fills our spirits, we must give thanks and praise to Him---Jesus Christ, Lord of all.