Change!

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -- his good, pleasing and perfect will."

Romans 12:2

In the Church as a whole today, the number of people leaving is at an all time high. You can open the newspaper, and can daily read an article of a pastor having a moral failure. What is happening to us as the body of Christ?! Where have we lost our intensity to stick to the Word of God? Can you see a difference in the Follower of Christ in the New testament, and the follower of Christ of today? Take a deep long look at your life, and compare it to the lifestyle of new testament christians. Where have we as followers of Christ gone wrong? I refuse to believe that the way we are living right now is how it is supposed to be. We go to work, school, out in town, and never say a single word about our savior. We go throughout our day trying our best to blend in with the people around us, just trying our best not to sin. We get out our Bible, and maybe we even read it with deep passion and try to apply it to our lives, but we don't really live it. We might live certain passages, but we don't live it all. We are quick to apply verses that tell us not to be afraid, and to find Joy in the Lord, but when we read verses that actually call for us to get outside of our comfort zone, we highlight and underline it in our Bible's, maybe even write a note out beside it, and that's it. It never goes any farther than transferring from the Bible to our minds. But when we read encouraging passages about peace, the words are transferred from the Bible, to our brain, to our mouths as we declare them and pray that God will provide more peace for us that day... What is this??? Is this what Jesus died for? So that we could be self-indulgent? I refuse to believe that this is what it is all about. To copy and paste scriptures that we like to our Facebook and twitter accounts and thats the climax of our servitude to Christ. I have never read a scripture that says to just share about Christ when you are behind the safety of your computer. I have never read a scripture that says to just pray for people when we are in church. Imagine our world if followers of Christ, actually followed Christ... 


One of my favorite sermons I have ever heard was by David Wilkerson, "Call to Anguish". In this sermon you can just hear the cry of his heart. I will never forget the words he cries out, "You are changing!". As Christians today, we are changing. Our intensity to strive for Jesus has drastically changed. We are consumed with going through the motions. We are so busy with maintaing a "Cool Christian" persona, that we become so occupied with ourselves, we lose sight of the great commission, and the ultimate reason we are here. We make gods of ourselves even while we are "Christians". We have made Christianity a hobby, instead of a lifestyle. Let me type that again; we have made Christianity a hobby instead of a lifestyle. A hobby is something that you enjoy doing when you have free time. It's not what your life is wrapped around, it's just something that we do when we can. A lifestyle is how you live your life. It's what your life revolves around, your lifestyle is how you live your life. We are followers of Christ when we are not busy with doing something else. Hobbies are done when all other priorities are finished, when you don't have anything else planned. How many times do we do this with our time spent with God? We spend time with Him when all else is done. This is not what we were created for! We are changing! It is time for "being a follower of Christ" to become a lifestyle again. Jesus is what our lives are wrapped and absorbed around. He HAS to become our windshield that we look unto to see where to go, instead of a rearview mirror that we occasionally glance at when we need help. We Have to stop the change, and change. Stop letting the world change our intensity of pursuing God, and change daily into the men and women of God that He has called us to be! 


Today, I believe God is searching for a generation to rise up out of the ashes complacency and mediocrity, and to stand tall, firmly rooted in All that God commands us to do. A generation of followers of Christ, that actually follow Christ. Not just on Facebook and twitter, but a generation that follows Jesus in their daily walk with Him. A generation that rises up and is ignited with a fire inside of them, a fire like Jeremiah the prophet had that was "Shut up in his bones" (Jeremiah 20:9). He couldn't contain what God wanted him to share. A generation to rise up out of the ashes of a going through the motions mentality and rise up to be a generation of setting the standard of living a life set apart from the world. A generation that rises up and develops friendships with unsaved people to show them that there are followers of Christ that really follow Christ! The world doesn't know what one looks like!

Listen to me carefully, please. We are living in a world full of "followers of Christ" that love to be challenged, but hate to change. We are to the point in Christianity that we pray to be challenged in our Bible reading, but we rarely pray to be changed. We may pray it, but do we actually practice changing? Golfers go all of the time to golf coaches asking them what they can do to better their swing, how to change it to make them better golfers. How would the golfers change their swing if they just listened to the instruction of the golf coach, and never actually tried out the new swing? Would there actually be change in the golf swing? Of course not! That is the same difference when we read the Word of God, but don't live out what we read! We have been created to constantly draw closer to God. Everyday we should be taking steps to get closer to our Savior. Do not let this just be a challenge, let it be a spark for change. Change! 

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."

Psalm 42:1

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Wanting to Satisfy the Crowd

"Pilate! Pilate, wake up!" 
"Do you know what time it is?!" Pilate angrily responded, making himself crawl out of bed. 
"Sir, I know, and I am sorry. But this is urgent, sir. An angry mob of Jews are outside. Among them are the chief priests, elders, and the entire Sanhedrin."
Pilate, now intrigued, "What do they want?"
"Well, sir, they are bringing a man by the name of Jesus to you to judge."
Jesus. The name rang a bell. Could this be... Yes! This was him! The man he had been hearing the servants talk about. The one that could make lame to walk. Blind to see. And dead to rise! He had been wanting to meet this man for quite a while, now was his chance! 
Pilate quickly put on his royal robe and sandals. For some reason, his heart beat had kicked up a notch. This was merely a man... But something inside wanted to know all there was to know about this man named Jesus. 
Pilate! We want Pilate! Bring us Pilate! Rang out louder and louder as Pilate swiftly walked down the hallway leading to the front entrance where the mob had gathered. As soon as the torches the mob carried shone the smallest sliver of light on Pilate, the crowd roared with accusations against this man named Jesus. He says he is king of the Jews! He opposes paying taxes to caesar! He's a liar! Blasphemer! On and on the crowd roared as Pilate tried to quiet the crowd. Finally, there was enough silence to be heard by the furious mob.
Pilate glanced at Jesus, only then realizing the severity of the situation facing him. Hands bound behind his back. Blood gushing from his nose. Bruises forming under badly swollen eyes. Cracks of blood covered his lips. Later he would discover that the Pharisees did this to him during his initial judgement. 
Pilate cleared his throat, "Are you the king of the Jews?"
"It is as you say."
The crowd erupted in anger. I told you he was a blasphemer! The chief priests threw accusation after accusation at Jesus, yet, He said not a word. How could a man take this much abuse, and control himself from lashing out? How could he stay silent, and maintain this look of determination on his face? 
"Are you not going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of?"
Pilate was completely amazed at this man. Just watching, Pilate knew that this man was innocent. 
The governor, Pilate, had a custom of releasing one prisoner at passover. Barabbas was brought before the crowd. "Which would you have me release: Barabbas or Jesus? The thunderously roared for  Barabbas. A crowd of this size had the power to over run him and his guards if he made them angry. He couldn't just deny them, he loved his job! He loved his life! All though he knew that he knew that Jesus was innocent, it was just one mans life, right? It would be better to sacrifice this one man, than the life of all of his palace guards if the Jews were to attack. Sometimes maintaing in power involves making compromises, at least thats how the rest of the world worked, so why not as governor? This one compromise of honesty will ensure him his trust with the Jewish community. Just this once...
"Release Barabbas."
The crowd went crazy, as the blood thirsty men and women cried in approval. 
"What should I do with Jesus?"
Crucify Him! Crucify Him!
Crucify him?? An innocent man?? No! He would not allow it!
"Why?? What crime has he committed?"
They yelled and screamed all the more Crucify Him!
This proved it! The crowd had nothing on him! Jesus was in fact innocent! It was all so obvious to Pilate... But, he didn't want to make the crowd unhappy. Plus, he had a reputation of being a likable governor to keep up. The crowd was still incredibly angry, they could still turn on him and his men if he were to decline them this 'pleasure' of killing this innocent man. He had to please the crowd...
"Okay... Take Jesus and have him flogged."

Compromise. Pilate's greatest mistake and sin was compromising what he knew to be true and right (Matthew 27:18 and John 19:4, 6 show us that Pilate knew in his heart that Jesus was innocent.) for the sake of following the crowd and protecting his own reputation. Mark 15:15 says, "Wanting to SATISFY THE CROWD, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified." With the angry crowd hanging on his every word, the easiest way out was to send Jesus off to be crucified, even though he knew it was wrong.

So many times in our walk with Christ, following the crowd is such an easy thing to do. Wanting to please the crowd and not offend anyone is even easier, even if it means a compromise in your faith. For ministers, this is particularly easy. You feel God nudging you to speak on the issue of homosexuality, but you don't want to offend the crowd, or run anyone out of the church, so you choose not to listen to God for that Sunday. But you still pray that God will give you a sermon to preach? I don't see the logic behind that at all. It would be much easier to just not speak on that issue, even though you know that God is speaking to you. You can be in town and the perfect opportunity arises to share the gospel with someone you are talking to, the Holy Spirit nudges you, but you refuse. It would be much easier to just not say anything, I don't want to offend them... How are we any different than Pilate?? Pilate compromised what he knew to be true for the sake of not offending the crowd.

I ask you, what are you compromising for the sake of not offending anyone? Don't take the easy way out! Right now, take a few moments and ask God to search your heart for any areas that you have been taking the easy out in. Don't offer a half hearted prayer to the One who did everything but take the easy way out for you. Really, I mean really, seek God. It all comes down to this: Would you rather offend the crowd or offend God.

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."

Psalm 42:1

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Desperate For You

Webster defines desperate as: "Having lost hope; Suffering extreme need; Extreme intensity." 

Everyday we see people in desperate need. A family losing their home will desperately plead with a landowner for extra time to pay their bills. A mother of a dying child will desperately find the best hospitals and doctors around for her baby. Desperation is a common emotion in the human body. We have all experienced it. Try to think back to a time when you were desperate for something. Maybe you were desperate for food after not eating for awhile. Maybe you were like the image I just described: in danger of losing your home, or having a sick child. Maybe you were desperate to come up with funds to go to school. Whatever your case may be, think of a time that you were desperate. 

Have you ever been desperate for God to do something in your life, or in someone else's life? Maybe for a healing, or a miracle of some kind. You had lost all hope of having enough money to pay the bills, or given up on the doctors saving your loved one, so you desperately cried out to God. Have you ever been in this situation? 

Here's a tough one, when is the last time that you got on your face a desperately cried out to God, not for him to do anything in your life, but you just desperately cried out for Him. Desperate to be closer to Him. Desperate to know him on a deeper level. Desperate to have a greater relationship with Him. Can you remember the last time you did this? Can you remember the last time that you were desperate for a greater relationship with Jesus. The last time that you knew that you were "hopeless" without God becoming greater in your life, so you called out in desperation. The last time you cried out to God with suffering from lack of growth, from suffering great need of Jesus in your life. Can you remember the last time you did this? Can you remember the last time you cried out with such intensity and with such a burden to want to know God more, that you were desperate for more of Him? 

If only we had the desperation to follow Jesus, and to know him more that the men and women did in the days that He walked among us. We see stories of men leaving home and family, not even looking back, to pursue after Jesus and to grow in Him. We see stories of people desperately pushing through crowds, lowering people through roofs, quitting jobs, etc. in the desperate need for Jesus. All throughout the world, there are people that all they have is Jesus. They understand what it means to desperately long to know Jesus more. In some countries, believers will walk miles just to attend their underground church so that they can hear the Word of God. Bible's are forbidden in some countries! These believers will walk for hours just to worship their savior together as one body even though it is illegal, and punishable by death. They are desperate for more of Jesus. One people group in particular will bind believers up, and toss them into a body of water with a rock tied to their ankle; once the believer has been underwater long enough to cause un-conscieneness, they will pull him up, revive him, and ask if he wants to continue to serve Jesus. When the believer says yes, they will throw him back in. When he has been underwater long enough to pass out, they pull him up, revive him, and ask him the same question. When the answer is yes, they repeat the process again. Once again asking the same question, when he answers that he still believes in Jesus, they will shun the believer from the village for the rest of his life. The believer is forced to never see his family, friends, loved ones ever again. These believers are desperate for Jesus, even in the face of persecution. 

So I leave you with this one question: What persecution is keeping you from desperately crying out to God for more of him? 

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."

Psalm 42:1

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As it was in the days of Noah...

Genesis 6-8

Thousands of years ago, after creation and the fall of man, an ugly scene is unfolding in the world. Sin has bombarded the universe, as temptations drive mankind to their deepest desires of the flesh. Murder, lust, violence, lies, gossip have all made taken their first breath into the newly created universe. Humanity was escorting itself away from God's instruction and warning of judgement, right into the enemies deceptive grasp. The grasp that is disguised as comfortable and pleasing, yet, in reality, was dragging humanity straight to the gates of hell. Humanity was blinding itself, not looking to life after death; only dwelling in the 'now'. Evil (anything that goes against God) was the king of humanities throne.

The One who created humanity, looked at humanity, not just their actions, but their heart, and was disgusted. The Father of it all, saw that evil was on the heart and mind constantly. God was grieved that he had made man, this man that had so soon neglected Him. Pain filled His heart as he said to Himself mournfully, "I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth -- men and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the air -- for I am grieved that I have made them." (Genesis 6:5-7)

But someone found favor in the eyes of the Lord, in the midst of all the sin and evil of humanity. Noah.

In the midst of all of this destruction and evil, one man stood out. This man did not conform to the ways of the world. He held onto his love for God, and chose the narrow path. He was a righteous man, blameless among the people of this time; and he walked with God. (Genesis 6:9) Walking with God is no easy task. This means he would have lived by faith in God, trusted in God's promises, made every effort to live a holy life, and enjoyed a deep relationship with God. His life was devoted to the forsaken God of the universe. Daily trying to convince people he encountered to turn from their wicked ways, and embrace the Only True God. Day after day, laughter and mockery was thrown back at him, but this didn't stop him from serving God. Everyday, he spent time talking to God, pouring his life out to God, for this is what walking with God is. One day in Noah's time spent with God, the Creator had had enough of humanities constant rejection of Him. He tells Noah that he is going to destroy the earth in a flood, but he will make a covenant with Noah, a covenant that would protect Noah from the coming wrath.

Can you imagine what must have been going through Noah's head at this moment. God was going to destroy the world in a flood... A flood... Rain had never fallen from the sky before, in the history of the universe, they had never experienced bad weather, much less a flood. God was telling him to build a boat on dry ground. Not just any boat, a giant boat, to fit animals of all kind in it. He was to build a boat, on dry ground, for a flood, when it had never even rained before... But Noah did it. How could he have known what to do, or that the flood was coming?? He spent time with God. He walked with God. He had spent enough time with God that he recognized the Lord's voice. There is no way that Noah would have heard the voice of the Lord if he had never spent time with God before.

Hebrews 11 is notorious for being called the 'Hall of Faith' chapter in the Bible. Noah is among the inductees to this chapter. It reads, "By faith, Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear, constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith." (Hebrews 11:7) Noah's actions proved his faith in God. As a result of his faith, and his faith in action, he became intimate with God. Noah had a relationship with God, spent time daily with him, but the intimacy in his relationship came when he acted out what he believed. He believed that God was true, and just, and he acted out his faith by building a boat on dry ground. "By this..." He "became an heir of righteousness THAT COMES BY FAITH". You don't build a big structure to float on water, when there is no water to float on around, without hearing some kind of divine instruction! Noah's faith in God, and Noah's actions that proved his faith, saved him!

If you truly desire a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus, spending time with him will not be enough. We are to be servants to God, meaning that we are not ourselves, but belong to God. If the master of the servant tells him to do something, and the servant merely listens, but doesn't do what was instructed, what kind of servant is that? Jesus is the groom and the church is the bride. If a man and wife were to spend time together, as need be, but the man or the wife never did what the other asked, what kind of relationship would that turn out to be? In James 1:22 the Word says, "Don't just listen to God's word, do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves." The truth can not be any clearer. What if Noah, always spending time with God, would have heard the command and warning of the Lord, but not built the ark? That would be foolish. What is stopping us from doing what we hear and learn from God? Is it people's opinions? What if Noah would have not done what God instructed him to do because of people's opinions? Noah, in the face of persecution, and mockery, and humiliation, continued to hit nails, and saw wood. He didn't let people's opinions keep him from doing what God had called him to do.

When we decide to actually do what God says in his word, and what he speaks to us, (to hear from him, you have to first spend time with him) people will take notice. Go into the eyes of the people that were living in the time of Noah, go into what must have been going through their minds. Seeing this humungous structure being built. Imagine hearing the words of God repeated through Noah, that destruction was coming through a flood. You have never seen rain before, more than likely, never seen a boat before. These people demanded an explanation of what he was doing! If we live a life of not just hearing the Word of God, and become doers of the Word of God, people will demand an explanation of our lives. They will see a difference, they will see that you are determined. As Followers of Christ, we are called to live a life that makes people demand an explanation! I have a hard time believing that, as a follower of Christ, our lives can look the exact same as people who have not accepted Christ, except for the fact that we go to church, and read our Bibles. What kind of example are we setting?? That makes Christianity just a hobby, instead of a life changing, lifestyle that demands an explanation.

Today, humanity is the exact same as it was thousands of years ago in the day of Noah. Sexual immorality everywhere you look, violence all the time, murders everyday... Does that not sound like the world today? "Just as it was in the days of Noah, it will be in the days of the son of man." Luke 17:26. There is going to be another judgement on the world, the book of Revelation describes that. Just like in the days of Noah, there is an ark that is beckoning anyone to get on it. This ark is only found in the saving grace of Jesus. If you are reading this, and are not a follower of Christ, take this time right now, to get on the ark, to accept Christ as your Lord. Do not ignore the warning like people did in the days of Noah. Today is the day for repentance. If you are a follower of Christ already, we are in the final stretch. Do not let people's opinions stop you from putting legs to your faith, from putting your faith to action. Tell people about the ark of grace found in Jesus.

"As a deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God"

Psalm 42:1

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In The Beginning...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Gen. 1:1. We all know this verse. The beginning of it all. The beginning of the greatest story ever told. The story that has been thousands of years in the making. The story that is still being lived out, but the end is already engraved. God created the light and darkness, the animals and the land, the fish and the sea, he created the stars and the sun, and he created man. Man was God's special creation, as he breathed life into this lifeless creature. Man was created in God's image and likeness, meaning Man could have a personal relationship with God that uniquely reflected his love and character. Man was created to know and obey God willingly. Man was created in the beginning with no faults, with no flaws, sinless. The first man was Adam, the first to have a personal relationship with God. The next, Eve, the first woman. Together they would live in the beautiful garden that the God had made for them. In this garden, there was no need to have to worry about safety, for animals were not dangerous. There was no need to worry about where the next meal would come from, for there were fruits of all kinds in the garden. Rivers flowed through the garden as a source of clean water. Everything was perfect in the lives of the first man and woman. No need to worry about shelter, for there was no rain, no cloudy days.  In this perfect place, there was only one rule, only one thing that could make man fall. The tree in the middle of the garden, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The consequence of the breaking of this rule? Certain death.

Since the creation of man, God had a plan for man, they were to rule over all living creature, and to multiply the earth, but there was a force counteracting this plan. Ever since Lucifer was thrown down from heaven with a third of the angels he corrupted and persuaded to follow him, he had planning revenge. As Eve was roaming through the garden, picking fruit, petting animals, enjoying the creation that God had made, the enemy slipped into the scene. As he took the form of a serpent, and slithered around the tree that was off limits, he waited for Eve to come closer to the tree. He had been waiting for this day since he fell from heaven. Just watching, anticipating the moment, going over strategies of what he would say, as Eve made her way closer to the tree exploring the beautiful garden of Eden. The serpent made his attack, in a smooth tone, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?' (Gen. 3:1) Eve calmly responded with the rule that had been concreted into her memory, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" (3: 2-3) The serpent, anticipating this response, knowing this was going to be said, slyly made his checkmate move, "You will not surely die, For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (3:4-5) Eve, taken aback, began TO DOUBT what God had told her. The spiritual warfare that must have been going on inside of her head. The history of mankind lingering on this one decision to trust what God says, or to be deceived and disobey. As the thoughts of rebelling began to weigh heavier and heavier as she allowed the thoughts to pour in. She looked at the fruit she was forbidden to even touch. With that look, the thoughts she allowed to swarm into her head, became contemplations. She saw that the fruit was pleasing to the eye, it looked good, plus, she was going to gain wisdom if she tried it. Maybe God was wrong? One fruit won't cause God to kill me? Just this one time... She reached out, pulse pounding, as satan hissed his approval. She took hold of the fruit and took a bite, allowing sin to propel into the once flawless world. (3:6)

With this, Satan grasped the keys to death, hell, and the grave. He accomplished what he set out to do, destroy God's plan. Satan deceived and convinced Eve that she could disobey God, sin, and there would be no consequences. This is still Satan's sale pitch today. Every temptation he lingers in front of you, he tries to convince you that there will be no consequences, that you can ask for forgiveness later, that one little sin will be okay, God understands. But, there is a reason that Satan is called the father of lies. He knows exactly what to say for it to capture your attention, then he will question what you believe. Once he has you doubting, he will tempt you. If you ever battle with doubts of God, please please please remember this one bit of truth: Satan is the king of doubts. His very first temptation he ever threw at mankind was doubting what God said. If you have heard from God, if you have been given a promise from God, don't you dare let the enemy put thoughts of doubt into your head. Know that the enemy is going to bring doubts against God! That is his nature, that is what he does! But God, His nature is truth, His nature is pure. Who will you trust? You see, when Satan convinced Eve that she could sin and there would be no consequences, he was trying to separate Adam and Eve from God. The consequence of eating the tree, sin, was death. Death is separation. Separation or death in their relationship with God. Sin will always attack relationships!

The next chapter in Genesis, is Cain and Able. Sin is now in the World. Cain knows that sin has consequences. He has heard his mother and father tell him the story of how they ate the fruit and disobeyed God, he knew that every decision has a consequence. He knew that sin was crouching at his door, yet he allowed the enemy to put thoughts of doubt into his head. He allowed the father of lies to tell him that killing his brother would have no consequences. He kills his brother, and is separated from his family. Satan told Eve that sin would have no consequences, yet here she is, spiritually separated from God, and without a son. She was told by God that the consequence of sin was death, yet she allowed the doubts from the father of lies to infiltrate her mind.

Not far away, in Chapter 4, we see the story of a man named Lamech. He sins by having more than one wife, and he kills a man and brags about it. Sin is growing and growing in the world. Satan told Eve that there would be no consequences, she doubted God when he said that the consequence of sin was death...

In chapter 5 we see a long list of names and genealogy. Beside each name is 2 numbers, the number of children they had, and the age he was when he died. Name after name is listed in this chapter, yet they all die. Satan said there was no consequence...

But Satan didn't get the final word.

Adam and Eve are kicked out of this incredible garden. This perfect place. They are separated in their relationship with God. Spiritual death has taken over their life. All hope seems to be lost. But no sooner than they are kicked out of the garden, God makes a promise. In Genesis chapter 3:15, we see the first implication of God's promise and plan to defeat evil and restore his relationship with people. God tells the serpent that one will come that will crush the snakes head. Can you just picture the look of horror that forms on Satan's face. His plan, his golden plan of revenge, backfiring. One would come, the Holy,  All Powerful, Son of God. He WOULD come, He WOULD be victorious, He WOULD pay the ultimate price, He WOULD take back the keys to death, hell, and the grave. He WOULD crush the snakes head. We see this take place in the gospels, as Jesus Christ, the Son of God, comes to earth and takes sin upon his back on the cross, and dies the most brutal of deaths so that this human race that has betrayed Him over and over and over, could live for eternity with him.

Satan hasn't given up. All though squashed, and defeated, he is still in the deceiving business today. Telling you God isn't real. That God doesn't love you. That your sin is too great to be forgiven. That you will never succeed, you will always be a failure. That you will never make a difference. That you will never succeed in ministry. That the promise God gave you is never going to come to pass. That God isn't really speaking to you. That no one loves you. That you are worthless. That sin does not have consequences. That you can get by with sinning and nothing will happen (For those who still think they can sin without there being a consequence, remember this: Every time you are tempted, something WILL die. Either your flesh, or your spirit, depending on how you respond to temptation)... Whatever the doubts are that are creeping into your mind, know that Satan is the father of lies. His one and only goal is to take as many as he can to hell with him. For he knows his future, he knows what his destiny holds. Like I said in the beginning, all though the story of this world is still being written, the end has already been written. Revelation 20:10. Read it, and throw it in the Devil's face. Remind him of his future. Remind him of his final destination. He will be thrown into a burning lake of sulfur to be tormented for ever, and for ever. If you stay away from sin, live in a relationship with Christ, follow the commandments of Christ, and don't let satan control you with doubt; you will live in glory for eternity. For ever in the presence of the One that gave His life for you.

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God"

Psalm 42:1

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The Love of The Father

Luke 15:11-24

Maybe you have heard or read the story of the prodigal son, if you have not, read Luke 15:11-24! If you have read it before, read it again to refresh your memory. It's an incredible story. 

Before we begin, lets get into the point of view of the son. This son has lived his whole life with a wealthy man as his father. We know he is wealthy because of the servants that he has, and the land he owns. This son is ready to get out on his own, away from the restrictions that his father has placed him under. He wants to be free, and have his own money. 

1. OBSERVATION: In verse 12-14, the son hastily packs his things after the father gave him his inheritance early. The father was not going to make decisions for the son, he allowed the son to make his own choice, to go his own way. The son took his things and his money (his inheritance was more than likely land which he sold) and went off to a distant country, far away from home. In this distant country, he wasted and spent all of his money in wild, riotous, and reckless living. As time went on, the young man had no money left. A famine hit the land he was living in, and he began to want, hurt, and be in need. 

APPLICATION: As followers of Christ, when we do not spend time with God, we can become like this young man. Some where in his life, the thought popped into his head to leave home. "Home" for followers of Christ is in God's presence, our trust in him, our dependance on him. God, our father, will never make decisions for us. We can do what we want because he has given us a freedom of decision. He wants us to WANT to serve him and stay "Home" with him, but if we want to leave, he will not stop us, although it will break his heart. Just like the young man, we have all been given gifts from our father. It is up to us how we use those gifts; wether we waste them or use them how our father desires us to use them. As we spend less and less time with God, and begin to sin and sin and sin more, we begin to desire that sin more than God. We will get a desire in our heart, like this young man, to become independent of our father. Sin beckons us to become independent of God. It is a call to the flesh to leave the umbrella of grace, and journey into the world of a short lived pleasure. As the young man lived and wasted his money in reckless living, when we go so far along without spending time with God, we can't help but begin to sin freely; recklessly. We will not stop until we reach rock bottom. Ignorance tells you, as you read those last few statements, "you wouldn't be like that. You could go without spending time with God, and not sin recklessly." When the word of God tells you that it is impossible to live a life pleasing to God when you do not spend time with him. --Read the blog post "Introduction" if you do not believe me.-- The thing is, sooner or later, sin and pleasures of this world will fail to satisfy you and the flesh. The "famine" in our lives (the lack of spiritual hydration. The lack of the water of Gods presence. The lack of spending time with God) and the sense of want, will point out the crisis in our lives, as they did the young man. 

The most severe famine that this world will ever see, is the famine of the Word of God. Jeremiah 2:13 says, "My people have committed two sins against me: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and they have dug their own cisterns, cisterns that cannot hold any water." These tanks that Jeremiah speak about are tanks for rain water used in Bible days, where there are not many wells. These tanks, or cisterns, cannot give forth a constantly flowing fresh supply of water as springs can. On top of that, since they are "Broken cisterns" like the verse says, they cannot even hold any water poured into them. The stonework within them are obviously broke, meaning the dirt from the earth dries up any water that is poured into them.

How true is this? When we forsake God and spending time in his presence, our source of living water, we become like this broken cistern. Without God's presence, the world will dry us out, soaking up our water (time spent with God). Without time spent with God, our "stonework" within us begins to crumble. Sin will destroy us. God help me to spend time with you, the spring of living water, so that I do not become a broken cistern.

2. OBSERVATION: In V. 15-19, The young man had lost all of his money. He had not a cent to his name. He was hungry. The famine making the price of food rise even more than what they were, meaning that it was near impossible for him to eat. He found a man and hired himself out to a gentile to feed pigs. Working with pigs was to Jews the bottom of disgrace. You could not get any lower than this. Jews were disgusted with pigs so much so that they did not even name them in their language. They called them dabhar acheer which means "the other thing". He became so hungry, that he would have eaten the slop that the pigs were eating, but no one working there would feed him. He was at the bottom of the totem pole, not even being counted worthy enough to eat what the pigs were eating. Not even considered worthy enough to eat from what the Jews do not even name because of their disgust of them. He was seen as not even worthy enough to feed, meaning that he was seen as not worthy enough to keep alive by saving him from starvation! Finally, the young man came to himself, he came to his senses. His previous state was one of delusion; his first longing was to get away from home, to get away from his father, but now his only longing was to go back. He thinks to himself that his fathers servants are eating enough food to stay alive and even have left overs, yet he is dying of starvation. He decides that he will go back to his father, and apologize for what he did. Not just apologize but admit that he is no longer worthy to be called his son any longer for what he did. He plans on asking if he can be a servant of his father. This shows that his "reckless living" was not just a waste of money, but sin must have come with it for him to think he is not worthy enough to be called his son any longer. 

APPLICATION: Without Gods presence in our lives, we are like this young man; at the bottom of the totem pole. Sin can take a righteous man full of grace, and turn him into a man that has nothing to live for. Sin is poison, and it is the most dangerous thing in this world. Just as the young man had disgraced himself so much as to live with pigs, the most disgraceful thing you could do as a Jew, sin makes us find our way to this same place spiritually. Sin turns us into a disgraceful creature, full of hate, lust, lies, etc. We lose the respect of ourselves and see ourselves as nothing. When this is so far from Gods plan for our lives. Yes, with sin we are a nobody, but he died to make us a somebody in him! But as we will see, it doesn't matter if we are the lowest place that we could possible be, our father is waiting for us to return with open arms. 

3. OBSERVATION: In V. 20-24, the prodigal son decides to go home. He decides to make the long journey home. How humbling this journey must have been... But there is an unexpected turn in the story. Something that you don't see coming; the father is outside looking for him, and spots him in the distance. The father spots his son that left home years ago, and he was still waiting for him and watching for him to come down that long narrow road leading to the house. The father does something that was considered disgraceful for him to do as an elderly man, and as rich man owning a lot of land; he runs. He runs after his son. He doesn't care who sees, or what people think. The father picks up his garments, which is the only way to run in the long robes that were worn in this day, and disgraces himself further by showing his leg. The father was willing to disgrace himself to meet his son halfway. The father reached his son and wrapped his arms around him clinging him close to him. Holding him tight. The father gave him a warm welcome as if this son was a "model son", the epitome of a good son. The son, in his fathers grip, tears flowing, begins to give his speech that he prepared for his father, "Father, I've sinned against God, I've sinned before you; I don't deserve to be called your son ever again." But the father interrupted him! He wasn't even listening, for he was too busy calling to his servants, "Quick! Bring clean clothes for my son, and dress him! Put the family ring on his finger and put sandals on his feet! We're going to celebrate! My son is here! He was dead, but now he is alive! He was lost, but now he is found! 

The son expected to have to plead with his father to make him just a servant, yet his father wouldn't even listen to his plead! The father was just waiting for his son to come home. Slaves were the only ones that would walk around without shoes; this prodigal son comes to his father with no shoes showing that he wants to just be a servant, yet his father says put shoes on my sons feet! The father even says to put the family ring on his finger, making it clear that the son will not be a servant, he is the fathers son! The robe, shoes, ring are all signs of assurance of sweet restoration fully. 

APPLICATION: Our heavenly father above, no matter what we do, no matter how far away we run from him, no matter how disgraceful we make ourselves, no matter what we do, our father is waiting with open arms! Looking, searching, waiting for us to make the journey "Home" to him. As in the story of the prodigal, repentance is a journey, not just an emotion. The young man had to make a journey back home. Repentance is not just something that we do on the inside, with our emotions, it is a way of life. It is a change in how we live. We can find ourselves in the "pig pen" of life, the most lowly place, yet our father is waiting with open arms. 

Thank you Jesus for your grace! Thank you Jesus for your love! Your un-failing, indescribable, life changing love. 

Maybe you feel like this prodigal son. You let sin control your life, you feel dirty and as low as you can get; take heart! You can be like the prodigal again! Listen to the beckon of grace to return home to your father. Maybe you have never been a follower of Christ before, today is the day for salvation. Find peace, love, joy, strength, endurance, trust, rest, etc. in Jesus Christ today. He came to die for you and I, and longs to have a relationship with you. You can see a fragment of his heart in this parable; though we may do implausible things against him, he beckons us home! To rejoice in our return. Make your journey home today. 

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."

Psalm 42:1

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Idolatry

As a kid in sunday school and kids church, the story of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt always frustrated me. I never understood how these people (the Israelites) could see all of these miraculous signs performed by Moses through God and still turn to Idols. The worship of Idols was HUGE in the Israelite community. It kept them from entering the promised land for 40 years, they were continually punished by God because of it, they even went so far to make a golden calf to worship, RIGHT AFTER they had just seen the presence of God come down on mount Sinai. Moses was on the mountain for 40 days, and when he came down from the mountain with 10 commandments, he saw his people worshipping and dancing around a chunk of metal! As a kid, this never made sense to me! I would find myself getting angry at the Israelites for treating God like a game that they get tired of and move onto the next game. How could they treat the One that had just removed them from bondage and slavery with such contempt?!

It wasn't until I grew up that I fully realized the story of the Israelites.When I began to think about what could possibly be going through the Israelites minds when they put their trust in metal and materials instead of God, I began to try to put myself in their shoes. These people did not grow up with technology, big jobs, in a rich nation like you and I have. The Israelites grew up in a pagan nation that served numerous gods. In the time of the Israelites, worshipping idols was entertainment as much as anything. One way to worship these idols was to go to sex shrines; where people would worship gods by having sex and participating in orgies. Worshipping idols was an entertainment to a culture that grew up with no electricity, movie theaters, bowling alleys, etc. Idol worship was entertainment. Entertainment. These people of God that were set apart for a huge part in the story being directed by God for the salvation of man; these people were worshipping ENTERTAINMENT! Yes, it was disguised by religion and idols, but down to the core of the reason behind it was pure entertainment.

Let me put this in perspective for you. Think about your life, as I think about my life. We, as followers of Christ, once lived in bondage as the Israelites did. We were in bondage to sin, we were slaves to self-gratification and flesh. Yet, God sent a redeemer to set the captive free and allowed the blind to see. Jesus came, died for us and set us free from captivity of sin. But here we are in the same shoes as the Israelites. We make God secondary to entertainment in our lives. We have witnessed his redemptive power, we have seen miracles in our lives and in our friends and families lives, just like the Israelites have seen, yet we are making idols out of entertainment and things involved with entertainment. We have seen God provide in our lives, just like the Israelites experienced provision every day from the manna that God sent from heaven. We have seen impossible situations become miracles just like the israelites when they crossed the red sea. We KNOW the power of God, we KNOW he is the truth, yet we put things above him.

Idolatry is anything that we build our lives around other than God. Idolatry is anything that takes the throne of our lives. As a kid I was so frustrated with the Israelites for worshipping things that were worthless instead of being consistent in their relationship and walk with God, but here I am just a few years later finding myself making idols out of worthless things! Basketball at one point in my life was my idol. I spent more time thinking on basketball than I did on God. Another time in my life, pornography was an idol in my life. I gave into temptation and looked at porn and severed my relationship with God for a good while, choosing to continue to bury myself in a mound of sin. Another point in my life, my family was my idol. Yes, my family. I chose spending time with my family over spending time with God. I would replace my time that I sat apart for God, and replace it with time spent with my family. Obviously, there is nothing wrong with Basketball or Family, but when they become above God, we are making them our idols. Simply put. Idolatry is alive and kicking. It has never changed, it just has different names. Instead of worshipping a golden calf, we worship money. Instead of worshipping the "god of the sun", we worship vacations. Instead of worshipping the god of love, we worship our boyfriend/girlfriend even our husband/wife. Idolatry can be anything and everything.

The word of God says in Matthew 6 to "Seek First His Kingdom and His Righteousness".

Before doing anything, seek FIRST His Kingdom. Seek First God. God is to be first in our lives. Anything can become idolatry when it takes precedence over seeking His kingdom, over seeking God. When the Israelites entered the promised land, their very first priority was to drive out the empires living in the land. They were not to leave any empire left standing. Take the time right now and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any area in your life that is becoming an "empire" in your life.

God, forgive me for the things in my life that I have made an idol out of. Forgive me for not spending sufficient time with you. Forgive me for worshipping entertainment more than you. Holy spirit, reveal to me the areas of my life that I have placed on the throne room of my life ahead of you. If the way the Israelites treated you by worshipping idols sickened me as a kid, how much more are you sickened by it? In not just the Israelites, but with us as well. Help us to have deeper dependance on you. Help us to understand that to have an intimate relationship with you means that we have to spend extravagant time with you. This is the foundation for all relationships!

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."

Psalm 42:1

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Introduction

Psalm 42:1 "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."

This is verse that this devotional blog is built upon. It is such a powerful verse in the few 16 words that it holds. The writer of this psalm is telling of his understanding that a deer can not survive without drinking water in the same way that the author can not survive without the presence of God in his life. It is impossible for a deer to survive without water, and as followers of Christ, it is impossible to survive spiritually without the presence of God in our lives.

But what happens to a deer when he goes without water? Obviously the deer does not go without water  and then drop dead one day, there has to be a process. When a deer goes without water, it gets dehydrated. Okay, So what? Well this dehydration in a deers body has a process as well. There are 3 steps in the dehydration of a deer. These steps directly correlate to followers of Christ when we go without spending time with God.

The first thing that happens to a deer when it goes without drinking water: Loss of Focus. The deer has trouble focusing. It cannot run away from lions, or other predators as well as it could with water in it's system. His focus begins to crumble before him. In the same way, without the presence of God in our lives, we begin to lose our focus. Our attention and our desires advert from God, and begin focusing on everything but God. We have trouble fighting off temptations, because our focus isn't on God! We haven't been spending time with God, so how can we expect ourselves to obey him?

The second thing that happens to a deer when it goes without drinking water: It's Walk Is Affected. The lack of water began by just affecting the mind of the deer, but as the deer went on without getting hydrated, the lack of the much needed water begins to change the way the deer walks. At first, you could not tell a difference between a hydrated deer and a dehydrated deer. In stage one, it was just in the mind, but as we move on to stage 2, the fact that the deer is dehydrated is not hidden in his mind any longer. It is obvious that something is going on with this deer, his walk is changing! In the same way, as followers of Christ, when we go so far along without spending time with God and dwelling in his presence, our walk with God begins to change. At first, no one noticed because it was in your mind. Your focus was dying out, but no one can see into your mind except for God, and so many times we do not care about what God can see. We rely upon cheap grace: "I'll just ask for forgiveness later." But when we continue to go on without spending time with God, it is no longer just our mind, but our walk with God begins to change. People can see a difference. They can tell that we are not living as on fire for God as we once was. You see, in stage one, that was just our private life that was changing. But in stage 2, our public life is changing as well. Where the mind goes, the man will follow. We find ourselves sinning in private: looking at porn, lying, gossiping, going back to our homosexual thoughts, finding everything we wish we had, sex outside of marriage, lusting, anger begins to take over again, all of these things we once had given up to Jesus and laid them down at the cross begin to crawl back into our lives. It's a slow fade. The enemy wants to destroy your integrity.

There is a man in the Bible that had extraordinary integrity. Job. You can find his story in the book of Job. He was very wealthy, had many kids, thousands of cattle and animals, hundreds of people working for him, a lot of property... He was living the life. The Bible also describes him as being "blameless, and walking upright". But something happened to Job that would forever change his life. In one day, everything that he owned was taken from him. Every one of his animals died, his kids were killed when his house collapsed on them, his wife told him to curse God and die, his best friends came out him with accusation after accusation, and on top of all of this, his body was covered in painful boils and sores. The Bible tells us that despite all of this, he never once blamed God. The Word of God says that he "Held on tight" to his integrity. He clung to it! This phrase used, "held on tight" reminds me of another story in the Bible. In 2 Kings 23, we read of all of the incredible and mighty warriors in Israel. One man is name Eleazar. He fought hour after hour, kill after kill, cut after cut, for so long and so hard, that after the battle was over he tried to drop his sword and couldn't! His hand was stuck to the sword! Now you might be wondering why I am sharing this with you, but think about it: why did he hold onto his sword for so long? Because he knew that this was the only thing keeping him alive! Without this sword, he would have died. He held onto it for so long and so tight, that the sword almost became apart of him! He couldn't let go even when he wanted to! Job held onto his integrity because he knew it was the only thing keeping him alive spiritually! Without his integrity, he would've blamed God, he would've cursed God and died. But his integrity, his faithfulness to God, kept him together! As followers of Christ, we need this same intensity in our relationship with God, with out devotion to Him and our integrity. We must hold onto it for so long and hold it so tight that it becomes a part of us! We can't let go of it even if we wanted to! Our integrity is what keeps us serving God even in private. It is what draws us to the presence of God. We must have the presence of God in our lives!

The third thing that happens to a deer when it goes without drinking water: A Crude Smell Protrudes From the Deer's Pores. The water that the deer usually drinks gets the bad bacterias and wastes out of the deers body, but when it goes without this water, there is nothing to wash these bad materials out. Because of this, these bacteria and wastes build up and form a stench in the deers body. This stench rises out of the pores and goes into the air. Now, this smell is very distinct to lions and predators. They go around just sniffing the air, waiting to catch a sniff of this smell. Why? Because they know what that smells leads them too. That smell will lead them directly to a dehydrated deer. Directly to a deer that has lost it's focus. Directly to a deer that's walk has been changed, directly to an easy meal. As you have already figured out the comparisons here, this is us when we do not spend time with God. We go so long with spending time in his presence that we lose our focus. We continue on without him and our walk begins to change because of sin, until finally we begin to stink spiritually. We give off a stench to everyone we come into contact with. On top of that, we attract the enemy. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that the enemy Prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. The enemy just walks around waiting to catch this stench, lurking around just waiting... He knows that this smell will lead him directly to a dehydrated "Christian" who hasn't spent time with their creator. A "christian" who has lost his focus on God, whose walk with God has come to halt because of sin. It will lead him to an easy meal. He knows that all he has to do is pounce, and the world will come crashing down around that spiritually dehydrated follower of Christ.

On top of all of this, when we get to this point that we give off this spiritual stench, you can read all throughout scripture how we give up a smell to God with our worship. First, let us define worship. Worship is how you live your life. What you think on, say, do, etc. Worship is how you live. Imagine how the creator of the world is waiting in heaven for an aroma of praise from us, but instead, this awful smell begins to fill his nostrils. How we live sends up a disgusting smell. We are sending up a stench to the one who gave up his only son for us. The son that came down from a holy and perfect and flawless throne in heaven to be bruised, beaten, mocked, scourged, crucified in this dying world. The one who was tied up and place on a post to be beat with a whip for being perfect. And we send up a stench to him. The One that took these whips on his back. These whips that pieces of metal and bone at the end of each thick, wet, piece of leather. These whips that would drive into his holy flesh with high velocity from the strength of these huge roman soldiers using all of their might to drive the sharp ends into his body. These whips would find their marks not just on his back, but would wrap around and find their mark on his stomach, and chest, his thighs, and even his face. These whips would bury themselves in his flesh until the soldiers would yank the whip out of his beaten body, bringing huge chunks of flesh with it. And we are sending a stench up to him... The Man that wore a crown of thorns that dug down deep into his skull. And we are sending a stench up to him... The Man that carried his own cross, the hundred or so pound cross on his shoulder up a dusty, rocky hill. This dust filling the holes, cuts, slashes, missing flesh on his body. Can you imagine the pain of the dust covering his beaten body? And we send a stench up to him... The Man that was laid down on a piece of wood like a lamb being led to the slaughter, nailed to this piece of wood that he created in the beginning of time, nailed to it, and raised up high to be mocked at by everyone there. And we have the audacity to send a stench up to him... The Man that had to pull his body up by the nails in his wrist just to take a breath of hair. My Savior. My King. And I would dare send a stench up to him. A stench caused by just not spending time with him!

As a deer cannot survive without water, neither can I survive without your presence in my life, my God.

This blog is built upon this. I refuse to send up a stench to my God, the Great I Am. I have been in that place before, spiritually stinking with my avalanche of sin I was buried in. Buried and still refusing to spend time with him. I can not imagine the pain that I must have caused my God. I refuse to let that happen ever again. I will spend time with him daily. Finding myself in the Word of God every single day. Talking and listening to him every single day. Laying down the pleasures of this world and fasting. I will live a hydrated life. I encourage you to walk this journey with me. Do not send a stench up to our Father, Creator, Savior any longer.

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."

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