I Have Been Crucified With Christ

Have you ever, thought hard on this verse? I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, “who loved me” and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 ESV)

I thought, “Man, I don’t live my life like that.” I know the biblical truth, that when I accepted Christ as my savior, my sins where crucified and paid for by His shed blood. I know that Christ has accomplished for me that which I could never accomplish for myself. Christ satisfied the wrath of God, making a way for me to have peace with God, yes I get all of that. But what I don’t get is my halfhearted response to Him who has done so much for me. Why don’t I say, “IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVE, BUT CHRIST WHO LIVES IN ME.” How can I be willing to give so little to him who gave me so much?

After reading this verse this morning, I looked up the word crucified.

Webster states that crucified means:

· To put to death by nailing or binding the wrists or hands and feet to a cross

· To destroy the power of

So I know realized that, I must die, destroy the power of the things of me, and live for the things of Christ. I now belong to him; my life is to be lived for him. I must give up what control I thought I had and let Christ rule in my life. I must become a bondservant of Christ. One that willing gives his life to the one that owns him. So be it Lord, make me what you would have me be. For my hearts desire is to be able to say these words. “I HAVE BEEN CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST, IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVE, BUT CHRIST WHO LIVES IN ME.”

$17:50

Have you ever had one of those encounters, which changed your heart, well this one changed my heart and I thank God for it. I was riding the L Train heading to O’Hare airport. As I was sitting there a young man started to yell, so that everyone on the train could hear him. "Excuse me" he yelled, "my sister and I are homeless, we split up this morning so we could both try to collect money so we could afford to stay in a room tonight. We found a room that cost 35 dollars, so we each need to collect $17:50." I was somewhat taken back by this, you see the man was in his early to mid 20’s. He was a good-looking young man even though he had not taken very good care of himself, not the type of person I thought would be doing this. As he was yelling and asking for money, I thought to myself, how did he end up homeless? How can he not be ashamed? I would be humiliated if I have to do that. I also thought, what if he is lying and just getting people to feel sorry for him. What is he going to do with the money, does he really have a sister? All these thoughts where going on in my head. Then I just stopped and I asked God to help me. This was my prayer, "God I don’t know what to do, I’m not sure if this young man is telling the truth, I'm just not sure and I don’t know what to do." As I was praying, suddenly all I could think of was the verse that said, "Whatever you do to the lease of these." Over and over again this verse ran across my mind. My prayer continued, "God I have thirty-seven dollars in cash in my wallet, I’m not sue what I should give." But the verse was all I heard, "Whatever you do to the lease of these." So I called the young man over and I gave him two dollars, I thought to myself, that’s more than most people, would give. The young man took the money and thanked me saying “you are my first dollars.” As he looked me in the eyes my heart broke for him. He continued to yell asking for money, he said "please anything would help." He said, "even if you have a penny, that would help." I noticed the guy sitting next to me reach in to his pocket. He called the young man over and gave him a penny. I could not believe it. Why would he do that? It was almost as if he was trying to hurt the young man, to make him feel less than. I became so angry at the man's actions. I wanted to say, "cant you see that he is already down; you don’t need to rub it in." But the young took the penny and said, with what I thought was complete sincerity, "thank you so much" and he walked away. As he was walking away, my heart wanted to do more for him. So I got up, caught him and gave him the twenty-dollar bill. Tears came too his eyes, I said "God bless you", and he said "thank you so much, God bless you." And thats exactly what God did for me, he blessed me; he gave me the gift of this young man. God on that day gave me eyes to see, and a heart to care. My pray is, that young man will find in Christ, all that comfort he is looking for.

And They Took Offense at Him

Have you ever said to your self in disbelief, “did that just happen” Recently if you have been following the NBA you may have said it when David Stern’s the NBA commissioner stopped a blockbuster trade between the Los Angeles Lakers, the New Orleans Hornets, and the Houston Rockets. If your a sports fan you just could not understand why, it was a good trade for all the teams and it made good basketball sense. As a fan you just had to say Did That Just Happen! I know that some of you are thinking I don’t care about basketball, so why are you telling me all of this. Well I do have a point. Sometimes we see things, or hear something and we are just amazed at. We can’t understand why someone did what they did, or why a crowd acted as they acted. And in Matthew Chapter 13 we see one of those examples.

In verse 53 the Bible tells us (And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to His hometown, he taught them in the synagogue, so that they were astonished and said , “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works.

The crowd was amazed by Jesus, he was in His hometown, you would think that the crowd would be thankful, grateful. That they would want to here more, because of the wisdom and the great works that Jesus was doing. But if you continue to read, that was not the case. In verse 57 the Bible tells us (And they took offense at Him) You have to say, did that just happen. Why would they take offense at Jesus, if he was doing great works and speaking with great wisdom. You see they allowed their reason, to be greater than the truth. They said is he not from here, do we not know his family, how can he speak like this, and then they became jealous. How often we allow jealousy and our pride to blind us to the things of God.

Even though Jesus was right there in front of them, showing them and telling them, their hearts and their minds became bitter towards Him. They allowed pride to replace amazement, and hate to replace wonder. Today is a good day to ask God to remove the pride and hate that cause our hearts to grow cold to the things of God.

Peace with Circumstances

Peace with Circumstances

“And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” These are the words that paul writes in Philippians 4:19.

How many times have we read these words and quoted this verse to others when things are tough, and when money is tight. Yet if you are anything like me, it is hard to believe this truth when it is me who is facing the hard time. Today I asked myself, why is it so difficult to trust God for all my needs? Why is it so easy to tell others this truth, but when it’s me, I just cant seem to wrap my heart around these words.

As I look back over my life, and my ministry, I can clearly see how God has supplied all my needs. But in the mist of the circumstance I for some reason take my eyes off of Jesus. I’m like Peter when he was walking on water,(Matthew 14:28-32) You see Peter was fine as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. But once he started to look at the storm he became afraid. He allowed his Circumstances to overwhelm him, and he started to believe a lie. He failed to trust Jesus, you see Jesus had just told him to come to Him. But the storm caused Peter to lose trust in Jesus. Jesus was still faithful, and He still rescued Peter, but Peter made his situation worse by his lack of faith.

So as I look back over my life I can see how every time, when I thought I would not make it, and I thought that God had failed me, I can now see that He was faithful. But I also see how much worse I made things. How many sleepless nights, how many times I struck out at God and blamed Him. How many times I made things worse by not trusting His word. Yes, I am starting to understand how to fight the good fight, how to trust God in the mist of a storm. It is by believing His promises, to trust that He will make a way when all seems lost. I have come to see that our God is faithful and we just need to keep our eyes on Him. So when you are in the mist of a storm, know that God will supply your every need.

Im not saying that everything will work out how you want it to and sometimes the storms in our lives are due to our own sin. But, sometimes God is allowing a storm so that you will turn back to Him. Know that God is still faithful,even if we are the reason for the storm. God will work it out for our good, even though it may be a hard lesson to learn.

Alway remember that no matter what how big the storm is, when the storm is about your needs. God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory. So in the storm keep your eyes on Jesus.

Search Me

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

(Psalm 139:23-24, ESV)

I was recently talking with a group of friends and one of them was talking about Psalm 139. After the conversation, I opened my Bible to read the chapter for myself and was taken back by the simple truth of David’s prayer.

No matter how good we think we are, we all have "stuff" in our hearts and we all have thoughts that need to be removed. We all need to ask God to search us and change us, and give us the mind of Christ.

Have you ever wondered why David would ask God to search Him? David, “the man after God’s own heart”, had many personal failures and shortcomings. He had reached a point in his life where he understood that his heart had a great capacity for insidious evil. David was unable to know his own heart completely, and was unable to make things right in his own strength. So he turned to God and simply asked God to do that which only God could do. He asked God to change his heart and change his thoughts.

Search me O God and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24, ESV)

As I look at my own life, I realize that I am a lot like David. I want to do what is right. I want to love God, but I have serious heart issues and wrong thoughts that need to be exposed. There are thoughts that I have to take captive, and heart issues that have to be changed by the power of God.

Even though I know that I am a child of God, I have come to understand that it is only by giving God more and more of my life that I will be able to truly live for Him. It is only when I am willing to face the truth inside of me that I can seek the help I so desperately need. And that help can only be found in the God of all of creation, the very Creator of my heart and mind.

So search me God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts. And lead me in Your way, the everlasting way.

I know God can, I know God will, and even if he doesn’t

I love Chapter 3 of the book of Daniel, it’s a story of a King that thought way to much of himself and three young men that thought much more of their God. You see, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego where unwilling to worship King Nebuchadnezzar as he had ordered. They where unwilling to give to a man, that which belongs only to God, just think how easy it would have been to do what everyone else was doing. Just think how easy it would have been for them to say it’s really not that big of a deal. They had no way of knowing that there story would be come one of the great Bible stories. They did not do it so others would see, or read about it. They did it because they loved their God, and wanted to please Him more that anyone or anything else. Just think these 3 young men standing in front of the most powerful man in the world at the time, and the bible tell us in Daniel chapter 3 what happened. “16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” I have asked myself many times would I have the courage to say these type of words, would I have the Love for God to stand for Him before the leader of the world. I pray that if ever comes a times, that I’m asked to stand, I will stand like these young men stood.

God’s Final Word

Today I was reading the book of Hebrews, chapter one verses 1-4. I was studying this text, as I was going to speak on it later in the day. As I read the text I saw it, God no longer spoke to us, like he did to those in the Old Testament. God no longer spoke to us by prophets, or by the law, or by kings, or by judges. But God speaks to us through His Son Jesus Christ. What an awesome thing. The God of the universe, final word to us was done through Jesus. Yes, God became man, and then he told us from His own lips, how He feels about us. He told us that He loves us, and then He showed us how much He loves us by dying for us. Do you get it, do you see it. When God wanted to give us His final word, He did not leave it to anyone else. He Himself came down to us and spoke the words from His own lips. He said I love you and I will make a way for you to be with me again. Then he went on to accomplish, the things that He told us he would. He saved us, by giving His own life in place of ours. He bought us back, He over came the power of death, and He gave us a chance for victory once and for all. He gave us Jesus Christ. Anyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved. (Romans 10:13)

For His name Sake

The more I read the bible, the more I come to understand that all that God has done, He has done for the Glory of His name. Have you ever read Psalm 23, it Strats out saying. The Lord is my shepherd: I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his name sake. Yes the Lord does all these things great things for those who put their trust in Him. And if we are not careful, we can start to think that is all about us. But look again, did you miss it. Why did he do all those good things for us. He did it all for His name sake. You see it is true that we who put our trust in the Lord receive awesome blessing, but God Is always about His glory. Now some people would say that, that seems prideful, but it's not. God fully understand who he is. Just think about it, He is God there is no one or no thing like Him. He alone is worty of worship, so His name alone is above all. It is to be the one name that must always be protected. What would happen if the only name that is always true, alway without and flaw. What would happen if that named failed. There would be no name in all of the creation that people could turn too. No name in all of creation that people put their full trust in. You see God will always be about His name, so men can always has a name that they can turn to when there seems to be no hope. It is in the name of God that alone people can put their trust, because it is His name that tells us, reminds us of who he is. He is the Lord and there is no one like Him.

Just a Thought

Today as I was reading in the book of Zephaniah, I was thinking. One day I’ll be with Jesus, and God one day will make all things right. Yes I know that we read all the time, that Jesus will return, but today I was overwhelmed by this truth. One day I will be with Jesus, I will see him ever day, I will never have to worry again, be fearful again, or be in pain again. My body will never grow old, I will never turn to sin, and he (Jesus) will be more than enough! My hopes will become my realities; I will be will my Lord, my King, my Savior, and my Friend. Just a Thought

Jesus Christ More Than Enough

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 2 Cor 4:7-10

Life often times is just hard, and when you try to love God, often times it seems even harder. I am convinced that the more you try to do for God the more difficult life becomes. IT is as if the powers of the world turn against you. Well your right they do, the ruler of this world hates you. Satan hates everything about those who love God. Satan hates everyone. In John 10: 7-10 the bible state;

( Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.)

Do you get it, the thief, which mean Satan hates everyone and everything. But Jesus has come that we may have life and life to the fullest. Yes this life is hard and we have an enemy that is set on destroying everything God has made, but he will not win, for Jesus Christ has made a way. Jesus Christ is the way the truth and the life and anyone that has trusted in Him, or will put their trust in Him will over come Satan. That’s why the Cross of Christ is so important it reminds us that no matter what, we have a savior that is able to save, to rescue, and to bring hope. We have Jesus Christ and He is more than enough!

You Will Be With Me

Have you ever really thought about it? Just think of Jesus's words to the thief on the cross, “I assure you; today you will be with me in paradise. I know so many Christians that often times forget that Jesus saved us so he could one day be with us. How often do you actually think about it, I mean really think about it? This world is not our home; Jesus is preparing a place for us, a home that is beyond our comprehension, a place made just for us. So why do we who have placed our trust in Jesus, try so hard to build our Kingdom in this world, when we could be building for the one to come. Why do we think that this world has more to offer us, than the one to come, the one that will include Jesus, in physical form. Yes Jesus in real life will be with us everyday. How often have you said to yourself, if only He was here right now, if only I could see or touch Him. Well that will be our reality, we will walk and talk with Jesus, seeing Him everyday. No more longing for His presence for He will be there and we will be with Him. Yes we will be with him, so remember always that our home is yet to come , so lets hold loosely to the one we now live in.

Both Creator and Redeemer

In his Book (Reflections of a Pilgrim) Mark Royster states “How can I affirm you as the Creator then doubt you as Redeemer?” There is the issue, so many Christian have no problem affirm Jesus as the Creator. The One who made all things, we believe Colossians 1:16-18 which states

(For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.)

But what we often doubt is the fact that he is Redeemer. We often look at our lives and we make statements like there is no way You can still love me after what I have done. Or I’ll never be good enough. Or I just can’t see why you would want to use someone like me. But the truth is, Jesus does love you and once you trust Him as your savior and redeemer. He will never give up on you or leave you. Paul deals with this truth best in Romans chapter 8:1-4 Which states,

¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

So if you are like me I challenge you to not only know that Jesus is creator but to affirm Him as your savior and your redeemer. He is might to save and will keep those he saves for that great day.

Read Roman 8 and Ephesians 2

Relational God

One of the most amazing things about God is that He is relational. That the God that created every thing, He wants to be in relationship with His creation. He is not far off, the bible tells us that He in near. Just think about it that he who needs nothing, love us and wants us to be with Him. When Jesus was on the earth his call to us was a call to a relationship. He said come follow me, and when he left He said I go to prepare a place for you and I will come again, so that you may be where I am. Yes God is a God who wants His people with him because He is a relational God. So today enjoy time with the God who made you and the God who delights in you.

Psalm 145:18 The Lord is near to all who call on Him, too all who cal on Him in truth.

Secret Things Can’t be Clean

Genuine repentance happens when we become transparent and honest about ourselves before God. In today’s culture we are taught to be tolerant, accepting and open-minded about practically everything. However when it comes to things that are shameful, things that we know in our guts to be wrong we keep these things secret. Unfortunately, society tells us that it’s ok to do everything and anything, whatever feels good, and to live our lives as we see fit. But I sense that people who live this way feel a conflict of the heart. As Christians, God has written his law on our hearts, causing us to feel conviction when we sin. (Jeremiah 31:33) So when we live in a way that is contrary to God’s Word, our hearts tell us it is wrong, and we try to hide that part of our lives. We even try to keep it from God.

In Psalm 32 David was at that place. He might have written this after he had committed the sin of sleeping with Bathsheba, another mans wife. And then trying to cover up his sin he ordered the murder of Bathsheba’s husband. He was guilt of adultery, murder, and lying. (2 Samuel 11-12) David intentionally tried to hide these sins from God. The Bible is clear on this subject, when people do things that are against God’s law, they will feel convection, and face consequences of those actions. But you can tell God of you sin and see how he will forgive you. When you do this you will come to know the freedom that come when you turn to God for forgiveness of sin. Read Psalm 32 and see the relief that David found as a loving God restored him.

Non-religion

In his book “The Prodigal God” Timothy Keller writes {it is hard for us to realize this today, but when Christianity first arose in the world it was not called a religion. It was the non-religion. Imagine the neighbors of early Christians asking them about their faith. “Where’s your temple?” they’d ask. The Christians would reply that they didn’t have a temple. “But how could that be? Where do your priest labor?” The Christians would have replied that they didn’t have priests. “But…but” the neighbors would have sputtered, “where are the sacrifices made to please your gods?’ The Christians would have responded that they did not make sacrifices any more. Jesus himself was the temple to end all temples, the priest to end all priests, and the sacrifice to end all sacrifices. No one had ever heard anything like this. So the Romans called them “atheists” because what the Christians were saying about spiritual reality was unique and could not be classified with other religions of the world.

The irony of this should not be lost on us, standing as we do in the midst of the modern culture wars. To most people in our society, Christianity is religion and moralism. The only alternative to (besides some other world religion) is pluralistic secularism. But from the beginning it was not so. Christianity was recognized as a tertium quid, something else entirely}

I think its time that we start to live as Christians and be the people that live as Christ lived. May we become something else entirely?

Home

It has been a very busy last few months, as I have been traveling and speaking. God has taught me so much about Himself, and I am falling more in love with the God who made me, and saved me. One of the things that I’m learning is how much I miss home. Now don’t get me wrong, I love traveling. I count it a privilege to have the opportunity to share Gods word in different places. I also love it when the rest of the ministry team can travel together and we can all use our gifts for God. However, after awhile you find that you just want to be home. There is something about home that just bring a sense of comfort. I thought about being home with God, how great that day will be. When this journey is over and forever we will be with God, forever in God’s presence with Jesus. I understand now why we should desire to be with Jesus, because that is home. Yes this life we live is a journey and there are many times we enjoy it, but I know that Home is always the place that our hearts truly needs. I guess Dorothy was right when she said in the Wizard of OZ “THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME”

Glory

How many time do you ever think of the word Glory? In our culture it’s not a word you here often. When I read the Bible especially the Old Testament the word Glory is everywhere. So the other day I was listing to a message while driving in the car. Matt Chandler was teaching on the purpose of their church. He stated that their church was there to bring God glory. He then went on to define the word Glory as it is used in the Bible. He stated that the word Glory means weight. Let me try to explain, the weightiness of the Glory of God is greater than anything else. God is the most Glorious
Of anything that is, that means He alone is the most important thing. There is nothing or no one more Glorious, any more worthy than He. The weight of that truth should bring us all to a place of worship and adoration. So today will you humble yourself before the Glory of God?

Spreading the Gospel

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Act 1:8

I can’t imagine what the disciples were thinking. Jesus last words to them were two fold, they would receive power, and they would be His witnesses to all earth. Peter had to be thinking Lord what if I fail again. Matthew might have been thinking how would those that he had wronged ever listen to what he now had to say. And the others were they ready for such a great task. For just a few verses earlier they ask Jesus. “Lord will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel”

You see they had a plan, but God had a much bigger plan. They wanted the Kingdom restored back to Israel as in the great days of King David. God wanted the Kingdom restored back to His Son. It is in the spreading of the Gospel that the Kingdom of Christ will be restored. They did not yet understand that Christ did not come to rebuild Israel, but to save the world. He did not come to restore Israel, but to restore mankind.

So I ask you do you want to be part of the plan of God, or are you to busy with your own plan. Go and make disciples.

Excel in the Act of Grace

Have you ever wondered about Grace? If I were to ask you what is Grace what would you say. When I look up Grace here are the definitions that jumped out at me.

a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification
b : a virtue coming from God
c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace

So I know that God is full of Grace, but what would happen if we would become people that would excel in the act of grace? Not the type of unmerited grace that only God can give.
But there was another definition given (disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency) What if we became the type of people that lived our lives with a disposition towards kindness and courtesy? What if we where people who excelled in the Act of Grace? I’m sure that we would be much more effective in changing the world for Christ, If we would just excel in the act of Grace.

One needs to live in community to realize the problems in his own soul.

Often times when we live in isolation we cannot see who we really are. It is only when we have community and intimate fellowship with Jesus and others can we see the needs of our own soul. We as Christians need a place where there can be true examination and self-disclosure. In his book The Mind Of Christ Dennis Kinlaw states “As we serve together in the Kingdom, we learn who we are. If we are ever to see ourselves as we truly are we must look at ourselves through the eyes of Jesus and others. Are you will to to look at yourself through the eyes of Jesus and others? For only then will we see the things that we need to see.

You Will Not Have to Fight This Battle

Often time in life we are faced with battles that just seem too big for us to fight. These battles can overwhelm us just at the thought of them. It is these types of battles that our God will fight for us. In 2 Chronicles, King Jehoshaphat faced this type of battle, and then God spoke to King Jehoshaphat and said in verse 20:17 “ You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.” So often I feel that we forget that our God is with us and we need not try to fight the battles on our own. There are times when we just need to stand firm and trust in God and watch Him fight for us and give us victory. So today stand firm and trust in your God for he is big enough to win the battle.

Intimate Fellowship

One of the true realities of my Christian life has been my inability to maintain my spiritual strength when I try to do it on my own. Think about it, for me the harder I try to focus on not sinning the more I sin. The more I try to love people the more people bug me. The more I try to be humble, the more prideful I become. So I ask myself the question, why is it that when I fight harder I seem to suffer more and more defeats. But wait a minute, how could I miss it. Look again at my words. The more I try, the harder I try. Where is Jesus in all of this? How could I think that my efforts alone could bring me victory? Its like I forgot that I need to keep my eyes on Jesus, that a close intimate fellowship with Him is needed. For greater is He who is in me that he who is in the world. Unlike all the other challenges we face, spiritual challenges can only be met and overcome, by the one who has overcome the world. No matter how hard I fight in my own strength, until I am walking in close intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, I will not have consistent long-term victory over sin in my life. I will not be able to live a life that is useful and effective for God unless I am walking with Him closely. Today Lord help me to walk with you as a friend walks with a close intimate friend.

Ex-nihilo

When you think of creation, how everything came into being! What you believe determines so much of your personal worldview. What ever you believe about the creation of the universe, random chance, intelligent design, or somewhere in between, your belief about how the universe was created will determine your worldview on creation and on God for the most part. The Greek word (Ex-nihilo, which means to create out of nothing,) gives you insight to my worldview. Being a firm believer in God as defined by the Bible, I believe that God being the only person that has always been, without beginning or end created all that is out of nothing, (Ex-nihilo.) Most people feel that this is a naive or UN intelligent worldview . I have often been asked how can I believe in a God that has no beginning? A God that spoke the universe into existence, or created out of nothing, how could I believe all of this? My response is simply this, I believe because God says so. I have come to understand that I am not here to prove God. And even if I wanted to, it would be completely impossible for me to do so. How does anyone prove that which is beyond our comprehension? Now I’m not saying there is not any evidence of the existence of God there is, and if you want to know more about that there are many Good books on the subject. Such as The Reason for God by Timothy Keller, The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, just to name a few. But what I am saying that when it comes to creation all worldviews end up being an argument in faith. I can’t prove it absolutely but for me there is enough evidence to know that God is the creator. The Universe did not happen by random chance, but by the intelligent design of an all-knowing God. And he created Ex-nihilo out of nothing.

Rich In Mercy



I love music and one of my favorites bands is a band called POLEN Band. They are a Christian worship band, and as I have gotten to know them, there is no doubt that they love the Lord Jesus Christ. Check out their website, www.polenband.com their song Rich In Mercy has captured my heart. In the song they state, “because of His great love for us, God who is Rich In Mercy made us alive in Christ even while we were dead” I can’t get that out of my mind. Often time when we think of rich, mercy is not one of things that we think about. What does it mean to be rich in mercy? To love someone enough, even though you have the right to deal with him or her with Justice, you choose to deal with him or her with Love. You see that’s what God did. He and His Son Jesus Christ dealt with the punishment, that would have been our, so that God could offer us mercy. Being Rich in Mercy does not mean to forget the offence, but paying for the offence yourself so that the ones you love will not have too. If you are someone that believes that God is unloving, just look at the cross. He loved us so much, as did Christ that Christ died so that we might have life. Why would anyone not want to accept the Mercy of God? I know there are those who say how can a loving God kill His own son, but your missing the point, God did not kill his son Christ gave his life that we might have life. And then God raised Christ from the dead saying I accept you sacrifice and give you the name that is above every name, So that all who turn to you and put their trust in you will have life also. That is a God who is Rich In Mercy!

The Ultimate Thing

In his book Counterfeit Gods, Timothy Keller states "Despair however is inconsolable, because it comes from losing an ultimate thing. When you lose the ultimate source of your meaning or hope, there are no alternative sources to turn to. It breaks your spirit." So often i have found that most peoples ultimate thing, have very little hope of really fulfilling them, because it has not the power to meet their true need. People have turned to things like money, power, sex, alcohol, status, drugs, children, family, religion, to fill the deep desires of their heart. I find that quite odd. Think about it... how can things ever fill your heart? How can people or even religion ever claim your soul? Can anyone but an all knowing and all loving God ever be able for such a great task. The task of healing the pain and filling the hopelessness that often comes with this thing called life. Don't get me wrong, there are desires that these things can fill and places that they should fill, but no one or no thing other than Jesus can be your ultimate thing, because he created you and knows you and is able to meet you were nothing else can meet you. He alone has the answers to those questions that matter most to you. he alone is the source of Hope and Life. And he alone you can never lose.

Holy Encounters

There are times that have much more significance in our lives than others. Moments that God is doing something, these times are called Holy Moments. They can be Holy hours, or Holy days or Holy seasons. Dennis Kinlaw in his devotional (This day with the Master) writes about these moments. In the Bible we see these moments, Moses and the burning bush, Peter walking on water, Paul on the road to Damascus, They are the moments that changed the course of peoples lives, and we should pray that God would give us all a Holy Moment, or hour or day, or season. Yes we all need encounters with God that are so impactful that everything changes. When was the last time you asked God for a Holy Moment? Have you put yourself in a situation that allows God to interact with you in such a way that would cause a Holy Encounter? The one thing about these encounters is that they all happen when people where looking for God. Even Paul thought he was serving God, and yes God have to correct his understanding of God and what it meant to serve him. But what are we doing, are we willing to get out of the boat and try to walk on water. Or are we willing to stand for God even if we might have to face the fiery furnace. Yes Holy Moments are waiting for all of those who are seeking God, If only we would seek God with all our hearts. Today is a good day to ask the God of Creation for any Holy moment, hour, day, or season. To ask for an Holy Encounter

One Small Step

Often I find myself overwhelmed by all I want to do and been in life. Often times every decision I need to make seems to have so many challenges. Nothing seems easy and the road ahead appears to be too difficult for me to travel. Why is it that the things of God always seem to be the hard things to do? Why is it that good things are often time hard things? I know that Jesus said in John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” But why does it always have to be so hard. I know that often time I want more than anything to love God and follow Jesus, but as soon as I make that choice, it seems something happens that pulls me away from Him. Whether it is my own sin, or the busyness of my life or worries, or something else it seems that something happens to pull me away from Him. And because of my inability to love God with my whole heart, I then ask myself did I really even mean what I said? do I really want to love Jesus. That when I must trust the God of the Bible and the Lord of my life. Yes I will have those times when I think and feel that it’s too hard. Or when I feel I'm just not good enough, but it's at that moment that I must take One Small Step of Faith and trust what I know to be true. “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Yes Life is hard and following Jesus makes it harder, but it also makes it worth living. So when you feel like giving up, just ask God for the strength to take the One Small Step, the step of faith to keep on fighting.