Dependent On God

I don't want people to think my blogging is fake and that I intend to only blog about the good stuff. I will be real with you all the way. I don't want to pretend that I have all the answers and that God just one day came down and blessed me with a holy walk with Him, and that I do not fall into sin. That is far from the truth. I have falling into sin plenty of times. Even real christian do ya know. We are not invincible by no means. I will not pretend to be perfect becauae I'm not. We are dependent on The Father just like a child is dependent on a father. We stumble, even when warned, just like a child would stumble.

Image your father telling you to be cautious of crack and divots in the sidewalk, but you take off running and playing not paying attention as warned. If you continue to not pay attention, more than likely, you will stumble over those cracks and divots, scraping and bruising yourself. But just like any loving father, God is there to tend to and even heal your wounds. And if you will let Him, He will pick you back up and set your feet straight again. But remember that God does want us to learn from our mistakes, just like any parent would expect their child to learn eventually from their mistakes. And yes, we get disciplined sometimes as well, just like a child is needed to be disciplined.

Why do I refer us christian to being like children? Not to say we become fible minded when we become true christians. No, I like to believe we are actually able to understand and see more clearly by the grace of God. We are often refered to as child of God for several reasons. One, when we get truly saved God adopts us as His children and He does become our Heavenly Father. Two, we are all like children, whether saved or not, when compared to God. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His ways are better than our ways.

I am so thankful to know, serve, fear, and live for such a wonderfully fearful, worthy, merciful, loving Lord. That even when He sees me fall over and over again, He still has not given up on me even when I want to give up on myself. That He would look down on me and take time to guide and correct me. That His grace would carry me cause I could not walk on my own. That He would never abandon me even when evryone else did at one point in my life. God sees my flaws and does not depise me for them, but wishes to make me a new creation.

I have to admit that there has been times when God has tried to bring a change in my life and I did not want these changes. I'm very willful. I have told God no, and I can honestly say I have lived to regret those times. And in the end His way is always better, always correct.

WHO HAVE I BUT YOU LORD, WHO HAVE BUT YOU.

I got off my main subject. Guess the Holy Spirit wanted to take it another route. I will get back on the subject another time of not being fake, but be real with ya. Don't forget to leave comments.
Sent to you from Shy's HTC Touch Pro 2.

Even Unto Death

I have been reading the DC Talk book called Jesus Freaks. I have owed this book for years and have read it many times before, but this time is different. As I am reading God has caused me to really examine my heart about my motives, my love for Him, and my willingness. As I have been searching my heart I did realize that I love Jesus, but I don't love Him unto death as the people in the book did.
To tell you about the Jesus Freak book. It is a collection of true stories of those who have been persecuted and even martyred for there unfailing faith in Jesus. They are stories from all different countries and from all different time periods. There is actually a volume 2 book as well. I have them both, and they are wonderful books. I would recommend these books to anyone. It will encourage you and enlighten you. Also, I believe all christians should be aware of the suffering of their fellow sisters and brothers all around the world. Even in this day in age christians in other countries are being beaten and some even killed daily for their true christian faith.
Like I was saying before, as I read this book I am convicted in my heart of my lack of loving and serving Jesus unto death. I'm not saying God has called me to be persecuted or die. What I am saying is that when I imagined myself in the shoes of these people I realized I probably would of caved under persecution and threats of death. This realization showed me that I value my life more than Jesus and the true Gospel.
Jesus said Himself that "If you try to cling to your life you will loose it, but if you loose our life for His sake you will find it." (Matt 10:39) I am also reminded of another scripture. Jesus also said, " Don't store up treasure here on earth, where moths eat them, rust destorys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasure in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." (Matt 6:19-21)
Why would I want to put value in a life that will someday end. I don't want to cling to a life that could end by a simple accident at any moment or end by long suffering down the road. Where is the value in the end. What would I have gained after all is said and done. I don't want love the things of this world my than my Lord. When I do die, I can't take them with me. They too will have no gain. I choose to put my value in Jesus. I am so thankful that He is not like man. Though I may fail even myself, He will never fail me. I find value in God cause even when I was stained and damaged goods, even undesirable in His eyes, God still loved and valued me, so much so that He sent Jesus to die for me (and the world) so I could be made clean and whole. If God could value me that much, I will value Him just the same and even unto death.
Oh God, take my heart and its motives and make it pure in your eyes. I pray that my treasures would be in you and also the things you find valuable. Pray to love You above my own life, even above the life of others in my life. That no one or nothing would take Your place as Lord, King, God, Savior, Best Friend, Lover of My Soul, etc... I love You Lord, and I pray to love You even unto death, however it may come about. Amen.

 

Ambassadors Of Jesus Christ

I got a message from my friend Sam this morning. It went with what I had read earlier. Sam's message read,

     "Rom. 13:14 Living a holy life is as simple as getting dressed in the morning. What we "put on" may show how we see ourselves or wish to be seen. Got your Jesus on today?"

I was reading 2 Corinthian 5:20 "So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!"

What is an ambassador? An ambassador is the highest and most honorable representative sent to a foreign land to represent the King the serve. What an honor to be labeled as such. For God to call us worthy to represent His one and only beloved, heaven sent, sinless, self sacrificing, gracious Son, Jesus Christ. I honestly feel unworthy of the title of ambassador. But if God see me or you as worth y of the title, who are we to say "Sorry Lord, you got the wrong person." What is even more scary is that in representing Jesus, we can either bring Him glory or cause Him horrible shame.

Any one who would call themselves a Christian should not take that title lightly. If you are calling yourselves Christians you are calling yourselves Ambassadors for Christ. And when you go out into the world you should conduct yourselves as a citizens of heaven not of the world, living a life according to the bible as best as you can. This is what will bring great glory and honor to God. But if you claim to be a Christian then go out to the world conducting yourself as a citizen of the world, you bring great shame to God and to all other Christians. The world is sinful and non-repentant. It embraces compromise of moral values and all right doings. It persecutes the righteous. It honors the the ungodly. I firmly believe that everyone should read the whole book of Ephesians. That book tells us how we should live our life. How we should conduct ourselves. It even goes as far as to say that we should stay away from gossip, foul  talk, course jokes etc. It is a really good book.

As I thought on these things I put them all together and I concluded that we must "Put on Jesus every day and represent Him well."  So in the words of my friend Sam "Do you got your Jesus on today and are you bringing Him glory?

Check out Ambassador for Jesus: God's Work Comes First, click here.

The Body Of Christ

I and so thankful for the body of Christ. Yes, I am developing my personal walk with Jesus, but I also realize how important and great the body of Christ is. I don't think I could ask for more wonderful and faithful friends.

I remember my old friends that I had to give up in order to go after God. They were not supportive of my new revelation of the love of Jesus. I remember them telling me that Jesus was just a crutch or a fall back for weak people. I tried to explain that yes, Jesus is my crutch and I realized how weak and empty I was without Him in my life. My old friends did not understand this. To them my new revelation was just a faze that some people go through in life. (Jesus is not a faze for me. His is my everything and much more.) When I started to change the way I lived my life, my friends really got mad at me. I stopped living a worldly life, and started to try and live a life according to the bible. My goal was to be like Jesus as best as I could. I stopped smoking, drinking, cursing, having premarital sex, fighting, hating, blaming others for my problems, and even stopped being just an irresponsible person all together. My old friends didn't like this change at all. They even started  to pick on me about being a christian. I use to get harassing phone calls at night. No one would talk to me because they all assumed I was judging them or that I thought I was better than them. I did not of course.

While going through all the rejection and hostilities from my old friends, I ended up hooking up with a group called Saturday Night (Now known as Saturday Night Jesus Revolution). They welcomed me so warmly. I could relate to all of them. The ones that were older in the Lord shepherded me. The ones that were where I was in the Lord encouraged me, and we became awesome friends to this day. Also, the ones that were younger in the Lord I help guide. They excepted me, flaws in all. They helped me become a more better person. That all started about 10 years ago. I was a teenager, almost a young adult then.  I bet if any of my old friends would see me now, they would not recognize me.

My christian friends have been a great part of my life. I have friends from the ages of early 60's to late teens. We have laughed together. We have cried together. We have shared our hopes and fears. We pray for each other. We encourage each other. We can trust each other with no doubts about the other person. We are not afraid to be transparent with each other in anyway. Believe it or not. I have more fun with my friends now, even though we wouldn't do anything Jesus wouldn't do, than I ever did with my older friends who partied all the time. Believe it or not, there is a such thing as good clean fun. Not all christians are boring. My friends are some of the funniest coolest people I ever met. And I am so blessed to have them in my life.

Wanting... Needing To Go Deeper With Jesus

Just came back from Saturday Night "Jesus Revolution". It was a very good services. Tonight the Holy Spirit's theme was going deeper with Jesus. It is what I'm needing. I look at my life recently, and I realized that I have relaxed too much in my walk with Jesus. This is bad because even the Bible talks about running the race with endurance. (1Cor 9:24-27, Heb 12:1) I have not been doing this. My endurance in this race has depleted. I have slowed way down. I feel as if I'm almost walking instead of running.

I have not been reading my Bible lately. I wanted to watch TV  with my son and play games instead of seeking God, even though I had plenty of time to read. I also have not been praying when I should. I have slacked off on this very badly. I need a pray life. I know how important it is to have that personal alone time with Jesus. How can I have a personal relation with Jesus of I don't talk to him? I don't want to be one of those people who just prays to God when i need something. I truly want to know Him.

When I begin to walk instead of run I loose my fire, passion for Jesus. When I loose my fire, passion for Jesus I start to get caught up in the way of the world and into worldly things. When I get caught up into the way of the world and into worldly things I allow and excuse sin in my life. Jesus deserves so much more from me and I want to give Him my best, nothing less.

So, to nights message was dead on for me. I've decided that I will stop slacking off, take up my cross and follow Jesus, counting the cost. (Mark 8:34-37, Luke 13:25-33) I understand that following Jesus means living for Him in public as well as in private. I know it's not going to be easy all the time. I know that I will get tired and want to slow down again. But that part of where the grace of God comes in. I can not walk this walk without the grace of God, and I don't want to do it without His grace. I will rely on Jesus to sustain and replenish me when I need it. Jesus said Himself that He would give us water that will bubble up and become a spring within us, giving us eternal life. (John 4:13-14)

Oh Jesus have your way in me and in my life. Help me to truly count the cost of living for you. Help me to endure until very the end. I pray for more passion, fire, and love for you Lord. More of You, Jesus, less of me. Help me to truly bring glory to your name. Amen.