Category Archives: Deep Restoration

Amazing Week and Amazing People

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These last few days have been more than I could have ever hoped for.  As I wrote last week, this past Sunday, I made the decision to be Baptized declaring my faith in Jesus Christ to the world.  The man that Baptized me is someone I have grown to have great respect and love for as a friend and brother in the Christ as well as a pastor and mentor.  Truly blessed and honored that having this guy, who has been a big part of my journey, to do this for me.  Many have differing view of what Baptism is.  This is not where my salvation lies, but rather the way to show the world that I died with Christ to my sins and have now been raised to a new life in Christ.

What was one of the most amazing parts of the day was the genuine love that was poured out from people.  Not just from my family, Amber and the kids, but from having my mom come out, a brother from the Wild at Heart Boot Camp, and then so many that are a part of my church family including brothers that have joined in my faith walk.  I’m a real subtle  and laid back kind of guy, but through this whole thing as I sat in that water, there was a smile on my face, that I could not get rid of.  My pastor shared some of my story and then hearing the cheers of those in the congregation, was so awesome.

That night, we had the chance to celebrate more as Mac Powell from Third Day came out for a night of worship, joining our awesome worship team.  What a great way to cap off an amazing day and one I will never forget.  I feel like God has just opened up so much in my life.

Being around everyone through this celebration; I’m reminded of the importance of fellowship and having people in your life to walk in the faith with.  There is true discipleship of walking with God and being guided by the Holy Spirit.  There is also genuine discipleship and fellowship in doing life with others in the faith.  I’ve had some awesome encounters with brothers this week and I can only pray to grow more, spiritually from these moments.  It’s so important to have real and authentic connections with people throughout our life and I’m blessed God has brought these men in to my life.

I have not written much this week as I’ve been just basking in all that has happened and what is to come.  It doesn’t stop here.   The growth will continue.  Here are a few pictures from Sunday…

Baptism1 Baptism2 MacNic

Washed By The Water

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This Sunday, August 23, is going to be another huge day in my life, and especially in my journey in faith in Christ.  I have thought about his for some time, and have now decided that I will be Baptized.  Yes, I was Baptized 23 years ago, but at that time, I just got wet.  I did so under the thought that it was the right thing to do, but there was no ‘why’ behind it.  There was no real surrender to Christ in my heart and I was not at point to really get to know Him.  But now, 23 years later, I know the ‘why.’  Having given myself fully to Christ with full repentance and surrender, it is now time to do this and this time to do it for real.

I used to be self-righteous in the sense that, yes, I already got Baptized.  I’m good to go.  I realized thought it was not yet well with my soul.  I needed to show the world that I truly have repented of my sins, I have surrendered to the will of the Father, I have accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior, and I want to live my life with Him above all else from here on out.

I’ve shared a good bit of my journey on this blog.  My life has been radically transformed through my faith and surrender to Christ.  He has made me new and showed me my brokenness, and took me there so that I could be healed and restored.  23 years ago, I never sought to develop and grow in a real relationship with God.  Now I am intentional on walking with Him every day, growing spiritually through each day I spend in His Word, in prayer, and in communion with my family in the faith.

The excitement I have to share this with everyone is so overwhelming.  This is my way of publicly declaring that my life and my heart has been transformed radically.  No longer hiding, but seeking to live a life as an authentic man of God.  It’s going to awesome.  I’ll share some of my experience and pictures later.

Prodigal Son – A Reflection

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Many of you know the parable Jesus told of the prodigal son.  Shared in Luke 15:11-32, this is powerful story displaying the love of God for His children.  As you likely know, in this story there is a son who is given his inheritance before his father’s death.  Taking that and everything he has, this son goes out to live a life on his own, spending lavishly, partying, and just living the rock star life.  He spends so much that he runs out of money and goes to work for a farmer, but barely making enough for food.  Full of despair and regret, the son decides to return home, fully knowing he is not worthy of his father any longer, to be his son.

Then comes the best part of the story, from my point of view, in verse 20. “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion. he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.” Happy to see his some return he gets the finest robe, sandals, and a ring and then throws a great party.  Not the reception this son had anywhere near expected.  His father said in verse 23-24, “We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mind was dead and has now returned t live. He was lost, but now he is found…”

What an incredible reflection of redemption and salvation found in the father through Jesus Christ.  I read through this parable again over the weekend just as there are parallels to this story for each of us, God revealed something pretty parable to me in my reading this time around.  I saw images of myself throughout my life and then over the last 4 years or so.  I truly saw how I was the prodigal son from my own story and perspective.  This reflection never even showed up in my mind until this time through.

For the fist 33 years of my life and as I came into adulthood, I just went along.  I had not been led by any deep faith or conviction and followed by the mind set that I just needed to live good.  If you have ever watched the show, Rosanne, there is an episode where their son, DJ, begins to question faith and takes it upon himself to attend church.  With questions of his own families faith, he asks his parents, Dan and Rosanne.  They proceed to go through the family background, Pentecostal, Baptist, Lutheran, and so on. He asked what they are now and they say that they believe in being good, so their good people.  Essentially, this is how I viewed life.  We just did and just lived life as we saw fit.

Fast forward to 2011.  Already in a world of brokenness after my Dad’s death nearly 2 years prior, I was unsure where to go.  I began to pick up Scripture and began to do that everyday.  In my reading this weekend, what God revealed to me was that this was the moment where I began to turn my eyes back to home.  Like the prodigal son, unsure of what was to come, I began the long journey.  I knew that I was unworthy of being called son as well. But still, I kept coming on the journey.

Fast forward to January 2015.  With still so much growth to do and a long ways off from where I knew I was headed, I ventured into the mountains.  A long ways off and still unsure of where I would end up, my Father showed up.  He came and met me in those frozen ice and snow of the Colorado mountains, embraced me and welcomed me home.  It was an awakening like I had never experienced in my life.  God took a hold of my heart, took me through my brokenness to restore me to Him once more and I found my identity as His son and now walk in sonship with the Father every single day.

As for the great feast, we’re on our way their now.  This year has been like a preparation for a great feast and party.  I know my place in the Father now through Christ, though unworthy, I am made new in Him and look to the wedding feast when Christ is reunited with His bride.  All the preparations are underway now.  Having been restored to the Father and accepted as His son, I am now called to a higher purpose for Him, to be a champion for Christ and to be a difference maker for His Kingdom as we are all called to do.

I’m so thankful for the things that Lord continues to reveal to me.  I don’t get something new every single day, but staying locked into Him, He continues to reveal things to me on His time and each time I stand in awe of Him for all that He is and thankful for His undeserved mercy and grace over my life as well as everyone else that chooses to accept Him.  If you still are lost in where you stand, just look to the Father, He will guide you Home and will bring you back in with open arms.  Let Him restore you.

My Identity is Found In Christ Alone

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What defines you?  Where do you get your identity from as the driving force of how you live your life?  I used to to question this for myself for many years.  I questioned my purpose, questioned my being, and what it was I am here for.  I also used to to think that my identity as a man was bent purely on my ability to work hard to make more money to support my family.  It seemed like this was going to be the call of my life to just work and achieve “success” in that light.  I was blinded for many years unsure of who I was or not wanting to come face to face with the false-self I had created in my brokenness.

I’ve discovered a new Truth however.  My life is not defined by my career successes, it’s not defined by how much money I can make, it’s not defined by my social status in any light.  No…my identity as a man is found in Jesus Christ and Him alone.  My first identity through Christ is son.  I have been adopted, into sonship with the Father through Christ, as all of you have who have come to real faith in Jesus.  As Paul said in his letter to the Ephesians in chapter 1 verse 5, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention His will.”  God identified me as his son through Jesus and in Him I am alive.

1 John 5:12 says, “He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.” It all hinges on our faith in Christ.  Our willingness to accept Him and all His works.  We have the life of Christ in us if we accept Him in our life.  If we don’t, as John said, we do not have life.  This is what I can say Christ has done for me.  I see this world and God’s epic story in such a different light now.  Before it was through blinded vision.  I was dead.  I saw only what this world had to offer and although I knew of Christ and believed to a certain degree.  Augustine said, “He who created us without our help will not save us without our consent,” however, I never opened the door of my heart to Christ who was there for years pounding away hoping I would let Him in.  I didn’t listen for a long time nor give my consent to come in.

Now that I have opened the door for Christ, it is through Him alone that I am made new and made the man I am meant to be.  My old self is now dead.  As Paul said in Romans 6:6, “…our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we no longer are slaves to sin.”

I will never let anything else in this world define me in any way.  My identity is now found in Christ and Christ alone.  As the song says, “In Christ alone, my hope is found.”  I look to Him for every aspect of my life.  I look for His guidance through the Holy Spirit.  I know now that I am no longer dead, I am alive.  I pray the same for your life.  I pray that you will allow Christ to enter your heart.  He wants to come in.  Christ says in Revelation 3:20,”Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.”  Christ is asking that we open our hearts to Him now.  He came so that our hearts could be restored and made new, but it is purely by our choice.

Never let this world define you.  Never let your circumstances, your job or lack there of, your home situation, your friends, or anyone around you define who you are.  If you open your heart to Christ and are sanctified in Him, He is who identifies you in sonship and as a saint.  It through Him alone that we have life.  I will live my life in this way as a son of the Father raised to a new life through my Big Brother, Jesus Christ and restored in union with the Father.

A Much Needed Disconnect and Reconnect

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It’s felt strange not writing at all these past couple of weeks.  I just returned with my family from some much needed rest at the beach.  For my family and me, the gulf coast is like a second home.  That is our typical escape from the busyness of everyday life.  I look at this time as a moment to let go and just live, enjoying being in the presence of the Lord.  Being able to wake up each morning and on the waters edge, looking out over the expansive waters of the Gulf, it reminds me of just how small we are in God’s larger creation and larger story.  All the while, despite how small we are, God pursues us and loves each of us just the same.  Psalm 23:3, “He restores my soul.”

I recall being in Colorado earlier this year and being able to, for the first time, letting go and unplugging.  This time around, I tried to do the same, leaving my phone in our room when we went on the beach.  Not wanting to be bogged down with social media or news or anything else.  It’s still amazing to me how difficult that becomes for us these days.  To let go of our shackles that is our phones and connections and just live.  I did my best to do that this time around and it was very freeing.  It truly gave me a chance to let go for a bit.

I just can’t stress how important it is to let go.  To unplug and get away from the routines of life.  We all get so bogged down and busy that many of us just find it impossible to get away, let alone unplug from the matrix.  I was finishing up one of my first classes and writing a paper relating this issue of a counselor, while successful getting near the edge of burnout and abruptly taking a vacation.  Reaching burnout can affect your judgement as I have studied, so we have to take the time to take care of ourselves.  Take care of ourselves physically, spiritually, emotionally.  We need our time to just let our minds break free and not think about work and our buys lives for a bit.  A week hardly seems like enough, but when we can, we need to do this.

This week, I also reconnected deeper with the Lord.  Getting to just spend more time in Scripture and prayer than I’ve allowed myself too sometimes was amazing.  I have loved being more connect with Him and this week away allowed me more time to dive deeper into that connection with Him.  We face so much in this world and there is so much chaos around us, but just knowing that God is there always and has always been the same as he was and will always be the same, is awesome.  I know I can always go to Him and he will restore me; spirit, soul, and body, heart mind, and will.

Thankful for the time I had with my family on vacation.  Would love to have more of that time, but I am pumped to restored and renewed for what is to come.  Ready to dive back in.

Why Are We So Busy?

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Being busy is bad…That would be false.  There is nothing wrong with being busy and having things to do.  It’s a part of our lives.  If you have kids like Amber and I, you know that they definitely keep you on your toes as they get older with their different activities.  We certainly have no shortage of it in our family.  On top of work, church, and the many other things that encompass life, we often find ourselves in a place where we are just on the go, non-stop.

I question though, our motives for staying so busy all the time every single day.  We rarely take the time to let our spirit, soul, and body recover.  The only time this happens is maybe during a week in the summer and maybe at Christmas time.  Otherwise, we are back to the grind.  Why is it though?  Why do  we live lives that are just crammed full of things to do?  I was listening to a Ransomed Heart audio recording this morning and something profound hit me.  John Eldredge made the statement that busyness gives us a false sense of power and a sense of importance.

That’s a pretty strong statement.  I know many people that pride themselves in being busy.  They feel like its a good thing to always have something to do.  But why?  Is there something to the distraction of being constantly busy that keeps us from things in our lives or allows us to hide?  I look around and people are always in a hurry going from what thing to the next.  Going from meeting to meeting, from conference call to conference call, and flying through stores and down yhe road to the next destination.  It’s a constant race with heads and eyes ahead focused on the next task.  We have to go faster and faster and for what?

This past Sunday, I had a few hours at home to myself.  I had finished my papers for school and had literally nothing to do for a little bit.  I stepped on my back patio and just sat there letting my mind go.  A true time of Sabbath; of rest.  At first I was itching for something to do.  I then stopped myself thinking, ‘what’s up with that?’  I don’t need to be doing something.  It’s a distraction.  I had force myself to literally do nothing.  It’s so important in life that slow down.  Yes there are things to get done and responsibilities we have to our family and jobs, but if we let our busyness run our lives, it will flat wear us down and distract us from the real issues and the important things of this life.

Slow down and take time to let God in.  Don’t let your life get so distracted by constant routine that you even lose site of your faith.  It can happen, trust me.  About a year ago, I was hard charging in my faith journey.  The problem was I was only focused on the ritual (going to church, reading Scripture daily, journaling) and not true growth.  I let life get in the way and for a few months, found myself pulled away.  It took effort to get myself back in focus again and then God’s hands began to work.

We have to make the choice in how we live our daily lives.  Do we let busyness rule the day or do we actually take time to slow down and actually live?  As Eldredge also discussed, we have a thousand small choices to make and those thousand small choices can make all the difference in our lives.  Check your motives and get to understand, even in asking God, what drives your daily life and the busy schedules we keep.  See if your motives are driven by faith or something else.  Understand the motives of your life and take an account of what you do and why.  Don’t waste your life in a state of constant go, go, go.

Check your motives, slow down, and seek the Lord’s guidance in everything you do with full devotion and surrender to Him.  I know that’s easy to say, but once you learn to let go, you’ll begin to realize the things that you were doing that meant nothing and then learn where you should be focused instead.  It’s pretty amazing to feel and see. I’ve lived it and continue living it out everyday.  It’s not always easy as the demands continue coming, but when you can live life not worried about what others think should be done and just on what your Lord thinks should be done, wow!  It’s a whole new perspective on everything.

Jesus – A Most Welcome Disruption

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Life takes us on a series of ups and downs.  I’ve written about some of them in my life.  We have those good days and we have those not so good days.  We have times of great joy and times of great sorrow and pain.  With the variety of changes in our lives, we have often come to the point where we have accepted things the way they are.  We accept the circumstances that are dealt to us and take the attitude that either life sucks or the attitude to just make the best you can with what you have.  Either way, we come to accept things as they are and find ourselves in the routine of living for this life.

So many of us have become so complacent in our lives.  We live life for this world and we don’t allow our hearts to be free to live.  We certainly don’t life a faithful life, or rather a life that has a heart completely open to Christ and allowing Him come in and do what it is He said He came to do in Luke 4, heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free.  This week at church, we actually dove into this part of the Gospel where Jesus proclaims His mission in Nazareth from Isaiah 61:1 to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free.  As was taught, Jesus did something when He read this Scripture.  He completely disrupted the religious complacency of the Jews.  He turned the world upside down as He came to disrupt everything that this world had grown so used to.  Religious rules and viewing God as a cosmic sheriff ensuring everything was followed.  The Jews had been waiting for the Messiah to come but completely missed it when He was right in front of them.

Jesus came to disrupt this world from the darkness it had fallen into.  A world that was distant from God and that was separated by sin, by rules and laws, and religious rituals.  He did just that.  When He came and completed His works of laying down His life to defeat sin, raising to life to defeat death and hell, and ascending to the Father’s right hand taking all authority over the heavens and earth, He disrupted everything and the world has never been the same.

We view that and it seems so big story, so big picture.  But what does that mean for our individual lives?  What does Jesus’s mission and His finished works mean for us in our daily routines in today’s world?  Well, when you look down to our individual lives, that’s exactly what Jesus is trying to do now.  He wants to completely disrupt our lives and turn our hearts to Him.  When He does disrupt your life, all I can say is wow!

My life is complete testimony to Jesus’s disruption.  When I finally fully surrendered my life and let Him take control, He began to disrupt and change every aspect of my life.  You want to talk about the year of the Lord’s favor?  2015 has been an amazing year so far.  Jesus came in and changed my heart and changed my direction and set me on a path that will bring God full glory and help lead others to the healing and freedom that Christ offers us if we allow Him to come in and disrupt our lives.

Jesus wants into our hearts, but we have to let Him come in.  We have to be willing to allow Him to disrupt the life we live now, where we are so set on ourselves.  As Jesus says, in Revelation 3, I stand at the door and knock.  He is knocking on our hearts.  Not just tapping away. He is banging on our hearts, hoping we’ll let Him in.

My challenge to you is to open your hearts to the disruption of Jesus.  Let me tell you, when you do, the feeling and freedom is so amazing.  You know longer have to live a life filled with worries and fear.  Not to say things will all be roses, but you no longer have to fear when you just let Jesus take control of it all. Let Him disrupt the flow of your life.  Not with religion and routines, but with with real freedom that draws you to Him everyday of your life.

Welcome the disruption of Jesus.  You will never regret it if you do.

He Will Take You As You Are

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I used to worry about the strength of my faith and whether or not it was enough for God to let me in.  From the brokenness and junk I dealt with in my life and some of the decisions I made in my sin and brokenness I used to feel like I would never be good enough to come out of it.  I would try my damnedest to, but I was so caught up in myself, my sin, my wounds, my brokenness, that I didn’t know if there was a way out.  Have any of you felt or do any of you feel this way today?  Well, if so, there is some really good news, Jesus will take us as we are.  Not because of what we do, but because of His grace and love that is unending.  As Paul wrote in Titus 3, we are given new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit because of God’s mercy, not for what we do.

If you study the Gospels you see that nature of Jesus and the many, many times we healed people who came to Him.  The blind, the leper, the lame, and many more.  What did not those that he healed do.  They to Him in faith and Jesus would tell them they are healed because of their faith.

You see, there are many all around, especially in the church that believe you have to get all of your junk in order.  You have to fix yourself before you can come to Christ.  You have to learn how to be faithful first and how to follow Jesus.  You have to learn to be a good Christian and follow the religious code.  You have to clean up your act.

THIS IS WRONG!

Look at those that Jesus healed.  We they came to him in faith, He healed them.  What does that mean?  We turn to Jesus in faith and give our lives to Him and then the healing and the cleansing takes place.  Yes, we have to confess our sins.  You can’t not confess your sins.  If you hide it, you are never going to get away from it and move forward.  What does Jesus say? Go and sin no more.  Turn away from what we done, confess it, and leave it at the cross.  Then you can be set free with a new birth and new life that Jesus came bring.

It’s so simple folks.  Get past all of the religious fluff.  All of the hoops that churches make you jump through to become what they deem to be a Christian.  Just turn to Jesus.  Isaiah 61:1, he came to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free.  What we have to do ourselves and know that Jesus loves us.  He absolutely unequivocally, unconditionally loves us.  He loves us so much, He was willing, though he suffered greatly, to be brutally tortured including being hung on a cross to die so that we can return to the Father and have the life we were always meant to have.  With that, if we turn to Him in faith and open the door of our hearts to Him, then through the power of the Holy Spirit, He will come deep into our hearts, help find and confess the sins we have, forgive those that wounded us, and we can then have our hearts restored to a new life.  We don’t have to jump through religious hoops first.  It’s all a matter of our own willingness to turn to Christ and let Him in.  He’s banging on the door, we just have to be willing to let Him in.

I can share this because I speak from my experiences.  Remember I said I didn’t know if there was a way out.  I was stuck behind the stained glass.  Behind the religious fog.  It was not until my mid-30s that I realized that the religion was a part of the problem.  Once I did, I turned from religion, which I despise, and opened my heart to Christ.  It’s unbelievable the revival that has taken place in my heart.  I say revival, because Jesus revived the me that was dead.  I restored me to a new life and I found the way out.  It was right there the whole time.

Folks, Jesus will take us as we are.  I am unashamed of my faith in knowing this now and will teach and counsel on this healing and freedom that is available to us all.  Get past the religious fog and open the door so that He can go to work on your heart.  He’s not even done with me yet.  This journey is just beginning in my new life through Christ.  Jesus took me as I was, junk and all, and He will do the same for you.  Just wait and see what happens when He does.

The Offer Is Life and Life to the Full

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The glory of God is man fully alive.  I’ve shared this quote from Irenaeus.  We hear and read often the idea of coming alive.  Being fully alive.  I’ve talked about this on many occasions in my writings.  Even when I didn’t realize this fully, there is a reason that this is on my heart and on the hearts of many others.  It’s because that’s what God is offering each and everyone of us.  Life.  That’s what we celebrate on Easter through Christ’s resurrection.  We celebrate His life, He is alive, and we celebrate the fact that through Jesus Christ we are now offered life and life to the full.  I wrote on Monday about Jesus restoring what was lost.  The simple fact is, that what was lost when man fell, was life.  We fell to sin and death reigned.

What I am writing about today has been on my heart quite a bit lately.  The idea of the life that is offered to each of us, should be choose to accept God’s offer.  I think it’s purely amazing to know that even through all of jacked up things we go through and do in our lives, God loves us enough to still offer life and has been out to restore it from the beginning.  Jesus was and is that answer to our restoration and to life.  If we surrender fully to Him, we can have life.  It’s quite an amazing feeling to fully surrender.  To feel God working in your life when you allow Him to lead.  He truly leads you to being alive.  I’ve felt it.

John 10:10, Jesus tells us that “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  Jesus came to bring life.  Life to the fullest.  We were lost to sin and death and to the enemy who gained dominion over this world.  Jesus came to bring life.  John 11:25, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.” Jesus came to restore life.  In 1 Corinthians 15:45, Paul referred to Jesus as the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.  

We all celebrate Easter every year and mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In the modern church today, the focus tends to be more on His death and the Cross.  A very pivotal thing, also because the Cross was needed in order to give us forgiveness and free us from the grips of sin.  In an audio recording I was listening to on the works of Jesus, John Eldredge points out a very significant fact.  To the first apostles, the resurrection was the big symbol of the works of Jesus.  Acts 4:33, “And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.”  They were out to give testimony to Jesus who was put to death to forgive our sins, but raised to life again so that we can be made new and have life in Him.

It’s rather amazing stuff to think about.  The fact that we are made new, we are given new life in Jesus.  That we are dead to sin and alive to God because of the finished works of Jesus Christ.  We need to make sure we don’t lose site of the power of the resurrection.  Not just that Jesus was raised to life, but that in defeating death, we have defeated death as well through faith in Him.  Life was taken away when we fell, but God has always been out to restore us to life.  Romans 6:4, “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ as raised form the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.”  Romans 8:2, “And because you to belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you.”

As I mentioned, earlier in this post surrendering to God and allowing Jesus to reign in your life, brings abundant life to us.  In this fallen world, however, we have to work at it each day. We are going to be constantly under attack.  The closer we draw to the life God offers, the more the enemy will attack. “Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  We can take great joy in the life of Jesus, though.  It’s through Him that the adversary has been defeated.

Because of this great hope and joy, we can come alive.  Imagine a life where you no longer worry about what the world tells you.  You no longer worry about the every battles.  You just walk with God and follow His lead through every part of life.  It’s the life that Jesus lived here on earth and now lives today.  It’s the life he has made available to us who choose to live in Him.  Come Alive in Christ!

“Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection.” – Watchman Nee

An Eternal Love Beyond Anything We Can Imagine

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I pray that all of you had a great day on this Resurrection Sunday!  I got to enjoy a great time of worship with my family and my church family.  It was a great day and God gave us a beautiful day to remind us of the beauty of His love for us and what this day means to us as believers and followers of Jesus Christ.  Throughout this day, and the days leading up to it, I found myself reflecting on Easter.  Reflecting on the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the full finished works of Christ.  In worship this morning, we dove into Luke 15 and the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coins, and the prodigal son.  It illustrates for us an unending pursuit for us that God orchestrated and Jesus explained how the Father will go to whatever lengths to pursue those He loves.  That being us.  Everyone of us.  Jesus came to restore what was lost at the fall.

I found my way back to Galatians 4 today where Paul provides the illustrations of Abraham’s two sons, Isaac and Ishmael.  When Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, this was mans attempt to fulfill God’s promises.  verse 23 says, “The son of the slave wife was born in a human attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promise. But the son of the freeborn wife (Sarah) was born as God’s own fulfillment of His promise.”  All through the Old Testament we see where man continued to find their own way and live outside of God.  God, however, had another plan.  He was, from the outset out to pursue us.  Abraham was just one of the many examples God used to show where He fulfilled His promises and was out to free mankind of the slavery, sin, and death.

Let me back up a little.  Go to Eden, before the fall.  God had given man full domain of the earth.  The only commandment given was not eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge.  With Satan’s intervention, man decided to not choose God first, ate the fruit and thus the fall happened.  We were cast out of the garden lost in sin and a world where we no longer had dominion as was intended.  We all know this.  So from that point God set out His plan to restore that which was lost.  To find the lost sheep, to bring back the lost son.

Isaiah 61, the Lord came to heal the brokenhearted and set the captives free.  We are all broken and have been enslaved by our own sinful nature and wounds.  God had another plan for us.  We were never meant to be this way.  To be lost to our own sins.

What does all of this say to me?  Despite everything we have been through in our lives.  I don’t care where you are or what you have been through, God has a love for all of us like we could never fathom or comprehend.  We chose to turn away from God, but God never turned away from us.  He has always been out to pursue us and the works of Jesus Christ has been the fulfillment of that pursuit.  It is so wonderful to think about.  Yes, God care about each of us.  He loves each of us.  That means you too, no matter where you are.  We can take joy in Christ’s resurrection that through Him we are now dead to sin and alive to God.

Just think about how great this is.  Jesus IS Risen.  He IS Alive.  “He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13-14).  He Rescued us from darkness.  Only real love would do such a thing.  Hell was never going to be the final solution and this is not what God wants for any of us.  He has been out to restore us from day one because of His great love for us.  We have to choose, however, whether we accept this and choose God once more, or take the final act of self-contentedness and refuse to follow.  Do we love God as He loves us and choose to live in the freedom of His love in Christ or do we choose what God does not want for us, which is death?  Me, I choose live and I choose God.