Category Archives: Walking with God

Undeserving and Yet, Still Loved

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Have you ever had feelings where you questions if God truly loved you or us has human beings for that matter?  Maybe you’ve been through some very difficult times in your life or are going through that right now and it becomes difficult to feel His love.  Maybe you’ve been living a life filled with sinful patterns that are completely separated from God and in those times you reject Him by your actions.  Often times, we also put God’s love in the box of a verb and humanize the kind of love he has for us.

Do you know that no matter where you have gone in life and what you have done, God loves you.  In my Scripture reading this morning, it covered the time of Saul’s death.  Saul’s kingdom was taken from him by God when he did not follows the Lord’s commands.  David was then anointed to become the next king.  Saul was tormented constantly from that time.  It would almost seem that God hated Saul by sending the tormenting spirit.  Some may conclude that.  However, this is not God’s way, which as Isaiah said are not our ways.  In Ezekiel 33:11, God says that, “I take no pleasure in the death of wicked people.  I only want them to turn from their wicked ways so they can live.”

What God wants from all of us is to turn from our wickedness.  We are all filled with it.  Every single one of us ever since the Fall.  God is determined though.  He loves us so greatly that He will go through whatever lengths and go wherever needed in order to bring us back.  None of us are deserving of the love that God has for us.  He created us though so that we can glorify Him, and continue pursuing what He’s called us for.  Christ came and went ahead of us to prepare a seat at the wedding feast.  Christ showed us what it meant to fully live for God.  He went through so much torment and temptation himself during His time here, but he eagerly continued where God wanted Him.  So now we have a way to life through Christ.

We in no way deserved that, but God’s love is something different.  Actually, God is Love.  Beth Moore stated, “Love is not only something God does; love is something God is. God would have to stop being in order to stop loving. Again, our temptation is to humanize God, because we are limited to understanding love as a verb. With God, love is first a noun. It’s what and who He is.”  

With that, understand that no matter where you are in life, what you’ve been through, or even how you’ve sinned and lived, God loves you.  God will always pursue you.  What He wants is for us to turn from our sinful and flesh patterns, repent, and turn to Him.  Often times it takes some dire circumstances to bring us back.  It took the sudden loss of my Dad and being lost in that whirlwind to finally shake me and bring me back.  It could be any other of a number of circumstances for others.  Still for some, it simply takes knowing that no matter what, they are always loved.  God created each of us for a purpose and Loves us all the same.  Rejecting His love how we get fully separated from Him.

Like is said in a video I saw on YouTube.  The church is a hospital for the broken.  Often times to be truly saved and returned to God requires a time of being completely broken and lost where we finally cry out to God.  God does not want us to suffer, but He wants to us to turn to Him and learn to love Him and know that through all we’ve been through, all we’ve done, and no matter how much we don’t deserve it, He always loves us.

Free to Live and Free to Love

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I have this sticker that is on the back window of my truck.  It is the image of the Cross with the words “We are set free.”  This comes of Galatians 5:1 where Paul tells us that Christ has truly set us free.  Many may wonder what it means to be truly set free.  What are set free from?  Paul stated that we are set from the law that enslaved the Israelites.  While working out this morning, I was watching a program with a gentleman named Joseph Prince.  I had never watched him before, but got caught up in what he was teaching.  He took us back to the time at Mt. Sinai when God laid out the 10 Commandments to Moses.  Prior to that point, God would come meet with people Abraham, Isaac, and others face to face.  When the Israelites began Exodus, they would often grumble to Moses and God would show grace by parting the Red Sea, raining Manna, bringing water from a rock.  At Mt. Sinai, however, it all changed and when the elders of Israel said they would do all God commanded, the laws were handed down and they became slaves of the law.  For the next 1,500 or so years, we see time after time where people turned from God and then would repent and obey God’s law.  The focus, was more on keeping the commandments rather than on faith in God and loving Him.

Fast Forward now to Jesus.  When Jesus was asked about which Commandment was the greatest, he said that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind.  True faith and love for God had been lost up to that point for most.  People were bent on keeping the law that they lost site of what it meant to be truly faithful.  Through Jesus Christ, we are shown God’s grace and love.  God became flesh and willingly gave his life to die for us and take the punishment of sin that we all deserved.  That is grace and love.  Through this willful sacrifice, we were set free.  Free from sin, free from death when Christ rose from the dead.

Now we are free to live and free to love God.  In the book Free to Live, by John Eldredge, it states, “Loving God is the centering of your existence as a human being. It’s the restoration of you reason for existence. What a relief it is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. What an utter relief. For then, every other relationship falls into place; every other desire finds its appropriate place in our life. Again, this is why mere “morality” can never substitute for true holiness. You can keep all the rules you think are important and not love God. This is where it all begins, truly loving Jesus with all your heart. Where things are out of whack, that is where our repenting needs to take place.”

Jesus’s first coming was in Grace.  Grace to set us free and to be given an open door to once again be able to know God and learn what true faith is and what true unfailing love is.  Through full faith and trust in Christ, we are free. We are free to love God with all that we are. We are free to live for God’s purpose and His will for our lives. We are free to live. Jesus is Life!

It’s a great feeling to know what the Grace bought through Christ’s redeeming blood has brought us.  Even when we are not deserving, we have the intercession of Christ.  Just as God continued to show Grace to the Israelites through their grumblings in the wilderness before Mt. Sinai, His Grace was again returned to us through Christ even through our fallen state and no matter how much we have jacked up our own lives.  I am just as jacked up as the rest, but know that through repentance and faith in Christ I am redeemed and free from that sin.  We are free to live and we are free to love!

SetFree

Let Christ Rule Your Heart

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Yesterday, I had the privilege of spending some morning Bible Study time with a group of guys where I worship at The Cross in Loganville.  First, what a great time it was.  To be honest, I have never sat down in that kind of setting to just fellowship and talk and discuss scripture with several other believers.  I have had one-on-one conversations many times in the past or with a couple of folks, but never really participated in that kind of Bible Study session.  Let me tell you, it was a great experience.  I got to meet some guys I have seen in passing attending worship, but never really got to know.  What I did learn, was that we all have a great story and testimony of how we came to faith in Christ and often times it came from various trials and difficulties of various kinds.  We all have story.

But getting to the root of the study, we focused on Colossians 3:15-17.  The first thing right out of the gate, Paul tells us to “let the peace that comes from Christ rule our hearts.”  This really struck with me as we discussed the versus and I listened to Tim, the lead pastor, break it down.  All too often in this life, we are quick to take action or speak without thinking.  We can start lashing out in anger or whatever it may be.  Either way, we can often get caught-up not letting Christ lead our words and actions.  This is often the case for many that may go to worship on Sunday, but raise hell the rest of the week.  I’ve been there too.  We need to let Jesus umpire our actions and keep us under control every single day.

In verse 16, it says, “Let the message of Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives.”  As we walk in close step with Christ, we should let all the He is and His message fill us each day.  Let Jesus speak through us also, as we share, teach, and counsel with others.  The line given in the study was “Speak only when spoken through.”  Don’t just spout of opinions and talk to be heard.  Let Christ fill your heart and the Word fill you and speak what is being spoken through you.  I have encountered many people that like to talk just to heard.  They don’t think about what their saying and just ramble on.  Stay away from that, and rather speak life.   In Toby Mac’s song, “Speak Life,”  he says the lines, “Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted; watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope, you speak love, you speak life.”

If we speak from the Good News and the promise for new life and salvation in Christ, its amazing the impact it has on folks.  Especially when they are lost and broken.  When you speak what Christ is speaking through you and through the Word, it will bring them to life.  We are a representative of Christ when we speak and testify and should remember that.  2 Corinthians 5:20 calls us “Ambassadors of Christ.”  I want to live that way and those of you that are believers, I pray that you will as well.  A gentleman in the Bible Study mentioned that the first thing we have in sharing about Christ is our own story.  Our own Testimony to how Christ has transformed our lives.  To be honest, it is one of the most powerful weapons we have as a body of believers.  We all have a story.  We all have taken paths through adversity, brokenness, and many other challenges.  We all have had times either completely separated from God or where we questioned Him.  Share your testimony and be contagious.  By sharing your own story, people can relate and then see just how much Christ has transformed your own life.

Let Christ rule your heart.

The Road Less Traveled

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I’m sure you all have heard of the famous Robert Frost poem, “The Road not Taken.”  A part we always here is as follows:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
 

There is so much in this related to the path we travel in our faith and how we draw closer to God and where He is leading us in life.  Each of us have a different path we take through life and have to make different choices along the way about which direction to go.  What often gets missed is which path God wants you go down.  Rather people see where the world is leading and tells them they should go and they take that road.

I always remember growing in Sunday School classes hearing about taking the rocky and dangerous road to God or the gold paved path to the Devil.  That is such a real thing for us.  It’s very easy to say, I want to take the way everyone says I should go.  I’m going to jump into this career, I’m going to live here, I’m going to attend this college.  All because it’s what’s expected of them.  It seems like the easy path to success.  It always makes it easy for you to drawn closer to things of this world that are not closer to God.  It can draw you to easy indulgence and sin in any number of areas and can bring about addictions that are hard to shake because they make you feel good about yourself.  All the while down this path you fade further away from God.

Then there is the other road.  The one less traveled by.  This one hits a number of bends and curves and obstacles along the way.  People like to shy away from this path, because it seems so difficult.  For 20 years of my life, I shied away from it.  This is the path that leads to closer intimacy with God.  It is not an easy path by any means and the world will pull you back time and again to go the straight and narrow.  We have to make a choice in life, however of which road we will take.

One thing that many people will not do, which pulls them away from the winding path, is to trust God.  So often throughout God’s word, we are shown were God went out of ahead of His people.  He helped lead them to victory when they trusted and put their faith in Him.  In my Scripture reading today, it talked about David defeating Goliath and how he put his full faith in God to help him prevail.  Jesus went out ahead of His disciples as well and went ahead of us to prepare a place at the wedding feast.  It is shown time again through God’s Word.

What does that tell you?  Quite simply, you should put your full faith and trust in God.  He will be there and will always move out ahead of you if you put your faith and trust in Him.  Doesn’t mean the path will be easy.  Like I mentioned, you will face obstacle after obstacle along the path.  The world and Satan will constantly try to trip you up.  You have to fully surrender and trust where God is leading you.

Trust me, it took me a long time to come to this realization.  I followed the more expected path, other than getting married at 18 and starting my family so young.  But I went to college and started a career.  All the while, I was not letting God lead me.  Now I get it.  God is leading me on a wild adventure right now.  It is filled with twists and turns, but it is so awesome to able to draw closer to His heart each day.  Also getting to share my testimony and use that to testify to all of you about where He is leading me.  I don’t know how far He’s going to take me.  Could stay local, or this thing could go national or global.  I don’t know.  I don’t expect anything in return, but just trust in where He is leading me and leading me to share my story and the Good News of Jesus Christ.

I hope y’all will stay with me on this journey as we see where it goes. It’s going to be quite a ride.  Sure the world will get in my way.  It often does, but I am thankful I get to take the road less traveled to pave to hopefully lead others to Christ and to jump on the less traveled road themselves.

Is Your Heart Thirsty?

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This week, I began reading a book called “The Sacred Romance – Drawing Closer to the Heart of God”  This book was written by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge.  Now, for those that have followed my writing, you will notice that I often quote information from Ransomed Heart Ministries and books from John Eldredge and others.  While I just started this book, I felt prompted already to begin sharing.  I look forward to uncovering what else they have in this book and I’m sure I’ll be motivated to share more as I go along.   I don’t do this to copy what they doing, but I do this because I believe God has called me many times over to reach other men and beyond in their own pursuit of knowing God’s purpose for their life and pursuing life in way that is close to God and glorifies Him daily.  That’s what we are all meant to do.  To glorify God in all we do, whether the outcomes are good or bad, we have to give glory to Him.

Now in this book, the very first chapter speaks to the promptings of God through the Holy Spirit.  How He speaks with us throughout our lives to help guide our actions and where we go.  Any of you ever hear that small voice inside telling you that you need to listen to your heart because their’s something more?  It asks you if you’re thirsty for something more.  I certainly have.  No, it’s not a midlife crisis.  It’s prompting from the Holy Spirit saying letting you know that your were purposed for more.  There is something missing.

Often times, when we hear that voice, we brush it aside because we have so much more going on in our crazy lives.  We don’t have time for those thoughts.  However, later it comes back again.  You continue to hear it nag at you, so to speak.  It’s trying to get your attention until you finally stop and pay attention and decide to take action.  This voice is calling you to more.  Calling you to a life that walks closer to the heart of God.  God is always pursuing us.  The Holy Spirit, whether we walk with God daily or not, will always be there to try to get our attention.

Listen closely.  That voice will speak to you at varying times.  It may be in the middle of the night when you’re farthest away from the busy life you have during the day.  It could be at anytime.  Stop and listen.  God is talking you.  Yes, you.  He wants everyone of us to draw closer to His heart and walk in His purpose.  He wants all of us to be contagious for His Kingdom and share the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.  He wants all of us to fully come alive through glorifying Him and purposing the purpose He created us for.  When we choose to change course and pursue a life that aligns to God’s purpose for you, you will see a great difference in your own life.

When the Holy Spirit asked if I was thirsty for more, the answer was most definitely yes.  “Thirsty hearts are those whose longings have been wakened by the touch of God within them.” – A.W. Tozer.  God has wakened me and where I am going.  I’ve chosen to plant the seeds and start on the path He called me for.  I pray that each one of you will do the same in your own lives.  Listen to the voice within.  Don’t let the craziness of this world cloud you and keep you from seeing what God purposed you for and what your calling is.   Maybe it is time for a big change to come.  Will you be strong and courageous enough to pursue it?  Are you still thirsty?

God is Good…All The Time

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Have you ever really stopped to think just how awesome  and good God is. No matterwhat we go through in life, no matter our struggles, joy, good times, or bad times, He is always good and always there. This weekend, my family and I went to see the movie, God’s Not Dead. We have been seeing yhe previews for this movie for months and have very much looked forward to its release. If you have not seen it yet, I highly recommend going to see it. I rarely go to the movies, but I was not missing this one. So amped up to see faith driven movies hit the mainstream box office. Oh, and even on limited release, it came in 4th at the box office, which was awesome to read.

I won’t spoil the movie, but there are two men, pastors in the movie. A line the repeat back and forth throughout the movie, through good and rough times is, “God is good…all the time…and all the time…God is good.” I just thought, how powerful that one simple, yet true statement is.  God is good all the time.  We should never lose site of it, ever.  No matter what may come through our lives.  What troubles we may encounter or what joyous times we may encounter.  Remember that through all of it, God is good.  God is there for us.  God loves us unfailing.   Even when we don’t deserve it, God is there to pull us through.

Think of that today.  In everything you do, think of that statement.  God will never let us down, ever because He is good all the time.  I won’t over analyze it.  It’s simple and I want to keep it that way.  God is good all the time and all the time God is good!

The Restoration of Spring

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So today, spring arrives.  For many it has been a long and miserable winter.  Even in my neck of the woods in the Georgia, we’e dealt with more winter than we care to.  With that said, while many may still have to deal with winter weather for a while longer, the coming of spring brings new restoration to our world.  We start to hear the birds singing, the trees begin to bud, and we see new life beginning all around us.  It is a fresh start as we look forward to longer days and warmer weather.

In my reading this morning, I was pointed to look closer at God’s creation and how His coming kingdom restores our world.  God gives us a glimpse of this restoration each year as move out of the darkness and cold of winter into spring and summer.  Through Jesus, wherever humanity was broken, He restored it.  Just has the blind man could see, the deaf could hear, the lame could walk, and the dead returned to life.  Jesus restored and restores all who have faith in Him and seek Him.  My reading this morning was and excerpt from John Eldredge’s book Epic.  John explains that “the restoration of the world played before us each spring and summer is precisely what God is promising us about our lives.  Every miracle Jesus ever did was pointing to this Restoration, the day he makes all things new.

As the warmer days come back upon us, think about this restoration and the promise that God has made to us.  He sent His son Jesus Christ to live among us and be sacrificed so that we could be made new.  So that we could be restored to God once again as we had fallen so far.  No matter how broken our lives may be and we all have that struggle to contend with, Jesus is the answer and restores all.   We get a taste of that restoration every spring with new life.  Jesus brings us new life if we have faith in Him.

I am in the process of producing my first video blog.  As I mentioned in my last post, I will be sharing my personal testimony with you all.  Part of that will show just how much Jesus has restored me.  I’ve gone through my own share of struggles, doubts, and fears.  It was not until I was 33 years old that I realized just how far I had strayed and I found my way back to God and let me tell you, He has restored me so much.    I still struggle with daily troubles that life will bring in this world, but I have new hope and Jesus was and is that answer and He is yours too.

My prayer for everyone that reads my posts and who will watch my videos is that my life and testimony will be a beacon that will be draw others in.  That people who may be struggling and not know who Christ is will find there way to get to know Him.  He is always there and like the prodigal son, will pull you in with open arms when you find your way home.  He will restore you.  Look at His creation and how awesome it is.  He can do so much more within you, no matter where you are in life.

Faith is So Simple

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Do you ever think of faith in God in terms of complexity?  Have you ever felt that having faith and worshiping Him is too complicated and involves too much?  Sometimes it does appear that way.  All too often there are churches that try to over complicate matters of faith with man made ideas and dogmas.  They drive believers to jump through so many hoops that it starts to clutter the real purpose of faith and what it means to be faithful to God.  Truth be told, it’s not that complicated.  What does faith mean to you?  Do you find yourself trying to do a lot to follow someone else’s rules for worship and devotion?

Look back in scripture and think long and hard about moments of faith that shown throughout history and displayed for us in the Word.  Start with Noah.  He was instructed to build an Ark because God planned to destroy a world that had become so evil.  Noah trusted God and did so.  Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son Isaac to test his faith.  As much as he did not want to, he trusted God and took him to be sacrificed only for God to stop him right when he raised his blade.  Moses was told to free the Israelites from Egypt and trusted in God’s power to guide him through the task.  David trusted God to help him defeat Goliath.  Then, above all, Jesus showed tremendous faith in God and His mission throughout his life and surrendered His own life so that we might be saved only to be raised again and conquer the grave.

Do you see the idea and simplicity behind it all?  Faith is complete and full trust and devotion in God.  To seek Him in all we do and and seek to glorify Him in our lives.  It’s that simple folks.  Full and complete surrender.  2 Timothy 2 tells us that we should pray.  Pray for everyone and ask for God’s intercession on their behalf.  Give thanks for everyone.  God wants us all to be saved which is why He sent his son to purchase our freedom.

I was thinking about this this morning when reading scripture and it talked about about the Israelites continuous complaining to Moses about being led out of Egypt.  If they would have simply surrendered and trusted where God was leading them, it would have been a different journey.  God would probably not have made it a 40 year journey to ensure that the older generations died before reaching their promised land.

It took me a while to realize this all.  Through my life I’ve been to numerous churches from different denominations.  Each having different rules of worship, different dogmas, and more.  When sitting in church a couple of weeks back.  My pastor talked about just how simple it was to be faithful and pray.  We don’t have to over-complicate folks.  Walk with God each day.  Build your personal relationship with Him.  Accept Christ as your savior.  Show faithfulness each day in your life and glorify God in all you do.  Faith is so simple.

Finding Real Happiness and Peace in Life

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What does it mean to you to be happy and have peace in your life?  Do you ever have those days where you just cannot fine peace and happiness and you struggle with why you can’t.  Also have you ever thought if I purchase this or go do that, that it will bring you happiness in your life.  The center point of all of this is do you involve God and do you seek Him in your happiness and peace?  There is a simple fact in life that if you do not walk with Him or seek Him you cannot find real joy, peace, and happiness in life.  We live in a fallen world that is full of turbulence and adversity that the adversary throws at us every single minute of every single day.

How do you contend with this though?  If you don’t seen God then that turbulence and adversity will swallow you up every day.  I have seen far too many people, some very close to me that were overcome by fears, anxiety, and adversity.  The stark difference came with how people dealt with it.  Some were on their face seeking God others just did not know Him or did not want to know Him or seek Him.  While others still, knew he was there, but did not give up their full being to let Him guide and protect them through those times.

This is the boat I was in after I lost my Dad 4 years ago.  I was saved and baptized many years ago, but I got to a point where I did not walk with God regularly and fully.  After I lost my Dad in a car accident, my was in a tail spin.  I was lost and did not know where to go or turn to.  I prayed some, but never fully gave in to my faith to let God take control.  After a couple of years, I finally started to dive into scripture every single day.  You want to talk about life changing.  The Holy Spirit began to speak to me louder and louder to more I dove into the Word.  With my own spiritual growth and maturity, I began to find that searching for peace and happiness was actually very simple.  All I had to do was truly seek and walk with God.  It’s that simple folks.  I can testify today just how powerful his presence is in my life and in my families as my growth has led all of us closer to Him and each other more than ever before.  The feeling is simply out of the world awesome.

Today I ran across a quote from CS Lewis that says, “God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.”  It’s that simple.  Happiness and peace comes from Him.  It does not exist apart of from God.  Seek God and seek a relationship with Jesus and it is so life changing.  Don’t commit half way like I did for so long.  Doing so did not help me with dealing with my own adversities.  Seek Him fully every day with all you are and let His Spirit overtake your entire being.  Your spirit, soul, and body, your heart, mind, and will.  This is the only way to ever find real happiness, peace, and joy in life and be able to overcome any adversity and uncertainty that gets thrown your way.  He is the answer and the only real answer.

Gratitude for Christ Jesus

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We are now less than two weeks away from Christmas.  The season seems to be flying by this year as it seems like we just passed Thanksgiving.  I know everyone is busy in the hustle and bustle of their Christmas shopping as we near the big day and celebration.  I look forward to all the time with my family over the coming weeks.  If you recall, in my last post, I wrote about the moment of Christ’s birth and how pivotal that moment was in the history of the world.  So profound that the armies of heaven came down to sing praises and glory to God.  Simply amazing.

As we near closer to the day and through all of the craziness that has started to accompany this season, have you stopped to reflect on Christ and His purpose for coming.  As you know I read through scripture everyone morning.  Part of my reading right now includes devotional on Christmas Carols and the meaning behind them.  One this week, was on “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.”    Particularly from that song, was a focus on the words, “Mild He lays His glory by; Born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth; Born to give them second birth.”

Christ came to this world to save us from our sins and the fate we deserved as a fallen creation.  He set aside his glory and took the punishment we so much deserve so that we could be re-born through Him.  1 Peter 1:3 says “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation.”  Christ came and gave his life to give us new life.

Reflect on that today.  Remember what the purpose of Christ was.  Not just that He was born in a manger in Bethlehem, but the reason for it all.  He came here for each and everyone of us.  How amazing!  Reflect on this today and throughout the season.  Give thanks to Jesus for what He did for us.  We did not deserve it, but because of God’s unfailing love, we now have new life.  I am grateful everyday for this.