Tunnel Vision

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The last 8 weeks have to have been the most stressful part of my learning that I’ve experienced to this point.  I was balancing two classes with my counseling program and Liberty University, which I have done in previous semesters, but something about this just was so challenging to get through.  The learning was so rich though.  There was so much value in the knowledge gained and things that will be very valuable I begin to draw nearer to real-life counseling work.  You ever have those times when you feel like you don’t know whether you are coming or going?  That’s what it felt like at times and last week, being the final week of the sub-term, I was on scramble trying to get it all done and close out the classes right.

In the midst of all of that craziness, I had to keep my mind refocused.  It can be so easy when things just get so crazy and busy, to even forget why you’re going through all of that.  There have been a couple of days where I’m asking myself what I’m doing.  Before, when things got like this, it would be so easy to be taken out.  Nowadays, my whole mindset has changed gears and I know what I’m in this for.  What am I a doing at 37 going through school, again, for what will be my 3rd degree?  It’s simple, I’m now doing the Lord’s work and to get through it all, I have to keep tunnel vision.

I listen to guys like KB and Lacrae when I workout every morning.  There’s a song by KB called “Zone Out” that really says it all, and when I get bogged down in craziness, this begins to often play in my head.  It’s like the Lord is resetting me and continually reminding me what I’m in this for.  The part of the song that I hear in my head often goes like this:

‘Cause I’ve got tunnel vision, yeah I’m focused on the light (he’s with me)
Can’t see a thang ‘cause I’m focused on the Christ (come with me)
You can try to kill me but you can’t hurt me
You can bring whoever you want, want
You’ll never break me, won’t penetrate
Once I get off in my zone, zone yeah

That’s what it’s all about.  Keeping tunnel vision with the heart and mind always focused on Christ and the walk with Him, each and every day.  When I get overwhelmed, go back to that.  It brings me back every time.

When the Lord puts a calling on your heart, you simply have to follow.  It’s not always going to be easy.  You may have one day where you are just fired up and ready to roll along and then the next day, or even that same day, things may begin to overtake you and you don’t know if your coming or going (Got my hand up).  Keeping the heart and mind focused on where the Lord is leading through all of the chaos is so important.

I’m thankful where He’s continued to lead me and that He’s allowed me to share my own journey along the way.  The walk with God continues for a lifetime until He calls us home.  Ups and downs will happen, chaos will ensue, but I can see how He grows us up in the process.  Just keep that tunnel vision.

Fighting On Three Fronts

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How often do you think about the spiritual warfare that we face in our lives each day?  When you think spiritual warfare, how do you picture it?  Do you think about angels and demons battling it out and Satan in the mix trying jack things up?  The subject of warfare is on my mind often.  I’ve really come to grasp the reality of this through my own life experiences where I’ve been able to recognize the reality of it and through others around me.

I was with Amber on Sunday in our meeting and study with our church small group.  We are doing a study of Ephesians and talk of warfare came up.  I began to talk in terms of the spiritual realm and the warfare that goes on in that aspect.  I referred to Daniel 10 when Daniel had prayed and began fasting for 3 weeks.  A angel finally comes and tells Daniel that God heard him the very day he prayed, but it took him 3 weeks to because the prince of the Persian was keeping him back and he had to call on Michael, one of the chief princes in Heaven’s armies to help him.  It’s a reminder that just as this warfare was going on before, as we in Scripture, just as Jesus had to resist Satan in the wilderness, warfare still goes on today in many ways.

I thought about this more later I really began to realize just how much warfare we face and where it all comes from.  I began to think that, in reality, we are faced with, everyday, fighting a war on three fronts.  It’s a battle for every part of our being that we face.  One front is clear and that is the enemy, Satan and his armies.  We are faced with him everyday or those fallen with him.  We are warned repeatedly about it.  As John 10:10 shows, Jesus stated that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.”  Peter tells believers to be on alert because our “adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  This is a given and we know this.  If Satan himself is not coming after us to take us out, his armies are in some fashion.

As a part of the assault we face, there are two other fronts we have to battle in that the enemy uses.  The next is against this world and those around us.  Because we are a fallen race, we are faced with daily battles with people around us.  There is so much in this world that is designed, much of it by the enemy, but it is designed to draw us away from things of God.  To draw us away from Jesus and the grace offered through Him.  This world can take you out in such a big way.  I’ve seen it for years and even fell victim to it.  To find yourself in a way that you begin to do things that others expect of you.  This could be choosing a path in college and a career.  Allowing the problems of others to effect you in some way.  Simply seeing so much despair in the world and losing those we love in ways that we don’t understand causing us to question life and our faith in many ways.

The third front is within ourselves.  The battle with the false-self.  This is something we don’t think about enough, but all to often we are faced with ourselves.  The decisions we make day to day.  Choosing to fall to sin and temptation.  Choosing to live life behind a fig leaf and not coming from hiding to face the false-self and renounce it.  There is a glory in each one of us, that God created in each of us.  It has been veiled since the fall and we are faced each day with whether to let that glory shine through or to hide.  We are restored in Christ, should we choose to follow Him and just as Paul said, we should be “renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Ephesians 4:23-24).

This is a daily battle within ourselves to seek Christ’s restoration everyday, putting on the whole armor of God to fight each battle.  Spoiler alert!!! Christ has won the war, but until his return and the coming of the Kingdom, we continue to face these battles on all sides everyday.  I know it can sound all mystical and strange to some to think of spiritual warfare, but it is very real and it comes at us from every angle.

978-0-7852-8829-9Don’t neglect this important part of our reality.  I know I have written about it many times, but only because it is on my heart a lot and it is so real, yet many refuse to believe it or are just completely oblivious to it all.  Remember, you are created in God’s image and the closer you draw to Him, the harder the battles will become.  William Gurnall stated, “It is the image of God reflected in you that so enrages hell; it is this at which the demons hurl their mightiest weapons.”  They will come at you head-on, they will attack through those around you, or come at you from within your false-self.  As John Eldredge wrote in Waking the Dead, “The is the heart of our Enemy.  He is determined to hinder and harm and ruin God’s image bearers.”

The war is real, the ongoing battle is real.  The enemy will do everything he can to take us out.  To steal and kill and destroy us. What will you do to stand against the enemy from within you and within this world?  Don’t deny it exists, recognize it, and stand firm in the faith and in the strength of the Lord’s might.

The Ripple Effect

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It’s always cool to reflect back on various events that have occurred in my life and over the course of my journey in the faith.  My family and I have taken some bold and big steps over the course of the last year, leading up to baptizing my family last month.  This was by far one of the biggest highlights I could have ever experienced and will probably ever experience in this lifetime.  To see my family follow in obedience to the Lord and to make that statement as a family was tremendous.

At the time all of this has occurred and then with the events from the past year, I never really thought about the real impact that these moments have.  Not just on us, but on those around us. I’ve reflected on this a good bit and in the conversations I’ve had with many people, I realize just how powerful things like this are and the ripple effect that can come from such events happening.  It’s been rather amazing to see the impact this has had on the lives of others, not just our story, but the message that came from us standing there as a family and declaring that we are all going to follow Christ.

My pastor talked about this afterwards in his sermons and in our conversations.  That one event that happens, or encountering one person now with a focus on the Lord, can have an impact, even years down the road, that we may never see coming.  It’s rather amazing to think about. Think about a rock being thrown into a pond.  The ripples that come out from that one rock, go on and on.  The energy transfer from the impact of the rock sends not just one ripple, but several.

I look back on past events that had a ripple effect on me.  Going back about 4 years ago, a colleague of my handed me a book.  Going through a dark time in my life, unsure of direction, I receive this book called Wild at Heart.  I had already begun a journey of reading through the Word, but was still unsure of how to put it together.  This book sat though.  It sat on my desk in my home office for about a year to year and a half.

41ebvat8gvl-_sy344_bo1204203200_Then I pick up the book one day, out of nowhere.  I begin to read it.  Taking my time, began to absorb it.  The lights began to come on.  I was pulled into more readings which intrigued me more.  There was real movement happening.  Then I fly to Colorado for the Wild at Heart Boot Camp.  There, life is never the same again.  I surrendered my life to Christ out there and came home a completely different man.  I was the man I was supposed to be.  Who God had made me to be.  My whole life changes direction as I was now on fire for the Kingdom.  My family begins to respond and see tremendous growth.  We begin to forge real Christ centered relationships. I am Baptized last summer and then 5 months later I Baptize my wife and our 3 kids.  The ripple effect of that one colleague thinking enough of me to hand me a book, 4 years later has made a tremendous impact.

Now from that, the ripple effects continue.  I see the impact it has made on so many.  Friends now even more hopeful that their own family will begin to respond to the Gospel as well.  Men impacted by me being willing to lead my family by example and how it has changed them.  I don’t know how far these ripples will go, but the movement is tremendous and I know they will continue to flow.

If we continue to respond in obedience and follow the Lord and live that out, the effects can be more than you’d ever imagine.  Acts 19:20 “So the message of about the Lord spread widely and had powerful effect.”  That’s what can happen when we continue to respond to the Gospel and use the opportunities laid before us to share and demonstrate how the Lord has changed our own lives.  You never know how far the ripples will go.  As Paul wrote, “May you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is” (Ephesians 3:18).  God’s reach is boundless and He is using each of and our stories and lives to have a ripple effect to continue to spread the Gospel and Christ changes lives.

It can all start with one simple thing, so take advantage when it laid before you as you never know how far the ripple effects will go.

Subtle Reminders

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I love getting up each and every morning and getting to talk and walk with God and then open up his Word for whatever He has to reveal to me there that day.  It’s so hopeful in my growth and journey with the Lord.  This week was no exception to this.  While there seems to be a thousand things going on at one time each day, I am grateful for what God has opened my heart to this week in His Word, throughout my counseling studies, and in our lives in general.

I was writing response to a discussion question last night in one of my classes.  The topic was in writing out a treatment plan for a case study that integrated the use of Scripture and prayer. One thing that the Lord reminded me of through this writing and in the research around the question was that no matter how much I think I may know from my studies of the Word and experiences, I will never know everything.  I have to remember to humble myself in the fact that I do not and will not ever have all of the answers.  It requires the need to be receptive to what God may want to reveal and allow the Holy Spirit to come into any situation to guide us through.

This reminder was so huge and very humbling.  It can be so easy to become prideful in what we learn through consistent study.  We all encounter those people that are very prideful in their knowledge and appear to know all of the answers to everything.  First, this is impossible and when it comes to our faith and biblical knowledge, our knowledge and interpretation is so fallible and there is always the potential to jack up meaning and teaching.  This makes it important to continue being receptive to knew knowledge.  I’ve said before, every time open the Word, I feel like I learn something new, if not at least reminded of something important.

2-corinthians-1-3-4One more reminder that came through this week came as I began my study of 2 Corinthians the other morning.  Right out of the gate, Paul writes referring to the Father as “...the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NASB).  This was huge to me reminding me that the Father is the source of all comfort  and mercy.  As a developing Christian counselor and really when it comes to helping anyone with their pain, wounds, and struggles, it is vital to remember to seek our comfort and healing from the Father through Christ so that we can help others in the same light.  We cannot do this all ourselves.  Just as I wrote before, we do not and will not ever have all of the answers.

I’m so thankful for these things that God has continued to remind me about as I go about my days and with the constant chaos that comes with each passing day.  We are never beyond learning as we continued to grow and be sanctified in Christ daily and saints in the Body.  As Paul wrote, He is “…able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Ephesians 3:20 NASB).  Christ is the power working within us if we open ourselves up to allow Him to work within us and through us.

Realigning Yourself With Christ

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We are bombarded daily.  That’s just something we cannot ignore.  There is so much going on day after day and it is so easy to feel so overwhelmed.  You ever feel that way?  Feeling like the world is just trying to take you out?  I know I feel it from time to time.  This past week, I felt simply overloaded.  So much so, that I could not even focus my mind to even write at all.  The mind was all over the place from school, to my regular work, and my family.  It can get very difficult to manage life’s demands and then it can be so easy to simply throw in the towel and give up.

I was reminded of something last week though while the mind was racing.  Something that for a couple of days that I lost sight of because of the chaos.  That is realigning my life with Jesus.  Realigning every aspect and dimension of me with Him.  This starts from the moment I get out of bed every morning.  Before the day begins, just stopping and bring consecrate your life, bringing every part of your life under the authority of Jesus Christ.  This sounds so simple, but wow, it is so important to do every day.

pour-out-your-heart-to-godWhen this is remembered, it brings so much more clarity to the day to come.  I have found myself more capable to deal with the difficulties that may come and stand strong in any warfare I may face.  Psalm 62:8 says “Pour out your heart before Him.  God is a refuge for us.”  He is there for every part of all we face.  We have to call out to Him though.  We have to bring our lives under Him.  Realizing that we are powerless to face all of the struggles of life by ourselves.  When we start our day before God, we lay it all out there for Him.  Let it come under Christ’s authority to see you through.

As we begin this week I wanted to write out this reminder for not only myself but for all of you too.  It’s not about just whining about our troubles, but realizing that God is over all of it and aligning ourselves under the authority of Christ, we bring us into better focus and bring clarity on what matters.  Oswald Chambers said, “We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties.”   This is taking the focus off the troubles and keeping our eyes on Him.

So as you start each day.  Think about this.  Before anything begins, look to the Lord.  Fix your heart to Him first before anything in the day comes in.  Christ overcame, so we can overcome what this world throws at us.  We need to be restored and renewed daily in Christ.

Have You Discovered Your Spiritual Gifts?

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We all have gifts.  Gifts that we are born with and given by God.  The beauty of it all is that each of our gifts is different from the next person.  We have a purpose in glorifying God and He has blessed us with specific gifts that enable us to further do work for His kingdom, to glorify Him, and help lead others to Him.  What’s wild to think about, and I was meditating and praying this morning, is that our gifts are sometimes staring us right in the face over the course of our lives, yet all too often we don’t realize it, or we may but not use those gifts to glorify God.

0dac4b5516447ef0ae7972149c5dddc5Something that I have found in my life is that these gifts we have don’t really come to fruition until we begin to come alive in our faith and truly seek out the Lord in full surrender to Jesus Christ.  When we come into our faith and are filled with the Holy Spirit, God can really begin to bring out those gifts.  Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:6 that “God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.” In verse 7 he continues with “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other.”  So each of our gifts we are given are meant to help our fellow man and to advance the Kingdom of God.  Paul writes in Ephesians 1:3 regarding the Father that He “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”  Being in Christ brings us the blessing of the Father including bringing out our gifts.

Here is where my mind went this morning as I read through those verses and then reflected on my life in relation to these verses.  First the idea that God has already blessed us with spiritual gifts is quite something.  So here I am working on professional counseling degree to become a Christian counselor and my writing has continued to take-off.  All of this has happened over the last year as I really began to come alive in my faith and surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus.  It was like a switch went off and the God said it was time to dive into those gifts.

mostimportant-01When I look back on life, they’ve always been there in some way, even before I came to my faith.  Going back to my teenage and early adulthood years, I have often been that person that people could confide in or help with various problems including marriage issues that people close to me had.  I was always a good sounding board and could provide some needed advice.  As far as writing, I have been doing this as long as I could write in some way, although it was not always shared.  I had small books in my elementary school that I wrote, one that won some cool recognition in the 2nd grade.  I wrote lyrics in high school to some degree and as an adult, I have been blogging in some capacity for the last 10-15 years about various things.  I now realize that it’s always been there.  I just didn’t know what to make of it all as life and the world was in the way.

Fast forward to 2015 and into 2016.  My life is transformed and God is beginning to bring out those gifts how.  All of our gifts are different, but we may not get to truly realize them and their potential for the Kingdom without coming into our faith.  It may not even have to do with a profession or assignment we are in.  It could be how we relate to others in a variety of capacities.  Just as Paul wrote though, it is all meant to help one another.  That’s what we have to do as followers of Jesus Christ.

spiritual-gifts-page-image-1So take some time and look at your life.  Have you found or realized the gifts that God has blessed you with.  We are all His image bearers, imago dei.  He has created each one of us as relational beings to live out our lives seeking Him and to help each other seek Him.  Make disciples.  Realizing our gifts and how we can use them to advance the Kingdom and make disciples of Jesus Christ is huge and goes a great deal to bring healing and restoration to more and more people.  This is freely given to everyone through Christ, but we have to be willing to seek it out. Each of you has a gift…Have you found your spiritual gift(s) and are you using them?

The Fog of Religion

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I’m going to talk about something today that will not be very popular with many people.  This has to do with the religious veil that is pulled over many of our faces still to this day.  A veil that Jesus himself brought down and that was torn in two, forever opening the door to the Father through Christ.  I guess it’s appropriate that this is on my mind today on Ash Wednesday.  This day is observed by many as the start of Lent, leading up to Easter.  Even before I fully came into my faith, something never sat right with me about it all.  Now that my eyes have been opened, I see it more clearly.

We have a serious religious problem across the Christian faith.  I guess it’s bound to happen over a 2,000 year period as messages get skewed and people begin to prop themselves up through the creation of new religious practices.  While Lent and Ash Wednesday are not referenced anywhere in Scripture, I don’t have an issue with people that want to observe this time.  The problem lies in the motives of the heart.  There are many people and I know many, that use the time leading up to Lent to indulge however they want. To live like hell and just whatever.  Then Lent comes, they get the ashes on their forehead and then portray to be living a like a Christian for 40 days.  Easter comes and goes and right back to life as usual.  Living a life in Christ.  Seeking holiness and sanctification is not for only 40 day out of the 365 days we have each year.  This is meant to be a 24/7 365 life.  People think that this time can make up for the rest of their crazy living.   Doesn’t work that way.

a43673c9d067ac92903fa8250de42be5In his book, ‘Beautiful Outlaw,’ John Eldredge speaks to the religious fog and how Jesus himself was very much anti-religious.  That’s who he went after directly more times than not through the Gospels.  John says this, “The religious fog uses sanctified worlds and activities, things that look and sound very Sunday school to distort our perception of God and our experience of Him.  It is cunning as a snake and adaptive as the flu, infiltrating our practices to make them ever so false.”  Read the Gospels and as John stated, there is one thing that is unmistakably clear…religion is the enemy.  “Every hostile encounter Jesus has is with very “churchy” people.  This spirit is the great enemy of our life with God, and it is this spirit that Jesus warned his boys about when they were whispering in the boat about the bread” (See Matthew 16:6-12).

Religion is a major problem that we to contend with.  Religion is built by man on rules and regulation that continually build up larger walls between man and God.  Jesus tore those walls down.  Our salvation, our freedom, our restoration, our eternity lies with Him and Him alone.  Not in religious practices and rituals.  We are to be disciplined spiritually through prayer, studying and learning Scripture, and so on, but getting caught up in religious discipline and practices can be a real problem and can begin to pull you away from the heart of God.  Following Jesus does not require the burden of religion.  Matthew 11:29-30, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

9780060694425_p0_v2_s192x300Why do we forget this?  There is a cost to following Christ as it will pull you away from many around you, even if you are close them them, if they do not follow as well.  However, His yoke is easy and His burden is light.  Jesus did not put up more religious walls to shield us from God.  No…He opened the door. The goal of living a life in Christ is to live as Christ lived.  Not to follow every little thing that He may did, specifically, but to follow His example.  In ‘The Spirit of the Disciplines,’ Dallas Willard explained it this way, “The secret of the easy yoke is simple, actually.  It is the intelligent, informed, unyielding resolve to live as Jesus lived in all aspects of life, not just in the moment of specific choice or action.” 

I have grown to become very much against religion.  Actually, I hate religion.  It is the enemies ploy to skew the message and the Good News to pull us away from the heart of God and truly living our lives in Christ.  Christ is the example, not the pompous religious pharisees of today that prance around with so much pomp and circumstance just as the pharisees and religious leaders in Jesus’ time did.  Christ challenged them directly and fiercely.  We should not let our lives fall into their trap again.  Clear the religious fog and live in the freedom and restoration found in Christ alone and is directly available to each and everyone of us.

No religious ritual can ever make one’s heart right with God.  That only comes through the grace and spiritual blessings of the Father through the works (life, death, resurrection, and ascension) of Christ Jesus.  Religion keeps you in chains and bondage behind a veil. Jesus tears down the veil, breaks those chains, and sets you free.

Still Buzzing! Unforgettable Time

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How in the world do I even begin to describe the elation, excitement, and joy that I have felt this week since this past Sunday.  As I shared last week, I was afforded the honor of baptizing my wife, Amber, and our three teenagers on Sunday.  I’ve spoken in front of various sized groups in the past on different things, but this experience was something that was so different.  It was by far the largest crowd I’ve ever been in front of.  People I know and love.  Usually nerves would hit me with something like that, but in this case, it was was like the Holy Spirit took a hold of me and led me through it all.  I had no worries, no nerves, just pure excitement and joy.

What was even bigger was the impact, not only in the statement we made as a family and I as the head of my home, but in the way this ministered to so many people who needed something like this.  My friend and pastor, Tim, called me afterwards telling me that this would go down as the most memorable moment of my life and the power of the moment was huge.  The impact that this moment made to people was immense.  God really used our family to send a message that we can be united in Him.  We can come alive in Christ and forge ahead as a family and with our own individual identities in Christ.

I write this and share this not to boast about my own doings, but to share just what the power of the Holy Spirit and being fully surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus can do, not just for your life, but for others.  It has made my family light-up and I firmly believe that this one act.  This 5 minute moment sent a ripple effect that I’m certain will last across the Body.

I’m standing on cloud nine from the events of this week. I look forward to a continued life of growth and sanctification with my wife and as our children move forward.  I’m glad to have been able to share this and I wanted to share this with all of you as well.  God Bless!

The Warfare Intensifies

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I’ve become a firm believer in the existence of spiritual warfare.  I’ve experienced first hand and the evidence of it is all through Scripture.  It’s been around since time began.  Jesus encountered this warfare in the wilderness when He was tempted by Satan.  Jesus warns us about this war by.  In John 10:10 we are told that, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy…”  Peter puts out the warning in 1 Peter 5:8 to believers that our, “Adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”  Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:11 to “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.”

These are just a few examples in Scripture, but it’s been going on from the very beginning.  There is a war in the spiritual realm and we are right in the midst of that war.  We have gained victory through Christ, but I don’t think we would warned about it time and in Scripture if the war weren’t still going on.  Jesus has been given authority, but this world is still fallen and the enemy still prowls this earth with his armies with one goal in mind.  To destroy the human heart and pull us further away from God by taking us out through warfare.  He knows he stands no chance against God, so instead he attacks that which is nearest to God’s heart, which is the human race.  Imago dei.  God’s image bearers.

As I mentioned, I’ve experienced this warfare first hand in many ways.  There are many that believe if you come to faith in Christ, you should be without problems.  The fact is, often times, the believer, is the one who has to battle the most.  The enemy currently has the non-believers already, which are the lost we need to fight for.  The enemy will next try to take out those which do believe through various ways.  The closer to you come to God, many times, the harder the battle will become.  I’ve experienced it and I’ve seen it in people I love that have been surrendered to Christ for years.  The enemy will continually try to get you to fall back.

I’ll give a couple of examples that have happened to me and to my family in the last year.  One, I wrote about recently, which happened before leaving for Wild At Heart.  I spent most of January 2015 suffering continuous headaches.  Had never had them like that before, but they were relentless.  Almost to the point of my cancelling the trip.  When arriving and John Eldredge says after prayer, “Great job men…You’ve made it,” the headaches left.  I knew after that, this was warfare.  The last week, before getting to baptize my family this past Sunday, we came under attack again.  It was disruptive to the point that we were under such distress.  We regrouped as a family, prayed over it and were freed from that leading to a wonderful and unforgettable day.  Being stronger in the faith, we recognized the attack for what it was and took the steps to fight back though the power of Jesus Christ.

There is no way to deny that this warfare exists.  It’s apparent throughout this world.  The enemy is using so many different things in this enlightened and post-modern world to take us out and draw us away from the heart of God.  The answer in this is Jesus Christ.  Stand firm in our faith in Christ and we can be victorious through Him against the warfare we face.  Billy Graham is quoted as stating, “Whenever I am conscious of Satan’s presence, I try to follow the formula once offered by a little girl: “When Satan knocks, I just send Christ to the door.”  The answer lies in Christ.  Bringing the blood, life, and authority of Jesus against every evil power we face.

Armor yourself everyday with the full Armor of God.  Pray for it every day.  The belt of Truth, breastplate of Righteousness, shoes of the Gospel, helmet of Salvation, shield of Faith, and sword of the Spirit.  Do this in prayer and by staying in God’s Word.  This is your armor.  Hebrews 4:12, “For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword…”  

037512John Eldredge writes in his newest book, Moving Mountains, “Resist, Fight back. Take your stand. The Scripture is very clear on this point. First, Jesus models it; the the disciples do it; the Paul and the early church. To make it all perfectly clear, the command to fight is also written down in black and white.  This is part of what it means to be a Christian.”  

James 4:7, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  We must submit the Lordship of Jesus Christ and stand firm resisting the attacks of the enemy.  The closer to press to God, the harder the battle will become.  The attacks will persist as the enemy wants nothing more than to take you out and pull you away from the heart of God.  He knows he already lost the war and he wants to take as many of us with him as he can in each individual battle.  Don’t let him claim victory in the battle over you and over those you love.  Resist and stand strong

Exciting Growth

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WAH_BootCampI get amazed every day at the works of the God and how He works in our lives and in those around us.  As I wrote the other day, a year ago, my life was forever transformed when I venture out to Colorado for the Wild at Heart Boot Camp. The Lord transformed me in such a way, causing me to change the way I live and the way I look at life.  It also changed my outlook and approach as a husband and dad.  I had always done the best I thought I knew as a husband and father, but I was still falling way short in many ways.  I didn’t know how to truly be godly husband and father and lead my family the way they deserved to be led and the way God has called me to lead them.

The transformation has been tremendous in that it has resonated from my life to my wife and children.  They are the most precious people in this world to me and to see them respond has been so amazing.  I think we’ve always had a strong marriage, but I truly believe that my wife, Amber, and I are closer than we have ever been with a truly Christ centered relationship.  To see Amber grow has been so amazing.  It used to be that we would argue over matters of faith, because I was dragging her along in it.  I didn’t know how to approach it.  Now she is so alive.  In God’s Word daily getting to know Him personally and then our conversations on what we read and just life are so full of substance and life.

For my kids, they have grown a great deal as well.  They are all very quite and reserved like their parents, but they have responded in so many great ways as well in their desire to learn more.  Our conversations have deeper substance about life and faith.  It’s not just about superficial things.  They are realizing the priorities in life and are each excited about using the gifts God has blessed them with out in the world in a such a way that glorifies Him.

baptism_deadtosin_0005_group-1-e1321461157261With all this life change, this Sunday, January 31, one year to the day from when I nailed the stake in the ground to follow Christ no matter the cost, I will be Baptizing my wife and our 3 children.  It’s such an exciting time for our family and huge testimony and statement to how far we’ve come in just the last year.  To stand before our church family with my family as they also have nailed that stake in the ground is just beyond any words I can really put together.  I am proud of each of them for being willing to take this step in obedience in their walk with Christ.

This is a testament of what can happen when, as men, we take the steps to truly lead our wives and our children in a real and godly manner.  I have this resolution on a wall in my house that concludes with “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” Joshua 24:15.  That was hung up nearly 4 year ago, but it was not until 3 years later that it became real truth.  That I shed the poser and false self and begin walking with God as I was supposed to be and my family has responded to this.  My wife just glows with the light of Holy Spirit now.  Her beauty is even more tremendous than it has ever been.  Our children, while they still battle as teenagers with daily life, have really come a great distance as well and you can see the Lord’s work in them.

HisFavorite-01We are all God’s favorite.  He has had us in mind from before the beginning.  In John 17:22-23 Jesus, in His prayer to the Father says, “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me.  May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.”  I’m thankful to have realized that through Christ we are united now with the Father and that He loves us as much as He loves the Son.  To now reflect the love of the Father with my family, they now know they are also loved deeply by me and the Father.  They know where I stand now, no longer waffling back and forth unsure of life, but now with the confidence of 10 men knowing where I stand now alive in Christ and they are responding.  It’s tremendous and the Lord’s work will continue as we are now stronger than ever before.

“A man ought to live so that everybody knows he is a Christian… and most of all, his family ought to know.” – D.L. Moody