Hold On... Be Strong....

I'm sitting here unable to sleep listening to a song off of Flame's new album called "Hold On, Be Strong". You can listen to it here:
Flame - Hold One Be Strong (select the song in the audio player and press play)

I have to admit that I'm not really feelin the rest of Flame's sample tracks, his style has changed up a little too much for me. But this song is my theme song right now. No matter what happens I have to hold on and be strong and fight for my joy cuz the joy of the LORD is my strength. God is processing me, sanctifying me, and I have to fight to persevere through the trials.

While I was on the phone with my pastor yesterday, he told me that the line between obedience and disobedience is choice. Sometimes I wish the choices of other people couldn't affect you - but I've learned an all encompassing fact - even though we have a sense of freewill God is still sovereign and in control of even our freewill and will work all things out for the good to those that love Him, those that prove that love by keeping His commandments. (Romans 8:28; John 14:15; John 14:21)

The Battle To Lose Control

I'm finding in life that things don't always go the way that you would like. I mean, I realized this early on in my childhood, but it is becoming even more of a reality as I mature in my walk with God. I'm finally over my low self esteem issues, no longer struggle with depression and don't battle anxiety as often as I used to. My battle has now become the reality of no longer being in control. I have verbally submitted my will to God, said yes to His will and to His ways, but my heart has not fully accepted what comes along with this decision. Jesus told us to count the cost - that cost being our very life, including our will. I don't have a right anymore to do what I want to do - as much as I want to! I don't have a right to complain when things don't go my way. My only right is to do God's will. I've been thinking about Jesus' statement before He was betrayed when He said "I did nothing except my Father in heaven told me." I read this a few months ago and told God that before I die I want to say "I did nothing except my Father in heaven told me." I've already slipped up, but I want to reach a point in my life where this is the case. I know it is possible! However right now it "looks" impossible.

The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus learned obedience by the things that He suffered. Perhaps that is what God is doing with me. I'm experiencing so much right now, no one person knows the extent of every situation. God is certainly strengthening me and teaching me to be content and not complain - but it isn't easy!! What makes it difficult is when the people who you love don't supply the comfort, the encouragement or even the love that you desire! This has made things 100X more difficult for me - but again, God is strengthening me. I guess He is allowing this to happen so that I would find my comfort, encouragement and love in Him alone. Even David had to encourage himself when He was enduring trials, and I am learning how to encourage myself too.

Life can be tough. But who said it would be easy? Pain is not always bad. I want to be dead to myself and my will. I want to walk in the will of God 24/7!!

LORD, I cannot do it out of my own strength! I need the power of Your Spirit!! You know what is best for me, and I know that my choices outside of Your will are only going to be detrimental! Give me wisdom and understanding so that I might glorify You! Help me to accept Your will, to walk in Your will, to exalt Your will!

I need a personal revival of my soul. It is time to lose control.

Ministry Mess - Part I: Traditions of Man

Every person follows a tradition, whether it be the customs of one's culture, habits passed down from one's familial line, or learned behaviors adapted from one's environment. They are what make us unique as humans, and can result in wonderful expressions of our beliefs. Traditions often change as beliefs evolve and people grow. In essence, there is nothing wrong with carrying tradition - for we all do it! The problem arises when we mix the traditions of man with the word of God.

"...the Pharisees and the scribes asked him (Jesus), “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”

And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God) — then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

— Mark 7:5-13

In the above passage Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees, who were influential religious leaders in the Jewish world. Jesus pointed out their error in elevating their traditions above the Word of God. In doing so, they made the Word of God void by developing new doctrines and passing them off as God's commandments. He gave the example of the 5th commandment to honor thy mother and father. The Pharisees set up traditions that superseded this commandment and made it possible for Jews to lawfully forsake their parents.

Meditating on this passage and the example of the Pharisees given by Jesus, think about some of the things that you have seen and experienced in ministry. How many traditions of men have been established that have replaced the teachings of the Apostles and made the very Word of God void and of none effect?

In this age of "non-tradition", the very overzealousness that saints have to reject the traditions of our forefathers in the faith have created a vast number of new traditions of men which have infiltrated the church. This happens for a few reasons: ignorance of the Word; absence of the leading of the Holy Spirit; and pride.

The error in this thinking is that tradition is wrong. As Christian's we have a tradition!! The problem we face is that we must follow the correct tradition:

"And they (the believers) continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common. And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." - Acts 2:42-47

Our tradition is to carry out the work of ministry that was laid out before us, Christ being the chief cornerstone, the Apostles laying the foundation, and us building upon that foundation. Our tradition is not in what we wear, how we speak, or the way in which we conduct worship. Our tradition is to uphold the Word of God and preach the Truth of the Gospel to people of every kindred, nation and tongue. This is how we build upon the foundation laid before us, following our forefathers as they followed Christ (and not as they followed man).

So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter (Those traditions being the Apostles' Doctrine) - 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (Paul speaking to the church at Thessalonica)

Be careful not to fall into the traditions of men - the body of Christ is full of them, in fact many denominations are founded upon them. Discard any tradition that causes you to forsake the greatest two commandments: 1. love the LORD thy God with all your heart, soul and mind; 2. love your neighbor as yourself.

The church has allowed so many things to infiltrate and affect the very word of God from being preached rightly. We have tainted the Apostle's Doctrine with our traditions of men, and the Word of God has become of none affect - the power of the cross has been lost. Don't act as the Pharisee's did. It is possible you might not even realize you are caught up in traditions of men. Let us stop focusing so much on vain traditions and instead allow the love of Christ to flow through us as we build upon the foundation laid before us - the Word of God being our guide.

Intimacy

God has created us as relational beings. Because of this, we have an inner longing to be intimate - to feel the touch of another; to share our innermost secrets, issues and desires; to be completely naked and transparent before another without fear of being hurt; to bear our all and in doing so feel comforted and protected. It is almost as if without intimacy there is no sense of satisfaction in life because that inner longing has not been met.

Deception has crept into mankind through sin and has corrupted these desires. The longing for intimacy still exists, but rather than satisfaction, comfort and protection - the end result has become discontentment, pain and regret. Love is the key ingredient in being intimate and satisfying these desires, yet the enemy has cunningly disguised lust as love, and many fall victim to his schemes, perverting the gifts of God.

Intimacy was originally created to be between God and man, what I call "vertical intimacy". I was meditating on 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 this morning and God began to reveal His desire and His call for us to be intimate with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

Verse 9 reads: "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." I looked up the word fellowship in Strong's concordance and found that the word "koinōnia" can be defined as: communing intimately; having intercourse; to connect. Looking again at verse 9, we can clearly see that God has called us to intimately know His Son. This "vertical" intimacy is why God created us. It is the reason why God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins - so that we could be clothed in His righteousness and be made holy as He is holy. This sanctification (cleansing of our sins) allows us the ability to enter into the presence of a Holy God and begin to intimately "know" Him. God saved us for Himself. He wants to reveal His hidden treasures, His hidden mysteries, He wants to share His joy and bring us pure pleasure in His embrace.

This is why God instituted marriage, to give us a type and shadow of how He wants our relationship to be with Jesus as our husband, us being His wife. The LORD desires that in marriages between a man and a woman, the two become one, grow together in pure intimacy, and experience joy together in fellowship by truly getting to know each other. I call this type of intimacy "horizontal intimacy".

It is only in these two covenants that true intimacy can exist. However, if we are not careful it is possible to allow perversion to enter into even these two holy relationships. Some of us may have fallen victim to the enemy's illusion of experiencing intimacy outside of the covenants set up by God. In doing so, we have perverted our minds and may very well bring something into a relationship that has nothing to do with God. Sometimes soul ties exist, which are emotional ties that develop through relational contact with another person. This happens not only through sexual intercourse, but also occurs when you become so close to someone that they become tied into your soul - you begin to think about them (mind), desire to be around them (will), and/or are affected by them emotionally. It is possible to have a soul tie and not even realize it. Sometimes people suppress them rather than ask God to remove them. This not only affects your intimacy with Jesus, but will also affect your intimacy with your spouse in the event that you are or one day do marry. Soul ties create hurt and can cause people to put up barricades and hold back from being completely open. Their main assignment is to stop true intimacy and unity and instead bring dissention and division. Whether you are aware of a soul tie or not, I adjure you to first examine your relationship with God. Are you experiencing pure intimacy with Him? If not, ask Him to cleanse you, to remove every soul tie that is coming in between you and Him. And He will cleanse you!

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:19

If you are married, be open with your spouse! Sometimes details of your past are better left unsaid - you don't want to create unnecessary warfare on either ones behalf. But if there are any issues with you, or if you notice any issues with your spouse, bring them before the LORD and deal with them so that you can experience the pure intimacy that God desires. God wants us free from ALL soul ties so that we can freely get to know Him and our spouse.

If you are not married, now is the time to sanctify yourself and deal with these issues! In the event you do get married one day, you do not want to bring any mess into the relationship. You don't want to bring anything unholy into the bedroom. The marriage bed itself is undefiled, but we can defile it by bringing in our past, our lusts, our perversions, our comparisons, our expectations, our soul ties. Allow God to shower you with His anointing, to remove every burden and destroy every yolk. To sanctify you by the washing of His Word.

Let us all strive to be more intimate with our husband Jesus Christ. Start today. Ask Him to remove every hindrance and be completely open - stand bare and transparent before Him. Our husband is a perfect gentleman, who will never take advantage of us, never hurt us, and will love us unconditionally, even when we don't love Him back.

Feb 18, 2008: I just came across a website link that I thought was very interesting pertaining to this very blog entry: http://www.pureintimacy.org

The Evil That Men Do

"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart." - Genesis 6:5-6

Imagine the state of mankind during the days of Noah prior to the flood. The intentions of mens' hearts were pure evil, they were constant workers of iniquity, doing whatever their sinful nature desired. It was to the point where the LORD was sorry that he created man. Imagine no one serving God, no one worshipping out of a pure heart, no one doing what they were created to do which was to glorify their Creator. No one except one man named Noah whom the LORD found favor with. Seeing this, God decided to destory all living creatures, human-kind and animal-kind alike, and start over with Noah and his immediate family of 7, along with 2 of every animal.

"The Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth."
- Genesis 8:21

After the LORD flooded the earth high above the mountain tops, He restored Noah upon the earth, told him and his family to "be fruitful and multiply", and vowed never to destroy the earth again by a flood, making a covenant with Noah, using the rainbow as a sign to remind every living creature of this covenant.

"For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority." - 2 Peter 2:4-10

Though our hearts are deceitful and despirately wicked, full of evil intentions, God is able to transform us from an ungodly people, such as the ancient people before the flood, into a godly people, such as Noah and his household.

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." - 2 Peter 1:3-4

As Christians, the LORD has rescued us from the corruption of this world that has come through the sinful desires of man. Not only that, but He has also rescued us from our own sinful nature, which stems from the condition of our human heart, and has allowed us to partake in His divine nature.

Having read what God has done to those who have continued in wickedness and succumbed to the sinful desires of their hearts, we should stay humble and full of awe having experienced the transforming power of Christ in our own lives. Each one of us should have been destroyed long ago just as those in the ancient world and those of Sodom and Gomorrah. But instead, God has found favor with us, just as He did with Noah, and has rescued us from the consequences of our sin.

"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." - 2 Peter 1:5-11

The Issues of Life

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
- Proverbs 4:23

Most Christians know what the Bible says about the heart. Jeremiah 17:9 reads: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" But if you read on to verse 10, the LORD says: "I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." Even though the human heart is prone to sin, we have a responsibility to guard it. We cannot use Jeremiah 17:9 as an excuse to sin.

What does it mean to be deceitful? It means to be sly, cunning, mischievous, treacherous. Our heart has the same characteristics as the devil. The heart's main objective is to trick you. It is desperately wicked. When you are desperate for something you need it, and you are willing to obtain it by any means necessary. This tells us that our heart seeks evil, it needs wickedness. So if this is the case, how can God search our hearts and find anything good to reward us of?

God has given us the ability to keep or guard our hearts. We can control what goes in and what comes out. We must not think that we know what is in our hearts, for who can know it? But we must work to deprive our heart of what it seeks. We can do this by feeding our heart the Word.

"I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you." - Psalm 119:11

In doing so, we are allowing God to cleanse our hearts from the wickedness it desires. For we are sanctified by the washing of the Word. Once we store the Word in our hearts, we must choose to follow the Word rather than the sinful appetite of our heart. Whoever said that they can trust their heart doesn't know scripture, and whoever said that God knows their heart is right, He knows that it is deceitful and desperately wicked!

"It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.
...whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled. But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person."
Matthew 15:11;17-20

So here we see Jesus explaining that what comes out of our heart is what defiles or pollutes a man. This is because the heart is full of wickedness. We have to guard what comes in and out of our hearts. Whatever causes us to sin, we must cut it off from our life. Whether that be television, the internet, or even friends and associates.

"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell."
- Matthew 5:29-30

Our hearts must be single to the LORD. They can only become single when we put away the former things of this world and focus on things that are above. The things that we expose ourselves to play a big part in the condition of our heart, for "the lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness." (Luke 11:34) Our eyes are gates to our heart, and they must be set on things pertaining to Christ, for He is the light. One of satan's schemes is to desensitize us to sin through the world around us and one of his tools is the media. When we take in things that are sinful, such as watching movies and entertainment full of sin and ungodliness, our light begins to dim and our body becomes full of darkness rather than light. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and whatever we feed ourselves will ultimately come back out in our speech and in our actions.

"My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." - 1 John 3:18-22

Every issue that we have in this life has to do with the condition of our heart. If we supress the heart's deceitful nature and instead feed ourselves the light of Christ, our conversation and actions will bear good fruit and the LORD will reward us according to the fruit that we bear.

We can have confidence that God will change our hearts; that He will place His desires within us, take away the desires of our naturally deceitful and wicked heart, and give us a new heart of flesh, a heart after Himself just as David had.

I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel 11:19-20

Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:3-4

Are You In Love With God?

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Have you ever wondered how God could love such an unclean, disobedient, selfish people? God not only loves us, but He is in love with us! Imagine being completely head over heals in love with someone who is not in love with you. That is what God goes through continually as His people reject Him, don't consider Him, don't take the time to talk with Him, stay away from His presence, and ignore the One who loves them more than life itself.

All throughout the Bible we see examples of what love is, and what love isn't. In fact, Jesus said that all the law and the prophets hang on this commandment: love God, and love others as thyself (Matt 22:35-40). When your love is perfected, you have become perfect and no longer have need of the law, for love is what fulfills the law (Matt 5:17; Romans 13:10; Galatians 15:14). We see above in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is more than a feeling. It is an action that flows from ones heart, it bears good tasting fruit, and it never stops flowing. Love is what causes a husband to give up his life for his wife, and a man to give up his life for a friend. Jesus Christ displayed this love as He sacrificed His own life for those whom God chose for salvation. Without love, everything we do in this life is in vain, even what we do for God!

Submit yourself to God. - James 4:7
Submit yourself one to another in the fear of God. - Ephesians 5:21

Jesus told us that if we love Him we would keep His commandments. So part of showing love is being obedient. With love, we don't insist on our own way (1 Corinth 13:5), but rather put others ahead of ourselves (Phil 2:4). If we love God, we will do what He asks even when we don't feel like it, knowing that He has our best interests in mind. It is important that we seek not our own, but the things which are Jesus Christ's (Phil 2:21). The same goes with people, if we truly love someone, we will do things for them even when we don't want to. Part of love is submitting yourself to the one that you love - whether it be a spouse, a friend, or God. If we truly love that person, we will take joy in serving them.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. - 1 John 5:1-3

Check your love today. Watch how you treat others. Pay attention to the way you go about serving God and man. Make sure you spend time with your Father in Heaven and let Him know how much you love Him. Show love to others. Let people know that you care for and love them. Love your enemies despite what they may say or do. Put away all feelings that cause you to walk contrary to the Spirit. For God is love, and God is the Holy Spirit, and if you are a true believer the Holy Spirit dwells within you, which means Love itself is in you. Tap into that Love today and don't depart from it. I love you and God loves you too. Search your heart, and if you find that your love isn't right, submit yourself to God and ask Him to fix your heart. Fall in love with God today, for He loves you more than you can ever imagine.

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:38-39

If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed (Anathema). Our Lord, Come! (Maranatha). - 1 Corinthians 16:22