Spirit lead me
"Roses are red, I have a phone, no one texts me....Forever alone." Seriously?? I am not looking forward to all of the Forever Alone posts I will see from people today. Quit. It. Seriously. Stop. Here's the bottom line..... in Christ, you are never alone. Were never....won't ever....be all alone. Since the beginning of the beginning God has sought to dwell with His people. In the garden, He walked with Adam and Eve. Leaving Egypt, He went before the people as smoke and fire. In the promised land He promised Joshua to go EVeryWhERE His people went. "Do not be discouraged for The Lord, your God, will be with you wherever you go." And guess what, we still serve the exact same God. Faithfully, thankfully, He doesn't change. So what is our problem? Most likely, We are our own problem. Either we don't know the promises of God, or we don't really care. Or we have simply let our focus slip from Heaven to here....from eternal to temporal. And we are not only hurting ourselves with this cleverly worded pity party....we are hurting our witness to the world....and if I could be so bold to say, we hurt the heart of God. You. Are. Not. Alone. I challenge you this Valentine's Day, and every day, to live like it. Love like it. Act like it. You share the gift of life when you tell others of the oneness you share with Christ. A gift that, obviously, most of the world craves!! No one wants to feel alone, or like no one in the world cares for them. Don't you think God put that desire in is on purpose? To drive us to Himself in our need to be 100% loved? Because, that is what He does. Calls us. Draws us. And no matter where you look in this world you will not find love like that in another person. Only through Jesus. So the next time you hear someone say "forever alone" share the gift of Jesus. You are loved, completely, by God. So are your friends.....tell them! I found love......His name is Jesus.
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"Danger! Proceed with caution!" That's what the sign says....do you go in anyway? Maybe you settle for standing at the edge peering on tip-toe to get a glimpse of whatever is out there. Maybe you could just walk away. Maybe you SHOULD walk away. How do you decide? I just finished reading a popular book series "Divergent." Without giving too much away, sometimes it is good to think about who put up the parameters we observe that tell us "go" or "stay." Side note.....First, I love to read. Second, I love to try and find deeper meaning in what I read. My mind is constantly racing to find out why what I am reading appeals to me and see if there are applications for real life (yes there is real life and book life...they can become entwined....I promise......ask any reader!) ok, tangent over.....but, still, there is so much relevance in thinking about who or what is in charge of telling us what is dangerous, and what is safe. Especially if we call ourselves Christ followers. Recently, I have felt kind of dangerous. Because new questions come to mind that rival what I have perceived as normal. Ideas scramble for the chance to come to life...on the surface they are chaotic and feral...so raw and revealing that at first I want to recoil and run. Christianity is a dangerous idea In reality, if we are honest about it, Christianity is a dangerous idea. Really. No wonder people can't make sense of us. Just think of what you are saying if you follow a risen Savior. You are saying "dead people don't stay dead." You are saying, "I will follow an unseen God even more than government. Even more than anyone around me. I will subscribe to a force I have neither seen nor touched." That kind of idea is dangerous to society...to the perceived norm....to us if we seek to live a peaceful life under the radar. Can't you see how a life lived under the precepts of scripture changes the culture we live in? It challenges the accepted status quo, it is DANGEROUS! Over the next couple of weeks I will be exploring some of these dangerous topics and encouraging you to step boldly into this "danger zone" of a life fully abandoned to a man that, even though expert executioners killedl Him, He didn't stay dead. Will you accept the challenge to cross the tape and enter the Danger Zone? "The issue is not that we need to be fed....The truth of the matter is that we need to eat." Eating can be a messy business. Take an ice cream cone onto a sunny beach in August and you find out how quickly you can consume a slippery, sugary treat! And still, the process is messy! Lately, I have heard so many well mannered and respectable Christians walking away from a church home reciting the platitude "We just weren't being fed." And that sounds reasonable enough, right? Religious enough? It is the responsibility of those in shepherding positions to feed us the Word of God, right? Well, yes.....and no. The issue is not that we need to be fed....The truth of the matter is that we need to eat and we have not learned how to feed ourselves. You are right to think that the church leadership has a huge responsibility in leading, teaching, rebuking, encouraging, and edifying the church body with the Word of God....to feed us....in fact, Jesus asked Peter multiple times to "feed my sheep" in John 21:15-19. He wanted those in a position of leadership to love Him enough to feed His flock. Certainly the weight of that responsibility is real...and God takes it seriously too. Just read Ezekiel 34 to see how God feels about the shepherd who doesn't care for the sheep he is entrusted with! (Which is contrasted with the Good Shepherd...Jesus!!) So, then, what is our responsibility? This whole feeding/being fed concept.....how far can we push it? Do the sheep (Us) have some part in all of this too? You didn't think I got into this just to talk about "other people" did you? :) The reality is that no matter who we listen to, learn from, lean on.....the word of man is just that.....the word of man. ( *see the Holy Spirit for more info on how God speaks through men) But, at the most basic level.........We NEED the Word of God to survive!!! We NEED the Word of God to survive! We cannot survive on anything less than His Word (Deut. 8:3) through Jesus Christ. We are taught in Scripture again and again to seek Him, to search for Him, to be fed spiritually BY HIM and Him alone. To seek another means of knowing God and trying to circumvent meeting with Him to accomplish this is simple idolatry. Idolizing the knowing without the being known. Idolizing our own piousness and need for a "quick fix" or a "spiritual high" over the God-placed need for a relationship with Him. There is no way to satisfy the deep need of a soul with only scraps - however rich they are, no matter whose table they fall from. We must feast for ourselves at the table prepared for us in His presence. So, what keeps us from the feeling of fullness or even the feeling of understanding when we sit down to read our Bible? First, we need to seek His Spirit to lead us in all understanding (that is what He wants to do. God is not playing a game of hide and seek....He wants to be found!) Secondly, we have to address our own immaturity. The immaturity of Spirit that keeps us going back to the simple food instead of the feast. We inhibit our own growth more than anyone else could (1 Cor. 3:1-3). Think about a child learning to be weaned and to feed themselves.....its a mess! Food goes everywhere as they learn to get the food from their tray to their mouths. And even before that, as we spoon heaps of carrots and peas into their tiny open mouths they struggle simply to swallow it! What a process!! (and a cute one at that) But as adults we cringe at the thought that this could be us.....but it must be if we are to learn to feed ourselves and experience the richness and diversity that the Word offers straight to our hungry hearts. It is His provision and plan so that we may know Him more as our Savior and trust Him (John 10:24-30) and so that we can avoid temptation (Matt. 4:3-4). Bite by bite we can experience the fullness of Jesus that He Himself promised us (John 10:10). Eat and be satisfied!!
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