Fulfillment is nourishment to the soul. You can try to get nourishment from a lot of different things in life but only God’s will brings satisfaction. The world tries to convince us everyday that we not be satisfied us unless we do this, get that, try something better but what does the world really know?
Just look at all the things us humans have consumed, bought, believed, tried, and now are useless or forgotten. Things are constantly changing, becoming unpractical, no longer in style, are worthless and lose value shortly after we buy them.
God's will however never changes and his will is perfect for our very soul. It brings us fulfillment that the world can not even understand or touch.
Jesus spoke of this right after talking to the Samaritan woman at the well. The disciples were trying to urge Jesus to eat but he smiled and said "No. I have food you don’t know about." Seeing his disciples were confused and fixated on the physical and not the spiritual of this matter, Jesus the awesome and merciful Lord he is, explained to his disciples what he meant.
John 4:34 Jesus says to his disciples "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. Do you think the work of harvesting will not begin until the summer ends four months from now? Look around you! Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready now for the harvest. The harvesters are paid in good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One person plants and someone else harvests’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and you will gather the harvest."
Doing the will of God brings lasting fulfillment. It brings a type of nourishment and fruit that will be long lasting.
Jesus says in John 15. "I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. You have already been pruned for greater fruitfulness by the message I have given you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine and you cannot be fruitful apart from me."
You cannot have joy or lasting fulfillment apart from Christ. You can not understand and mature in Christ and be fulfilled with lasting joy if you do not stay in the will of God.
Paul writes in Galatians 6:8 "Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit (of God) will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit."
Jesus tells us, ‘Yes I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I remain in them, will produce much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who parts from me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into pile to be burned. But if you stay joined to me and my words remain in you, you may ask any request you like, and it will be granted! My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father."
A satisfied soul produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control which perfectly fits and lives in God's will and you are free from "internal" conflict. Galatians 5:22.
If you just follow your basic instincts and sinful desires you will produce evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outburst of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sinful behaviors that lead to destruction. Paul writes anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21
God wants us to live a fulfilling life but we are hard headed and stubborn and we just have to figure things out in the most difficult ways. You and I can not have a fulfilling life apart from God’s will and we can not accomplish anything fulfilling away from Christ. If you and I part from Christ our efforts will be worthless and will only bring us heartache and strife. But in accord and/or harmony to God’s will we do produce fulfilling results.
Jesus concludes with "I have loved you even as the Father as loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and I remain in his love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you. And here is how to measure it- the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends. You are my friends if you obey me. I no longer call you servants, because a master doesn’t confide in his servants. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for using my name. I command you to love each other."
Yes to find lasting fulfillment we must give up our old lives that we cling to. Our old lives only continue to hinder our way to lasting fulfillment. Our old lives and old ways of thinking only makes us run from first to second base and sometimes not even that far. Wouldn’t you rather just hit home runs instead? Would you rather make that basket then have the ball stolen from you as you are heading up court? Wouldn’t you rather make it over all those hurtles then trip over each and every one and never make it to the finish line?
Our old lives not only never give us fulfillment- but put us in real danger of never knowing Christ and his power to save and enrich our lives beyond anything we knew possible.
If you are looking for fulfillment in everything else but in Christ then it is pretty obvious Christ has chosen you but you haven’t found him yet.
I like Psalms 1 "Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers. But they delight in everything the Lord wants; day and night they think about his law. They are trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season with out fail. Their leaves never wither and in all they do, they prosper."
Find the will of God in Christ Jesus and fulfillment and joy will start maturing on those branches of yours.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
There is no GOD???
I have been thinking lately about those individuals who seem to have no idea what their life would be like without God. I am talking about those who people who don’t believe there is a God.
God is around us 24/7. His fingerprints are on everything that surrounds us everyday. His omnipresent Spirit is everywhere, his angels are "silently" and constantly watching over us (well most of the time silent) and even down to our next breath... God has created. Our breath something we so often take for granted is a gift from God. No matter if we are deserving or undeserving of it God gives it.
When a person says there is no God, they really have NO idea what their life would be like with the absence of God in their life.
Knowing there is a God, do you know what it would feel like if God made himself absent from you? Absent meaning you could not experience this life as you are currently experience in God's grace and power that some of us take for granted or deny in one way or another.
Do you know what it would feel like in the absence of God? Do you know what would happen to the things around you?
Things would rapidly die. Creation is dependant on God. If God made himself absent, it would be like pulling the plug on a vacuum cleaner and throwing it off a ship into the deepest part of the ocean to sink to the bottom but even that would not go far enough to explain God's presence in our lives.
People who walk around and claim there is no God can’t possibly understand or see the power of God unplugged them. They just seem to think that everything just magically works in their life because of luck or some human logic. That is just not so or true.
You want to know what if feels like to really feel the absence of God in an individual, I can humbly tell you because I have felt it personally. My description and words probably don’t even come close to the full range and intensity of emotions I had experienced when I felt the absence of God but I will try to describe it to you. It has been several years now and it is not an error I will make again.
I made the unfortunate mistake of not speaking the truth in the presence of the God after being confronted by God. Immediately after speaking this lie an enormous loss or void and sensation of death closed in around me as the Holy Spirit yanked itself from me. A roaring vision of a skull of death then appeared as I tried to breath and register all what was going on. I could feel myself slipping and drowning in this horrible place that was totally void of the characteristics of God and life as we experience it right now. I immediately and frantically stumbled to the altar for prayer not fully knowing what I had done and the danger I had put myself in. To put it simply, I feared of my life.
No one knew what exactly had happened to me but I knew I had to do something quick and with a fear surging through my veins, I asked for our pastor to pray over me and he did. You see I thought all the works I was doing for the church somehow made me right with God but really I was lost. I had no real relationship with God, I just had my deeds which looked good on the surface but really didn't give God what he wanted which was my heart and focus. Good deeds are dead without God moving and directing them. My life of good deeds where chaff not wheat and my life was may of looked good on the outside but I was just a white washed tomb in God's eyes.
It was a hard lesson but I am glad God did that to me now instead of when I go meet him and he says "I never knew you." I have experienced something not many but a few have experienced. I thank God for his mercy and that I am still here. I believe one of the reasons I am still here is to share this and other testimonies with those who will listen.
Humbly I tell you and warn you, don’t mess or fool around with God. Being hard headed is no excuse and I can only imagine that hell is much worse then feeling the absence of God and his Holy Spirit. It will be a death like no other.
God’s source of power that surrounds us everyday is beyond our understanding. God, Jesus
Christ, and the Holy Spirit are real and you can take my word second to God’s word, which should always be first.
God is around us 24/7. His fingerprints are on everything that surrounds us everyday. His omnipresent Spirit is everywhere, his angels are "silently" and constantly watching over us (well most of the time silent) and even down to our next breath... God has created. Our breath something we so often take for granted is a gift from God. No matter if we are deserving or undeserving of it God gives it.
When a person says there is no God, they really have NO idea what their life would be like with the absence of God in their life.
Knowing there is a God, do you know what it would feel like if God made himself absent from you? Absent meaning you could not experience this life as you are currently experience in God's grace and power that some of us take for granted or deny in one way or another.
Do you know what it would feel like in the absence of God? Do you know what would happen to the things around you?
Things would rapidly die. Creation is dependant on God. If God made himself absent, it would be like pulling the plug on a vacuum cleaner and throwing it off a ship into the deepest part of the ocean to sink to the bottom but even that would not go far enough to explain God's presence in our lives.
People who walk around and claim there is no God can’t possibly understand or see the power of God unplugged them. They just seem to think that everything just magically works in their life because of luck or some human logic. That is just not so or true.
You want to know what if feels like to really feel the absence of God in an individual, I can humbly tell you because I have felt it personally. My description and words probably don’t even come close to the full range and intensity of emotions I had experienced when I felt the absence of God but I will try to describe it to you. It has been several years now and it is not an error I will make again.
I made the unfortunate mistake of not speaking the truth in the presence of the God after being confronted by God. Immediately after speaking this lie an enormous loss or void and sensation of death closed in around me as the Holy Spirit yanked itself from me. A roaring vision of a skull of death then appeared as I tried to breath and register all what was going on. I could feel myself slipping and drowning in this horrible place that was totally void of the characteristics of God and life as we experience it right now. I immediately and frantically stumbled to the altar for prayer not fully knowing what I had done and the danger I had put myself in. To put it simply, I feared of my life.
No one knew what exactly had happened to me but I knew I had to do something quick and with a fear surging through my veins, I asked for our pastor to pray over me and he did. You see I thought all the works I was doing for the church somehow made me right with God but really I was lost. I had no real relationship with God, I just had my deeds which looked good on the surface but really didn't give God what he wanted which was my heart and focus. Good deeds are dead without God moving and directing them. My life of good deeds where chaff not wheat and my life was may of looked good on the outside but I was just a white washed tomb in God's eyes.
It was a hard lesson but I am glad God did that to me now instead of when I go meet him and he says "I never knew you." I have experienced something not many but a few have experienced. I thank God for his mercy and that I am still here. I believe one of the reasons I am still here is to share this and other testimonies with those who will listen.
Humbly I tell you and warn you, don’t mess or fool around with God. Being hard headed is no excuse and I can only imagine that hell is much worse then feeling the absence of God and his Holy Spirit. It will be a death like no other.
God’s source of power that surrounds us everyday is beyond our understanding. God, Jesus
Christ, and the Holy Spirit are real and you can take my word second to God’s word, which should always be first.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Making Works Part of the Equation of Salvation?
I recently watched a 30 minute movie at our church. It was about a church with enormous youth following. The movie has some good messages but it had a couple of things that bothered me. The interns that worked there kept saying two phrases. I have “burned the boat” and “I have burned the bridges”.
Naturally I understood what they meant. We, who have genuine faith in Christ Jesus have “burned our boat,” so to speak. We “burned our boat”, so we wouldn’t sail back into our old lives of enjoying sin. We have also “burned the bridges” in the same way. We know those old bridges that led us into temptation and sin so we have laid a torch to them so we would be able to cross back over them again.
The concept however of “burning the boat” and “burning the bridges” became a problem to me when they associated the feelings of guilt with going “home”. “Home” was now considered a problem when "home" was not considered the intern’s place of service? The interns mentioning they were going “home” for Christmas or to visiting family because of a loss ” rose flashing red lights in the leadership.
Why did I sense guilt and shame by the interns when they went “home” see family?
What kind of pressure were they receiving? Was this pressure and guilt from themselves or from the leadership to keep numbers high? Why did I feel that the interns saw their service as part of the equation of their salvation?
Our service in the body of Christ and in our community should never be the part of the equation of our salvation, which comes from Christ and Christ alone. Guilt should never be used to keep members in a certain body of Christ.
A person should receive joy for their Christian service. They should never look at their service as a way to make brownie points with God or add to some resume for God to consider when we enter heaven. God knows what we do and not do. He will judge us according to our works but our works have nothing to do with making ourselves righteous before God. Works can not give us some kind of edge on our salvation.
Our human efforts are useless. It is only when the Holy Spirit works through us that we give glory to God and show the love of Christ to others. God should be the one to receive the credit for our good works for He was the one who changed our hearts in the first place.
Were we not dead in our trespasses and sin before we came to Christ or Christ came to us? Did God not bring us back to life and bring us into a new existence that did not exist before?” We did not become this new creature in Christ by ourselves. (Colossians 3:10)
Paul says in Romans 4 “When people work, their wages are not gift. Workers earn what they receive. But people are declared righteous because of their faith not because of their work.”
Paul continues in Romans 4:24 to say, “assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God. Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
I have made this mistake of trying to score points with God by doing “Christian activities and services” and it only made me burned out and miserable. When you do things by your own accord, understanding and efforts you soon find there is no joy or peace in the work you do.
Joy is fully trusting in God in faith. Remind you that joy doesn’t mean you don’t get tired in doing the work but you find the work rewarding and encouraging. Trusting in God produces a good attitude and works which will be light to show others the goodness of God. (James 2:17-24, 1 Peter 2:9)
Salvation and peace come from Christ and Christ alone.
Jesus says in John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
Paul writes in Galatians 3:3 “Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? You have suffered so much for the Good News. Surely it was not in vain, was it? Are you now going to just throw it all away?”
Do not make works part of the equation of your salvation or life.
Naturally I understood what they meant. We, who have genuine faith in Christ Jesus have “burned our boat,” so to speak. We “burned our boat”, so we wouldn’t sail back into our old lives of enjoying sin. We have also “burned the bridges” in the same way. We know those old bridges that led us into temptation and sin so we have laid a torch to them so we would be able to cross back over them again.
The concept however of “burning the boat” and “burning the bridges” became a problem to me when they associated the feelings of guilt with going “home”. “Home” was now considered a problem when "home" was not considered the intern’s place of service? The interns mentioning they were going “home” for Christmas or to visiting family because of a loss ” rose flashing red lights in the leadership.
Why did I sense guilt and shame by the interns when they went “home” see family?
What kind of pressure were they receiving? Was this pressure and guilt from themselves or from the leadership to keep numbers high? Why did I feel that the interns saw their service as part of the equation of their salvation?
Our service in the body of Christ and in our community should never be the part of the equation of our salvation, which comes from Christ and Christ alone. Guilt should never be used to keep members in a certain body of Christ.
A person should receive joy for their Christian service. They should never look at their service as a way to make brownie points with God or add to some resume for God to consider when we enter heaven. God knows what we do and not do. He will judge us according to our works but our works have nothing to do with making ourselves righteous before God. Works can not give us some kind of edge on our salvation.
Our human efforts are useless. It is only when the Holy Spirit works through us that we give glory to God and show the love of Christ to others. God should be the one to receive the credit for our good works for He was the one who changed our hearts in the first place.
Were we not dead in our trespasses and sin before we came to Christ or Christ came to us? Did God not bring us back to life and bring us into a new existence that did not exist before?” We did not become this new creature in Christ by ourselves. (Colossians 3:10)
Paul says in Romans 4 “When people work, their wages are not gift. Workers earn what they receive. But people are declared righteous because of their faith not because of their work.”
Paul continues in Romans 4:24 to say, “assuring us that God will also declare us to be righteous if we believe in God, who brought Jesus our Lord back from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God. Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
I have made this mistake of trying to score points with God by doing “Christian activities and services” and it only made me burned out and miserable. When you do things by your own accord, understanding and efforts you soon find there is no joy or peace in the work you do.
Joy is fully trusting in God in faith. Remind you that joy doesn’t mean you don’t get tired in doing the work but you find the work rewarding and encouraging. Trusting in God produces a good attitude and works which will be light to show others the goodness of God. (James 2:17-24, 1 Peter 2:9)
Salvation and peace come from Christ and Christ alone.
Jesus says in John 6:63 “It is the Spirit who gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
Paul writes in Galatians 3:3 “Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? You have suffered so much for the Good News. Surely it was not in vain, was it? Are you now going to just throw it all away?”
Do not make works part of the equation of your salvation or life.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Tension and Conflict within the Body of Christ.
In our men’s bible study group we have been studying the book of Acts. Like most bible study groups we come from a variety of different Christian churches and have found that tension and conflict aren’t rare within a specific church or among different churches.
These are some of the questions we have been asked in our study guide which I thought would be helpful to you, the believer.
What causes tension and disagreements in the church today?
Example answers: (Traditions, maturity, legalism, self-centered beliefs, demons, spirits, unguarded thoughts and speech, course jokes, different perspectives on God’s word, personal agendas.)
Why is it important for Christians to get along?
Example answers (To function as a body in love and purpose, to encourage those and reach those in our church and community for Christ. To show we can get along even when we disagree.)
What can we learn from the early church leaders about resolving our differences?
Example answers (They had an assigned group of people that prayed, considered solutions, and presented a solution to the people. The people were engaged in the solution process. They probably had individuals who also interceeded and had intercession.)
What do I usually do when I feel tension in a relationship?
Example answers (I get mad, a blow them off, I internalize everything until presumption, guess work, feelings of inadequacy, judgement has got the best of me or overwhelmed me.)
How can I improve the way I resolve conflict? (Stay calm in Christ, lament to Jesus and let him speak to you about the situation, acceptance on disagreement then agreement on both sides. Try to see if there has been a miscommunication. Why is there tension? Was it something as simple as a person's tone of voice or a misunderstanding of the chosen words that were actually said. Did you just happen to be the brunt of someone's bad day? Am I demonstrating and acting in love?)
What happens when believers criticize and argue with one another?
Examples: (Shows disobedience to God, God has a difficult time working through them "trespasses". Hurt, resentment, anxiety, murmuring, judgments can cause problems to get bigger and affect and involve more believers.)
What character traits do believers need to get along with each other?
Examples: (Love, forgiveness, allowances of misgivings and failures, Holy Spirit, obedience to Christ, a love for people, focus on Christ, understanding of different maturity levels, what God’s words says.)
How can we cultivate these qualities?
Examples: (Depend and trust in God, live them out by his Holy Spirit not our will, refer to scripture often, prayer, be respectful, seek a common interest or bond in the relationship. Drop the dispute)
Harmony among believers (EXCELLENT Scriptures references)
(Proverbs 17:14, Romans 12:16; 15:5-7; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 3:3; 6:1-7; Ephesians 4:2-4; Philippians 2:3,4; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15; Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 3:8,9.)
Questions came from "Life Lessons, with Max Lucado. Book of Acts"
These are some of the questions we have been asked in our study guide which I thought would be helpful to you, the believer.
What causes tension and disagreements in the church today?
Example answers: (Traditions, maturity, legalism, self-centered beliefs, demons, spirits, unguarded thoughts and speech, course jokes, different perspectives on God’s word, personal agendas.)
Why is it important for Christians to get along?
Example answers (To function as a body in love and purpose, to encourage those and reach those in our church and community for Christ. To show we can get along even when we disagree.)
What can we learn from the early church leaders about resolving our differences?
Example answers (They had an assigned group of people that prayed, considered solutions, and presented a solution to the people. The people were engaged in the solution process. They probably had individuals who also interceeded and had intercession.)
What do I usually do when I feel tension in a relationship?
Example answers (I get mad, a blow them off, I internalize everything until presumption, guess work, feelings of inadequacy, judgement has got the best of me or overwhelmed me.)
How can I improve the way I resolve conflict? (Stay calm in Christ, lament to Jesus and let him speak to you about the situation, acceptance on disagreement then agreement on both sides. Try to see if there has been a miscommunication. Why is there tension? Was it something as simple as a person's tone of voice or a misunderstanding of the chosen words that were actually said. Did you just happen to be the brunt of someone's bad day? Am I demonstrating and acting in love?)
What happens when believers criticize and argue with one another?
Examples: (Shows disobedience to God, God has a difficult time working through them "trespasses". Hurt, resentment, anxiety, murmuring, judgments can cause problems to get bigger and affect and involve more believers.)
What character traits do believers need to get along with each other?
Examples: (Love, forgiveness, allowances of misgivings and failures, Holy Spirit, obedience to Christ, a love for people, focus on Christ, understanding of different maturity levels, what God’s words says.)
How can we cultivate these qualities?
Examples: (Depend and trust in God, live them out by his Holy Spirit not our will, refer to scripture often, prayer, be respectful, seek a common interest or bond in the relationship. Drop the dispute)
Harmony among believers (EXCELLENT Scriptures references)
(Proverbs 17:14, Romans 12:16; 15:5-7; 1 Corinthians 1:10; 3:3; 6:1-7; Ephesians 4:2-4; Philippians 2:3,4; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15; Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 3:8,9.)
Questions came from "Life Lessons, with Max Lucado. Book of Acts"
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