Bobble Head

Bite Me

Blind Ball

Revival

My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word!

(Proverbs 119:25, ESV)

I love the Psalms! Reading through them has given me tons of ammunition for the battles I struggle with. So often I lose sight of what life is really all about. I'll get strayed from the path I know I should be on because shiny things tend to draw my attention so easily. Once I've been off the path for a short period of time, I then realize that I have strayed from the God who gives life...who is the Author of ALL life. Being disconnected from that Source tends to make my "life" not so lively. 

In Proverbs 119:25 the Psalmist first vividly describes the state of his soul: clinging to the dust. I imagine a huge desert with no water, no nourishment, no accompaniment, and hardly any life left in the soul whose been disconnected with the living God. The Psalmists soul is on it's last bit of strength, barely able to clench the ground, its face staring hopelessly off into the distance with nothing but heat waves emitting off the seemingly endless desert landscape. Its life is near the end. 

But the image the Psalmist gives doesn't stop there. Instead the Psalmist interjects the one thing he knows will revive even the most empty, lifeless, hopeless soul: God's word! God's word is nourishment for the weak soul. It is water for the thirsty soul. It strengthens it's will to fight another day. Because of the Word of God, his soul will live. 

I've been here before many times. Feeling like the life I live might as well be described as death. Like my soul, my most significant part of my being is laying lifeless in a barren desert. But there is always ONE thing that will bring life into my soul and that is Jesus Christ, the personification of the Word of God; the personification of God Himself; every command and incline of God illustrated with the flesh of man. He is my life. In fact, to live abundantly, I allow Him to live through me. This means that every one of my relationships - my wife, friends, family, acquaintances, co-workers, and even strangers I happen to come across - are submitted to God so that Christ Jesus can have His way in me and through me. 

To the one who was given life after the grave by the Father Himself be glory; great significance; the ultimate meaning; awe and wonder. And as I submit myself to Him and His will that life that conquered death will bring life into everything and everyone I come in contact with!

Overcomers!

It's amazing when you experience God's word without even knowing it until you read it! "For everyone who has been born of God has overcome the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith" (1 john 5:4).

Earlier today, I knew that there were grudges among some leaders in the youth group and it was killing me. I knew we had to squash the beef, so all of us met before youth group to get everything out on the table. But there was a twist. The communion table was set up for us and we read through 1 Corinthians 11:23-25, remembering Jesus sacrifice for us. We also remembered Jesus words in John 13:34 commanding us to love one another with the same love which Jesus loved us with.

Because we believe (have faith that) Jesus is who He said He is and believe that he sacrificed Himself for us, the world and all of it’s harmful attitudes were shattered! We could not think of sitting at the communion table with the sacraments ready and hold grudges against, be angry with, or dislike a brother or sister. Our faith overcomes the world!

Thoughts on 1 Kings 17

here's just some stuff that I'm gleaming from 1 Kings, y'all

Remember in Matthew 16:13 when Jesus asks his disciples who the people say he is? The disciples responded, "some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah..." I wonder if one of the reasons why they thought Jesus was Elijah was because Elijah was involved in raising a child from the dead. In 1 Kings 17, God tells Elijah to go to this widow's house and eat her food for a while (this is during a drought). The woman reluctantly agrees and God allowed what little flower and oil she had last for much longer than it should have while Elijah stayed with the widow and her child. Toward the end of Elijah's stay, her child became sick and she got ticked at Elijah (being a prophet, maybe he could have done something about it before hand?). But Elijah wasn't happy either. He took the child up into his room, prayed to God to revive the child's life...and He DID!

Once Elijah brought the child back down alive, the widow said, "Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth." Wow. The widow's basic needs for life (flower + oil = bread) were being met, but she didn't really believe that Elijah was a prophet of God until the unexplainable, the miraculous happened.

Could it be that meeting people's needs will give us a place to stay, but the unexplainable, the miraculous will open people's eyes and they will acknowledge the reality and power of God? If this is true, it may reveal why "ministry" just keeps people's attention rather than transforming their life...every Christian at one time or another relies on his/her own strength to reveal God to people. We reason with people, we serve them, we preach (which are all GREAT) but if we don't rely on GOD'S power to change peoples lives we are just keeping their attention/giving us "a place to stay" in their lives, but with no transformation.

Reasoning, serving, preaching, and everything else we can do to show people we love them are NECESSARY, but even MORE NECESSARY is that we PRAY for people to experience God and repent, be transformed, be given new life, and that we rely on God to do this.

What's nice about this is that it's no longer us who "fail" or "succeed," because God is in control. If we just do our part, what we know we can and should do (teach, love, serve) God will take care of the rest and take the burden of life transformation upon Himself.

So be free, do your part, and give the results up to God for Him to work out.

Don't Neglect Emotional Experiences...Only Don't Neglect Truth

I finally get it!

There have been a bunch of times that God just jacks me up when I’m worshiping him (most often at church singing or praying with others). What I mean by “jacks me up” is that I get overjoyed by His goodness, grace, and mercy and can hardly contain myself. It’s like His glory wraps me up in arms of crazy love. I want to jump, scream, holler, laugh, and cry all at the same time. These times make me more conscious of and sensitive to the reality of God and what He’s done. And I think that is exactly the point!

In 1 Kings 8 Solomon brings the arc into the newly finished Temple of God. Once the Priests & Levites bring the Arc of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies, “a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord” (1 Kings 8:10-11). This happened when all of Israel was present for the Festival of Booths (v. 2). Now, I can only imagine what all of Israel was thinking at this point. Because Israel certainly knew about the tabernacle which the priests and Levites carried with them everywhere they went...and that once all the workings of the tabernacle was completed and set up for the first time, “the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34-35).

Just imagine that you’re an Israelite, hearing all the stories of God’s mighty power, deliverance, grace, mercy, and everything He’s done for the people before you. You think about what it would’ve been like to cross the Red Sea, fleeing from Egyptian’s whole army. You imagine what the tabernacle looked like when it was filled with the glory of God the first time it was erected. The next thing you know, the very same story you’ve heard about all of your life about the tabernacle being filled with the glory of God, appearing like smoke is happening before your very eyes! “This is exactly what my forefathers spoke of,” you exclaim! Imagine what it would be like to know that the God who saved your forefathers; who said I am the same yesterday, today and forever; who wants to use your nation to reveal His glory to all mankind, IS ABSOLUTELY REAL! That all of the stories you’ve heard of aren’t just “stories,” but actual events in history. That the God who you’ve heard of for so long STILL reveals Himself as the lover of your soul!

These awesome emotional experiences with God are meant to point us toward the truth and reality of God. Those times when we experience God’s overwhelming love, peace, grace, mercy, and forgiveness are meant to further engage in the truth of His reality which we have in the Bible. Peter tells Christians to “supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge! Our faith is not based just on our experiences, but on the knowing the truth! A faith based only off of experience can become extremely dangerous because our experiences are subject to our own interpretation. We may feel great when we take a hit of reefer and assume that God loves it when we smoke pot. Clearly, this is wrong...but we know this only because of God’s Word. You see, God gives us truth (in the Bible) to interpret CORRECTLY our experiences.

Therefore, may you be richly blessed with real experiences of God, filled with joy, grace, and mercy that will drive you further into the truth of God. And may your digging deeper in God’s truth fill you with more real experiences with God.