The Word that Changed the World

35)He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him. 36)And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will.

Mark 14:35-36

A few weeks ago a buddy of mine gave me a copy of his audio bible, and it is incredible. It's called The Bible Experience...and you need to get it. For real. I didn't utilize it until this morning on my way into work. I listened to Mark chapter 14. And it absolutely wrecked me. I usually keep my emotions under control, but this morning driving into town it got to this passage. And I was crying. In my car. Looking like a completely ridiculous mess. I've read this account many times. I know what it says, and I feel like I understand the gravity of this situation...but never have I become that kind of emotional when reading it. 

So I know most of you who read this have probably looked at that passage before, but it really hit me this morning. This was Christ's humanity coming face to face with His deity. This was Christ the man, understanding the gravity of what was taking place. He was about to half to walk smack dab into the middle of something He had never experienced in His entire life. He had seen 33 years come and go, without ever stumbling, without ever sinning, without ever doing anything to cross the boundary of the law that His Father had set up for His people...and He was about to experience ALL of it. Do you understand that? This was a man who had never had a bad thought. He had never said a bad word. He had never committed a sinful action in any way. Ever. In His ENTIRE life. And now...He was going to not experience His first sinful act. He was going to experience EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MINE. He was going to experience EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOURS. EVERY SINGLE SIN FROM BEGINNING TO END OF TIME. Can you even come close to grasping that? Can you? Because I can't. I sin on a daily basis. I fall short of perfection every single day. This man had gone over twelve thousand days in His life without ever falling short, without ever doing anything wrong. Ever. 

This is why He says to Abba, "All things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me." He's pleading for Himself. This is why He told the disciples, "Can you drink this cup?" Of course not! Of course they couldn't. Of course we couldn't! He was our only hope. And our hope was trying to find another avenue. This was the first time that Christ struggled with what His call was. He knew from the beginning that this was His job. Redemption was His calling, and it was His life's work. And our redeemer came face to face with His humanity and realized that He had never sinned. He realized that He was about to experience the most soul crushing thing He had ever felt. He would experience hate, anger, jealousy, wrath, guilt, shame, lust...all of mine, and all of yours, and all of everyone's from the beginning of time to the end of the world...all at once. This is why before He goes into the garden to pray, He says, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful...even unto death." Those weren't just words. He was literally dying inside. You see...for Him to free us from our sins, He had to take them upon Himself. For Him to unlock the chains, and for Him to redeem humanity, He had to experience the very thing He was redeeming, unlocking, and loosing us from. 

Then there comes a turning point. "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me..." the next word uttered out of His mouth saved our lives. He is pleading with Dad to give Him another option...but then Jesus says, "nevertheless not what I will, but what I will." Nevertheless is one of the most important words spoken in human history. When Jesus uttered this word, He resolved within Himself that there indeed was no alternative. There was absolutely no other way. He HAD to be made sin on our behalf. 

I used to think that He was worried about the gruesome death that He was about to face, and He didn't want to be bruised, scarred, and wounded. Looking at it now, I think He was much more concerned with experiencing sin. If He wouldn't have had to endure the sinfulness of humanity, I think He would have been like, "Peace of cake. Beat me and hang me on the cross. I'm still perfect." Instead, He had to be numbered among the transgressors. He had to be made into sinful flesh so that we could have redemption from sinfulness. He had to experience the fallen nature before He could save it. I'm still trying to grasp this. I'm still trying to understand the brevity of what Jesus endured for me. 

Jesus said nevertheless, because He knew what was at stake. He knew the future of the world hung in the balance. He knew that His destiny was what John the Baptist said of Him. "Behold! The Lamb of God who will take away the sins of the world!" Remember, Jesus went to great lengths to pay a great, and heavy price for your soul, spirit, and life. You were bought with a price. And Jesus thought you were 100% worth it. If you have accepted His forgiveness and His new abundant life, then hopefully this encourages you that Jesus went through everything you went through. He felt all the pain. He felt all the guilt, and all the shame on that night in Gethsemane. And He endured the cross because of the joy that was set before Him. That joy was you and I friends. 

If you don't know Him as your Savior. If you don't know Him as your redeemer, know this, He was in the garden redeeming all of humanity. Everyone who dies and goes to heaven, dies and is forgiven. Everyone who dies and goes to hell, dies, and they were also forgiven. The difference? Acceptance of the forgiveness. Acceptance of the invitation to the abundant life. Acceptance to His grace, and peace, and love. Jesus loves you, and died for you. He experienced all of your sin. And He left it in the tomb when He rose. His love knows no bounds and His redemption knows no bounds. Will you accept it? Will you RSVP to the greatest invitation of all time? 

Be blessed. 

All Doesn't Mean Some

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.-Romans 8:28(ESV)

For some reason, I have taken certain words that are a part of the English language and have changed the meanings on them. Words that are completely inclusive, now have possible doubt attached to them. Many times, I don't mean to completely disregard the meanings of simple words such as 'all', or 'everything', or 'always', but many times when those words hit my brain, my reasoning filters them and they become, 'some', 'some things', and 'sometimes'. I think most of the time, it's because my experiences usually don't accept definite words as definite.

This is why the verse above gives us such trouble. We speak it, and we say we believe it, but how many of us usually discredit the above statement with a simple conjunction. We take a word like all, which means every, or any, or the greatest possible, and discredit it with the word, but, which means on the contrary, except, unless, or otherwise. We say, yes! I do believe all things work together for those who love God...but I don't see it in my situation. So we say we believe something wholeheartedly and then completely discredit and disregard our previous statement by saying, 'but'.

I know it is difficult to get past this for a lot of us. For me, it is always a struggle. I will quote scripture over myself or meditate on something like this verse in Romans 8, and then 5 minutes later I'm completely throwing it out the window because I'm reminded of a circumstance.

I've been praying a little differently as of late. I know my circumstances still look impossible sometimes. I've asked God thousands and thousands of times to change, or take away, or do something different in my life. It hasn't ever changed anything, then I get angry with God, and I just want to give up. So now, instead of asking Him to change my situation, I ask Him to always remind me of what He said. I've been asking Him to continually renew my mind, and remind me of the promises that He's made.

All things work together for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. I tend to read that verse and think, well yeah. All the good things in my life work together to continue to be good. I mean that sounds like a good explanation. It sounds like an alright idea. It's incredibly wrong. All means All. All does not mean some. We can't take words like all and turn them into indefinite words. There is no doubt in the word all. What this verse is literally saying is that if you love Him, He takes the good, the bad, the ugly, and the indifferent, and weaves them ALL together to complete a work that He finished, and ultimately it is for your good!

You're in a crappy situation? Well, wait. Wait it out. Eventually the bad will turn into the good and the process will be completed. He finds ways and has already set certain things into motion so that all of the junk and all of the blessings can work together to make a finished product that is in all actuality a good product. If you're reading this and you are a believer in Jesus Christ as the Son of God and Savior of your soul, then this verse applies.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.-Jeremiah 29:11(ESV)

He hasn't forgotten His plans. He hasn't turned His back on His plans. He doesn't do things half way. He does thing all the way or not at all. He's not like us. He isn't even close to us. He is far better than we know, and He's far better than we give Him credit for.

I don't know what you're currently going through. I have no clue what most of you are dealing with. I'm sure I can't imagine some of your current predicaments, but here's one thing I do know. Our God is good. He is faithful. He said that He would never leave nor forsake us. He also told us He has a plan to prosper and not to harm, and He says that this present situation will ultimately work out for your good. Ultimately, all the stress, frustration, anger, happiness, joy, love, hard times, and good times, WILL work together for your benefit, if you love Him and are called with His purpose. And if you love Him, you ARE called, because we don't know to love Him except that He first loved us.

Don't give up. Don't let go. Even when you can't see it. Even when you can't feel it. Even when you don't understand it. Don't forget His promises. Don't forget that He has a plan. Don't forget that He will make this work out for good in the end. He loves you, and He will work it out.

If it isn't good yet, then it isn't over. Sometimes things happen that we couldn't possibly understand them working out for our good. I can't begin to explain how some of the horrible things that happen work out for our good, but I'm also not God. I won't pretend to have all the answers. I just know that I have the 1 answer. His name is Jesus, and He is enough for me.

All things will work together for your good. He has a plan. And He is faithful and trustworthy to complete it. There's a song by one of my favorite bands called To The Very End. These are the lyrics:

You know me, and I know You
You're the God who calms all my storms
You're the voice inside my head

Don't give up
Don't let go
Don't lose trust
Don't lose hope

You can have all my fears, God
You can have all my sins
You can have all my weaknesses
I know You're with me to the very end.

Friends, He is with you to the very end. He won't turn from You. He won't leave this unfinished. He will complete the work. He will see it through, and you will come out better than you were on the other side.

True Love

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die--but God shows His love for us in that WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS, Christ died for us.-Romans 5:6-8

Here's the real issue. When we came to Christ, all of us had something in common. We were royally, incredibly, undeniably, unequivocally SCREWED UP! We had no shot at thriving in this life without Him. And if you're reading this, and you don't know Jesus, then listen to me. YOU HAVE NO SHOT AT THIS LIFE WITHOUT CHRIST! Oh sure. You might do well for a while. You might be successful. You might make gobs and gobs of money. You might be well liked...but you'll never be satisfied. There will always be something missing. There will always be this part of you that knows that there is something else. There's something more. There's something...missing. You may not know it now. In fact, you may think I'm an idiot, and truly believe that I have no idea what I'm talking about. That's fine. I used to think that way about people like me. I used to think that people who really sold out to Jesus were coocoo for coco puffs! I used to think they'd gone off the deep end. I used to think they were a bunch of bible thumping nut jobs, who had nothing better to do that waste their time on this "deity" named Jesus. I grew up in a home that was influenced very much by the church. My father was a pastor. I was forced to go to church as a child. As Lecrae would say, I was a drug baby. My parents drug me to church. I hated going to church from the age of about 10-15. I didn't get it. I didn't understand what it was all about. As much as my parents tried to explain who Christ was, I didn't really care until I had a real encounter with Him.

So look, yes. I grew up in the church. I grew up in a Christian household. I "knew" who Jesus was. But I did not care about Him. I didn't give a rip about who He was, or what He did, or how it applied to my life. Because it was MY life after all, right? Right?!? It's MY life, and I can do whatever I want to with it. That's what my mindset was up until about age 16 or 17. Jesus is cool and all. And I know the bible is good, or whatever...but does it really apply to me? Does it really mean anything to me?

Well, I found out in a real way, that Jesus was and is more than cool. I found out the bible is way more than good. And it does apply, and it does mean a lot...to me. Personally. Individually. As myself. Not as a guy who is a part of a greater whole. (The church.) But an individual dude, who had no clue what he was doing in life, and had no idea what I wanted out of this world. Jesus wasn't on the cross sacrificing Himself to save ONLY me, but He was on the cross sacrificing Himself with me on His mind. And you on His mind. And your mom. And your dad. And your uncle. And everyone else. Everyone. No really. Everyone. Even the people that we deem the lowest of the low in society. Guys like Jerry Sandusky. Guys like Timothy McVey. Guys like Osama Bin Laden. Everyone. All of us. Ever.

And it was a once for all sacrifice. Once. For. All. What exactly does that mean? Once for all? Simply put...Jesus died ONE TIME. For ALL SIN. From the beginning of time (Adam and Eve in the garden), all the way until the very last person will be born.  This includes, but is not limited to, the fall in the garden, the lie you told your parents when you said you were going out with your friends to the mall, but really ended up going to your boyfriend/girlfriends house, that time you looked at porn on your smart phone, your mom's affair, your dad's alcoholism, the abortion rate in America and across the globe, and any other vile, disgusting things you can think of. Jesus died, because of, and to do away with, all of it.

One of my favorite verses in the bible is in Hebrews 8. The writer is actually quoting Jeremiah 31:34, but here is what Hebrews 8:12 says. "For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more." When we read that, we think, "OH! That means that God forgets things!" WRONG! Sorry. I'm really excited right now. As my friend Justin would say, "Watch this." The Hebrew word referenced that says "remember" isn't speaking about forgetting or bringing to remembrance. It's like this, say I have an accident where my finger gets severed off. If we pack it on ice, and can get to the surgeon quick enough, my finger can be reattached. It can be...re-membered, to my body. So what God is saying in this verse is not that He forgets our sins. What He is saying, is that He chooses not to associate OUR SINS with WHO WE ARE! When we come into a relationship with the Father through the Son, He only cares about Jesus' sacrifice. So basically...our sins don't count. He doesn't attach the sin to our character any more. Here's another way to look at it. In the old testament, when you would bring a sacrifice in to the priest to cover your sins for another year, the priest didn't ever look at you. The priest wasn't worried with what you looked like. He didn't care whether you were 6'6" with ripped arms and washboard abs. He didn't care if you were 5'3" and weighed 245 pounds and were slightly balding. He didn't care if you could have been a swimsuit model. The only thing that the priest looked at was your sacrifice.He inspected the quality of your sacrifice. If your sacrifice was deemed worthy, then so were you. For a year. Then you had to come back again. Next year. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the...well you get the picture. Listen. When you come to God and you present the sacrifice of Christ, and His blood as your offering...you are deemed worthy. Not for a day. Not for a week. Not for a month, a year, a decade, or whatever. For eternity.

So here's where it gets kind of awkward for me. We as Christians sometimes forget the fact that we used to be screwed up. Some of us, quite frequently, forget that Jesus had to save us out of some pretty messed up stuff. And then we get to the point where we think that we are better than sinners. Sometimes I forget that I still screw up. And then God let's me in on something. If it weren't for Him, I would have never realized that I needed a savior. I would have never realized that I needed saving even. Some people don't know Him yet. Some people don't love Him yet. But He loves them. Exactly as they are. He loves them. Where they are at. He loves deeply, every single person on this earth. How can He do that? Well...because He knows them as who they could be, not as who they are. The scriptures actually speak of heaven rejoicing more over one lost person coming to Christ than they do for the 99 who are already a part of the fold.

Christ's love was manifest in a great way on the cross. The passage at the beginning of this blog speaks and attests to that. Seldom will someone die for a righteous person. Very rarely will you find someone who will die for someone who is actually deemed "good" in the minds of men. His love was shown to us in this...that WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, Christ died on the cross for us. While I was still in my dirt, He died for me. In fact, BECAUSE I was in my dirt, He died. It was MY sinfulness, and MY pride of life, and MY selfishness that nailed my savior to the cross. He HAD TO die so that I could truly live. He could not redeem humanity any other way. We are in our nature sinful. We don't have to be taught to sin. It comes natural to us. Jesus broke the mold. He lived a blameless life. He lived a sinless life. He lived a perfect life. And He was nailed to a cross because of MY transgressions. Some of you may be thinking, "Well He died for my stuff too." And you are correct. But until you really get to the point where you understand that it was for you, all of it, then it won't take root. It wasn't until I really understood that it was MY stuff that got my Jesus murdered, that I truly realized what grace meant. Unmerited favor. Undeserved love. I don't want justice. If I were given justice then I would be destined to hell. Mercy is not getting what I do deserve. Mercy is good. But, it isn't grace. Grace gives me what I don't deserve. Grace gives me His love. Unbridled. Uncontained. Unconditioned. You know what God's love is like? Imagine loving someone so much, that it hurt. And realizing that even if they NEVER showed you the same love, you will still love them. You wouldn't stop loving them because they stopped loving you. That's God's love for you. And it was poured out for us, on the cross, while we were yet sinners. While we had no shot. Jesus gave everything He had, so that we could be something new. A new creation. A spiritual creation. Living His life, and loving our lives.

So if you don't know Him. If you feel like you've gone too far, realize this. Every one of us who claim Christ as our savior has been in a place where we thought we were too far gone. But, His love was showed in the fact that while we were still in that place, He died and laid down His life for us. It's never too late, and it's never too early to turn to Christ. He died. He rose. He lives. And He loves you, right where you're at. But He doesn't want to leave you there. He wants you to come along for the ride of your life. He will take you as you are, but He will completely transform you into something new. His love is enough. His life is enough. Will you take His invitation? The choice is yours, and yours alone.

Don't Worry Be Happy!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.-Philippians 4:6-7

I'm writing this blog during one of the most trying seasons I've ever gone through. I won't go into exact details of what's been happening, but it has been very frustrating, disappointing, and heavy. Circumstances are in place in my life right now, that I can't see past, and the devil has been doing his best to use them against me, and I have been doing my best to just allow him to do what he wants. 

Last week I was just reading through scriptures, just really trying to see what God was up to, why everything seemed like it was going haywire, and God took me to Philippians chapter 4. Particularly verses 6 and 7. Have you ever been anxious about something? There have been some circumstances in my life when I have really been anxious about something. Right now is one of them. Jesus tells us, "Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."-Matthew 6:34

When we worry about things, it usually is because of future ramifications of some sort. Even when we worry about what we did yesterday, or what happened yesterday, it's usually in relation to what tomorrow will bring from that decision. So our problem usually is the fact that things that are coming in the future are scary. Such is the case with me right now. There are things that I don't understand about the future. There are things that are going on in my life right now, that are giving me opportunity to fear the future. But Jesus tells us that God already knows what we need. So why worry? 

I believe that one of satan's greatest tactics is to get us to worry. Worry about finances. Worry about the future. Worry about relationships. Worry about jobs. Worry, worry, worry. And the word of God is telling us, "Be anxious for nothing." Don't sweat it! He knows the thoughts that He thinks towards you. And He knows the plans He has for you. To prosper you, and give you a hope, and a future! This is why we don't have to worry. We can trust the fact that God is a good father and that He has our backs. While it may not look like it right now, I'm sure that in a few months I will look back on the situations and circumstances that are happening in my life and say, "Wow. That's what I was so worried about?"

Now let's look at some more of this verse. "...but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." So, Paul gives us an idea of what kind of prayers will produce peace in our lives. The next verse talks about the peace of God that surpasses all understanding coming and guarding our hearts and minds in Christ. When we go to the Lord with our prayers, the best way to catch the heart of the father is to come in with a thankful heart. Now I do not believe that Paul was telling the church in Philippi that they needed to thank God FOR all things, rather to thank God IN all things. Most of you are aware that my father was diagnosed with cancer last November. Now, why would I go to God and say, "Thank you so much for giving my father cancer! You're such a swell guy!" That would be ludicrous! However, I did go to God many times and thank Him for being the healer, and for being with my family through all of it. I never had a doubt in my mind that God was going to take care of dad, and He did. Dad is now cancer free and has finished all of his treatments! Praise God! 

Sometimes bad stuff happens. In fact, Jesus promises it. "I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."-John 16:33 We WILL have tribulation. James tells us to count it all joy when we encounter trials of various kinds, because the testing of our faith produces patience. And that will in effect produce wholeness in our lives. We know these things, yet we get upset when they happen. Jesus tells us that we will have tribulation, and when it shows up we act like we've never heard this before. We seem to think that everyone else can deal with trials and struggles, but we should be immune to it because Jesus doesn't want us in anything unpleasant. Sometimes we have to face unpleasant circumstances so we can learn something from them. And if we don't learn anything, it can just start the cycle right over again. I firmly believe that God wants us to have a thankful heart as we encounter all things. Be they good, or be they bad, God wants us to learn how to thank Him IN all things. 

In the middle of Philippians 4, Paul tells the church that he had learned in whatever situation he found himself in to be content. He knew what it was like to struggle. To be brought low, to be brought high. Facing plenty, hunger, abundance and need. Then he says something that we quote all the time, but use out of context. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." This verse is speaking directly to being able to stay content in whatever situation we find ourselves in. The way that we do that is to stay thankful. 

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Philippians 4:8

When we stay thankful and pray prayers of thanksgiving to our God, then He can bring His peace in to cover us. And once we get to thank, then we can start to allow Him to renew our mind as Romans 12 talks about. As we think on these good things, it will remind us to thank Him, then it is a reciprocal thing. Thank Him for who He is, and what He's doing, and as you do that then you can start thinking on the goodness of God and His praiseworthiness, and when you hit that point then you are thankful again. And pretty soon. you will find yourself at peace with life, and content with whatever circumstance you are in. 

I'm just learning this principle. I was so caught up in my circumstances and my trials and tribulations, that I lost sight of who God really is. And in doing so, I lost sight of who I really am. I am a son of the most high. I am a child of the King of kings. He owns everything, and He is a generous father. No matter what you're going through today, take time out to thank Him for who He is. Take time to allow Him to transform your mind. Allow Him to turn you into a thankful person. He loves you more than you could ever know, and He desperately wants you to know of His love! I pray that this has blessed you as much as it has me by writing it. I love you all. Have a great week. And remember, stay thankful. 

I Surrender All!...Oh really?

All to Jesus, I surrender. All to Him I freely give. Many of you know that song by heart. Many of us have sung that song so many times in our lives, but do we really even pay attention to the words? Do you really surrender all? I'm talking to myself more than anyone in this blog. I'm preaching at myself, because I caught a truth last night in a prayer time, that no. I really do not surrender all. Come to think about it...I don't really know that I surrender most. Okay, okay...I surrender some? You see, when we get to the bottom of the pile of this, and dig a little deeper, we come to a realization. Most of us will only surrender what is comfortable. Read that again. We will only surrender what is comfortable. If that's the case, then is it truly surrender?


I just came back from the Desperation Student Conference. If you've never been and you're a youth pastor, you are doing yourself and your kids a disservice. Anyway, that was my plug for the conference. And really, any time you go to a conference or youth camp or whatever, you come back on such a spiritual high that you think, "I'M GOING TO SAVE THE ENTIRE WORLD BY MYSELF! JESUS IS SO GOOD! YEAH! NAME IT AND CLAIM IT! I WANT A YELLOW LAMBOURGHINI! AND A MILLION DOLLARS! AND A PET RINO!" Okay...maybe those last few aren't what we really think, but you get the point. We sang a song all week that said, "Jesus makes the impossible, possible." And we believed it. And we still believe it. Today at least. Or maybe this week. But what about next week? Next month? Next year? I feel like every one of the 4,000 people that attended that conference were serious about making a difference in their city. I know that our group definitely was. And still is. We told God that He could have everything! He could be our everything! He was the one we wanted to see, and we only wanted to seek His face! And those are all great things while we're there, but what happens when we get home?


I surrender all. I surrender all. All to Him my blessed Savior. I surrender all. So now we're back to surrender. The dictionary defines surrender as to give oneself up, as into the power of another; submit or yield. Surrender is usually linked with war. When the enemy army is too powerful, and too strong, you would surrender in order to save your own lives. Surrendering to God is much the same way. We surrender to Him, not because He is going to take our lives, but because if we don't we can't gain real life. Without surrender to God, we will not be able to walk into the Kingdom of Heaven when we pass on to eternity.


Most of us, I believe really do understand the fact that we have to surrender and accept Him as the Savior of our souls. But what comes next? Do we need to alter in any way the things that we do? Do we need to alter in any way the people we hang out with? Do we need to change anything at all? There's a saying that is said at our church very frequently. The Christian life is not about change. The Christian life is about exchange. See when we exchange our life for Christ's, then He can implant His heart and mind into us. If we are just trying to change to be good, then we will never get where we want to go. However, if we exchange our lives, we allow Christ to come and teach us how to love. Teach us how to follow. Teach us who to be with, how to live our lives, and how to interact with Him. Living a life of exchange at first is not easy, because of one thing. Absolute, complete, 100% surrender. We have to die to ourselves and our desires and allow someone else to call the shots.


I feel like this is the way most people view surrender. "As long as it doesn't alter who I am. And as long as it doesn't affect my friendships. And as long as I don't have to act, think, or do differently...then sure! I'll surrender! Friends, THAT. IS. NOT. SURRENDER. That is completely opposite of surrender. If you were to surrender to an enemy in battle, you do not get to make any kind of demands from them. You are in fact their prisoner and they tell you who you will be. How you will be. And who you will be you with! Surrender means that you have counted the cost. You understand that you are about to save your life, but there is something that the other side is going to demand of you. Fortunately for us, Christ is not an evil ruler. Christ honestly doesn't really demand that we change our lives. He doesn't really tell us that we have to be better than we used to be. As long as we believe in Him as the Son of God, and accept His baptism, then we can rest with Him in eternity. But here's my question for you if you live your life that way. If you walk through life, and never really allow God to take control of it, because you don't want to give up your freedoms. ARE YOU RETARDED?!?!?! The CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE wants to have a real relationship with you, and He wants to give you the most fulfilling life you could ever hope for, yet you think you can do it better?!? Did your mother drop you on your head when you were a child? You think that you, a carnal and finite being, could make a better decision about the creation than even THE CREATOR can? God IS bigger than us. God IS better than us! God KNOWS more than we do, and He knows BETTER than we do! The only way that we can really come into what He knows, and how He knows it, is to surrender.


Friends, surrender without sacrifice is not surrender. You don't get to pick and choose when you surrender. You either do it all the way, or you don't do it at all. There is no riding the fence when it comes to surrender. Romans 12 talks of us being a living sacrifice. There is one big difference between being a living sacrifice and a dead one. A living sacrifice can get off of the altar. Excuse my grammar but, DEAD STUFF DON'T MAKE CHOICES! The reason God wants a LIVING sacrifice is because a living sacrifice has to CHOOSE to stay on the altar. "But what happens when I fall off of the altar because of decisions I've made?" Very simple. You stand up. Dust yourself off. And get back on the altar. None of us will live in surrender perfectly. But I can assure you, that you will definitely never live a better life on your own.


I discovered last night that I really don't surrender much of anything to God. I really would rather just live my life with Him being a part of it, riding shot gun while I make the decisions. The thing that scares me, is that He will do that if I want Him to. And He isn't a passenger side driver. He won't nag me about my driving skills. He won't try and get me to let Him drive. The only thing He says is, "When you get tired of driving, I'll take over. And I know a better way to the destination." I have purposed within myself, that surrender will be a daily part of my life. Will I be perfect at it? Of course not. Will I get better with time? Definitely. He will help me along. He will teach me how to surrender. He will teach me how to love Him with everything. He will teach me how to give myself over to Him.


Friends, I encourage you, and I implore you, to make a genuine decision to surrender to God. You may not be ready to go all in right now, but there is something in all of our lives that is holding us back from living a fulfilled life with Christ. Maybe it's a friend. Maybe it's an addiction. Maybe it's television, or movies, or whatever. But if you will allow Christ to help you to surrender it to Him, He can make all the difference in the world.


I pray that this has helped someone. I pray that at least one of you will take this challenge and follow through with it. I believe that there is no greater joy in life, than following Christ and doing what He does. If you do take this challenge, let me know. I want to pray for you and believe with you during this journey.


Jesus, I pray for myself, and my friends that are reading this. I ask that You would give us the courage and the strength to step forward and come out of agreement with ourselves, and come into agreement with You. Help us to really begin to surrender our lives. Help us to really go hard after You with everything that we have. We want to see Your face, and we want to know who You are, and how You live. Thank You for the life that You've given us. Now, help us to live it abundantly unto You.
In Your name I pray.
Amen.

Lift Him Up

This is a poem that I wrote a little more than a year ago. I found it today. I was excited! I wanted to share it with you guys. Let me know what you think?

If we’ve said “Yes!” to the cross of Christ

And we believe the divinely sacrificed lamb gave life

To the souls of man

Then why do we refuse to stand

When injustice wreaks havoc across our land?

Why do we act as if we do not care

When satan is destroying and trying to tear

Down the things that Christ has placed in our lives

As blessings to give away and share?

Are we numb to the death grip?

Do we even realize that it’s his goal to strip

Away the new life that Christ gave so freely

On that hill called Calvary?

It’s time to take a stand for those who can’t

And for those who won’t and for those who don’t

Understand what’s been given into their hands

This free-life gift of the new Spiritual Man

That does not have to sin,

And realizes that Jesus will not die again!

It was a once for all sacrifice that gave and inheritance of eternal life

So that we could all be welcomed into the bride of Christ.

We got a new nature because we are new creatures.

We don’t do what the old man did.

We’re open and transparent when the old man would have hid.

We think the thoughts of Christ, because He came down and blessed us with a new mind

That doesn’t think on the things that kept the old man blind.

Our eyes are open to see

The spiritual beauty

Of the sacrifice that only He could make on behalf of you and me.

Depression, hatred, anger, and rage

Are all fruits of those darkened days

When we were deaf and dumb

And couldn’t comprehend the power and love

Of the Son of Man.

But now, He has freed us from those chains

He took the shackles off our feet so we could dance today.

He opened up our mouths so we could praise

And give thanks for the resurrection from the grave.

He gave us hope where there was despair

He gave us life when we had no air to breathe.

His love He so desperately wanted to share!

So now we stand boldly before the King of Heaven and Lord of life

We threw away the old man and gave up on the strife

So that we could embrace these spiritual heights

That He takes us to every day and night.

Let us stand and fight for this generation

Who is in the fight of their lives

Trying to decided whether they even want to live out life.

Let us take dominion and advance the Kingdom

So the ruler of the air

Can’t keep these young people in the pit of despair

Let’s disciple them and show them the way to freedom

Let them know Jesus died and rose again in order to free them.

It’s time to stand, and it’s time to fight

Let us not go quietly into that night!

But let us burn with a flame so bright

That it lights up the night sky

So we can see the Lord exalted

High and lifted up.

Before it’s too late, let’s start raising Him up.

Just Who Do You Think You Are?!?!?

My pastor has been speaking the past few weeks about something that is incredibly vital to Christians. He has been speaking of identity. One thing that he has said has jumped out at me and has really been illuminated by the Holy Spirit. "Birth, not behavior, is what determines your identity." Read that again. It's your birth, not how you act, that determines who you are.

You see, we in the church have preached so frequently on sin and on how bad everyone is, that we have become sin managers. We have become so focused on our sin issue, that we have missed the bigger picture. Does Jesus want us to continue to sin? Of course not! Does Jesus want us to strive for holiness and to go deeper with him? Of course He does! But, I feel like sometimes...scratch that...most of the time, we get so caught up in our "sin issue" that it completely takes over our lives. I personally believe that God is not so much concerned with our behavior as He is with our belief. The Galatians were called FOOLS because they were accepting a doctrine that spoke of working to earn grace.

Think about this for a second. How do you view yourself? Do you see yourself as an over-comer? Do you see yourself as being victorious in Christ Jesus? Do you see yourself as more than a conqueror? Or, do you see yourself as a sinner saved by grace? Do you see yourself as a failure? Do you see yourself as being always defeated by the enemy? You see, the way you view yourself is ultimately how you will live your life. You will not act consistently in a way that violates the way you believe.

Christ has not called us to a life of sin management. He has not called us to a place of working to earn His favor. He has already given you His favor. He has already given you His life. He has already given you His love. You don't have to earn it! You don't have to work for it! Christ did the work on our behalf, because He knew that we could not possibly fulfill what the law demanded. Here is what the law demanded: personal, perpetual, perfection. Perfection. Jesus did it. Jesus is the only person in human history who has ever done it. No one else has even come close! Do you really want to earn your way to Christ? Paul tells us that if we are going to start trying to keep any part of the law as a way to earn the acceptance of God, then we have to keep ALL of the law. If that's what you want to do, then I have two words for you. Have fun. I will not be joining you on your pursuit of perfection.

So let's get back to the root of all of our problems that we face as Christians. Identity. Who are you? Do you even know? Have you even tried to find out? Or, like most of us, do you believe what the enemy says about you? He is the accuser of the brethren. All He can do is tell you a lie. After years and years of struggle over sin, and in turn my lack of understanding of who I was, I am finally getting the understanding and the knowledge of who and what Christ has called me and made me to be. You see, 2 Corinthians 5:17 says it plain as day that, "Anyone who is in Christ, he is a NEW creation." This is one of my favorite verses in the bible. When I became a Christian, He literally made me into a new species. A spiritual species, that has a soul, that lives inside of a body. When I pass on, my body will deteriorate and turn back into dust. My soul, will end with my physical existence, and my SPIRIT will live on forever with Christ. That is extremely good news! I feel like we as believers, many times will try to take this old sinful nature and turn it into something good and pleasing to the Lord. Here's the only problem with that...the old you is a dead you. Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." I can say with 100% certainty that crucifixion only served one purpose; killing whoever it was that was crucified. When someone was crucified, it was not so that the person would be weakened or made lesser of who they are, it was only in order to kill the person who was hung on the cross. So if that verse holds true, then our old man is dead. D-E-D dead! So, when we try to make the old man better, we are trying to make a dead man live again, which will never happen. We are called to walk in the Spirit, and live in the Spirit. Jesus has made into a new creation, the old has passed away.

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgement, because AS HE IS, SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD.-1 John 4:17
Wait. What? As He is so are we in this world? What exactly does that mean? I may be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that means that as Jesus is so are we in this world. We already look just like Him because we have His spiritual DNA. God sees us just like Him because that's the way He organized the whole thing. We have the same standing as He does, because when He was crucified and rose again, our old man was crucified and our new man rose up with Him. If you can ever let that verse get a hold of you, it could wreck your entire theological structure. If you continually focus on all the bad stuff that you do, and how terrible you are, you will never overcome the sins that you battle. If, though, you focus your thoughts and affections on the things above, and also recognize that God's judgement for you was poured out on His son, you will turn from the sinful desires of your flesh and will glorify God with every part of your life.

Please understand this. I am not "soft on sin". I believe that God hates sin with a deep passion. But I also believe that God loves us with an even deeper passion. This is why He offered us grace, through His son. Obviously we don't deserve it, but, if our being deserving of grace was part of the issue, then it would not be grace at all. We don't have to earn our way into a right standing with the father. He has already accepted us. I hate sin. I think that sin is terrible, and that the devil will use it to his advantage whenever he can, but I believe that God is more concerned with our understanding of His love and grace than He is with our behavior. Remember, "birth, not behavior, determines your identity." God knows that if we start believing right, we will start behaving right. If we focus on our sins and our shortcomings, then we will always be trapped in our sinful lifestyle. However, if we focus on Jesus and His life inside of us, then we will be able to overcome those things that have always tripped us up in the past! Please friends, focus your thoughts and affections on the things above, and realize, as a child of God, you are already accepted, and in God's eyes, you are just like Jesus. Be blessed!

Focus

For most of my Christian life, I feel like I have doing one thing extremely backwards. I think that many of us are doing this same thing wrong. I hope that we can catch the idea and the vision that God has for this situation and follow what He has told us to do. For most of my life I have tried to battle and defeat my "sin issues", by focusing on them and saying, "I am not going to do this." I repeat it over and over into my head until eventually all I can think about is the thing that I don't want to do. Inevitably I find myself indulging in the sinful act that I did not want to engage in. Then I beat myself up, tell myself I'm not worth anything, call myself a lousy excuse for a Christian, and from this I find myself isolating myself from the One who can actually do something to alter the situation.

When I was in the 7th grade I played tackle football. I hated every single minute of it. Not because I didn't like football. I loved football, and still do love football. Not because I was terrible, although I was. Not even because our team wasn't very good, but, because I had a coach who's sole purpose in life it seemed was to let all of us on the team know exactly how terrible we were at what we did. Instead of encouraging us to get better, he continually told us how terrible we were and that we would never amount to anything on the grid iron. We wound up losing almost every game we played that year. We focused not on being better players, but on how bad we were. All we heard was how bad we were, so we always fulfilled expectations. We weren't expected to win, so it wasn't a shocker when we lost. I never played another year of organized football.

My pastor has been sharing over the past 2 weeks that our focus is the one thing that gets us so completely washed over by defeat and discouragement all the time. You may have thoughts like, "Well I want to experience God, but this problem just keeps coming up. I can't face God with the issues I am dealing with. I'll get it cleared up, then I'll go to Him." You know, to the natural mind, that doesn't sound bad. That's talking a good game. No one wants to go to their father with their dirtiest secrets and issues. We see God as being too holy to see us in our filthiness. Please friends, hear me out. I do NOT condone sinful behavior. I do NOT believe that God condones sinful behavior. I do NOT think that God likes seeing His children engage is sinful behavior. But, I think that we place so many barriers between us and God that God has not called us to place there. The only One who can change the circumstances that we find ourselves locked into is our heavenly Father and the lover of our lives. He is a good God. He is a loving God. He is a grace dispensing God.

Ultimately our view of God will determine how willing we are to come to Him with our issues and to seek His face and His grace in our lives. The reason it is so hard for us to come to the throne of grace is that we are continually told that we are dirty. We are continually told that God hates what we do. We are continually told that we are supposed to be better than we are. So we are heaped up and heaped up with this judgmental accusatory mindset that we aren't good enough to come to Christ for His help. Some of those statements are very true. He does hate sin. We are called to live higher. We are sometimes covered in our sinful mess. But, to let that depict whether we come to Christ or not is foolishness. He says that His grace is sufficient for us. If His grace is sufficient for us, then obviously it can't ever run out, right? If He intended for their to be a limit to His grace, then we would all be screwed. If His grace is sufficient, then we should always be able to come to the throne of grace and allow Him to love us out of the funk that we are in.

Wanna know the easiest way to be free and rid of the junk in your life? Change your focus. Instead of focusing on the situation at hand and focusing on the sin and what you don't want to do, start focusing your thoughts and affections on the things above. When you stop looking at the bad stuff and start seeing Christ and His love for you, everything else just fades away. It is really insignificant in the grand scheme of things, because we have a Father that is for us. We have an elder brother who paid our debt for us. Once for all. Never again will Jesus go to the cross, and never again will our debt be brought against us to the Father.

Where we focus is where we will go. Where our eyes are is ultimately where our feet will follow. Where we go we will go head first. Don't be like my junior high football coach, constantly telling yourself how bad that thing is that you are doing. Don't continue to focus on not doing that because eventually you will cave. If you continue to fill your mind with thoughts of the sin, whether or not it is about how much you hate it, eventually satan will take that as a foothold and do everything in his power to destroy you with it. Instead, as Paul tells us in Colossians 3:1&2-"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." So set your thoughts on the high things. Seek the things that are above. Focus on Christ and His love for you, and eventually you will see just how great His grace and His love are for you. Then you will be able to make it to the end of the tunnel that is sin and you will be able to truly experience the life God has called you to.