Light Up the World

Pretty excited about this!

I was really moved..

New song/music video from the Desperation Band's new cd coming out on September 15th.

http://vimeo.com/6117715

Wow..

I'm Not Feelin It

There is a concept we must understand and let it be rooted into the foundation on which we stand if we are going to be able to comprehend and practice any sort of full devotion to Jesus Christ:

Feelings of closeness to God or lack thereof are not always related to where we actually stand on our spiritual journey or the truth of where we really are in our personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

So often through actions and emotions people say “I am only a strong Christian if I am feeling strong.” But with hope, I want to inform you this is not truth.

We are not going to wake up everyday feeling on fire to live passionately for Jesus, we just won't, it's part of being human.

Christianity is not about feelings. It's a gift to be able to feel the fire.

Not that we deny our feelings, because a lot of times they communicate truth, but often I fear that people base their intimacy with Jesus on their feelings of desire for Him. We are not always going to desire Him, but that doesn't always mean that we are any less close to His heart than when we did desire Him.

We will get distracted and lose focus at times and find ourselves greatly desiring created things above the Creator. We will fall, but we must always get back up.

And so if we solely base the health of our relationship with Jesus on how passionate we feel at the moment we will soon find ourselves without hope wondering why we are so messed up because we can't seem to hold on to what once burned so bright inside our hearts even though it's what we truly want most.

And so it can be said the other way too, though it's possibly even harder to see.

If we think that we are close to God solely based on how passionate we are feeling, we still can face the threat of deceiving ourselves of the hidden dark truth lurking within.

I say this because it is possibly to feel passionate about the wrong things, not that Jesus is the wrong thing, but we can put the name of Jesus on a lot of things and it not actually be glorifying to Him.

Again, not to in any way disregard our emotions or feelings because they are a big part of who we've been created to be; but as Christians we must first judge the reality of our position in Christ within the context of His unconditional love.

We must first base the foundation and also our current position of our relationship with Christ on His steadfastness, not our feelings of rightness with Him.

"By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before Him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and He knows everything." -1st John 3:19-20

The thing we must strive to remember is that God doesn't change, our feelings change, but He is perfectly constant.

Thank God that He first holds us, that He keeps us.

I think that when we start to understand this truth that it can help us see and realize then that life does not have to keep being full of ups and downs where we have mountain top experiences but always only go back down to where we came from when the joy wears off.

With this understanding, we can then shift into a life of ups and downs within a continual progression upward.

Life will never be without downs, but having this perspective is knowing that the downs are for the ups, the valleys are for growth.

We can keep always moving up despite the feelings of being low. I believe it's possible! This is the joyful truth that I am trying to communicate to you!

Knowing that there are huge things that can only be learned in hardship, we really then cannot keep growing, moving forward, going higher and higher without the valleys.

We only seek half of what makes growth happen if we seek the mountain top experiences alone.

And so low, difficult times can actually be and do play such a large part of moving forward. Suffering in this way is very instrumental in the progression towards Christlikeness.

And so I think it can be said that without hardship, you can't have a complete version of devotion.

Knowing this is key.

And remembering this is so so big.

Oh God help us remember!

Add this truth to your foundation and it will help you to stand strong. Your life will different, opposed to the world. People will watch and follow.

Once this makes sense and you learn to live every decision and action out of this, watch how amazing life can be.

Jesus we choose to stand on Your promise of never leaving or forsaking us.

"..And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” - Matthew 28:20

Thank You that our relationship with You is based on the perfect gift You gave that fully keeps us whether we feel like it or not.

Help us trust in You whether we feel You or feel close to You or not so that we can keep growing and moving forward in the likeness of You.

We fall into Your arms of love.

All for Your honor and glory.

Amen.

She Spat On My Face!

Fun @ Villa Macri's 7 months ago w/ Tia and Brian.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=59926125405 (sorry it's sideways..)

I like it when the waitress asks "How we doin? good good good.."

2 New Books I'm Starting

Enjoying God - S.J. Hill - Hill is a Bible teacher, speaker and author. He is currently on staff at Mike Bickle's (the founder of International House Of Prayer) Forerunner School of Prayer and is professor emeritus at F.I.R.E. School of Ministry.

God Is Here - Steve Case - Unearthed within this book is a 17th-century wisdom that's remixed into a 21st-century guide to everyday life. With modern thought-provoking essays drawn from Brother Lawrence's original writings, God Is Here shows you how to connect with a God who's always available.

Yahweh

From the new Hillsong cd called "Faith.Hope.Love."

This is incredible..

http://vimeo.com/5857263

A Jealous God?

"Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God." -Exodus 34:14

The Bible says in a bunch of places that we serve a God who is jealous.
Now when we ascribe this word to God, I tend to assume that it can be difficult for us to consider Him to hold what we would usually think of as a negative human emotion. Something like jealously doesn't seem like it should be a part of His nature. If God is perfect, how could He be jealous? Plus He is God and He owns everything. What could He possibly be jealous about? Is there something that He doesn't have?

No, and yes.. I'll explain this later as you keep reading.

But could there maybe be parts of His nature that have more to them than meets the eye?

Sometimes we can easily view certain parts of the Bible as being completely literal; "Hey if God says that He is a jealous God then we shouldn't question Him. What He says is true and that's how He is", even though the Bible is filled with symbolism and metaphor.

Our God, who is jealous, I don't think is jealous in quite the same way we humans can be.
If we look at the kind of relationship God seeks to have with us, I think it sheds light onto this jealous thing.

Ephesians 5:22-23 - "Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior."

This is saying that the relationship and duties of a husband and wife are supposed to resemble those of the same relationship and duties Jesus and the Church have.
The book of Revelation talks about us being the "bride of Christ"
Our relationship with Jesus Christ then, is to be one of marriage. Our relationship is a covenant made to be undivided in our devotion to Him, forsaking everything when our loves between Him and the world are compared.

The thing driving His desire to be in relationship with us, to be His bride, is His love for us.
So in the context of when the Bible talks about God being jealous, it's the same idea of how a husband would be jealous if his bride cheated on him. She made him a promise, she entered into a covenant with him, but then she broke it.
"You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me" - Exodus 20:5

"We have a God who is jealous of other god's not because they threaten Him, but because they threaten us." - Dr. Bob Laurent

In Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus said "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment."
Jesus is saying here that He wants every single part of us. Let me point out though that it's not for God's benefit that we give all of ourselves to Him. God longs for us in our entirety because He knows that we need as much of Him as possible. It's because He knows that our wholeness is dependent on our giving all of ourselves to Him.

So to answer the question I asked in the first paragraph "Is there something that He doesn't have?" I'd say no because He is the Creator of all good things but I would also answer yes because if He wants every single part of all that we are it's probably because He doesn't have it all yet.

When God says that He is a jealous God, He is reminding us that He deserves our utmost/1st allegiance and best love.

How often do you and I worship and give our hearts more over in love to other things besides Jesus..

To know that we have a God who is jealous for every part of our hearts is a huge reminder and strength to keep me from giving myself away to other gods. To understand this attribute of God explodes in me even more gratitude for how much He loves me. It really helps me understand even more the fact that our God is in endless pursuit of all that we have and all that we are. And it's not because He is some big authority way up in the sky who wants to control us, no not at all! It's because He is the Creator of our hearts and He knows that our desires can only find their true and complete satisfaction in Him.

Doesn't it just make sense that if we give ourselves over to the One who created us that we will find in Him who it is that we were created to be and also what the purpose of our existence on this earth actually is. And so you can even say that we are most alive when we are being led and guided by Him and by His power. We find true life when we loose ourselves in Him.

Oh how I want nothing more than to be 24/7 endlessly loosing myself completely within Him!

So why oh why do we run from Him? Why do we think that we have got life figured out. Why do we choose to try and find meaning and purpose in things He created not the Creator? Why do we give ourselves over to worship other things?

"Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?" - James 4:5

We must focus!

We must remember that life is found in Him alone!

God, we lean into You now. Help us remember this truth! We are so desperate for You.

Holy Spirit we quiet ourselves before You now, speak louder than all the other voices.

We let go of our lives to find them in You.

We are surrendered.

Please give us strength to continue to do so as often as needed every single day.

You are our God and we are Your people.

We fully devote ourselves once again to You now, for Your glory alone.

How To Fight A Bear

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-fight-a-bear

Hillsong: Faith.Hope.Love

It released today!!

Are You Listening?

One night, a few years ago, as I was laying in bed about to fall asleep because I was completely exhausted from the day, I heard God say "Read My Word."

I then realized that I had not read the Bible in maybe close to a week.

But I was too tired to open my eyes and get up and pick up the Book and read it.

Then I heard Him again say "Read My Word."

To which I said "God, I'm too tired."

To which He said "Read My Word."

To which I said "Lord, seriously I'm just to tired right now."

To which He said "Read My Word."

To which I slowly finally got out of bed and picked up my Bible with my eyes barely open.

I then preceded to let it fall open on it's own wherever it may.

I positioned my eyes on the first verse I saw..

"Then he returned to His disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" He asked Peter. "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." - Matthew 26:40-41

I then knew that I should probably stay awake and read for awhile.

"Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, "Here I am." And he ran to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." But Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." So he went and lay down. Again the LORD called, "Samuel!" And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." "My son," Eli said, "I did not call; go back and lie down." Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD : The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him. The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, "Here I am; you called me." Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.' " So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." - 1st Samuel 3:4-10

God may be trying to get your attention.

Are you listening?

Speak Lord, for Your servant is listening.

Book Recommendation

From the book "Addiction & Grace" by Gerald G. May

"First, although God calls us all toward more perfect life, we cannot personally achieve the state of perfection. We can and should do our very best to move in that direction, struggling with every resource we have, but we must also accept the reality of our incompleteness. Second, we need to recognize that the incompleteness within us, our personal insufficiency, does not make us unacceptable in God's eyes.

Far from it; our incompleteness is the empty side of our longing for God and for love. It is what draws us toward God and one another. If we do not fill our minds with guild and self-recriminations, we will recognize our incompleteness as a kind of spaciousness into which we can welcome the flow of grace. We can think of our inadequacies as terrible defects, if we want, and hate ourselves. But we can also think of them affirmatively, as doorways through which the power of grace can enter our lives. Then we may begin to appreciate our inherent, God-given lovableness."

Evening Inspiration

"All truly contemplative souls have this in common: not that they gather exclusively in the desert, or that they shut themselves up in reclusion, but that where He is, there they are. And how do they find Him? By technique?

There is no technique for finding Him. They find Him by His will. And His will, bringing them grace within and arranging their lives exteriorly, carries them infallibly to the precise place in which they can find Him. Even there they do not know how they have got there, or what they are really doing."

- Thomas Merton - from "Thoughts In Solitude"