One for Andy...

I was on my computer at 10:21 a.m. checking my facebook and a good friend chimed in. He said to me "thanks for the encouragement in your status". Being slack on my facebook lately, I had forgotten what my status was. It was simply this (or something like this):

"Josh is...realizing who who God is and who I am and how strong he is and how weak I am"

I knew people read my status but I did not think anyone took anything I put on that thing seriously. So number one: I am now realizing that I need to be careful what I put on my status. And number two: I realize that can be an avenue to what people view me as.

Anyway...

Later on in the conversation, Andy told me that he had been delving into Colassions chapter 1. He said that it was very powerful. So I figured why not, let's dive in with him. One of the verses that Andy said interested him was Colassions 1:13 " God has freed us from the power of darkness, and He brought us into the kingdom of His dear Son" (or the Son He Loves depending on the version) Think about that for a second.

It didn't hit me at first, but then after reading the verse, it sank in. God has taken those of us who dwell in darkness (a.k.a. people of darkness) and graciously placed us (those who believe in Him) into the Kingdom that He loves the most. God the father, sent His only Son to be killed so that a proper sacrifice could be made to remove darkness from mankind, and place them into a special unique kingdom. Something is different about this God.

Not only is there something different about this God, there is definitely something different about His Son. He is so vital. Nothing is accomplished without him. Everything works with Him. Paul, in the NLT version, calls Jesus the great Secret. (Colossians 1:27) Christ is the only hope for Glory. Now in today's world words like Glory and Honor can be seen in so many different ways. Now that postmodernism has disfigured everything in the western world and most of the eastern world, Glory and Honor can be anything from hearing your name cheered at a rock concert to attacking a nation that defends freedom of all. How contorted have our views become.

In a world that demands the incomporable of mankind (true glory and honor), God decides to give his answer to true Glory and Honor, which is in Him only, through a simple carpenter. Seriously? A poor man... or is He poor? A quiet man...or is he quiet? A simple man, that if anything less than God in human form, could not have accomplished becoming the most influential political and religious power to ever step foot on Earth. Christ defied all rules. He broke all social boundaries. God placed Jesus in the most simple place so that he can show one simple fact to the world, through His Son man can do anything. A simple carpenter can be the most influential figure in history. If we have faith in Jesus, we also can do the same thing. But it is only through him. Jesus, really is the Great Secret.

Thanks Andy for getting me into that Chapter...once again I am realizing who I am and and who He is...how strong He is and how weak I am.

P.S. don't know why I put a lion on here...just liked it.

No More Chains...

A song most people are familiar with...a song that helps me celebrate the year that God has brought me through.

Complacency Killed The Cat

So, in no way, shape, or form is this blog intended for anyone in particular. If anything this blog is being written as a reminder to myself of what Christ does not want for his church, and what he does not want for me.

Take a long look at that picture...tell me, is that not the most pathetic thing you have ever seen? That cat is huge!!! How did it get that way...what made that cat so fat? Of course that cat isn't going to go run, he just ate and is completely happy and content with life. He does not need anything because everything has been provided. No need to act, just lay there and get fatter, because that is what he wants to do. I wonder if at any point if the cat ever thought that his actions might hurt him. His comfort might take him to a place that could endanger his life. Being content with where he is might just take his life. Why does this cat not take action? He is hurting himself...why does he remain in a state of apathy or laziness?

Over the last 2 years of my life God has brought me to trial after trial. Spiritual battle after battle. I notice that each one of these trials comes right when I am comfortable. Whenever I feel like I am satisfied with where life is itself, God reminds me how much he is needed in every situation, even the situations that are going better than imagined.
So what happens when we are complacent? The first thing that I see in my own life is I feel like I can take care of everything that is ahead of me. There is no need to pursue God's opinion, because mine is working at the moment. I find that when I am complacent, I replace God with things that make me happy for the time being. I fill my life with comforts that are unimaginable. I become spiritually lazy, and physically lazy. I find that things that used to not motivate me, now motivate me. For example, just being in a worship service and being one on one with God doesn't mean as much to me as, sounding better than the people who sang before me. Worship is no long a privilege, it is something I do to just get people off my back, God off my back, or my conscience off my back.
Satan teaches those who are delved into complacency (including myself), that what God means by "worship is a lifestyle not a service" is that we have a new "valid" excuse for not showing up to meet with God at that designated time for just you and God. (For me that designated time is going to church on Sunday mornings and my daily quiet times)
At this point Satan sees his new creation (which is actually the destruction of an individual) as a weak, passive, apathetic, and complacent Christian. I had a very close friend tell me that Satan uses a apathetic Christian more effectively than a lost person, because the Christian has influence that man has given them. Then they use that influence to create more complacency...in other words they use their influence to show other people that Christianity is comfortable, and lacks motivation.

Literally a year ago, I went through something that I hope no one else comes into contact with. I fell into fear. I was afraid of what life outside of complacency was like. I had created a life where I was popular, competent, strong, and came across as a complete man of God. With out delving into my complete past, I will say I was stripped of everything I had built myself up to be, and was placed into a hostile, unfriendly, lonely, uncomfortable, hard environment.

I will say that God took me in my "strong" complacent lifestyle and broke me in half. He took my talent, my comfort, my life, my friends, my influence, and my heart and taught me that they were nothing without Him. Because all of them failed. But when he came into the picture, God took them and created them to be what he originally intended. God did not want me to be complacent, he wanted me to be in Him. God did not want my version of the life he had for me, he wanted his version. God did not want the image I created, he wanted me, all of me.

So I pray that you are not falling into complacency. I know what it is like to be in a place where everything is so good. But know that when your focus goes to the things that are good instead of the creator of good, you are now in a place of complacency. Come back to Christ. He is waiting with open arms. He cares, He loves, He pursues, He is a relentless God.

Speechless

Just thought that everyone needs a reminder of how we should approach God's love

Dave Barnes + Midnight + Coffee = Good, short but sweet Blog

They tell me there’s songs reserved for angels
Would you sing me one, a stranger
Just to prove your love?
They tell me you’ve given poor men kingdoms
And handed guilty freedom
And taken on their stains
And your love will never change
Your love will never change
They tell me that you dwell with good and evil
In alleys and cathedrals
Shadows and the light
They tell me that you hold the world together
Not from guilt, but pleasure
And you somehow know my name
And your love will never change
Your love will never change
So tell me there’s nothing that you can’t do
And you’ll love me though I’ve hurt you
And that you’ll take my blame
And your love will never change
Your love will never change.

-Dave Barnes

Well it is somewhere between 12:30 A.M. and 1:00 A.M. and I can not go to sleep so I decided to blog. It's good for the mind so here we go....

I love good lyrics. If you can't tell I am a music person and over the last year I have learned that I would rather have great lyrics than anything. The song that is posted above is a song by a good man named Dave Barnes. It was the song that came on when I hit the shuffle setting on my iTunes. GREAT LYRICS!!! Barnes is a Christian and often likes to take theological ideas and put them to a setting that allows it to be heard to all people.

After hearing this song and the simplicity of it, I realized how hard it is for me to realize that my God's love will never change. He has done so much, brought me out of so much from my past, and put me into new things. But even if I were to look at Him and say that I do not want to have anything to do with Him, His love NEVER changes. I don't get it. Why and how can he give poor men kingdoms? How can Jesus hand me, a guilty man, freedom with out batting an eye. He didn't even look back.

Every time I screw up he is waiting with open arms ready to except me back, as if I never did anything wrong in the first place. I find myself in a place where I am overwhelmed by the power, grace, and mercy of a relentless God.

God's word tells us in Jeremiah that he knew us before we were formed. He knew how we would respond, act, behave, want, need, and much much more. He took much time on each and everyone of us. God sees us as not something He needs, but something He wants. God does not need us but he wants us. What a wake up call. Jesus did not die just because he said he would, he died because he WANTED too. He saw people in need and wanted to fix the problem. So he did just that. I would say that is quite everlasting. When he could have called upon someone or something else and call it quits his relentless unfailing love never changed. When the status quo could have been settled, he chose to do exactly what he said he would do.

I find myself wanting to be in the same place, in every aspect of my life. Do as Christ did maybe?

Sidenote: Read Francis Chan's New Book...I read the whole thing on a 2 hour plane ride and it changed my outlook on life.

Broom el Blogging numera 2

So slowly but surely I have gotten settled into my house. This house has been through a lot. It has been through air conditioning changes, different paint jobs, new appliances, old appliances, and much more. Nothing has ever been settled in this house. If I were a house I would want find something I wanted and leave it alone. Why is it when I get exactly what I want I can't keep it? I really liked the window unit...why can't I keep it. I mean heck I am THE HOUSE!!! I should have some sort of say in how things are run don't you think. What the house doesn't see is that the owner of the house is making it a better house, one day at a time. Window unit??? Are you for real??? Central Air BABY!!!! That is what the owner had in mind.

Man that has been the story of my real life. I have all of these great things put in my life. Or what I thought was great at the time. Jobs, money, friends, relationships, freedom, and anything you could ever ask for and more. Then when they are taken away...Josh is no longer a happy camper, but a really pissed off camper who wants what was never really his.

I have really been working on my bitterness as of late. I have friends and family who are dealing with the same thing. It's really easy to hold a grudge with God when he takes something out of your life. But just like the house...God takes things out of your life to replace it with something so much better. Honestly I did not want to use this scripture because everyone does, and if you know me I am an original freak! If you're gonna do something, it better have your signature on it and not someone elses. BUT this isn't my story I am telling, it's Christ's. So here it goes:

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

- God (Jeremiah 29:11)

So what happens when you allow your bitterness, grudges, and what not effect what happened to you, or what was taken away from you in the past. A LOT

Yesterday, I talked about how Jesus calls us to be fully devoted to the cause of Love. We are to unconditionally, meaning no matter what, Love those around us. Even if a friendship ends, and you go your separate ways, Love that person.

But put yourself in this scenario, friendship A ends. Doesn't end happily. Apply grudge to that, and friendship B starts with new people. I can almost guarantee that trust will never exist in your new friendship. Until you forgive that person and move on you can never have more than what you had before, in Christ. I have found that this is a very handy tool of Satan, use peoples past to make them think that everyone is the same and that Love can not truly exist in humanity. It is a lie strait from hell. God designed us for relationship. That relationship is created for Him, but is not limited to Him. So when we have relationship with others, if bitterness is in the heart it is crowding out space for Love.

So here is what I will ask you to sweep out of your house when something new comes into play. Do some renovation, replace bitterness with Love. Don't let old things effect what God might have in store for you. Don't take the offer that this witch in the picture has given you...there isn't room on the broom. The broom will crash.

I'm gonna finish using the broom soon, so check later tonight for the last couple of sweeps.

Broom Bloggin #1

Lately I have been obsessed with cleaning things out and up. I just moved into my new house and dust seems to haunt me. It's cool though, I am really excited about my new place. The house really isn't new, but it is new to me. To tell the truth it's really old, but it is my house and I love it. I am sure that a lot of stuff has happened to this house and in this house. I'm sure at some point windows have been broken. I'm sure that the power has gone out multiple times. I am also sure that there are bugs, spiders, roaches, and many other things that I don't want with this house. It might seem kind of frustrating at first but I'm willing to make it work I think. My first night in my house, I didn't want to make it work. All my stuff was laying everywhere and I had lots of sweeping to do. But I decided that it was time to prepare my broom. So I got to work. I'm still working. It will take a long long time, but when it's done, I know that this house is going to be worth it. What is it about working for something, that makes us want to run away? I am so guilty of being apathetic or just getting plain frustrated and quiting. This really takes place in life. I have so many friends that are broken, bitter, frustrated, hurt, scared, and any other kind of pain. I've been told by many this: "RUN!!!!!" Don't have anything to do with these people. They are trouble.

I beg to differ.

Why run? We are all placed in situations with people around us for such a time as this. I heard my pastor say one time, "In all of the armor that God gave us, Breast Plate of Righteousness, Helmet of Salvation, sword of the word of God, so on and so forth, God never gave us a back plate." There is no need to run. Running is not unconditional. So what do I propose?

Prepare Your Broom.

It's time to clean. What if I never cleaned my house? What if I said, "This house is dirty, I can't live here, time to leave." I would be an idiot. What if we packed our stuff up every time our place got dirty? We would be seen as people of apathy and weakness. But how often do we do the very same thing with our friends, family, and just with society in general. When we find out our friends' struggles, we just leave them to fight for survival by themselves.

Commitment is a word that my generation has skewed. It is not a virtue it is a decision. It is not something that is guaranteed. What happened to being unconditional? What do I mean by all of this? Christ calls us to love humanity the way he loved us. How did and does Christ love us? He loves us with an unconditional, unwavering, unceasing pursuit. He never gives up. Is this what he calls us to do? Look to the book of Hosea...God used Hosea to show that his love for us is that of a man who has an unconditional love for a woman who is completely screwed up. This woman was a prostitute, she loved the world and everything in it. But Hosea saw good in her and continually pursued her. He did not give up. Now what if I told you that this is what God calls us to do with the people of this world. NEVER GIVE UP ON THEM!!!! They will make mistakes but continual love, mercy, and yes GRACE is what we should offer them. Now do not confuse that with being of the world.

It easy to get sucked into what many of my friends from school and other places have done, and say this means we are to place ourselves in areas of temptation to reach the lost. I believe this is up to the discretion of the holy spirit in the individual lives of the people who are in these situations. As postmodern as that sounds, I believe the holy spirit works on a individual basis, but has standards that we to use to help determine what the holy spirit wants.

So this is what I offer... an unconditional, unwavering, passionate, dedication to all of humanity .

How do grudges, bitterness, pain, and want all play into being what is described above? Meet me back here tomorrow night and Ill tell you.