Why The "Panicking Christian"?

Like most Christians, I occasionally find myself in a borderline, all out panic about something which I already knew, but seem to have forgotten or that I only knew in my head, as opposed to my heart. And mercifully, God decides to show me what is really going on or what it is that I needed to know, before I completely lose my mind.

So the writing within is just that. It is that which God has shown and taught me while I was typically in one of those times in my life. Since the way in which He has chosen to reveal things to me tend to be fairly easy to follow and understand, I am sharing them via this format. That said, I take no glory for any of this. It is God whom has given me the ability to write, and it is He who has given me the content to write as well and He who saved me by His glorious grace in the first place.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

More Re-Posts

(More from my social media status updates for those without facebook)

You are never so far gone as to be out of the reach of the love of God. No matter where you find yourself today. If you never knew Him, you are not too far away to turn and reach out to Him and be accepted by Him, no matter what you have done. If you have known Him and find yourself in a place where you think you have no choice but to stay there, take heart and know that He has not left you as an orphan and wants you to come home to Him more than anything you can dream of. If you turn your heart and mind to Him, He will not only accept you back but will give you the strength to come home where you belong.

"... neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~ Romans 8: 38,39

It is not our head knowledge which moves us. It is not how much we know "about" someone or something which compels and changes us. It is the knowledge of our heart. It is not knowing "about" in our minds but truly knowing in that quiet place deep within which drives us forward to change not only ourselves, but the very world around us.

It is not about "religion" or tradition or following rules or book knowledge or who knows the most obscure facts. It is about actually knowing God. For if we truly knew Him, truly allowed ourselves to not only feel His love for us but to reciprocate it we, and the world around us, would never, ever be the same.

I pray that every person I know - whether a sibling in Christ or not - feel the love that God has for them. Not merely knowing it in your head, but truly feeling the overwhelming, personal, passionate love that He has for each one of you even moreso than you ever have before.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Chain Gang

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free" ~ Galatians 5:1

So tell me Church, do you realize that you are free?  I know you have read it and heard it before, but do you actually realize that it is true of you who have the Spirit of God within you?  Once upon a time you were not.  You were a slave to every whim, desire and temptation that crossed your path but when you switched from the kingdom of darkness to that of light, that all changed.  The world, satan, and even your own mind and lusts no longer own you.  You are free to make a choice that once you could not.  You do not have to listen to the old.  You do not have to give in.  Those chains which you carry about you are not locked.  Sin is not your master.  Lust and carnal desire do not control you. Those patterns and habits of your mind and body do not have to be obeyed.  You are free to walk away from those empty, hollow things which only ever led you into more guilt and sorrow.  "For sin shall no longer be your master" ~ Romans 6:14

" For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other" ~ Galatians 5:17

The old sinful nature desires what is contrary to God for that is all that it knows to do; it is the new which desires God. Now then, if you are truly free and you do not have to walk according to the desires of the flesh, the sinful nature, the old you or whatever else you want to call it, what does that mean if you chose to follow those desires?  For it is a choice that you make after all.  Does that not mean that you have choosen to rebel against the things of God?  I do not say that to cause you grief or guilt, merely to have you take a good look at yourself, your life and how you are choosing to live it.  Honestly, some of you - even those saved - do not care one way or the other but you truly should.  The old may be familiar and comfortable but it leads to darkness and away from the One who called and saved you in the first place.  Why would you want to go back to the old when you have tasted the new?  After you have felt the sun and wind on your face, why would you ever want to go back into the cold, dark prison cell you just left?

And do not get me wrong here, this is not bad news but wonderful news for all of those who are saved by the grace of God.  We no longer have to obey all of those 'fleshy desires' that eventually cause us so much grief - we can choose to obey and follow the will of God instead.

I do not write to condemn you or point a judgemental finger at you.  After all, we are born into bondage to the things of this world - spiritually dead and a slave to sin - so naturally, it can take some time for us to unlearn the lies and learn the truth of things.  That would be enough but we still have the old nature, the world around us and the devil all trying to convince us that we are not free at all.  And why would they not do so?  After all, if they can convince us that we are not truly free from them, then we will not act like we are and will still obey their every whim as though we have no choice.

But we do indeed have a choice.

Listen....
Can you hear?

Your Master bids you to follow Him.  And you are free to do so, no matter what tries to tell you otherwise.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Lessons from Nature

The sun beats down upon the African plain.  Within the tall grass, the lion silently watches the herd of gazelle and waits.  The herd begins to move on, but one lone animal has tryaed away from the herd ever so slightly.  The lion watches, their muscles tighten and coil - ready to release.  The animal drifts slightly further away from the herd as the herd continues to move forward.  The lion explodes from its' hiding place, covering the distance quickly.  The lone gazelle has not seen them until it is too late to do anything but attempt to run, but it is no use.  They are overtaken and taken down quickly.


"Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." ~ 1 Peter 5:8

When we stray, we become easy prey - plain and simple.  Not only in straying away from God, but in our straying away from other believers.  When the bible urges us to be in fellowship with one another, it is not because God just wants us all in easy to find/sort groups - it is for own benefit and protection.  Not only ours but others as well.  While going to church is a good thing, it is not the end all, be all of fellowship either - we should have other believers in our lives as well - even if we are not discussing scripture constantly with them just being together is helpful.  After all, Jesus did say in Matthew 18:20 "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them".

I know from my own experience that there is a difference in feeling when I am hanging out with unsaved friends and saved friends.  Even if not discussing anything "biblical", there is a certain calmness or closeness that exists.  Which makes sense really, since we each have the exact same Spirit within us - not a piece of the same or a portion, but the actual same Spirit. 

Did you ever notice that Jesus did not send out the disciples as singles but in pairs?  We would do well to take note of that.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Life is a Battlefield

"...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
"Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist"
"...take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one" ~ Eph. 6: 14,16, 17


I know that in this day and age, we typically do not see flaming arrows being used on the physical battlefield so us not being familiar with them is somewhat understandable.  However, for this passage, we perhaps should take note since it does not merely say arrows, but flaming ones.  So what's the difference?

While in the days of old, a flaming arrow may kill someone that was not their primary purpose.  Their main purpose was to fill people with fear and throw them into confusion - wound them, send them running and thus make them part of the problem and very ineffective.  With this in mind, those arrows of the enemy are not necessarily aimed at killing us so much as they are for scattering us, confusing us and filling us with fear.  So what are these arrows anyway?

Simply put:  lies.

Satan cannot change God or change who we really are, but if he can get us to believe a lie about either or both, he can cause us some real problems.  And do not think we hear these lies directly from him all the time - more often than not, we hear them from the world around us and other people, even some who are well intentioned.  Satan has been lying from the very beginning so he is actually exceptional it, which is somewhat unfortunate for us, especially when there are so many voices around us (even within our own heads sometimes) that feed us lies and false wisdom.  Wordly wisdom and Godly wisdom are massively different after all.

Back to our arrows.  There are many that get fired our way, far too many to list but here is a few of the more common ones:

1. Having us question God.  Same idea as happened with Eve in the garden, "did God really say...".  I have posted a bit recently about trusting God and having us question that trust can really drive us insane.  It causes us to worry all but constantly about all kinds of things - from our salvation to every other possible aspect of our lives.

2. Trying to convince us that we are no better than we ever were.  While it is true we lived the lives we lived, when we are saved by grace, we are made new - now spiritually alive and connected directly to God.  We are not what we once were.  Sure we may carry some old habits and thought patterns but we have a choice and do not have to follow them.  God calls us saints - not because we earned it somehow, but just because He called us, saved us and made us His very own.

3. Telling us all kinds of nasty things about God's character.  Point blank, slander.  The idea, of course, is to make us believe that God really does not love us or that He is out to get us or some other variety thereof.    Believing any of that will drive you away from God, not towards Him.

Now, considering how many of us have security issues, control issues, acceptance issues and trust issues, it is not to hard to see that even those few above could be devastating if they were believed.  So what do we do?  How can we defend ourselves from an onslaught that targets us in such intimate ways?  The answer is also in the armor listing of Ephesians 6. 

Truth and the Word of God.

It is within our minds and thoughts that we get bombarded so heavily, so it is there that we must take our stand.  For instance, if God were to tell you He was going to bring out something in your life you have two choices:  believe that He not only can but will (trust Him) or believe the lie that He will not do so.  Now what you may see may help reinforce the lie, but consider the words of Proverbs 3:5: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding".  We see only in part and understand even less.  As has been mentioned in a recent post, God has not broken a promise or  lied yet and is not going to start with you.  Believing that can, and does, help knock down that lie pretty quickly.

The same is true for what God has to say about us, as believers.  God not only calls us saints but He also calls us His children.  He says we are dearly loved by Him and that He is our refuge and our fortress and that He will never, ever leave us.  Sure, we still have the ability to commit sin but we are more than the sin we commit.  For example, I have known (and know) several people in my life who previously identified themselves as nothing more than objects to be used for sexual fulfillment by others.  Now if you believe that about yourself, how are you going to live, even if you are saved?  You are likely going to live in that perception of yourself as if it were the only reality - any sense of morality you even try to stand on will crumble without much effort.  And there is a good chance you will find yourself in a constant circle of shame and guilt.  However, if you believe that you are more
than what you have been used for in the past or the choices that you have made in your life, then you will live that out and you will find strength (in God) to stand against the old ways of thinking that once dominated your life.  You do not have to give in.  Not now, not ever.

In the end, it comes down to not only knowing what is true and what is not, but believing the truth.  Not the world's truth.  Not the enemy's truth.  Not your experiences in this life's truth.  Not what others call you or treat you like truth.  God's truth.  The truth about Who God is in character and the truth about whom you are.  Knowing that truth and standing on it.  Living it.  You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, after all.  You are a child of God, a co-heir with Christ, saved by grace and pursued by the only true God who is, indeed, jealous for you; for He loves you more than you can even imagine.

Now I am not talking about "mind over matter" or the "power of positive thinking".  What I am talking about is faith that what God says is true, whether that be about Himself or about us.  Choosing to believe God and take Him at His word.  After all, we choose to believe people all the time and people can (and do) lie. God cannot lie, so believing what He says just seems to make sense.

Hey does this mean that, since I am a child of God - saved by grace - that I can just carry on getting drunk every weekend, having random sexual encouters, lying to oodles of people, staying in that common-law relationship or whatever else that I have felt is wrong?  No.  No, it does not mean that at all.  What it does mean is that you have a choice - you can actually choose to live for God rather than living as a slave to what your past and the world tells you you are.

"What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!" ~ Romans 6:1,2

  You were not saved to pursue the old, after all, but the new - you pursued the old before, remember?  Why would you want to go back to it?  It was hollow before, it is hollow now.

So read and pray.  Seek the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.  Seek His truth first and foremost in all things and every situation, relationship and circumstance in your life.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

A promise is a promise

If we could see everything that God is doing behind the scenes, it would not be faith. It is faith which we hold onto. But faith in what? Faith in faith? No. No, we hold onto faith in God, who is always faithful and can be trusted to bring into being that which He has said He would. So in spite of what we see with our eyes, we hold on to what He has said - whether it be a biblical promise or something He has said to us specifically.

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. " ~ Hebrews 11:1

Can be a bit hard and frustrating to trust God sometimes. Not that He has not proven time and time again that He can be trusted, because personally speaking here, He has more than proven it. Is just hard when what we see does not seem to add up to what He has said but then again, we really do not see that much - only a portion of physical reality: none of anyone else's internal reality and usually none of what God is doing behind the scenes.

So what are we to do when we find ourselves wondering and questioning?  A few hints may be in order.

1.  ALWAYS remember that with God, all things are possible, regardless of what worldly advice, experience or wisdom has to say about it (that counts people in all roles you can think of including clergy).  The dead get raised, sick healed, waters parted, storms stopped and relationships restored.  Nothing is too hard for God. NOTHING.

2.  Remember that you really cannot see anything beyond a mere portion of the physical reality in which you live in.  You cannot see everything going on in this world or with anyone else, nor can you see what is going on within the spiritual realm which is a greater reality than the one we see around us.

3.  God is the God of the living.  He is here, right now in this nanosecond of time we call the present.  He is no longer in yesterday and we have not arrived at tomorrow.  Stay here and now with Him.  If He has said He will bring something about in the future, just trust Him with that but keep your eyes on Him in the moment.

4.  God has not lied or broken a promise yet and He is not going to start with you.  Whether that be something biblical, or something He has said to you directly.  Like Abraham being told his wife would have a son (Isaac) - their physcial age said 'no' but God said 'yes' - guess who won?  If God has told you something, then regardless of how things look right now, He is going to bring it to pass.

5.  Pray.  While there are likely to be many topics that come to mind in the moment, try praying for insight and understanding - not only into God and His word, but into all things within your life.  Pray also for discernment so as to be able to see truth from lie and wolf from sheep.  Finally, pray for wisdom - God's wisdom, not the world's - for all the insight and knowledge in the world is of little use if you do not know what to do with it.

So if you find yourself a bit frustrated, you are not alone but take heart - if God said He is going to do something, then He is going to do it. After all, He really is the only One who can say that with certainty.

To all who read these words (and even those who do not), I pray that the Lord, who gives generously to all without favoritism, fills you with greater insight, discernment and understanding into not only Himself, but all areas of your life. And that He grants you an overflowing measure of His wisdom, leads you on straight paths and fills every portion of your heart and mind with His truth.

*I should mention this as well.  We are talking about things which God has said, in whatever form, He would do.  We are not talking about what you want Him to do - wishful thinking is a whole other story.  In all things, pray and seek His will first and foremost.  Remember, even Christ prayed "not my will but Yours be done" (Luke 22:42) and He was/is God incarnate.*

(Portions of this are taken from some of my status updates from my FaceBook page)