Waking the Dead Part 6

               I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like I need someone to guide me through life.  The weight of everything is just too much to bear sometimes and it can be suffocating.  Maybe you think you don’t need a guide and can handle this all on your own.  If you’re a Christian, you can choose to live in a world that is fairly neutral and get by with the Christianity of tips and techniques.  Or you choose to wake up to a world that is full of spiritual warfare and is hell-bent on blinding others from the Truth. If that’s the case, then we’re going to need a Guide.  A really good one.  Luckily this has already been promised to us.  “You have made known to me the path of life...” Psalms 16:11a

                One of the coolest things about God is that while He is the Creator, Alpha, Omega, Comforter, Father, etc. He is someone we can talk to.  Probably the ultimate goal of Christianity, in my opinion, is intimacy with God.  A church could have programs set up to help you live by principles that bring honor and glory to God, but they can’t teach you how to be intimate.  This is something we all have to accomplish on our own.  “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.  Away from me, you evildoers!’”Matthew 7:23  Jesus called some people out who were doing things in His name, living a “Christianly life.”  He says He never knew them though because they lacked an intimate relationship with Him.  I can’t sit here and tell you can be intimate with God by doing this, this, and this.  You have to walk beside Him, daily, in order to figure that out.  Only by walking with God can we hope to find the path that leads to life and that is what it means to be a disciple.  A Christian.  A follower of Christ.  Not ideas about Him, not principles. Him.

                After we become a Christian, we have a good heart. (See my other posts if you disagree with this) A lot of Christians haven’t learned how to live from their hearts though.  This is a very dangerous thing too because if we go to war with an untrained heart, hurt and ruin could follow which would lead us back to the gospel of Sin Management and that’s not the kind of life we want to lead or the kind of life that God has created us to lead.  In order do this we have to “train.”  We need to practice seeking wisdom from God and having intimacy with Him in our daily lives.  If you were a general about to enter a war-zone you would definitely be doing as much strategizing about what you were about to do as you possibly could.  Why should we not treat life the same way!?  We must study His Word with the intensity of someone about to storm the beach of Normandy on D-Day if we hope to fight this battle victoriously.  We must walk with Him intimately.

                As important as wisdom is though, we cannot live by it exclusively.  God doesn’t always work in the most logical sense to us.  It didn’t make sense for Gideon to trim his army from 32,000 to 300 men or for Joshua to march around Jericho and yell at the city to make it collapse.  Both of these men trusted God though because they walked intimately with Him and listened to Him.  A lot of churches these days make their decisions based on principles and expedience but they are devoid of the supernatural.  Where is the living God at in this case?  We can only find Him if we truly seek for Him and listen to His voice.  How can we listen to His voice?  Scripture would be an obvious choice, but so many of us fail to read it or study it thoroughly.  (I am in no way trying to undermine the importance of reading Scripture btw) That isn’t the only way He speaks to us though and that is why so many people fail to recognize the voice of God.  He speaks to us through our situations and the people around us as well.

                “The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.  The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.  When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”  John 10:2-4 It’s funny how the analogy of a sheep compared to us is so true.  I don’t know about you, but I am so dumb sometimes.  I let myself fall into temptation, walk straight into it, think I know what’s better, or just don’t trust God.  Yet He is my Shepherd and will fight off bears for me and bring me back to the flock to watch over me.  This whole semester God has been trying to tell me that He is in control and I just need to follow in His steps and watch Him work because He’s got this.  He speaks to me all the time through different circumstances and experiences and other times He speaks by just creating a peace in me about something particular that I know only He can bring.  What He tells me doesn’t always make sense and it doesn’t have to.  Part of the journey is trusting in God above all else.

                Our hearts are key when we try to listen to the voice of God because this is the dwelling place of God.  How can we distinguish what’s pulling on our hearts when so many things are vying for our attention?  You must first remember that your heart is good.  If you are feeling angry, jealous, lustful, etc. then it is your flesh speaking and not your heart.  We must reject this because it is not of God.  Your flesh is going to try to use your freedom to get you to do things you shouldn’t do.  Anything that brings discouragement, accusation, or condemnation is not from God.  Neither is confusion, or anything that would cause you to disobey something that you know.  The Holy Spirit will tells us when we do something wrong, but it is never condemning.  “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 8:1 His convictions bring a desire for repentance.  “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10

                Most Christians and even non-Christians view the Bible as a book for Christian principles for how to live and leave it at that.  If God had intended His Word to be a book of doctrine He would have wrote it like that.  Of course we learn a ton about Christian doctrine and character in the Scripture, along with a great deal of wisdom.  But if you flip it from cover to cover you’ll notice it’s a giant storybook of men and women who walked with God.  When you read God’s Word, don’t view it as a manual of Christian principles but rather a testimony of God’s friends on what it means to walk with him through a thousand different episodes.  When you are at war, when you are in love, when you have sinned, when you have been given a great gift-this is how you walk with God.

                Having an intimate relationship with God is something that isn’t easy.  There are days when I get lazy and hardly pray at all or I just go through a busy day and ignore the people around me.  God is calling out to us and desires to be close to us though!  As screwed up as we are, He has made us beautiful and I want to know this King who loves me so.  I pray that your relationship with God won’t be the same after reading this.  Don’t try and live a life of principles because it is ultimately lacking a personal relationship that is the greatest gift ever given.  Let me know if there’s anything I can pray for you, don’t hesitate to do so.

In Love,

Bill

Waking the Dead Part 5

              One of the best parts about myths is the point where the hero/heroine is revealed in their glory.  In Cinderella, it happens when the prince puts the slipper on Cinderella’s foot and recognizes her for who she is.  In The Lord of the Rings, it happens when Aragorn finally arrives to the Battle of Minas Tirith on the enemy’s ships.  This theme also occurs throughout the Bible.  Joseph, who was sold into slavery, is recognized by his brothers as the second highest man in the kingdom of Egypt.  Even Jesus fits this mold.  I mean, who would care about a carpenter’s son from Nazareth.  Let me be the one to tell you that you have a glory that you may have never realized too.  You may doubt me on this.  “I’m too screwed up Bill.  I’ve done certain things so God couldn’t possibly use a person like me to accomplish something incredible.”  This is a lie I hope you have realized after reading my other blog posts.

                There is a glory to your life that the Enemy fears.  Things are not as they seem because we are not as we seem.  We were created to reflect God’s glory because Christ came to give us back our hearts and set us free.  “The glory of God is man fully alive.”  If this is true, then the opposite shouldn’t be true.  We were not created to sulk around in a cellar weighed down by shame and guilt.  Guilt is not from God people!  We are destined to live with an ever-increasing glory.  Your heart bears this glory and it is needed. Now.  This is the desperate hour we have been called to.

                Something a lot of Christians struggle with, me included, is that we think there’s nothing good in us.  We think that we are no-good wretches, ready to sin at a moment’s notice, incapable of goodness.  This is completely unbiblical!  Most Christians will refer to Romans 7:18a, “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.”  There is an important distinction though.  There is nothing good in your sinful nature.  That’s not the real you though! You are good and if you don’t believe me, you obviously haven’t read my other blog posts.  “Well, then, if this is all true, why don’t I see it?”  Exactly.  This is the point I have been trying to make clear.  The fact that you do not see your good heart and glory is only proof of how effective the assault has been.  We have been living under a veil for far too long.  It is time we come alive.

                “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.  Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  2 Corinthians 3:16-18  We’re going to think mythically, again, for a moment.  A lot of the Lion King can relate to Christianity.  There was a beautiful kingdom that was taken away by the enemy.  Simba was blamed for the death of his father and after years of losing heart he comes across a wart hog and a meerkat.  One night Simba dreams:

Mufasa:  Simba.

Simba:  Father?

Mufasa: Simba, you have forgotten me.

Simba:  No!  How could I?

Mufasa:  You have forgotten who you are, and so forgotten me.  Look inside yourself, Simba…you are more than what you have become.

Simba:  How can I go back?  I’m not who I used to be.

Mufasa:  Remember who you are.  You are my son, and the one true king.  Remember who you are.

                Simba is then finally able to throw off the veil of shame and self-reproach to take back the kingdom that is rightly his and we have been called to the same.

                Think of your favorite character you read about as you were growing up or even your favorite character from a book you love to reread now.  What draws you to this person?  More than likely, even through all the crap they go through, you still see their true selves shine through.  You see their character.  We are just the same!  They have a glory that you are attracted to and we have that same glory if we would remember who we truly are.

   “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us, it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”  Marianne Williamson

   Maybe you don’t believe this quote.  If you don’t, I challenge you to read it multiple times and pray about it.  Do you fear your own glory?  If you think this is prideful let me tell you it is NOT prideful to embrace the truth that you bear the image of God.  We are able to walk in humility because it is a glory given to us, nothing we do deserves it.  I think the main reason we fear our own glory is because once we let others see it, they will have seen the truest us.  “We can repent of our sin.  We can work on our issues.  But there is nothing to be done about our glory.  It’s so naked.”  It can be a bit awkward shining when everyone else is not.

   Living with your glory is the only loving thing you can possibly do.  You cannot love another person with a fake you.  You cannot love while you are still in hiding.  It will take courage to do so, but remember you have your heart and it is good!  Christ is greater than he who is in the world!  Maybe you know somebody who lives with this glory radiating out of them and you are deeply impressed with it.  You can do the same thing by being the glory that God has created in you.  We must admit we have a new heart and a glory from God, embrace this truth, and live with it.  Be what He meant you to be.  Come fully alive because it is a risk worth taking.


               Don’t be afraid to let God’s light shine through you.  Love on someone hurting, pray for your lost friends, give up your time to be with somebody, be intentional in your conversations with others.  Come alive.  I pray that you won’t be ashamed of the glory God has created in you.  Let it consume you.  If you have anything you would like me to pray for or something you would like to talk about don’t hesitate to do so. 

In Love,

Bill

Waking the Dead Part 4

               I am going to start this post by asking you to think mythically again for a moment.  The original Beauty and the Beast is a fantastic tale because is talks about a transformation.  Something as hideous as the Beast becomes the most beautiful thing once it goes through its trial.  The reason why we like this story is because of the awesome truth in it.  We are fascinated by tales of transformations because it is the secret to Christianity.  We are born again and become a completely new person.  How many Christians truly believe this though?  Most Christians would agree that their name is written down in heaven and they are forgiven.  Maybe they’ve changed the way they act a bit, their temper is a bit more under control, and their beliefs are different.  Transformed seems a bit much to describe them though, perhaps forgiven and on their way would be a better description.  Even though they’re a Christian they still believe that their heart is wicked.  Is this what the Bible teaches though?

                God created us to reflect His glory, but three chapters into the Bible we already screwed that up.  By the sixth chapter God had enough and decided to almost wipe us out.  “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.”  Genesis 6:5  God looked into our hearts and all He could find was evil.  If we were completely honest with ourselves we would admit that we are not what we were meant to be.  Don’t shift the blame onto something else.  Instead, try to compare your life to that of Christ.  There’s no way we can compare to that.  We can admit that something needs to be done about our lives.

                “But the usual remedies involve some sort of shaping up on our part, some sort of face-lift whereby we clean up our act and start behaving as we should.  Jews try to keep the Law.  Buddhists follow the Eightfold Path.  Muslims live by the Five Pillars.  Many Christians try church attendance and moral living.  You’d think, with all the effort, humanity would be on top of things by now.  Of course, the reason all those treatments ultimately fail is that we quite misdiagnosed the disease.  The problem is not our behavior; the problem is in us.  Jesus said, ‘For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.’  Matthew 15:19  We don’t need an upgrade.  We need a transformation.”

                I think Christians, for the most part, understand salvation but they do not understand Christianity.  We have been ransomed by Christ.  Our treachery is forgiven and we are entirely pardoned for every wrong thought, desire, and deed.  This is awesome and something that will set you free….for awhile.  Most of us find this feeling fleeting because we have to ask for forgiveness again and again and again.  We truly believe that something must be wrong with us even though we’ve been redeemed and most the time we end up feeling guilty.  I know I have for the longest time.  How can we possibly live up to something that we know we’ll fail at again and again?  I am a shadow of the person I was meant to be, yet I am forgiven.  One day this hell on Earth will end and I will join the angels in the choir, definitely Bass II for me.  This is what is meant by salvation.

                “The good news is…that is not Christianity.  There is more.  A lot more.  And that more is what most of us have been longing for most of our lives.”  The Cross didn’t just do something for us; something profound happened to us in the death of Christ.  “The death he died, he died to sin once for all….In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  Romans 6:10-11  God understands that the root of all our problems arises from the heart and He went straight for it.  We have been far more than just forgiven.  God has removed our heart of stone.  It has been set free and there is even more.

                A lot of people may assume that the Cross is the total work of Christ.  The Resurrection is just an afterthought to them.  It is just viewed as the extra point after the touchdown.  What image comes to mind when you think of Christianity?  For a lot of people, it is the Cross.  The crazy thing about the Cross is that it wasn’t used as a symbol by the early Christians.  It wasn’t even seen in Christian churches until 400 A.D. and even then it wasn’t prominent.  What did the early Christians use as a rallying point then?  “They (the Pharisees) were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.”  Acts 4:2 “With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”  Acts 4:33a “They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.”  Acts 17:18c

                The early church and personal friends of Jesus focused on the Resurrection, healing, and miracles because those are the things God wants us to focus on.  THEY ARE THE POINT.  This is why Christianity is so incredible.  Life, real life, the power of God to restore you.  This isn’t the story of a dead God.  The power of the Cross comes from the Resurrection.  With that resurrection comes something special.  Ever since Adam first sinned in the Garden, all of his descendants were born with a sinful nature.  Because of Christ and the Resurrection, we are born again into a new nature and a new life.  We don’t have the old self any longer.  I’m not saying that we aren’t going to sin again or that life will be easy, far from it.  What’s so awesome now is that sin doesn’t have that same hold over us.  We have a NEW heart.  “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”  Ezekiel 36:26  What are the implications of this?  Your heart is now good.

                What if Christians came to the point to where they really understood this?  Stop for a moment from reading this and think about it.  Seriously, take your eyes off the screen and think.  If you were honest with yourself and with God, you know that your heart is different and it is GOOD.  This is why Christians can never be the same, because we aren’t!  This knowledge has the power to change Christianity and it the last thing the Enemy wants us to know.  This is freedom and this is life.  Stop living a life you feel is shackled down by sin and guilt, which are not from God.  You are a new creation and you are good, no matter what your friends, family, or media may tell you.  Live life with this confidence because of what Christ has done through the Resurrection and live differently. 

Thanks for taking time to read this and I pray that it will impact you or challenge your thinking in some way.  I have been silent for far too long and now is the time for action.

In love,

Bill