Here we can see God’s direction played out, and Joash’s obedience to the Word of God:

“And Elisha said to him, ‘Take a bow and some arrows.’ So he took himself a bow and some arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, ‘Put your hand on the bow.’ So he put his hand on it, and Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. And he said, ‘Open the east window’; and he opened it. Then Elisha said, ‘Shoot’; and he shot. And he said, ‘The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria; for you must strike the Syrians at Aphek till you have destroyed them.’” (2 Kings 13:15-17, NKJV)

Joash obeyed everything that Elisha said, and Elisha gave him detailed instructions. This clearly shows obedience. Yet the following verses, while showing obedience, also show a lack of passion, zeal, and enthusiasm — which are things that God wants from us as well:

“Then he said, ‘Take the arrows’; so he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, ‘Strike the ground’; so he struck three times, and stopped. And the man of God was angry with him, and said, ‘You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck Syria till you had destroyed it! But now you will strike Syria only three times.’” (2 Kings 13:18-19, NKJV)

Obedience is important, absolutely! If Joash had not obeyed the Word of God through Elisha, he would not have struck Syria at all, and God’s deliverance would not be evident whatsoever. Yet, even though he was obedient, he was not zealous about what God had said. He was not given the specifics of what striking the ground would produce, yet his lack of response ultimately meant that God did not respond as fully as He wanted to. God wanted to give Joash complete victory, but the king’s response limited God. And as a result of that limitation, complete victory was not attained.

We can, and do, limit what God can do in our lives. The above illustrates this clearly. It is also spelled out quite plainly in the Psalms:

“How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel.” (Psalms 78:40-41, NKJV)

If you want to release the full victory and blessing of God in your life, do not limit Him. Do not hold back in your worship, in your prayers, in your intercession before the Holy One of Israel! Be obedient, yes, but do not hold back! Let the outward be an expression of the inward, abandon yourself and be passionate for God, be zealous and enthusiastic. Paying lip service to God, doing the prescribed works without love, loyalty, passion will get you somewhere, but it will not get you what you want, or what God wants to give you.

Abandon yourself, lose yourself, in worship. Let holiness and righteousness consume you, set a fire in your heart, to strive for and hunger after the Presence of the Almighty God. Prayer, worship, studying and consuming the Word, losing yourself in love and adoration to our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — show Him that He is the first and foremost in your life! Couple that with obedience to His Word, to His commands and direction, then you have a potent mix, a formula for victory and success in whatever it is you are crying out to the Lord for!

“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’ And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sites on the throne, and to the Lamb forever and ever!’” (Rev 5:12, NKJV)

Can you imagine the glory, the praise, the continual worship, the adoration and love and gratitude and blessing poured upon Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, in heaven? I can’t. This world is such a shadow, such a dim thing compared to what eternity will be like. And even here on earth, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the absolute abandonment and joy we can receive when we worship our Lord Jesus in spirit and truth, that anointing and blessing that comes from God the Father… I honestly believe it pales in comparison to what heaven will be like, despite how absolutely beautiful and fantastic it is.

Last night at church, as we were worshipping, I felt such an impression of “worthy, worthy, worthy”… it was so heavy, like it had weight, an importance behind it. It bubbled out of me like a desperate cry… God, You are so infinitely worthy! Worthy of my love, my time, my attention, my energy, my hopes, my dreams. You are worth more than I could possibly ever offer You!

And after such a wonderful encounter with God, and an awesome message, the reality hit me.

If He is so worthy (and He is) why aren’t we giving Him our best?

I mean, we sing songs about how worthy He is, how He sent His Son to die for us, how we owe Him everything. We sing songs about living lives pure and holy before Him, about inviting Him in, about becoming living sacrifices. And yeah, singing those songs are great and there can be a real heartfelt passion there, but… if He is so worthy, why aren’t we giving Him our best. I mean our absolute best?

So many times in the last few months I have been absolutely humbled by the overwhelming realization of who Jesus is and what He did for me. The absolute brutality of the cross — the suffering in body, in soul, and in spirit. Jesus took on the sin of every man, woman, and child as they pierced His flesh and hung Him on a tree. He felt the hatred of men towards Him as they cried out “crucify Him! Crucify Him!”. In the spirit, He felt the judgement and wrath of a holy and righteous God, poured out upon Him because He took all of our sin as the sacrificial Lamb of God. A wrath and hatred for all things evil, all sin, all the awful things that you and I and every human being from Adam until Jesus comes again — that burning anger was poured out on Jesus who took that on Himself because He loved us, He loved me, enough to suffer that in order to bridge the divide that sin created between God and man. And the really amazing thing is that I know that if there were only one person on the planet, He would have done the same thing anyways.

Humbled yet? I know I am. I keep thinking about Isaiah and the vision he had of God sitting in heaven:

“And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’ And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said: ‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’” (Isaiah 6:3-5, NKJV)

This is how I feel! I am a man of unclean lips! What I felt yesterday was that God is so worthy of our best and we’re giving Him leftovers. God demands the best of all we are, and we’re giving Him scraps fit for dogs! God forgive us — compared to what God has given us, we’re giving Him so very little of what we can, and should, offer Him! I am giving Him less than He deserves, so much less than what He deserves but God knows I am desperately trying to give Him more. Lord, take me, use me, help me to live a life of no compromise.. to be a living sacrifice, to be a witness and example of Your love and Your life in me!

If God is our King, and He is our Lord, then we need to start treating Him like it! We need to give Him the best of our attention — when we’re in church we should be there to adore Him, eager to consume the bread of His word for the Life it is! We should be taking notes, following along in our Bibles, lifting our hands and our feet and singing our hearts out! Not holding back, not texting on our phones, not leaving our Bible at home because we can’t be bothered to take it with us.

We need to give Him the best of our time — if the church God has placed us in has more than just Sunday-morning service, we need to go! This wasn’t an easy thing for me because I like my “down time”, but I’ve since realized that with God, He is my down time! Today work was getting crazy and busy and overwhelming and I was getting frustrated and tired. Then I felt such an impression to worship that I just turned up the worship songs, stood up, and lifted my hands before my God and worshipped Him as hard as I could for 15 minutes. It was brief, but it was powerful! And after tha,t there was peace, relaxation, an energy that I didn’t have before (I honestly felt like I had just woken up, refreshed, and having just downed an espresso or two!). What an amazing thing God gives us when we turn to Him! I could have easily gone and had a coffee, grumbled, muttered, whatever… but nothing would have given me the peace and vitality that just worshipping my Lord and Saviour gave me. Thank You, Lord, for that! But there is a very real key here: God honors the time we give Him. I have experienced this over and over again. Give God time and He will give you back whatever you sacrificed for Him. Did you give up sleep? The sleep you do get will be sounder, better, and you’ll wake even more refreshed. Did you give Him time that belonged to family or work? You’ll get that “time” back in increased productivity, a deeper quality to your family life (honestly though, your family should be in church with you! That is family time!).

(I need to quickly qualify the family time because there is a point of extremes. Yes, you should be in church as much as you can, and your family with you. But if you’re running around all the time, going to this church or that, or to that event, and not taking some time with your family, then you need to rethink what you’re doing. Good family time is so important, and we think it’s all rush rush rush, going here or there, when we need to take time to grow in our family units. That isn’t to say family time is sitting in front of the TV; if that’s your idea of family time you might as well be in church. I mean good engaging family time: playing board games, reading stories or the Bible, spending time talking and, more importantly, teaching your children about God is absolutely vital to maintaining a good strong family unit. As well, praying together, as a family, is more vital than you can imagine!)

So instead of skipping church to “minister” to a friend, you need to go to church (with or without them) — that will minister to them even more. They’ll know where your priorities are! Instead of spending time watching TV or playing video games, we should be spending our time at church or in His Word, or praying, or worshipping Him. I’m not saying don’t watch TV or play games or enjoy recreation, but what I’m saying is that the best of your time should be given to God and after you have honored Him and been obedient, then watch TV or whatever. Make all of that secondary, because God should be primary!

We need to give Him the best of our money — tithes and offerings. This is something God demands from us. 10% belongs to Him. We need to be faithful here; I believe it so deeply because I’ve experienced it. Tithing is so critical to receiving the full blessing of God. Offerings and alms are like lending money to God and He pays back with interest! But most importantly, because He asks us, we should do it. He’s worthy, right? Right!

We need to give Him the best of our talent — we need to be using our gifts and talents and skills for the increase of God’s kingdom! Whether this is serving in the church, whether this is ministering to people on the streets — whatever it is that God called you to do we should be doing it cheerfully and without grumbling. At our work, at our church, at our homes… everything we do should be done as if we were doing it for God. He deserves the best we have, and that includes the best work ethic! People should be scrambling to hire Christians, not wanting to get rid of them because we’re no different than the world in our work ethic! We need to be working hard because God gave us talents to improve and increase, and because He gives us the strength we need if we ask Him. We’ve got a huge advantage over worldly workers if we would only see it!

We need to give Him the best of our adoration — God deserves it. In heaven we will be crying out “worthy, worthy, worthy” for all eternity, so we might as well start practicing it now! We need to give God our reverence, we need to worship and pour out our love on Him because He is so very much worth it! We need to bless Him, crave His Presence, do whatever He asks of us because we love Him so much, because of what He has done for us and just because He loves us! He is called our heavenly Father for a reason! Now, I know that’s hard for those of us who don’t have fathers that pour out affection on us or make time for us, but realize that our Father is not like our earthly fathers. I mean, I love my daughter… I love her a lot. I would spend all of my time with her if I could. She’s beautiful, she’s smart, she’s kind, she’s generous, she has everything that makes her attractive to be around. I love her with all my heart. And yet, my love for her pales in comparison to God’s love for her. Jesus died for her too! God loves her with such an abundant love that I couldn’t even know it to describe it.

But what is amazing to me is that she loves me without question, without reservation. My daughter loves me to the point where it makes my heart ache because I am the recipient of that love. And I think God designed the family unit in this way so that we as parents can actually feel how God feels when kids love their parents unconditionally. And so that we as parents can feel how He feels when our kids misbehave or are not obedient, because that’s what we do to Him.

I also think that the way we feel pride in our kids when they excel and put their heart into something and give something their all (a test, a sport, whatever) is similar to the pride God feels in us when we give our tasks our best. And similarly, how we feel when our kids don’t try, lack ambition to succeed, when they’re not listening to us, when they don’t talk to us, when they don’t want to hang out with us… that disappointment we feel is small compared to the disappointment God feels when His children (us!) don’t listen (obey), don’t want to talk (pray), don’t want to hang out (go to church), don’t want to try, don’t want to persevere, don’t want to care, and so on.

The bottom line is that if we profess to love God, we need to bear witness to that. God sees the heart, He is not fooled by our silly justifications. He isn’t fooled when we want to watch a talk show rather than read His Word and justify it by saying we’ll do it later. You can’t trick God by saying that you’ll skip a service because you got to that really good part in a game, or a book, or you’re having a good time with friends, or the big game is on TV. God sees all, and He sees where our priorities lie by how we act, what we say, and what we do.

The Old Testament is full of examples of the sacrifices and offerings God ordained for His people. They were commanded to give the best of their flock, the best of their crops, the first fruits. I think that we’ve forgotten this, or haven’t read our Bibles enough to know it. We were bought with the most awful price, our lives are no longer our own. Yes, we are slaves to Christ because of the currency He used to pay for our redemption, His own blood. We can’t possibly pay Him back for what He gave us, but the very least we can do is live our lives obedient to His Word and express our love for Him in the most obvious way possible — by giving Him our absolute best, because He is worthy, worthy, worthy!

“For He will deliver the needy when He cries,
The poor also, and him who has no helper.
He will spare the poor and needy,
And will save the souls of the needy.
He will redeem their life from oppression and violence;
And precious shall be their blood in His sight.” (Ps 72:12-14, NKJV)

The above was part of my Bible reading guide this morning and it spoke volumes due to what we had done yesterday. Yesterday, we had put on a BBQ in probably the roughest neighbourhood in our inner city, a free BBQ to feed the homeless, helpless, and the less fortunate. Why did we do this? Because we love God, and we know He loves these people and street people are of value as well (which the above verse definitely indicates!), and they deserve to be shown the same dignity and respect that we are all accustomed to.

This is the third year this event has been put on, and preparation for it began months ago. There were preparations in the natural, of course, soliciting donations for the event, but there were also preparations in the spiritual realm. Twice we had done prayer walks around the field, just praying that God would do what He does best: meet with people, transform people, that His Spirit would be there in a very real way. As organizers, we had prayed together and individually for this thing for weeks beforehand.

Yesterday morning I was up at six in the morning, preparing to be down at the site for eight in the morning to begin setup. That morning I was reading from the book of Acts, and the works of the early church inspired me for the day. What powerful things the early church had done! What beautiful adoration to God, to His Word, to His divine purpose! What a humbling thing to try and recreate by the work we were doing!

The BBQ was an absolute success. Despite little technical setbacks early on that, in the grand scheme of things, really amounted to nothing, we had an opportunity to feed at least 500-700 people. Local media was out, so we got a few seconds of exposure on the local TV stations (keep reading to see the clips) and there should be an article in the local newspaper regarding it as well. It was a hot day, up to 24C and many of us got sun burnt. We gave away so much, a thousand hot dogs and a thousand hamburgers, brand-new clothes that were donated, pillows, donuts, fruit, chips, pop, bottles of water. Thank you to the many companies that supported us and gave freely to the event, and thank you to the many volunteers that helped. God bless you all!

Now that the natural results have been described, I need to describe the spiritual. And this is what made this day so exciting, so powerful, and so exhausting. As I said, we were praying for weeks before the event and even driving down, the music in the car was off, and I was praying for the BBQ, for the volunteers, for the food, for the people that were coming to the event. And God moved in an absolutely powerful way! Thank You God that You listen to the heart-felt prayers of Your people who are striving to be obedient and do Your will! There is so much to describe, so it may be a bit disjointed — please bear with me.

First and foremost, there was such a sense of joy among the volunteers. There were no arguments, no one complained about having to do more than others, or do something they didn’t like. We were united in one purpose. There were smiles everywhere, people were so welcoming to those coming through the line to be fed, there was a genuine servanthood evident. There was such complete _peace_ in that place. You need to understand that these are people who are accustomed to a life of strife and fighting, that literally fight over scraps of food. Yet it was so peaceful in the field. There was no striving for places in line. They were patient, despite the heat, and they were grateful for the food. They were polite, thankful. To put this in perspective, I drove off-site around 2:30 in order to get some coffee. Not even a block away I saw two men yelling at each other and fighting. When we were loading the left over supplies into the church at 6:00 there were young men and women, right before the doors of the church (which is also right in the middle of downtown) fighting and swearing and arguing. But in that place, at that time, there was complete and utter peace. No fighting, no arguing, no dissension.

I believe with all of my heart that God put His angels around that field as a hedge of protection. As we walked around and prayed for that field in the weeks leading up to the BBQ, and on the day of the event as we prayed, I believe God anointed that piece of land for His purpose while we were there. We prayed for protection and we got it. We prayed for peace, we prayed that the ground would be saturated with the blood of Jesus, that the Holy Spirit would overshadow that field and we received all of these things.

I remember a half dozen of us were behind the stage when the first pastor was preaching and we were crying out to God for repentance and open ears and open hearts and open minds. We cried out to God on behalf of the people, that the Holy Spirit would use the pastor’s mouth to speak life to these people. And we were rewarded with about a dozen people coming forward to the altar to be prayed for and receive Bibles.

Later in the afternoon a few us were getting ready to go off-site to clean up garbage. We had put it off to wait for someone who was supposed to come with us, and so we waited about an extra 20-30 minutes. Right when we were about to go (despite the person we were waiting for not coming back), preaching began and there was such an anointing that fell that we knew cleaning up the garbage of the streets around us was secondary to cleaning up the people before us, so we went into the crowd of people instead and just talked to people, showing them they were of value, speaking life into their lives, and just providing an ear to listen to them. Many people were prayed for, many seeds were planted.

After that, we had another pastor preaching and at the end of his message, he asked people who wanted to receive prayer to just put up their hands. I was at the front watching the sound board, having sat down for the first time in probably six hours, and I looked out and one man caught my eye. His hand was up and I felt led to go over to him and as the pastor was praying, I just stood behind him, put my hand on his shoulders and prayed. After the prayer was done I was able to sit with him and talk to him about how much Jesus loved him, how much value He had before God, and just really inspire him and lift him up. I told him about the inner city church, and he said he had a friend that went there and had asked him to go. I encouraged him to go, and I pray that he did go this morning, or will go this evening.

It was a long day of praying and interceding for people, and then there was the cleanup. Tearing everything down and hauling it back to the church was a job and a half, and we had less people to help with the tear-down than we did for the setup. Thank you so much to those who stuck around to help bring all this stuff back to the church! We were all tired and exhausted but we did it with a cheerfulness I don’t know if you would find anywhere else. And when that was said and done, we had another divine appointment waiting when we got back to the field. At this point, the field was empty, and all that was left were dirty BBQs waiting to be loaded up and taken away.

But with the five of us there, we had a man come over trying to sell us some shoes. He was obviously a street person, and not one of us really had a need for shoes (despite them being really nice shoes!). But my friend, God bless him, offered to buy the shoes if he could talk to the man for a few minutes about Jesus. You could see his back get rigid and he got defensive, but he was willing, so the two of them went off for at least 20 minutes. Then they came back, we chatted a bit, and then someone asked if we could pray for him. At this point, he had his $30 for the shoes and could have declined, but I know he was there by divine appointment and he was willing. I don’t know if he expected something short and sweet, but there were five of us and we all prayed over him… we covered him for at least 15 minutes and the Holy Spirit was definitely there. We poured God’s love over him, our love over him, the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and guidance and discernment. We covered him the blood of Jesus and prayed that his heart would be changed and that he too, would find his way the next day to church, and that the enemies lies would be exposed for what they were. He was told in no uncertain terms that the shoes meant absolutely nothing to us, but that we had a deep and sincere desire to minister to his spirit, that the money meant nothing to us. He left with his money, and thanked us for the prayers. I sincerely hope he made his way to the church this morning as well; I pray that the Holy Spirit ordered his steps because I know that he was there by divine appointment. God had His hand in the whole day, and this meeting was no exception, no coincidence.

I got home at 8:30 last night, over 12.5hrs after leaving that morning. It was an exhausting day: physically and spiritually. But it was also one of the most beautiful days I’ve experienced, and despite what God did for the people that we served, I know that He was pouring His love into me — not necessarily love for _me_, but sharing His love for His children, for the people that live on the streets, the people that most would discount as non-people, people of no value. He was giving me His love for them so that it would become _my_ love for them! I know that a gratefulness for God Himself and a love for people was birthed in me yesterday, and it spilled over this morning.

Despite a good 9hrs of sleep and still being exhausted this morning, and feeling that I couldn’t give God what He deserved at church this morning, I was completely and utterly abandoned in worship to my almighty Lord and Saviour Jesus. The Holy Spirit visited me so powerfully that if I could have I would have knelt in the aisle and wept with joy before my God. As it was, I stood with arms raised and wept before Him, declaring my love for Him and the awesome privilege that He gave me to be able to do His work yesterday. Jesus, I love you so much, and thank You for the most awesome privilege of being able to serve a people so dear to Your heart! Thank You!

And the message this morning really struck me, as it was about the fruit of repentance, or the true signs of a Christian believer. And the first of the three fruit was being generous and compassionate. How amazing that this message came a day after the service we had done! (Have you ever noticed that God affirms His work in your life through the ministry of the Word? I sure have!) A true Christian will display the fruits of generosity and compassion to people, as John the Baptist said:

“So the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none, and he who has food, let him do likewise.”” (Luke 3:10-11, NKJV)

I count myself privileged that God saw fit to use me yesterday, and I may myself available for continued. He blessed my heart yesterday, truly, and my reward this morning was to feel Him so powerfully to the point where I felt like I couldn’t contain it anymore. Thank You Jesus so much that You love me and care for me, and that You are continuing to shape me into a vessel of honour that can be poured out to bless Your people!

The following video clips are from the news yesterday. We got a little bit of coverage, but sadly they didn’t keep any of the parts talking about God. Truly this was done in His service, for His honour and His glory. And while the media might not acknowledge that, every person who was there yesterday, from those giving their testimonies and those putting ketchup on a bun, to those who received food for their bellies and their spirits, _they_ know that this was done all for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you again, to all the volunteers that helped out. I had a lot of family out to help, and I’m so proud of them for being willing to give of themselves to this cause. I’m grateful to my little girl who handed out water and pop with such enthusiasm and generosity; you make me so proud. And to my lovely wife who gave of herself the whole day, serving people and talking and listening, bless you for doing what God has called you to do. I feel such a pride for my family, yet I am humble before my God who counted me trustworthy enough yesterday to minister to people. What a privilege!

… is sad to have just seen someone who was baptized a few years back, but today says, ‘It’s not working for me any more…’ I sometimes wonder why God doesn’t do a better job of keeping his people. But I also wonder, ‘What are all the dynamics that come into play in a decision like that?’

I think this is the wrong question to ask, honestly. I think the real question is: “why aren’t we doing a better job of keeping people?”. If God doesn’t change… if He’s the same today, as He was yesterday, and will be tomorrow, then it isn’t up to God to keep us, it’s up to us to keep ourselves and those around us. Blaming God because someone was baptized and then a few years later has strayed and says “it just wasn’t for me” is a cop-out, and playing the blame-game with someone Who doesn’t deserve that kind of criticism.

I think the problem really comes down to emotion, rather than faith. Too many people “try” Christianity and then when it doesn’t do what they want, they give up on it. But I don’t understand this, because I don’t understand why they “get into it” in the first place then. Do we “get into” Christianity because we expect God to do something for us? I think this is usually it. We want God to heal us, prosper us, take care of us. We go to a meeting, are swept away in anointed worship, get on a “high” and then come to the altar and profess our love and need of a Saviour.

Often it’s like going to a good concert, or a good sports game. In the moment, it’s amazing, the crowd is excited and loud, our hearts are pounding, and we’re cheering like crazy. The next day we’re exhausted but still on the same high. What a great game/concert/worship service that was! We can go around pumped up by that excitement we were a part of for days… sometimes weeks.

But then the excitement fades as real life takes it’s toll. There are long days at work, arguments with the spouse, dealing with kids, hanging out with friends. We spend our time watching TV or playing video games, and the excitement, feelings, and memories dim. What excited us in the moment last week is no longer vivid because the boring day-in, day-out of our life is back. And we no longer feel like we did.

For a concert or sports game, this is par for the course. These things fade, they don’t last forever. However an encounter with God, a real encounter with God, should last forever. You can’t have an encounter with a holy and righteous God and not come away changed. I mean, you can’t have a real encounter without it being a life changing encounter. I love the way Paul Washer describes an encounter with God; it goes on the premise that a meeting with God is like a meeting with a semi-truck. When you encounter that truck going full speed on the highway, one of you will leave that encounter changed — and it isn’t going to be the truck! When you hit that truck, your life is changed in a way that will never be the same again.

Got that imagination working? Imagine it. That is one awfully messy transformation! That is a complete and utter and total transformation! And that is how we should be changed when we meet God, when we truly meet God!

Sadly, this isn’t often the case. And I put myself in the same place… many times have I gone to meetings or camps where I ended up on my face before a God who loved me so much that even if I were the only person on the planet, He still would have sent His Son to die on the cross for me, so that I could have a relationship with God the Father. I know a Saviour that loves me so much that if I were the only person on the planet, He still would have gone willingly to the cross to be humiliated, beaten, and received the full wrath of Almighty God on my behalf. And weeks later I threw that love back in His face as if it meant nothing, and lived life my own way, on my own terms, again!

God forgive me, I am just as guilty as the next man, and have done it many times. It pains me to admit it, and I am ashamed that I have repeatedly despised that most beautiful and generous gift on so many occasions, but I believe this is what happens to a lot of people. It certainly has happened to me.

The real problem is that when things get tough (or we don’t think God is working the way we want Him to) we think that there is something wrong with God, when the reality is there is something wrong with us. You look at a world where self-help books are the source of help to so many people, where people are told to “visualize” success, where the law of the land is me, me, ME! Where people think they are their own gods, that they aren’t responsible for what happens to them and the choices they make. Oh no… I’ll take all the credit for the good things that happen to me, but when bad things happen, God is to blame… He is my scapegoat.

Yet, if God never changed (and we know this to be true), then who really is to blame? God is the same today as He was when we felt so overwhelmed with love for Him, and felt loved by Him. When the feeling wears off, is it God who loves us less? No! It is us who love Him less!

I think there are four places where we can put God.

The first is right in front of us where He belongs. He is first and foremost, He is the most important thing, and we come before Him daily with love and adoration, humility and thanksgiving.

Or we stuff Him in our pocket, and pull Him out when things are too tough to handle on our own. God is useful only when we need Him, but if we don’t need Him, then we won’t pay any attention to Him. He’s safe and secure, tucked away, ready to be called out on a moment’s notice should we need Him.

Third, I think people put Him on a shelf. They don’t have God handy when they need Him, they have to go figure out where they left Him, dust Him off, and then get some help from Him. These are people that will only go to God in the most extreme of circumstances because He’s not even worth enough, to them, to carry around. These people don’t want God to interfere, to make things uncomfortable, to be inconvenienced with a Christian lifestyle. I think these people have a very cluttered shelf and God takes up a small part of the shelf, usually at the back. More prominent on the shelf are the other icons, idols, and self-helps that they reach for first.

Finally, there are the people who are so stubborn and hard-hearted that they deny His very existence. They don’t even have a shelf to put Him on.

In each of these scenarios, however, God is still God. The difference is where we put Him.

So, in a large part, we are responsible for our own relationship with God because, after all, it is our relationship with God. He already proved how much He loved us. If God did nothing else for me from this point forward, I would know that He loved me more than I deserved by what Jesus did for me at the cross. But because God loves me, He continues to bless me and give me good gifts (be they spiritual, emotional, material, whatever). He makes His relationship known to me, He speaks to me, He comforts me. He is always there when I need Him, and I always know where to find Him because He’s out front. God isn’t the co-pilot, as the popular bumper sticker says, God IS the pilot! I’m just along for the ride.

I also think that we, as brothers and sisters in Christ, are responsible for our “siblings”. The Great Commission tells us what our job is, but it also tells us that we have a responsibility:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.” (Matt 28:18-20, NKJV)

Our job is clear: to make disciples and to teach people. Our responsibility is clear: to make disciples and teach people. The dictionary defines “disciples” as: follower, adherent, believer, admirer, devotee, acolyte, votary; pupil, student, learner; upholder, supporter, advocate, proponent, apologist.

A disciple of Jesus Christ is one who continues to learn, who follows His commands, who is devoted to Him and His Word, who supports His people. We are most certainly responsible for our brothers and sisters in Christ! When Cain was asked by God where his brother Abel was (after he had killed him), and Cain replied “am I my brother’s keeper?” I think that God’s answer was a thundering YES!

The bottom line is that we as people need to take responsibility for our own actions. It’s not up to God to “keep us”, it’s up to us to remain faithful. And if we see a brother or sister stumble, or get discouraged, or become lost — we need to deal with that, and not ignore it. Yes, it is their life, but if God has given them to you by being family, or a friend, or someone to whom you are in a position of leadership or authority, then I very much think that God makes you, and me, responsible for how we treat, talk to, encourage, ignore, berate, condemn, or judge them. Ultimately they are responsible for their own salvation and relationship with God, of course, but we do have a responsibility to them as well, and a responsibility to God as to how we deal with them (for good or bad).

I think we need to realize that the burden is on us, not God, to continue our relationship with Him. We have the choice. God made His choice thousands of years ago when Adam and Eve first sinned, because even then He spoke about the coming of Jesus! God made a way for us to have relationship with Him, and all it costs us is love and obedience. Because if we love Him, then the things He asks of us are not hard or, if they are hard, they are worth the effort and cost (and don’t forget, He will give us the strength we need to accomplish what He asks of us if only we will ask Him!).

Remember, Jesus paid the most awful price to bridge the gap between man and God. And we do not need to earn what He has given us; it is a gift, a most beautiful gift. It is freely given, and easily received. He already demonstrated the love He has for us, beyond anything we could ever imagine.

No, it’s not up to God to keep us. It’s up to us to keep ourselves in the faith, and God makes this easy if we put our faith, hope, strength, trust, and love in Him… and Him alone.

God bless! I know this is a hard truth to bear, but it is truth, and I hope it encourages you and grows your relationship with God the Father!

“And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!’” (Isaiah 6:3, NKJV)

The whole earth is full of His glory. Who is in the earth? We are. So I think there is a call for us to be glorious before God, so we can fill the earth with His glory.

But how do we “fill the earth with His glory”? How do we become glorious before God?

I believe we display the glory of the Lord by leading lives of holiness and righteousness. Lives without compromise. I believe that God makes us glorious as we humble ourselves, and as we submit to Him, leading lives that are wholly holy (the dictionary defines wholly as “entirely” and “fully”), and righteous (right-living) before God.

I believe that if we are 100% wholly sold out to Jesus Christ — uncompromised, unapologetic (to the world), complete and utter love slaves to our Saviour and Redeemer, that we glorify God with our lives. I’m not saying we become glorified — we don’t. To say that we are glorious is to tread dangerous New Age thinking. No, we are not glorified. The whole earth isn’t full of our glory, but we were called to fill the earth (“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28, NKJV)), and we need to start filling it with His glory. I believe we were called to more than just dominion over the fish and animals — we were called to fill the earth with His glory! We become vessels of honour as we are filled with the Holy Spirit and live righteous, holy, pleasing lives before Him.

The dictionary defines glory as: high renown, or honour won by notable achievements; praise, worship and thanksgiving offered to God. Magnificence, great beauty. A thing that is beautiful or distinctive; a special cause for pride, respect, or delight.

We obtain honor from God as we lead lives that are right before Him. This means knowing His will, and being obedient to it. I like how the dictionary also defines glory as “praise, worship and thanksgiving offered to God“. That means that our praises, our worship, and our thanksgiving to God is His glory!

This is a call to praise and worship, a call to holiness and righteousness! A call to become sold-out in our relationship with Jesus Christ!

I always look for my “two witnesses” and here it is:

“And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.” (Psalm 72:19, NKJV)

If there was ever any doubt that we were set on this earth to praise, worship, and adore our King of Kings, let that doubt be put to rest. The call has echoed for thousands of years, and I believe revival is coming — true revival, where people repent of their sins and become holy and righteous, uncompromising and unapologetic for their faith and hope in Jesus Christ!

“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 11:1 (NKJV)

“For to this you were called because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: ‘Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth,’ who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;” – 1 Peter 2:21-23 (NKJV)

This is a lofty thing to aspire to. Imitate Christ? He who was perfect and without sin? How can we possibly do something like that?

Fortunately, it says to imitate Christ, meaning to be a likeness of, to copy, simulate, to follow as a model. To be like Christ, who lives inside us, and gives us passion and purpose and a desire to be like Him. We cannot be perfect like Jesus was perfect, and we are only human.

But that doesn’t give us license, or an excuse, not to try to be like Him.

Notice that the Apostle Paul is telling people to imitate him, who in turn is imitating Christ. Paul was one of the most passionate people of the early church, one of the most devoted, one of the most dedicated. He tells the Corinthian church to imitate him, just as he imitates Jesus in his actions and his responses to situations, how he worked to further the early church and spread the gospel.

Even Peter says that Jesus is set before us as an example of how to live. How Jesus loved people, how He served people, how He suffered at their hands and turned the other cheek. How He gave Himself as a living sacrifice for each and every one of us. How He committed Himself to God, who is the righteous Judge.

Of course, if we want to imitate Christ, we have to know Christ. This means reading His Word, His love letter to each one of us. The New Testament is full of the teachings of Jesus, and how He handled situations — the same situations that each one of us face. He faced temptation, He faced persecution, He faced death — and He overcame every situation. He is Lord over all situations and all circumstances because He faced them all and, most importantly, He won.

Through Christ we have victory. That victory has already been attained — we were purchased at the most awful and amazing price, and our victory is assured. But, like Christ was obedient to the Father, we need to be obedient to Him, and that means we need to be like Him.

Imitating Christ may not be easy, but that is why He sent us the Holy Spirit, our helper:

“And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever — the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be with you.” – John 14:16-17 (NKJV)

God has given us all the tools and help we need to imitate His Son! We just have to believe, have faith, and then step out into our promised inheritance and be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world. Christ is the head, we are the body. When we submit to Him, to His Word, to His Spirit of Truth, then we can imitate Him because we know Him, and through our words and actions, others will come to know Him too, because He lives inside of us and He wants His Light to shine through us — if we let Him.

This is the testimony of how God moved in my life. I was raised in a Christian home. My family and I lived in a trailer park just outside of a big city. We were very poor, but we all loved God and attended church regularly. I was never really liked as a child. Friends were hard to come by, but I didn’t mind too much. We moved into the city into a nice house when I was 13. I attended a new school, where again no one liked me very much. My sister, who was almost 20, left for a program called the Masters Commision in British Columbia. She decided to stay and live there because she felt there was nothing for her where we lived. As I continued to go to youth groups at my church, I found friends there. We were a bit of the “black sheep” type of people, having strange clothing and funny color harido’s, but we liked each other.

When I was a bit into my 14th year, my grandfather died and then my life-long friend who was only 15 overdosed on drugs. It impacted my church friends and I greatly. We stopped hanging out, and went our seperate ways. I slowly stopped going to church and found myself friendless again. I wanted people to like me so bad. So in grade 9 I finally figured out how. I started to say yes to things, and I started to become what others wanted. I’d go to the parties and smoke some weed and drink with them. At school I’d make fun of people, and I began to smoke cigerettes. My life went down hill after this.

I entered high school ready to party. When I was in grade 11, I was introduced to cocaine and crystal meth. I had never done anything like it before. Because cocaine was so expensive and people dont like meth heads, I decided to do ecstasy instead, which is a combination of all drugs in one. Within a year and a bit I had swallowed over 500 pills and had done other numerous amounts of drugs along with it. Life was a blur, and questions were begining to present themselves. Questions like whats next? Why am I here? Is there more? I still belived in God but didn’t want to walk in His ways. At the end of grade 12, I “fell in love” with a woman 5 years older than me. She was smart, sucessful and drug free. I thought this was the answer. So We moved in together and stayed together for two years. I continued smoking pot and drinking alcohol. I realized a year in that life was still not fufilling and I was not happy. I began to drink a lot and my girlfriend and I began to fight more and more, and the fights all the while becoming more and more violent. I needed a change, so I did. I left her and broke her heart, for I had promised to marry her. The next year and a half consisted of numerous women, drugs binges and forgotten nights at the bar.

I was up late one night smoking a joint in the midst of all this, and I started talking to God asking what I was to do, why I felt that destiny was on my shoulders but It wasn’t presenting itself. He answered with the word “patience”. This did not make me happy. I moved from my dad’s house and lived with some friends. Party animal was my title, and I lived up to it. My life consisted of either being completely stoned, or getting drunk and chasing people down the street with machetes. I finally met up with a girl from high school that I had been infatuated with then, and she still held my heart (although she had no clue). I had finally found my answer — until three dates later when she decided to be with another guy. My cries to the Lord became great, and I confessed that it was in His Hands, and that I didn’t know how to fix everything. I rememeber waking up and lighting up a cigarette and looking around my dull ghetto room. The Lord spoke the words I was patiently awaiting for two years: “Its time to go.”

I immediately smiled and picked up the phone to call my sister. “I’m coming to BC, to go to the Master’s Commision” I said. She began to cry. Her prayers had been answered. I left nine months ago, and am still enrolled in the Master’s Commision. Life has never been more satisfying. I can be myself and still be loved. I have not felt this happy since I was a small child. I can truly say Christ is the answer. The love, fufillment, and acceptance I feel is greater than any drug I’ve ever taken. I don’t worry about the future anymore because I’m living it. The freedom I feel can only be described as “real”.

Society lied to me for years about who I was and what I needed, and now I have found my identity. I would like to end with a word of encouragement: If you know someone like me who is doing drastically wrong and seems impossible, we serve a God who is extremely great and can do anything. So don’t stop praying for them, never stop. I dread to think of what would have happened had my sister stopped praying. If you are like me and are looking for answers and you’re stuck in the oblivion of lies that the world has engulfed us in: There is hope, you are not alone and the love and freedom you seek is with Christ who is King. The rules look scary from a distance, and the people seem stuck up and phoney. But society has twisted our perspective on true Christianity, Ned Flanders is a fraud (ha). The rules are there for good reason and make your life infinitely better, and the people are just like you and I, sinners looking for help, love, identity and freedom. It is truly an amazing life. I love you all and pray that God blesses you.

I was raised up in a Christian home with two loving parents and a younger sister. We lived in a large city for seven years and then moved to a small town just outside it. In the first few years I had a hard time trying to fit in. The kids that I went to school with treated me harshly. They would beat me up and make fun of me every day. Growing up, I lived in a constant fear of people. My self esteem was very low. I thought that I was different and no good. All the things my classmates said were becoming true in MY MIND. At age ten I remember being in my bedroom and crying franticly, pulling on my hair and holding a knife to my neck screaming that I wanted to die. My mother came in, and seeing me like this told me that she loved me and that all would be alright. The words and actions done to me affected me physically and emotionally and, later in life I found out, spiritually. Thankfully these kids that were so mean to me before had started to treat me with some kind of respect.

Now my life seemed to be going in a direction I liked. I had friends and I played in sports teams, all was well. I even started to have girls liking me, something that was fairly new to me. I was really enjoying these times until the unimaginable happened. My father had come home late one night and as I was trying to sleep, he came and gave me a kiss. I knew something was wrong so I pretended to sleep. When he went upstairs I heard him telling my mom that it was over and he was leaving her. I remember my mother screaming in utter terror as her whole life was being taken from her. She pleaded for my dad to not leave. But he left. I didn’t know how to take this so I built up a wall to protect myself AGAIN! My family and I now had to move back to the big city so that my mother could find work and make a life for us. My mom went first to welfare and got some help from them. Then she found a job during the day and went to school at night. As I write and remember what my mom did I can only thank God for giving my mom the strength to endure this while still trying to cope with the loss of her love. THANKS MOM!!!

As a kid I didn’t see things like this as I do now. I felt really abandoned and all alone. I thought that I was a man now because I had to fend for myself, since both parents were not able to be there for me when I wanted. As I started to look for friends, I found some not in school, but outside school. The outsiders, the hurt, and broken, just like me. This started my years of crime and drug abuse. With such a low self esteem and no real guidance, I was easily influenced into many of the things I chose to do. By fifteen years old I was already in prison. The first time in jail, I spent thirteen months in custody. Because it was such a long time when I got out I was worse than before. I didn’t know what to do except go back to ”MY BROS”. They welcomed me with opened arms. It was nice to be wanted. Positive or negative, I just wanted to be accepted and these friends did that in their own way. As my drug abuse escalated so did my issues around me.

I was getting kicked out of school, arrested and depressed. My first real encounter with suicide was when I was fifteen. I tried to hang myself and never succeeded. The only good thing about that day was that my father acknowledged me in a way that made me feel like I mattered. My father told me that I couldn’t die because I had to keep the family name going. I was so happy that I had a purpose, BUT like every other time in my life things just got worse. My drug abuse was at an all time high. I was using all kinds of drugs. No longer was it just weed and alcohol. I was using crack, acid and many others. During this whole time I had little or no contact with my father. With the high cost of drugs I had to start dealing. I met some people that sold crack and started to provide that to others.

The first day I was supposed to work as a dealer, I heard a voice inside of me say not to go. I knew that I shouldn’t, but I did anyways. Low and behold, the first customer was a cop. I got arrested and charged with trafficking crack. I also had an early charge of aggravated assault for a stabbing when I was drunk and got jumped. Now I was looking at a lot of time in jail. This was my first time in adult prison. It was crazy there. Guys were taking about killing each other, and I was trapped in this place. This is where I cried out to God for help. God did answer, but I didn’t respond back. I ended up getting two and a half years in a federal institution. In jail I really sought after God, but for selfish reasons. I wanted Him to protect me and get me out of there. I made plans when I got out that I was going to build my relationship with my father.

One day after I got out, I decided to go see my father. We had an awesome talk and he even asked if I wanted to help him build a shed. I was so excited. I finally was on a path of reconciling my relationship back with my father. I woke up the next day to find out that my father had killed himself. Now my whole life was thrown in a downward spiral. I wanted to give up on everything. All I ever wanted, all I ever needed was my father and now he was gone forever. So I attempted suicide many times, but by the grace of God I never died. On the night after my father’s funeral, my girlfriend, at the time, said that she was pregnant. I did not know if I was even going to be here much longer. My sister told me that God had given me a life for the one that was taken.

Those words launched me into an uphill battle but I didn’t know where to start. I ended up starting to smoke crack all the more once my daughter was born. I smoked crack to the point of living on the streets. I lost almost everything. During that time I had a new girlfriend and we had a son together. This all did not change my life. I just got worse. Here I was with two beautiful children and an incredible woman backing me up, and I was still living with the mindset of a thirteen year old boy who just lost his father. I tried many drug programs but never succeeded. Then my girl and my Pastor told me about Teen Challenge. I decided to go. From 2006 to 2009 I had attended Teen Challenge twice, and another Christ-centered program in another province. God has shown me so much about who I truly am, and has brought me from a little insecure child to a secure, powerful man of God.

He has healed me completely from my resentments and unforgiveness towards my father and has set me free from my addictions. Today I am married to my soul mate and we have three amazing children, and now the chains that bound my father and his family have been broken. The family name is going to keep on going, and the generations to come will serve the Lord wholeheartedly. My life is no longer filled with so much pain, but is now filled with testimonies of the great power of Jesus in me. I look back at all that I went through, and realized that what I went through was all for a reason, and that was to be a witness of the awesome power of Jesus in this world today, and also a comfort to those that are going through the same thing I did. When I was going through the death of my father I wrote a country song. The chorus went like this: all I ever needed, all I ever wanted, all ever needed was a father indeed. My Father in Heaven spoke to me one day as I sang that song and He said I AM YOUR FATHER AND ALL I EVER WANTED, ALL I EVER NEEDED WAS A SON LIKE YOU!!! The Father that I was searching for was always there for me, through all the things I went through, and I say this to all those that sense that longing for their Father: He is there and He will never leave you nor forsake you. You can count on Him because He is faithful, and as much as you desire Him, He desires you all the more. Thank you God for all you’ve done and all you’re going to do in my life and those around me. I love you Jesus, and give you ALL MY LIFE… not for anything in return, because I already have all that I want or need, and that is You!!! Love your son.

God bless you all, and my prayer for you is that Jesus’ sacrifice and LOVE would become more and more real too you!!!

Scriptures that God has spoken into my life are: 1 Corinthians 1: 26–31, 2 Corinthians 1: 3–7, 2 Corinthians 5: 11–21, and Galatians 2:20.

]]> http://jesusnotme.com/2010/03/all-i-ever-wanted-all-i-ever-needed-was-a-father-indeed/feed/ 1 http://jesusnotme.com/2010/03/on-being-the-bride-of-christ/ http://jesusnotme.com/2010/03/on-being-the-bride-of-christ/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:25:56 +0000 servant http://jesusnotme.com/?p=130 This is a semi-rhetorical question, but how would you like it if your significant other only spent two hours a week with you?

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish. So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.” (Eph 5:22-29, NKJV)

The above passage is often used to describe how married people should love each other. While this passage does describe, in a very basic sense, how the relationship between a husband and wife should work, the meaning that is often overlooked is the relationship between Christ and His bride. This passage indicates that the Church is the bride of Christ, which means that if you are a believer and have accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Saviour, you are a part of the Church, the bride of Christ.

This means that we, as believers, are the wife — we are to be submissive to our husband (Jesus), we are to be holy. These are important things. But this passage implies something else: it implies relationship. Jesus could have called us to be many things: servants, slaves, good people, farmers, whatever. But no, He called us to be His bride, His body. Both of these imply closeness, and deep intimate relationship. The Bible calls a husband and wife “one flesh” (Gen 2:24). Being Christ’s body, and His wife, are the same thing.

So what does it mean to be married to Jesus? Well, what does it mean in the natural? When a man and woman are married, there are wedding vows. Tilll death do us part. In sickness and health. For better or poorer. There is commitment, covenant, a deep desire for each other. The forsaking of all others. When we become believers and become Christ’s bride, we should be making these same vows. We should be desiring the same kind of relationship with Jesus that we have with our earthly spouse. Being intimate (through prayer and worship), spending time together, talking, laughing, enjoying each other, being happy together.

Sadly, a lot of people don’t look at relationship with Jesus this way, and I suppose it’s because most people look at Church, God, Jesus, and so on as “religion”, not “relationship”. But God never called us to have religion… He has always and ever only wanted relationship with His children. I’ve heard it said that the average person that calls themself “Christian” attends church roughly once every 8 weeks, (not including additional “special occasions” like Christmas and Easter). Many Christians that are regular weekly or bi-weekly attenders don’t pray or read the Bible during the week.

If Jesus is the husband, and we are the bride, then worshiping (personally, or corporately at Church), praying, and reading the Bible are how we spend time with Him — this is our intimate time with Him.

If that’s the case, then what wife (or husband) that professes to love their spouse, would only want to spend two hours, every eight weeks, with their loved one? Or what wife wants to spend Sunday mornings with her husband, but have no contact with him the rest of the week? I know if I spent two hours a week with my wife, we would probably end up divorced. You can’t build relationship when you spend so little time with your loved one.

Now, this isn’t a call to drop everything and spend all day praying or reading the Bible and neglecting the normal stuff of life: work, taking the kids to school, making dinner, etc. That just isn’t feasible for most people due to work or going to school. But surely we can spend more time with our heavenly Husband than we currently do? Remember the old song with the lyric “read your Bible, pray every day”? This is what God has called us to do! And it’s not to be a burden, it’s not some task that we have to fulfill for salvation. This is because Jesus desires to spend time with us, His bride. He wants to build relationship with us, and we should want to build relationship with Him, just as we would with our earthly spouse.

I think one of the things Jesus craves the most with us is relationship. Relationships don’t build or grow when there is no investment of time. Whenever you need Him, He’s there — He’s the one friend/spouse that doesn’t have something better to do when you want to spend time with Him. So if Jesus is always there, waiting to get into deeper relationship with us, then it’s up to us to make the time for Him… He’s already made the time for us. If you’re hung up on the idea of all of this being about religion then I challenge you to ask the Holy Spirit to change your heart and mind and believe that this is all about relationship.

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