I am more evil than I have ever thought, and more loved than I have ever hoped!

I am more evil than I have ever feared, and more loved than I have ever hoped. -Mark Driscoll

Today, I decided to start a new book Death By Love by Mark Driscoll. I usually journal on Scripture but this phrase has been stuck in my head all day and felt the prompting for the Holy Spirit to write. When I was a child I remember my mom coming home and telling me to do my jobs for the day. I hated my jobs. They included taking out the garbage, emptying the dish washer, and wiping down the blinds so dust wouldn't build up. My least favorite of these three was the blinds. I remember looking at the blinds and thinking that there are too many blinds and how much work it would take to clean.

I remember one particular day, I came home from college to visit my parents and still 14 years later they wanted me to wash down the blinds. I grabbed a rag and started washing down the blinds that looked like they just had been washed down. I began to wipe down the blinds left to right, moving down making sure I cleaned each frame. It is interesting that they looked clean, but when I got done the rag was covered in dirt and dust. And then I noticed that the sun had gotten brighter revealing more dirt and dust. I remember thinking to myself that it is impossible to clean these blinds, and I was right.

See, we are the blinds. As followers of Christ, we may look clean but on closer examination we find that we are corrupt and often the worst of sinners. And as we get closer to the Light of the World our Savior Jesus, more areas of our life is exposed. I thought about this story and I thought about Christ. I think about how for 3 hours as Christ hung on the tree darkness swept over the earth. The sun disappeared as the Light of the World was being vanquished. I think about my sin and the corruptness of my heart that was taken upon Christ. And as He hung on the cross, taken my sin, taking my place, He was giving up the very dignity and honor that only a prince would receive. I think about my dirt and how much Jesus could love someone like me. I am more evil than I have ever feared, and More loved than I have ever hoped! Praise God for the gift of salvation and the ability to have a relationship with the Creator of the Universe. Praise God that when it looked like Satan had won and that the Light of the World was almost vanquished that Jesus rose three days later claiming his Honor and Dignity, Power and Promise that He is the Son of the One true Living God!

Let Me Boast

Nothing can separate
Even if I ran away
Your love never fails

I know I still make mistakes
But You have new mercies for me everyday
Your love never fails

Chorus:
You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There may be pain in the night but joy comes in the morning
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/j/jesus_culture/your_love_never_fails.html ]
And when the oceans rage
I don't have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails

Verse 2:
The wind is strong and the water's deep
But I'm not alone in these open seas
Cause Your love never fails

The chasm is far too wide
I never thought I'd reach the other side
But Your love never fails

Bridge:
You make all things work together for my good

If you have never heard this song....it is a must!!! I wrote the lyrics out because of the richness of the promises God has made us! His love will never fail! I dont know if you are like me but the past 6 months my life has been topsy-tervy and has been completely shaken. My life plans all changed, what I thought I wanted God had planned differently, and the things I thought were constant where proven to be temporary. If there is one thing that I have learned is that God is unchanging, constant, steadfast, His love never fails, His love never wavers, His love is never taken back, His love is never ceasing. He is satisfying, He is sufficient, He is Glorious beyond imagination. Can I boast on God a little?

God is the author and perfecter of our faith He is the beginning and the end. He is the reason for the setting of the sun and rising of the stars, He is the reason that the heaven cry out, He is Glorious beyond compare, He is set apart, He sovereign and in control of the tiniest movement in my life, He is the greatest, He is the best, He is passion, He is faith, He is the thing that we all long for, He created the desire in you to be loved, to have a destiny, to be known. He is the light of the world, He is the every lasting peace in tribulation, He is the calm in the storm, He is Gracious, He is Merciful, He is Good, He is Constant, He is unshaken, He is steadfast, He is the reason and only answer to the question of our satisfaction, He is our Savior, He is our counselor, He is our guidance, He is the reason we breathe, He is the reason we die, He is the reason for the Earths rotation, He is magnificent! Can I boast about God a little?! He is bigger than our minds can imagine, He is all knowing, He is all powerful, He is completely Just and Completely merciful at the same time, He is both in control but allows freedom, He is the ONLY perfect, untainted, pure, and without error God. He is the one and only God. He is the creator of the universe! Everything was made by Him, through Him, and For Him! He is glory, He is the ransom for our sins. He is the Christ crucified on the cross! He is our redeemer! He is our Father! He is our protector, He is our reason for living! HE IS SO SO SO SO GOOD, EVEN WHEN LIFE DOESNT SEEM LIKE IT! HE IS SO GOOD! GOD, YOU ARE SO GOOD!

Spend time with God tonight! BOAST IN HIM!!!! When was the las time you boasted in how Great God is? Remember, His Great Love satisfies!

Spectacle or Epitome

⁴³ Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: ⁴⁴ “See that you don’t tell this to anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” ⁴⁵Instead he went out and began to talk freely, spreading the news. As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. Mark 1:43-45

Mark is like the reader digest version of the synoptic gospels. It is short and to the point. In chapter 1 of Mark it is interesting that he only spends a sentence or two on passages of scripture that specifically Luke, spends half a chapter on. If you are reading the University of the Holy Spirit Bible Plan then through the next month we will be reading Mark and I think we will be surprised with what we find out about Jesus and how He relates to us.

Now to today's thoughts about our reading. The thing that stuck out to me the most was at the very end of the chapter. To give you a little reminder, Jesus is just starting His ministry and is travelling from town to town. He is healing people, casting out demons, and doing all sorts of AWESOME stuff. But it is interesting that He specifically kepts the demons quiet so they wont shout of who He is, He specifically makes references that He wanted to keep himself a secret. After casting out many demons and performing many miracles, Jesus finds himself looking down at a man with leprosy. The man pleads with Jesus to heal him. It is then that in the Greek, the term used means "Having Compassion on Him," Jesus turns and heals the man. This is where we are in the story. Read Verses 43-45. Interesting?! Jesus tells him to not say a word about Jesus. But of course, He opens his mouth and tells everybody. Because of that, Jesus can't go into towns openly but has to stay outside in open areas.

So you ask, "What's the big deal?" "Who cares if people wanted to see him?" or "Isnt that what He wanted? For people to know who He is?" Here is the issue: Jesus Christ is not a specticle to be looked at...He is epitome of Salvation. Let me explain. What happens when a new apple product comes out...People go crazy!!! It is the freshest thing since sliced bread! People wait in 4 hour lines just to buy it and then they take the day off so they can figure out how to use it! Then a year later, when a different Apple product comes out, everyone forgets about the old one. They grow stagnant and stale to product and it doesn't excite them anymore.

If you like how the body works this may explain it better. Life expectancy has a lot to do with your sugar levels in your body. They found that people who have bursts of sugar levels, somewhat like a mountain range, lived a shorter life then those who maintained a steady level of sugar. Here is the point. Jesus doesn't want to be a spectacle that after awhile, people get bored with. Jesus doesn't want to be random bursts in these people's life, He wants to be the sustaining force in your life. He was not ready to be revealed at this time, so that is why he didn't want them to speak. He is trying to grow gradually so that when the time comes to be revealed he will have enough credibility and have done enough miracles to authenticate who He is for people to believe.

So what is the point for us? First, is Christ the sustaining thing in your life? Secondly, Do you have enough credibility as a follower of Christ? You wont have the power to do miracles like Jesus, but you do have the power to live like Christ and love like Christ, and be transformed by Christ. Do people look at you and see a long lasting record of you following Christ, or do they see random burst of growth and deep slums of where you walked away?

My prayer for this morning is this:

Dear Father,

Help me to have the same attitude as of Christ Jesus. Help me to have a sustaining relationship with you by reading your word daily and conversing with you throughout the day. Help me to meditate on your and your ways. Help me to be sustained instead of have random bursts of you here or there. Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you that when it came time for you to be revealed, you committed to die on the cross for us. Holy Spirit, continue to guide me today as I live and act with other people. Help them to see that I am working on a steady relationship with God. Help them see that you aren't just a spectacle but are the epitome of Salvation for us. Amen.

Who Are You?

Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out."Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. Acts 19:13-16

My first reaction to this story was laughter, especially vs 16. But as I reread it, I started finding some incredible truths and challenges for my relationship with God. To set up the scene a little better, Paul has been traveling and has been spreading the Gospel, strengthening and encouraging believers, and has been debating other ideologies which is important to remember because of what the evil spirit has to say. Paul is so full of the Spirit that people were taking his clothes and giving them to the sick and they were healed. It is crazy! Or at least that was my first reaction. God was working in him so much that Jewish priest were trying to use Jesus' name to take out demons. Have you ever met somebody who says they don't believe that there is a God but then in certain circumstances the only thing they turn to is Him?! I have. Anyways that's not the point I wanted to talk about with this story.

The priests in the story respond to the evil spirit by saying, "In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." The evil spirit responds, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?" There is one awesome truth and one awesome challenge represented here for believers. First, Jesus is the Son of God and even the evil spirits acknowledge him and know him. The Greek word meaning "to know" is different than "to know about." The evil spirit knows Jesus. He knows who is sitting at the right hand of the Father.

Then he says, "Paul I know about." Here's the challenge. Are you going to make such an impact on the Kingdom of God that the demons know about you? Or will you get the response that the priests received, "but who are you?" While the priests were shamed and beaten by the spirit and ran out naked, I have to assume that they were embarrassed being belief. We may never have that exact experience, but I think, that it would be 10x as embarrassing to stand in front of the Creator of the universe and have him say to me, "who are you?" I would probably say " but God, didn't I do this in your name, or that in your name." But if I have the kind of faith that these priest had, a faith that didn't truly believe in Jesus Christ for Myself, then that faith is useless. I wonder what would have happened if the priest took out the phrase, "whom Paul preaches', and believed in Christ themselves. We may have seen two miracles: one the salvation of sins and the other salvation of a demonic possession.

Anyways, those are my thoughts for today's Scripture reading.

God is good all the time, even when you don't feel like it.

Just As You Are

No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." Act 15

So far in Acts 15, there is a big debate about whether Gentiles need to keep the Jewish laws and whether Salvation is contingent upon that fact. Luke in this account reminds us of this story and the wisdom that came from Paul and Barnabas. They remind us that God sent the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles to authenticate their faith and to show us that the Salvation of God does not discriminate. Their point was that we are to come to God just as we are. My question is "how many times have thought we had to change before we go to God? How many of us have wanted to "clean up" before come to Christ, as if we could somehow erase the atrocious mess that caused the great divide to begin with. When we start thinking that we have clean up or change before going to Christ we end up negating the purpose of the cross and Christ's glorious resurrection. We end up taking it upon ourselves to try and change us and in the end we fail because it is impossible for man to do the thing in which God gets the most glory: the salvation of man.

We can come as we are to God. No matter the amount of mess that is inside of us. God is given glory "because while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 6:23)." God is so amazing that he would take the vilest of creatures, and make them His own and give them a purpose.

God thank you for Jesus. Thank you that while I was separating myself from you, you found it in your grace and mercy to offer up your son to die on the cross and give his life for the ransom of the world. Thank you of the precious gift of salvation and that we can be called sons and daughters of God. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus for staying strong in Gethsemane and fulfilling Gods plan. Thank you that I can come as I am and you still love me. Thank you for True Love! Amen.