In light of the recent tragedy in Connecticut many people are asking the question,"Where was God?" I know many of you, my readers, live in other countries and haven't heard of this shocking massacre. This past Friday a 20 year-old man broke into an elementary school and killed 26 people with a high powered rifle. The majority of those murdered was most of a kindergarten class of children 6 years of age or younger. The other 6 casualties were teachers. The gunman killed himself when confronted by the police.
How could God let this happen?
I don't have any specific answers for this question, but I do have a perspective different from most. The gunman was evil, plain and simple. He was depraved, dead in his sins. Most likely his conscience was seared to anything sinful. The origin of this sin is found in Genesis 3 when Adam and Eve sinned against God. From that point on any descendants from them would be dead in their sins, completely depraved with nothing but a conscience by the grace of God to keep them in check. This gunman was sick with sin. His murders were a proof of his depravity. I do not know the exact reason why God didn't stop this from happening, and I wish I could.
Why didn't God stop evil in the world?
God allows evil to persist for a time because He is patient with mankind to respond to His love. You might be thinking, "Are you kidding me? God's "patience" allows innocent people to be assaulted and murdered? Your God is sick, man!" I completely understand why you would think this, but let me show you a new perspective. If God was to rid the world of evil, He would have to have a standard to go by to compare would-be evil actions to, and He has: the Ten Commandments. Let's look at the last 6..
#5. Honor your father and mother.
#6. Do not murder
#7. Do not commit adultery.
#8. Do not steal.
#9. Do not lie.
#10. Do not covet what isn't yours.
There it is. Anything that breaks these laws is considered evil by God. So if God were to get rid of all evil, He would have to get rid of anyone who has ever disrespected their parents, murdered another person, has had sex outside of marriage, stolen, lied, or desired something that belongs to someone else. Have you done any of these things? If so, how many times?
Many people don't know this, but Jesus elaborates on some of these laws. He says that you don't have to physically be sexual with someone to commit adultery. In fact, He says that all you have to do is look at someone with sexual lust and you've already committed adultery/fornication in your heart. Jesus also says that you don't have to physically kill someone to be guilty of murder in God's eyes. All you have to do is say a hateful word to them and you're guilty. In fact, the Bible says later that hating someone is murder in your heart. How many times have we done this?
Getting rid of evil..
If God were to get rid of all evil in the world, if He were to get rid of all suffering and wrongdoing, if He were to purge the world of every evil person, He would have to not only get rid of people who murder innocent children but also thieves, haters, and liars. Why? Because every act in opposition to God's laws are infinitely evil in His eyes. If you stepped on a bug, it wouldn't mean much. You wouldn't go to jail. If you killed an animal, you would probably go to jail, but it still wouldn't mean that much. If you killed another human being, that's a big deal and you would go to jail (possibly get the death penalty). If you killed a police officer, that's a big deal and you're in big trouble. If you killed the president of a country, you are in probably the most trouble anyone could ever be in under the law, and you'd most likely be put to death. Now these are just small comparisons to put into perspective this question. If you break the infinite holy law of an infinite holy God, don't you think that there will be an infinite consequences? Follow logic on that one..
Why is God being patient?
God cursed the earth and all of mankind because of Adam and Eve's sinning. Those were the conditions God gave to Adam when He created him. If Adam sinned, he would be cut off from fellowship with God and left spiritually dead in sin. Intense, no? God didn't just curse the earth and man and just leave it at that. He made a promise. He promised to send someone to redeem mankind from this curse so they could be restored to the intended relationship God wants with His creation. Jesus was prophesied 4,000 years before His birth.
When Jesus was born, He was born perfect. I don't mean with 10 fingers, 10 toes, and a cute, chubby little body. I mean He was not born under the curse of sin like everybody else who has ever been born. He wasn't like you and me. He lived a perfect life. He was tempted by every sin we have been tempted by, yet He didn't sin. He preached righteousness and peace. He cared for the outcasts and healed the sick, yet He was delivered to the religious and state authorities on false charges under unlawful conditions, and this is where God's promise to Adam and Eve began.
He was blindfolded and beaten. He had His flesh ripped open by toothed whips. He had to carry His own instrument of execution, a cross, to the outskirts of the city. He was spat on, mocked, and ridiculed. He was laid naked on the cross, having nails driven into His hands and feet pinning Him to it as they lifted Him up in a vertical position. There He was left to suffocate. Every breath He tried to breath was agony because His open back scraped along the splintered wood of the cross as He lifted Himself up.
God the Father turned His back on Jesus in that hour. Jesus wasn't just in physical agony that day. He was also in spiritually agony. Since before the creation of time Jesus was in perfect fellowship with the Father and Holy Spirit (being that God is a Triune God: three Persons, one Deity). When the Father turned His back on Jesus, that was first time in eternal history that the unity of God was broken. Jesus took on sin in our place. The very evil that God hates was placed on Jesus that day in our place. The very essence of sin was placed on the shoulders of Jesus in our place so that we could have a way back to a right, perfect relationship with God. In His last breath Jesus joyfully and victoriously cried out "It is finished!" They payment for sin had been made.
This shows two things.. First, the magnitude of our evil is so great that it cost God His very life to pay for it. In those three hours Jesus was on the cross He suffered more than any other person ever would in hell. Second, God's love goes to such lengths to save lost humanity.
Jesus didn't stay dead in His grave though. Three days later He rose by His own power and walked out of His tomb. He proved that the payment He made for sin was sufficient. He proved He has power to redeem mankind through the Gospel. This was the receipt of His transaction with the Father. Now anyone who would cry out to God for mercy, who would turn to God and place their trust in the payment of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, who would believe He is no longer in the tomb but risen, they will receive pardon from God for their sins, have their heart changed, and be restored into a right relationship with God.
Now how does this come into play with God's patience? God's love for mankind is so great that He gives everyone a chance to their dying breath to turn to Him. This last week hundreds of thousands of people died around the world, and God's patience was with every single one of them. Justice was met for every single one of them. Many murderers, rapists, child molesters, adulterers, thieves, liars, and idolaters found their justice in eternal punishment paying for their sins in hell. But there were also many murderers, rapists, child molesters, adulterers, thieves, liars, and idolaters who are in heaven with God because they took the offer of Jesus payment for their sins. I will be bold enough to say that Jesus' sacrifice is great enough to cover the sins of the worst person on earth, and in all reality, we are no different that that worst person because we have all broken God's laws many, many times. We are all guilty and deserve punishment for our sins just as much as we think that gunman in Connecticut deserves to be punished for his atrocious crimes against the people of Newtown.
God's Justice
I do not know why God allowed this massacre, but I do know this. Eternal justice is being served right now as we speak. And the lives of those who survived the shooting and the lives of those impacted by the loss of loved ones can be mended by the love of God. For many this tragedy may result in a wake-up call to their own imminent appointment with death because we all face our own appointment with death that can come at any time by any means.
So what's it gonna be? Are you going to stand there and shake your fist at God for this great self-perceived injustice He has allowed? Or are you going to fall to your knees in repentance knowing your death date is unknown? There are many tragedies in the world every day, but there is no greater tragedy than a person having to spend eternity in hell to pay for their sins while God offers forgiveness and salvation to them. God is being patient with you right now. He is calling you to repentance through this very blog! God has not wiped out evil in this world yet because He is offering to you salvation from your own evilness, but one day He will. So He is offering to you His own payment for your sins! Turn to Him today! Trust in Jesus' offer for payment for your sins today!
If you have already trust Jesus, worship Him today with thanksgiving. Mourn with those who mourn. Weep with those who weep. Be a light to this broken world by the Gospel of our great God. Be patient as God is patient. Be gracious as God is gracious.
Blessings,
Nick
2 Peter 3:8-13
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Monday, November 5, 2012
Take a Step Back
The year is winding down and the holidays are upon us. Some of you may have led worship or served in your ministry/ministries without missing one meeting or service all year. This is a great feat that many people can't do. We all get tired and may even burn out, but those of you who work hard in your ministries look past this for the joy of serving Christ and His body of believers. Your reward in heaven will be great... But now let me propose an idea to you that might be foreign to you. It might even sound selfish or sinful, but rest assured that it is perfectly biblical.
Take a step back and look at your life, spiritual and physical. Ask yourself when was the last time you took a break and was refreshed by someone else's ministry. The best example I can give is about being a worship leader, but I think it can be applied across the board.
Leading worship week-in and week-out can become a tiresome and stressful ministry (no matter how big or small the band is). Much of the time we can get so focused on how we need to nail that one song transition perfect so the song doesn't start off awful or whatever that we forget to worship. Even if everything goes as smoothly as possible, most of us still don't/can't usually focus 100% on worshipping God. This can become a hindrance to your spirit during corporate times of worship. Yes, God blesses us for pouring out lives and hearts into this ministry, but we need to be served also. We need to take a break sometimes.
Now this is where I think I differ from a lot of people. A lot of people think taking a break from ministry (even if it's for one Sunday) is staying home to watch the game, going away on a vacation, or just sleeping in. I'm not saying that it is a sin to do these things. I mean, it's definitely needed to refresh your body from the stresses of life, but I don't think that's how one can be fully refreshed in their spirit.
Before I go on I need to make one thing clear. When we gather together to worship God and hear from His Word, we do so as one body. The purpose of this is to serve one another and refresh one another in the Spirit, but this is not where we gain most of our spiritual strength and nourishment. That comes from spending time alone with God and seeking His will through reading the Bible and prayer. We all should be doing this on our own. After all, we claim to have a relationship with God, don't we? When I say we need to be refreshed in the spirit by being served, I am not taking away the importance of being separate from others to spend time with our Lord, but rather we can still grow weak and need the ministering of others to help us stay strong.
With that being said, worship leaders, you should take the time to gather with the body while someone else leads worship. Maybe that means you have take a break one Sunday to let someone else lead. It might even mean going to an earlier or later service than the service you lead in to worship our Lord with the body of Christ. You may even have to go to a sister church during the week to be be served in this way. Trust me, you need this more than you think you don't.
For too many years I have watched those in ministry gather with the body of Christ when it is their scheduled time to serve and they only serve. This burdens my heart. I don't profess innocence to this, but rather that I know what my fellow brothers and sisters are missing out on. Yes, ministry can be tiresome. We have to sacrifice time out of our lives to serve others, but that doesn't mean that we can't be served either. We aren't Super Worship Leader Man, Wonder Sunday School Teacher Woman, or Aqua AWANA Man.. We get tired and weary, but I encourage you not to quit. Rather serve and be served for the bettering of the body of Christ.
Jesus gave the purpose for His ministry on earth in Matthew 20, "...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” But being human He had a finite body. He was God, but He had flesh. He was able to become tired and weary. In Matthew 4, after He fasted for 40 days and was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, the angels came and ministered to Him. They came to refresh Him for the ministry He was about to begin.
So don't neglect the fact that you need to be served and refreshed in your spirit. Take the extra time to be served by others for the refreshment, encouragement, and strengthening of your spirit so you can better serve others.
To those of you who may not be serving in ministry but are rather served by others when we gather together, seek out a ministry to serve with so those who are serving week-in and week-out can be served also. I pray that God will open these doors for you to serve. If you are not willing to serve, I pray that He would convict you so you can repent of not being a servant to others. There is great joy in serving your brothers and sisters in Christ. If we work together, we can build each other up and as one body have strength in the Spirit.
Worship Christ through service. Worship Him with each other. Serve one another in the love of Christ.
Blessings,
Nick
Take a step back and look at your life, spiritual and physical. Ask yourself when was the last time you took a break and was refreshed by someone else's ministry. The best example I can give is about being a worship leader, but I think it can be applied across the board.
Leading worship week-in and week-out can become a tiresome and stressful ministry (no matter how big or small the band is). Much of the time we can get so focused on how we need to nail that one song transition perfect so the song doesn't start off awful or whatever that we forget to worship. Even if everything goes as smoothly as possible, most of us still don't/can't usually focus 100% on worshipping God. This can become a hindrance to your spirit during corporate times of worship. Yes, God blesses us for pouring out lives and hearts into this ministry, but we need to be served also. We need to take a break sometimes.
Now this is where I think I differ from a lot of people. A lot of people think taking a break from ministry (even if it's for one Sunday) is staying home to watch the game, going away on a vacation, or just sleeping in. I'm not saying that it is a sin to do these things. I mean, it's definitely needed to refresh your body from the stresses of life, but I don't think that's how one can be fully refreshed in their spirit.
Before I go on I need to make one thing clear. When we gather together to worship God and hear from His Word, we do so as one body. The purpose of this is to serve one another and refresh one another in the Spirit, but this is not where we gain most of our spiritual strength and nourishment. That comes from spending time alone with God and seeking His will through reading the Bible and prayer. We all should be doing this on our own. After all, we claim to have a relationship with God, don't we? When I say we need to be refreshed in the spirit by being served, I am not taking away the importance of being separate from others to spend time with our Lord, but rather we can still grow weak and need the ministering of others to help us stay strong.
With that being said, worship leaders, you should take the time to gather with the body while someone else leads worship. Maybe that means you have take a break one Sunday to let someone else lead. It might even mean going to an earlier or later service than the service you lead in to worship our Lord with the body of Christ. You may even have to go to a sister church during the week to be be served in this way. Trust me, you need this more than you think you don't.
For too many years I have watched those in ministry gather with the body of Christ when it is their scheduled time to serve and they only serve. This burdens my heart. I don't profess innocence to this, but rather that I know what my fellow brothers and sisters are missing out on. Yes, ministry can be tiresome. We have to sacrifice time out of our lives to serve others, but that doesn't mean that we can't be served either. We aren't Super Worship Leader Man, Wonder Sunday School Teacher Woman, or Aqua AWANA Man.. We get tired and weary, but I encourage you not to quit. Rather serve and be served for the bettering of the body of Christ.
Jesus gave the purpose for His ministry on earth in Matthew 20, "...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” But being human He had a finite body. He was God, but He had flesh. He was able to become tired and weary. In Matthew 4, after He fasted for 40 days and was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, the angels came and ministered to Him. They came to refresh Him for the ministry He was about to begin.
So don't neglect the fact that you need to be served and refreshed in your spirit. Take the extra time to be served by others for the refreshment, encouragement, and strengthening of your spirit so you can better serve others.
To those of you who may not be serving in ministry but are rather served by others when we gather together, seek out a ministry to serve with so those who are serving week-in and week-out can be served also. I pray that God will open these doors for you to serve. If you are not willing to serve, I pray that He would convict you so you can repent of not being a servant to others. There is great joy in serving your brothers and sisters in Christ. If we work together, we can build each other up and as one body have strength in the Spirit.
Worship Christ through service. Worship Him with each other. Serve one another in the love of Christ.
Blessings,
Nick
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Spoken Word
Hey everybody!
Here's a little project I've been working on. There's been a trend picking up in the Christian community called "spoken word". It's nothing really new, but definitely new to me. I thought I'd have a go at it, and here's my first spoken word..
http://youtu.be/_uitcycFkxs
Worship Christ today!
Nick
Here's a little project I've been working on. There's been a trend picking up in the Christian community called "spoken word". It's nothing really new, but definitely new to me. I thought I'd have a go at it, and here's my first spoken word..
http://youtu.be/_uitcycFkxs
Worship Christ today!
Nick
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Spiritual Fitness: Are You in Shape?
"But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." -1 Corinthians 9:27, ESV
My fitness failures...
Over the past few years of being married I've gained quite a few pounds and shape. I've tried many different workout routines and videos, but never stuck with them. I've seen results and lost those results. My wife, on the other hand, is a fitness junkie. She loves to eat healthy, exercise, and treat her body with the respect that God intended her to have for it. Until recently I treated my body to the pleasures of fast food, dessert, and unhealthy snacks. I've been sticking with a workout routine lately (I'm pretty sure it's the longest I've ever actually stuck with one too!) and I'm beginning to see a spiritual truth behind fitness and keeping your body as healthy as you can.
The Athlete
Athletes push themselves over their limits every day. They deny their bodies junk food. They tackle their pain and weakness with fierce aggression. They seize their moments of weariness and use it to their advantage. Their eyes are always on the prize. They can't afford laziness and only rest to be able to work harder. They can't afford to skip meals because they need that fuel to work out later. They can't afford unhealthy food because it will slow them down. They can't afford distractions because it will throw them off their game. Discipline is their only hope, and they hang on to that dearly.
The Sluggard
Now on the other end of the spectrum there is the sluggard. Sluggards have no desire to push themselves. They do whatever is easiest and most convenient for them. They entertain themselves with brainless television shows and movies. They fill their bodies with foods filled with empty calories and fake flavors. The only exercise they get is walking to and from their car when going to and coming home from work, and some don't even want to work. They can't afford to work out because they will be sore the next day. They can't afford to eat healthier because it takes too much work. They can't afford to be distracted from their television and movies because they might miss the next big twist in the story.
Are you in shape?
So I ask you Christian as I am asking myself.. Are you a spiritual athlete or sluggard? Do you beat your fleshly desires, wants, and inclinations into submission to what is holy and edifying to your spirit, or do you let your desires and wants control you? Your physical living is the perfect analogy of spiritual living. You can talk about walking the Christian walk all you want, but if you aren't practicing what you preach, you are just like an obese man walking into a gym saying how much he just ran, bench pressed, how many calories he burned while eating a Snickers, never actually doing anything. The only difference between the two is that you can tell the obese man is a liar.
What are you going to do?
If we are honest, we'd all say that we are more of the sluggard than the athlete. If this is you, use your physical life to help motivate your spiritual life.
Resist
Resist bad food like you would resist sin. Choose to eat foods that will honor the health of your body over junk food just like you would choose to read the Bible over a sexually perverse novel. Choose to supplement your diet with fruits and veggies over candy and chips just like you would choose worship music over the increasingly immoral "Top 10" song charts.
Push
Just like an athlete would push himself to do just a few more reps or run one more mile push yourself to show the Gospel of Christ where you normally wouldn't. Just like an athlete looks for new challenges to take on look for a ministry to get involved in or find new goals for the ministry you are currently in. Just like an athlete pushes their endurance and strength push your faith, rely on God more.
The more I find myself getting fit in my physical life the more I find myself wanting to get fit in my spiritual life. I see the struggle I put my body through and realize that this is the same struggle I need to put my spirit through. Yes, it's painful, but it's worth it! If I continue, if you continue, to do this, one day when we see our Savior face-to-face we will hear "Well done My good and faithful servant. Enter into rest."
Worship the Lord with me today as we discipline our bodies along with our spirits to the glory of Him who created us!
Blessings,
Nick
My fitness failures...
Over the past few years of being married I've gained quite a few pounds and shape. I've tried many different workout routines and videos, but never stuck with them. I've seen results and lost those results. My wife, on the other hand, is a fitness junkie. She loves to eat healthy, exercise, and treat her body with the respect that God intended her to have for it. Until recently I treated my body to the pleasures of fast food, dessert, and unhealthy snacks. I've been sticking with a workout routine lately (I'm pretty sure it's the longest I've ever actually stuck with one too!) and I'm beginning to see a spiritual truth behind fitness and keeping your body as healthy as you can.
The Athlete
Athletes push themselves over their limits every day. They deny their bodies junk food. They tackle their pain and weakness with fierce aggression. They seize their moments of weariness and use it to their advantage. Their eyes are always on the prize. They can't afford laziness and only rest to be able to work harder. They can't afford to skip meals because they need that fuel to work out later. They can't afford unhealthy food because it will slow them down. They can't afford distractions because it will throw them off their game. Discipline is their only hope, and they hang on to that dearly.
The Sluggard
Now on the other end of the spectrum there is the sluggard. Sluggards have no desire to push themselves. They do whatever is easiest and most convenient for them. They entertain themselves with brainless television shows and movies. They fill their bodies with foods filled with empty calories and fake flavors. The only exercise they get is walking to and from their car when going to and coming home from work, and some don't even want to work. They can't afford to work out because they will be sore the next day. They can't afford to eat healthier because it takes too much work. They can't afford to be distracted from their television and movies because they might miss the next big twist in the story.
Are you in shape?
So I ask you Christian as I am asking myself.. Are you a spiritual athlete or sluggard? Do you beat your fleshly desires, wants, and inclinations into submission to what is holy and edifying to your spirit, or do you let your desires and wants control you? Your physical living is the perfect analogy of spiritual living. You can talk about walking the Christian walk all you want, but if you aren't practicing what you preach, you are just like an obese man walking into a gym saying how much he just ran, bench pressed, how many calories he burned while eating a Snickers, never actually doing anything. The only difference between the two is that you can tell the obese man is a liar.
What are you going to do?
If we are honest, we'd all say that we are more of the sluggard than the athlete. If this is you, use your physical life to help motivate your spiritual life.
Resist
Resist bad food like you would resist sin. Choose to eat foods that will honor the health of your body over junk food just like you would choose to read the Bible over a sexually perverse novel. Choose to supplement your diet with fruits and veggies over candy and chips just like you would choose worship music over the increasingly immoral "Top 10" song charts.
Push
Just like an athlete would push himself to do just a few more reps or run one more mile push yourself to show the Gospel of Christ where you normally wouldn't. Just like an athlete looks for new challenges to take on look for a ministry to get involved in or find new goals for the ministry you are currently in. Just like an athlete pushes their endurance and strength push your faith, rely on God more.
The more I find myself getting fit in my physical life the more I find myself wanting to get fit in my spiritual life. I see the struggle I put my body through and realize that this is the same struggle I need to put my spirit through. Yes, it's painful, but it's worth it! If I continue, if you continue, to do this, one day when we see our Savior face-to-face we will hear "Well done My good and faithful servant. Enter into rest."
Worship the Lord with me today as we discipline our bodies along with our spirits to the glory of Him who created us!
Blessings,
Nick
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Upcoming blogs..
Hey everybody,
It's been quite a month. I've had some topics rolling around in my head, but haven't been able to get to blogging them. I need to repent before I blog one of them: worshipping with your wealth. On top of that, my eldest Aunt suddenly passed away so I've been spending time with my family. Praise God she is a believer and is enjoying His presence as we speak! Lastly, I had to get a new iPhone (which is what I blog from) due to some software issues and lost all my apps and backups.
With all that being said, more blogs are coming soon! Keep on worshipping our great God! Give Him all the praise and glory!
Blessings,
Nick
It's been quite a month. I've had some topics rolling around in my head, but haven't been able to get to blogging them. I need to repent before I blog one of them: worshipping with your wealth. On top of that, my eldest Aunt suddenly passed away so I've been spending time with my family. Praise God she is a believer and is enjoying His presence as we speak! Lastly, I had to get a new iPhone (which is what I blog from) due to some software issues and lost all my apps and backups.
With all that being said, more blogs are coming soon! Keep on worshipping our great God! Give Him all the praise and glory!
Blessings,
Nick
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Prepare Yourself: Part 3
"Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. ’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me." -Jesus, John 15:20-21
Most of us have heard of the way many of the early Christians were martyred. They were crucified, stoned, beheaded, burned at the stake, fought against gladiators, and were eaten by wild animals in the Colosseum. Why though? Why would anyone want to harm people who promoted peace with God and peace amongst mankind? The answer is simply this: the world hated Jesus and they will hate Christians too.
I want to pause for a minute and focus this next portion to those who are not Christians (and to those who think they are) because I may have started losing some of you with that last sentence.
Now some of you may say, "Come on, Nick. I don't hate Jesus. Jesus was a good man! It's those Christians that I don't like." There's one problem with this line of thought. Everybody loves Jesus. Even Muslims love Jesus. He was good to people, loved people, and healed the sick and lame. But you can't just love a person because of what they have done. You have to consider what they taught in order to understand their philosophies and intentions. You can't love Jesus based on His actions or part of what He taught. You have take into account everything He said. Especially because He said this, "For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels (Luke 9:26)."
Let's take a look at some of these cringing quotes:
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' (John 14:6)" Jesus is the only way by which one can receive eternal life, not Muhammad, Allah, Buddha, or any Hindu god. Only Jesus.
Next, some men and women told Jesus that a few people were murdered and a few others died in a building collapse. At the time, if something bad happened to someone, it was believed to be because they had done something bad, but Jesus responded to that false notion asking if anyone that was killed was worse then anyone still alive. He answered His own question, "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (Luke 13:3)." The moral of the story is that everyone is equally bad and everyone must turn from their sins and to God or they will pay for their own sins. God cannot and will not accept any person unless they come through Christ. That means leaving a lifestyle of sin behind you: lying, stealing, any kind of sex not between a husband and his wife, drugs, drunkenness, hate, lust, and the list goes on and on. Jesus' message has always and will always be "Go and sin no more (John 5 and 8)."
Lastly, Jesus said, "And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:26-27).” You can't have a half-truth Jesus, an ideal Jesus based on the works He did. You have to accept Him as a whole, His words and deeds. So the question posed to you is do you still like Jesus but not His followers as Ghandi claimed, or do you have to say "Never mind.."?
Jesus came as a Shepherd first, but He is coming as a Judge next. How will you stand on that day without a payment for your sins? As I have been pleading in my last few posts, I plead with you.. Prepare yourself, but not for the hardships of life (at least not yet). Prepare yourself for this day of judgment. Trust His sacrifice today. (Read more about this in my "Are you roughed up yet?" blog post).
So, Christian, do you agree with everything mentioned above? If so, you need to prepare yourself for persecution. The world hated the holiest Man to ever live so much that they crucified Him. How then do you expect to strive to be holy like He was and not be hated by the world? How do you expect to stand up for godly and biblical standards and ideals without being ridiculed and mocked? How do expect to voice the Gospel and God's hatred for sin and still have solid relationships with people who aren't Christians?
Jesus loves everybody, but only those who repent and believe the Gospel love His words. Only those who humble themselves listen to the commands of God. Everyone else is opposed to the Gospel. Prepare yourself, Christian, because this world's system does not care for you, just as it doesn't care for Jesus. Prepare for ridicule, harassment, abuse, assault, and even death.
Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Worship Him today for His great faithfulness and example to us.
Blessings,
Nick
Most of us have heard of the way many of the early Christians were martyred. They were crucified, stoned, beheaded, burned at the stake, fought against gladiators, and were eaten by wild animals in the Colosseum. Why though? Why would anyone want to harm people who promoted peace with God and peace amongst mankind? The answer is simply this: the world hated Jesus and they will hate Christians too.
I want to pause for a minute and focus this next portion to those who are not Christians (and to those who think they are) because I may have started losing some of you with that last sentence.
Now some of you may say, "Come on, Nick. I don't hate Jesus. Jesus was a good man! It's those Christians that I don't like." There's one problem with this line of thought. Everybody loves Jesus. Even Muslims love Jesus. He was good to people, loved people, and healed the sick and lame. But you can't just love a person because of what they have done. You have to consider what they taught in order to understand their philosophies and intentions. You can't love Jesus based on His actions or part of what He taught. You have take into account everything He said. Especially because He said this, "For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels (Luke 9:26)."
Let's take a look at some of these cringing quotes:
"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' (John 14:6)" Jesus is the only way by which one can receive eternal life, not Muhammad, Allah, Buddha, or any Hindu god. Only Jesus.
Next, some men and women told Jesus that a few people were murdered and a few others died in a building collapse. At the time, if something bad happened to someone, it was believed to be because they had done something bad, but Jesus responded to that false notion asking if anyone that was killed was worse then anyone still alive. He answered His own question, "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (Luke 13:3)." The moral of the story is that everyone is equally bad and everyone must turn from their sins and to God or they will pay for their own sins. God cannot and will not accept any person unless they come through Christ. That means leaving a lifestyle of sin behind you: lying, stealing, any kind of sex not between a husband and his wife, drugs, drunkenness, hate, lust, and the list goes on and on. Jesus' message has always and will always be "Go and sin no more (John 5 and 8)."
Lastly, Jesus said, "And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it (Matthew 7:26-27).” You can't have a half-truth Jesus, an ideal Jesus based on the works He did. You have to accept Him as a whole, His words and deeds. So the question posed to you is do you still like Jesus but not His followers as Ghandi claimed, or do you have to say "Never mind.."?
Jesus came as a Shepherd first, but He is coming as a Judge next. How will you stand on that day without a payment for your sins? As I have been pleading in my last few posts, I plead with you.. Prepare yourself, but not for the hardships of life (at least not yet). Prepare yourself for this day of judgment. Trust His sacrifice today. (Read more about this in my "Are you roughed up yet?" blog post).
So, Christian, do you agree with everything mentioned above? If so, you need to prepare yourself for persecution. The world hated the holiest Man to ever live so much that they crucified Him. How then do you expect to strive to be holy like He was and not be hated by the world? How do you expect to stand up for godly and biblical standards and ideals without being ridiculed and mocked? How do expect to voice the Gospel and God's hatred for sin and still have solid relationships with people who aren't Christians?
Jesus loves everybody, but only those who repent and believe the Gospel love His words. Only those who humble themselves listen to the commands of God. Everyone else is opposed to the Gospel. Prepare yourself, Christian, because this world's system does not care for you, just as it doesn't care for Jesus. Prepare for ridicule, harassment, abuse, assault, and even death.
Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Worship Him today for His great faithfulness and example to us.
Blessings,
Nick
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Prepare Yourself: Part 2
"There must be more than this.
Oh, Breath of God, come breathe within.
We live in a very selfish, lazy generation. Everything is catered to us. We don't have to grow our own fruits and veggies. We pick them up at the grocery store. We don't raise our own livestock for milk and meat. That's what the milkman and butcher are for. We don't have to travel to speak with friends. That's what our iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks are for. We don't even have to go to the library to study. That's what the Internet is for. We take all that we have so much for granted that we start bringing this mentality into church with us. We think that going to church is showing up with a bunch of other people to listen to some cool music, have the pastor talk at us for a little while, and then go home and watch the game. Our culture has corrupted the very essence of why we go we church.
We fill our lives with such worthless things and activities that there is no preparation of our hearts for meeting with the body of Christ to worship our God and serve one another. We spend countless hours watching TV and movies, browsing the Internet, and doing hobbies that we many times neglect doing things that edify our souls and the souls of others. You see, as we do the things God wants us to do, as we spend time with Him learning more about Him, we are preparing to edify the body of Christ (whether it be at church or not). When we spend more of our time with God and doing more godly things we are more likely to open up to the rest of the church to edify them. It's is these things that we use to build each other up, encourage one another, and help those who are struggling. (I want to clarify that spending time watching TV and movies, browsing the Internet, and having hobbies isn't a sin, but rather spending too much time with them and neglecting greater things is.)
Christian, my challenge to you is to not only prepare your mind for church but also your heart. Start saying "No!" during the week to the things of this world that drag you down and influence you against Christ. Begin serving your family, friends, and church selflessly every day as though you were serving God (because all in all, you are serving God). Read God's Word to strengthen your walk. Practice the things that God commands us to do. Implement the mentalities He teaches us to have through His Word. Let God and His work through you be more satisfying than the things of this world. Let your life become a daily sacrifice of yourself as worship to God. It is then and only then that we will have a reciprocated view of church. It is then and only then that we will begin to see that it's not about us but about God and all His glory. It is then and only then that we will view church as a time of worshipping God and edifying His people.
If your life lacks worshipping God.. If you lack joy.. If you lack pleasure in God.. Maybe it's because you have been too focused on yourself and what God can do for you rather than what He has already done for you. It is now time to see what you can do for Him, not as payment back to Him but rather as service from gratitude.
Life is a battle.. Life is a brutal war against sin and the flesh. If you are flirting with your enemy, that is, your flesh, then how can you expect to fight victoriously against your flesh? How can you expect to be satisfied in God when you are serving your foe. I encourage you to prepare yourself for war against sin. I encourage you to prepare yourself for any service that God might call you to do. In doing so you will be prepared to meet together with the body of Christ to serve one another, edify one another, encourage one another, and lift up one another as we ought.
If your heart is not prepared to serve God or His people, ask Him to change it. Ask Him to give you His strength to overcome sin and temptation. Ask Him to give you His compassion for His people. Ask Him to have your heart treasure Him above everything that is worthless in this life. God doesn't leave you alone to work everything out in your own power. He gave you a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to help you walk in this life for the glory of His name and the edification of His people. He gave you all the necessary tools for preparing yourself to serve Him and His people. These tools are found in the Bible.
Worship your God today in selfless sacrifice, laying down yourself as an offering to Him. You won't regret it. In fact, you will find it most satisfying.
Consuming Fire, fan into flame
A passion for Your name
Spirit of God, fall in this place
Lord, have Your way
Lord, have Your way in us
Blessings,
Nick
Oh, Breath of God, come breathe within.
We live in a very selfish, lazy generation. Everything is catered to us. We don't have to grow our own fruits and veggies. We pick them up at the grocery store. We don't raise our own livestock for milk and meat. That's what the milkman and butcher are for. We don't have to travel to speak with friends. That's what our iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks are for. We don't even have to go to the library to study. That's what the Internet is for. We take all that we have so much for granted that we start bringing this mentality into church with us. We think that going to church is showing up with a bunch of other people to listen to some cool music, have the pastor talk at us for a little while, and then go home and watch the game. Our culture has corrupted the very essence of why we go we church.
We fill our lives with such worthless things and activities that there is no preparation of our hearts for meeting with the body of Christ to worship our God and serve one another. We spend countless hours watching TV and movies, browsing the Internet, and doing hobbies that we many times neglect doing things that edify our souls and the souls of others. You see, as we do the things God wants us to do, as we spend time with Him learning more about Him, we are preparing to edify the body of Christ (whether it be at church or not). When we spend more of our time with God and doing more godly things we are more likely to open up to the rest of the church to edify them. It's is these things that we use to build each other up, encourage one another, and help those who are struggling. (I want to clarify that spending time watching TV and movies, browsing the Internet, and having hobbies isn't a sin, but rather spending too much time with them and neglecting greater things is.)
Christian, my challenge to you is to not only prepare your mind for church but also your heart. Start saying "No!" during the week to the things of this world that drag you down and influence you against Christ. Begin serving your family, friends, and church selflessly every day as though you were serving God (because all in all, you are serving God). Read God's Word to strengthen your walk. Practice the things that God commands us to do. Implement the mentalities He teaches us to have through His Word. Let God and His work through you be more satisfying than the things of this world. Let your life become a daily sacrifice of yourself as worship to God. It is then and only then that we will have a reciprocated view of church. It is then and only then that we will begin to see that it's not about us but about God and all His glory. It is then and only then that we will view church as a time of worshipping God and edifying His people.
If your life lacks worshipping God.. If you lack joy.. If you lack pleasure in God.. Maybe it's because you have been too focused on yourself and what God can do for you rather than what He has already done for you. It is now time to see what you can do for Him, not as payment back to Him but rather as service from gratitude.
Life is a battle.. Life is a brutal war against sin and the flesh. If you are flirting with your enemy, that is, your flesh, then how can you expect to fight victoriously against your flesh? How can you expect to be satisfied in God when you are serving your foe. I encourage you to prepare yourself for war against sin. I encourage you to prepare yourself for any service that God might call you to do. In doing so you will be prepared to meet together with the body of Christ to serve one another, edify one another, encourage one another, and lift up one another as we ought.
If your heart is not prepared to serve God or His people, ask Him to change it. Ask Him to give you His strength to overcome sin and temptation. Ask Him to give you His compassion for His people. Ask Him to have your heart treasure Him above everything that is worthless in this life. God doesn't leave you alone to work everything out in your own power. He gave you a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to help you walk in this life for the glory of His name and the edification of His people. He gave you all the necessary tools for preparing yourself to serve Him and His people. These tools are found in the Bible.
Worship your God today in selfless sacrifice, laying down yourself as an offering to Him. You won't regret it. In fact, you will find it most satisfying.
Consuming Fire, fan into flame
A passion for Your name
Spirit of God, fall in this place
Lord, have Your way
Lord, have Your way in us
Blessings,
Nick
Monday, July 23, 2012
Prepare Yourself: Part 1
"Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.. For the Father up above is looking down in love.. Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.."
The distractions of this world are getting worse, and these distractions have been weaving themselves ever so quietly into the Church where they ought not to be. Our Enemy, Satan, wants to do everything he can to feed our sinful flesh to make us stray and keep us from enjoying God in the fullest way possible: from using the mainstream media to bring more sexualized television shows into our living rooms, to using the box office to produce more pornographic movies for us to go see, to using indecent books of adulterous affairs hitting book shelves for us to read, to using music labels to put out more vulgar and perverted music for us to hear. By feeding our souls with this kind of entertainment we are corrupting our hearts and minds against the Gospel by which we have so graciously received salvation.
You may say, "Now, Nick.. It's just a movie (or TV show, or book, or song)! Get off your high horse and quit judging people. Live a little!" Let me ask you, how can you watch, read, and listen to this stuff without your conscience screaming at you? This brings me to the words Jesus said, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness." How do you expect to live a victorious, joy-filled life in Christ when you fill your soul with things that God finds absolutely offensive?
We must prepare ourselves for the daily battle against our flesh. We must prepare ourselves against the spiritual warfare we fight against this world every single day. How is flirting with the enemy preparing for war? How is entertaining ourselves with sin preparation to fight it? How is giving our minds over to the flesh strengthening to our relationship with Christ? "He that sows to his flesh will from his flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap everlasting life." Our battle against our flesh, sin, and the world doesn't begin and end in Church on Sunday morning. It begins at our salvation and ends at our deaths.
Too often do I hear of people who claim to be Christians going out and partying with the world. Too often do I hear of Christians going to see movies that God hates. Too often do I hear of Christians loving the things of this world over our ever-fulfilling, fully-satisfying God.
To those who say "It's only a movie," I say "It's only treason!" To those who say "Live a little," I say "That's living in death!" Wake up, Christian! We don't fight against nations or peoples of this world. We fight against sin! Put on the whole armor of God so that you can stand against the sinful temptations of this world! Stand confident in salvation as a helmet on your head, wear truth like a belt around your waist, rest assured in Christ's righteousness as armor protecting your heart, have faith in your God as a shield against flaming arrows of sin, wield the Scriptures like a sword defending against all unrighteousness, and spread the Gospel wherever you go.
Wake up, Christian, to the fact that this world is passing away. Wake up to the fact that the sinful pleasures of this world only harm your walk with God. They only harm your ability to march into battle as a victorious soldier. It may even incapacitate you from fighting at all. Prepare yourself every single day you breathe to fight for the Gospel, to fight for the holy, righteous name of our God. Or is your sin more worthy than God?
Worship your God today.. Praise
His most excellent name above all. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Resist the devil and the devil will flee from you.
Blessings,
Nick
The distractions of this world are getting worse, and these distractions have been weaving themselves ever so quietly into the Church where they ought not to be. Our Enemy, Satan, wants to do everything he can to feed our sinful flesh to make us stray and keep us from enjoying God in the fullest way possible: from using the mainstream media to bring more sexualized television shows into our living rooms, to using the box office to produce more pornographic movies for us to go see, to using indecent books of adulterous affairs hitting book shelves for us to read, to using music labels to put out more vulgar and perverted music for us to hear. By feeding our souls with this kind of entertainment we are corrupting our hearts and minds against the Gospel by which we have so graciously received salvation.
You may say, "Now, Nick.. It's just a movie (or TV show, or book, or song)! Get off your high horse and quit judging people. Live a little!" Let me ask you, how can you watch, read, and listen to this stuff without your conscience screaming at you? This brings me to the words Jesus said, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness." How do you expect to live a victorious, joy-filled life in Christ when you fill your soul with things that God finds absolutely offensive?
We must prepare ourselves for the daily battle against our flesh. We must prepare ourselves against the spiritual warfare we fight against this world every single day. How is flirting with the enemy preparing for war? How is entertaining ourselves with sin preparation to fight it? How is giving our minds over to the flesh strengthening to our relationship with Christ? "He that sows to his flesh will from his flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap everlasting life." Our battle against our flesh, sin, and the world doesn't begin and end in Church on Sunday morning. It begins at our salvation and ends at our deaths.
Too often do I hear of people who claim to be Christians going out and partying with the world. Too often do I hear of Christians going to see movies that God hates. Too often do I hear of Christians loving the things of this world over our ever-fulfilling, fully-satisfying God.
To those who say "It's only a movie," I say "It's only treason!" To those who say "Live a little," I say "That's living in death!" Wake up, Christian! We don't fight against nations or peoples of this world. We fight against sin! Put on the whole armor of God so that you can stand against the sinful temptations of this world! Stand confident in salvation as a helmet on your head, wear truth like a belt around your waist, rest assured in Christ's righteousness as armor protecting your heart, have faith in your God as a shield against flaming arrows of sin, wield the Scriptures like a sword defending against all unrighteousness, and spread the Gospel wherever you go.
Wake up, Christian, to the fact that this world is passing away. Wake up to the fact that the sinful pleasures of this world only harm your walk with God. They only harm your ability to march into battle as a victorious soldier. It may even incapacitate you from fighting at all. Prepare yourself every single day you breathe to fight for the Gospel, to fight for the holy, righteous name of our God. Or is your sin more worthy than God?
Worship your God today.. Praise
His most excellent name above all. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Resist the devil and the devil will flee from you.
Blessings,
Nick
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Are you roughed up?
Do you know the God you worship? As you stand up from your seat in church, do you know Who it is you are singing to? It's time we rough ourselves up and really get to the core of our faith: God and the Gospel. Really, what's the point of even singing to a Being that you hardly know about? What's the point in giving praise to this Acquaintance of yours that you heard loves you?
It's time to get roughed up.
I'll start out by asking you, "Who is God?" God is the Creator of the universe. He is three separate Persons in one Godhead, a perfect counsel in Himself. He has no beginning and will have no end. He is so powerful and so big that He spoke this universe existence out of nothing and is capable of holding it in His hand. He is perfectly good and perfectly holy. He is perfectly just and perfectly wise. He cannot be overthrown or superseded. He cannot be bribed or coerced. He has perfect knowledge and wisdom. He knows everything everyone has ever thought, has heard everything anyone has ever said, and sees every action anyone has ever done. His wisdom puts to shame the greatest human philosophers of history combined. His words are true. He will judge sinners for their sin, and He will sentence them to their rightful place in eternity. He will reign forever in His Kingdom and it will never pass away.
You might now be asking, "What does this have to do with me?" Well, let me tell you.
Man's Dilemma
You and I have a big dilemma with God. You see, we have all offended Him beyond anything we could imagine. We have all spit in His face with our sins. Every single time we lie, steal, sexually lust after someone, hate, commit adultery or fornicate, covet, or put something before God we are guilty of breaking the Law of God. We are guilty of breaking the highest Law ever given to men. My friends, right now at this very moment there is a case against you in the High Court of heaven, and you will be found guilty of every crime you havr committed against God.
So where does this leave us? Helpless? Hopeless? Frightened? Left with nothing?
Are you roughed up yet?
But you say, "God is love! You forgot to say God is love and won't punish people because God is loving!" But to you I say this... Yes, God is loving. He gives a love that we can't even comprehend. His love is so deep and so kind that it makes all other love look like hatred in comparison. Yes, He is love, but because He is loving He must also hate. He hates sin with the same intensity of His love. Sin is completely opposite of God. It is completely against His nature and righteousness. He hates it above everything. The scary thing is that all the people who have ever lived are saturated with this sin. We are so completely contaminated with sin that God cannot love us like we've been told He does unless we make payment for our sins. The horrifically terrifying thing is that our sins are so expensive that we can't pay for them on our own. You see, one must pay for their sins in hell for eternity because sin is that evil to God. It is an infinite price for your infinite offenses against God.
Are you roughed up yet?
I have some good news though. There is still hope! There is still a small glimpse of glorious light in the pitch black room of your guilty dungeon of sin! "How?" you say. "How can there be hope for me while there is this air-tight case against me? How can there be hope when I have sinned against the Holiest of all beings in the universe? How?"
And I say to you, "Jesus."
Yes, Jesus! You see, God knew you were going to sin. He knew you were going to be messy. He knew you were going to infinitely offend Him. Yes, God knew you were going to be found guilty of crimes against Him. But now He wants you to know something. He wants you to understand something.
In the counsel of Himself before the universe was even created, He knew you were going to sin. In the knowledge of this He made a plan, a plan to make a way for people to be freed from their sentence of sin and death. This plan is that small light gleaming through your prison wall. This plan was that Jesus would become a man, a part of His creation. In this plan He was to endure temptation, trials, and tribulations as a man to be tested and proven as perfectly sinless. He encountered every temptation you have and will ever encounter, yet He did not sin when prodded or provoked. In this plan He was to be betrayed, unjustly tried, and executed as an innocent man. During this trial He would begin to bear the burden of your sin.
He was beaten with fists and clubs, spat on, and had His beard ripped from His face; each strike taking a consequence of your sins. He was flogged with whips designed to rip and tear away flesh from a human body; each stroke taking the punishment for your crimes against God. A crown of thick, long thorns was beaten into His head; every piercing thorn a payment for your debt of sin. He was mocked as King by having a purple robe thrown around His shredded back; as the blood coagulated and adhered to the robe it was violently ripped from his back, reopening His wounds; a sacrifice willingly made for the justice rightfully due to you. By the time it came for Him to be sentenced to a brutal execution on a cross He was no longer recognizable as a human being; because your sin is a monstrous thing. As He carried the cross through the streets, He displayed the shame of your sin, and when He came to hill to be crucified He joyfully thought of you. He was stripped of His clothes; bearing the nakedness and shame of your sin. He was nailed to the cross; taking the curse of the Law of God against you with Him. It was there that the fullness of your sin was placed on Him. It was there that God turned His back on Jesus because your sin had permeated His being on the cross. Finally, when the Jesus took the last ounce of punishment for sin, he let out a loud cry and said, "It is finished!" There He died.
Your sin cost Jesus, God in the flesh, His life, but He says it was worth it. To prove that He had the power to declare your sin "paid in full" He laid dead in a tomb for three days only to raise Himself from the dead. He defeated death and now He has the right to declare you innocent! He now says to you, "Come to Me, child! Come to Me! Take rest from your sin in Me! Take your satisfaction and your pleasure in Me! I have paid your debt! I have paid your ransom! Come to Me!"
Are you roughed up yet?
Go back and read what Jesus went through. God hates sin that much, yet God did all of this so that He can call you His own for glory of His name. If you do not know this awesome God as your Father, if you do not know the forgiveness and redemption of Jesus' sacrifice, turn away from your selfish, sinful life and turn to God's mercy through the payment Jesus paid for you. Believe that Jesus died in your place, that He took your punishment upon Himself, and that He rose again and still lives today. Surrender your everything to Him! Ask Him to change you into an obedient child. Ask Him to help you hate your sin as much as He hates it. He is most gracious! If you believe this, God declares you "Not guilty!" If you turn to Him, God will see you as righteous, not because of what you have done but because of what Jesus did on your behalf.
I leave you with this. Are you roughed up yet? Worship God for who He is and what He's done.
Blessings,
Nick
It's time to get roughed up.
I'll start out by asking you, "Who is God?" God is the Creator of the universe. He is three separate Persons in one Godhead, a perfect counsel in Himself. He has no beginning and will have no end. He is so powerful and so big that He spoke this universe existence out of nothing and is capable of holding it in His hand. He is perfectly good and perfectly holy. He is perfectly just and perfectly wise. He cannot be overthrown or superseded. He cannot be bribed or coerced. He has perfect knowledge and wisdom. He knows everything everyone has ever thought, has heard everything anyone has ever said, and sees every action anyone has ever done. His wisdom puts to shame the greatest human philosophers of history combined. His words are true. He will judge sinners for their sin, and He will sentence them to their rightful place in eternity. He will reign forever in His Kingdom and it will never pass away.
You might now be asking, "What does this have to do with me?" Well, let me tell you.
Man's Dilemma
You and I have a big dilemma with God. You see, we have all offended Him beyond anything we could imagine. We have all spit in His face with our sins. Every single time we lie, steal, sexually lust after someone, hate, commit adultery or fornicate, covet, or put something before God we are guilty of breaking the Law of God. We are guilty of breaking the highest Law ever given to men. My friends, right now at this very moment there is a case against you in the High Court of heaven, and you will be found guilty of every crime you havr committed against God.
So where does this leave us? Helpless? Hopeless? Frightened? Left with nothing?
Are you roughed up yet?
But you say, "God is love! You forgot to say God is love and won't punish people because God is loving!" But to you I say this... Yes, God is loving. He gives a love that we can't even comprehend. His love is so deep and so kind that it makes all other love look like hatred in comparison. Yes, He is love, but because He is loving He must also hate. He hates sin with the same intensity of His love. Sin is completely opposite of God. It is completely against His nature and righteousness. He hates it above everything. The scary thing is that all the people who have ever lived are saturated with this sin. We are so completely contaminated with sin that God cannot love us like we've been told He does unless we make payment for our sins. The horrifically terrifying thing is that our sins are so expensive that we can't pay for them on our own. You see, one must pay for their sins in hell for eternity because sin is that evil to God. It is an infinite price for your infinite offenses against God.
Are you roughed up yet?
I have some good news though. There is still hope! There is still a small glimpse of glorious light in the pitch black room of your guilty dungeon of sin! "How?" you say. "How can there be hope for me while there is this air-tight case against me? How can there be hope when I have sinned against the Holiest of all beings in the universe? How?"
And I say to you, "Jesus."
Yes, Jesus! You see, God knew you were going to sin. He knew you were going to be messy. He knew you were going to infinitely offend Him. Yes, God knew you were going to be found guilty of crimes against Him. But now He wants you to know something. He wants you to understand something.
In the counsel of Himself before the universe was even created, He knew you were going to sin. In the knowledge of this He made a plan, a plan to make a way for people to be freed from their sentence of sin and death. This plan is that small light gleaming through your prison wall. This plan was that Jesus would become a man, a part of His creation. In this plan He was to endure temptation, trials, and tribulations as a man to be tested and proven as perfectly sinless. He encountered every temptation you have and will ever encounter, yet He did not sin when prodded or provoked. In this plan He was to be betrayed, unjustly tried, and executed as an innocent man. During this trial He would begin to bear the burden of your sin.
He was beaten with fists and clubs, spat on, and had His beard ripped from His face; each strike taking a consequence of your sins. He was flogged with whips designed to rip and tear away flesh from a human body; each stroke taking the punishment for your crimes against God. A crown of thick, long thorns was beaten into His head; every piercing thorn a payment for your debt of sin. He was mocked as King by having a purple robe thrown around His shredded back; as the blood coagulated and adhered to the robe it was violently ripped from his back, reopening His wounds; a sacrifice willingly made for the justice rightfully due to you. By the time it came for Him to be sentenced to a brutal execution on a cross He was no longer recognizable as a human being; because your sin is a monstrous thing. As He carried the cross through the streets, He displayed the shame of your sin, and when He came to hill to be crucified He joyfully thought of you. He was stripped of His clothes; bearing the nakedness and shame of your sin. He was nailed to the cross; taking the curse of the Law of God against you with Him. It was there that the fullness of your sin was placed on Him. It was there that God turned His back on Jesus because your sin had permeated His being on the cross. Finally, when the Jesus took the last ounce of punishment for sin, he let out a loud cry and said, "It is finished!" There He died.
Your sin cost Jesus, God in the flesh, His life, but He says it was worth it. To prove that He had the power to declare your sin "paid in full" He laid dead in a tomb for three days only to raise Himself from the dead. He defeated death and now He has the right to declare you innocent! He now says to you, "Come to Me, child! Come to Me! Take rest from your sin in Me! Take your satisfaction and your pleasure in Me! I have paid your debt! I have paid your ransom! Come to Me!"
Are you roughed up yet?
Go back and read what Jesus went through. God hates sin that much, yet God did all of this so that He can call you His own for glory of His name. If you do not know this awesome God as your Father, if you do not know the forgiveness and redemption of Jesus' sacrifice, turn away from your selfish, sinful life and turn to God's mercy through the payment Jesus paid for you. Believe that Jesus died in your place, that He took your punishment upon Himself, and that He rose again and still lives today. Surrender your everything to Him! Ask Him to change you into an obedient child. Ask Him to help you hate your sin as much as He hates it. He is most gracious! If you believe this, God declares you "Not guilty!" If you turn to Him, God will see you as righteous, not because of what you have done but because of what Jesus did on your behalf.
I leave you with this. Are you roughed up yet? Worship God for who He is and what He's done.
Blessings,
Nick
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Joy and Worship
"Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, Rejoice!"
Did you know that you can have joy worshipping the Lord no matter what situation you find yourself in? Do you believe that God is more satisfying than your most satisfying experience? Do you believe that God can sustain you in the worst situations you will ever go through?
There is joy is the Lord. There is joy in who He is. There is joy in what He has done for you. There is joy in what He is going to do through you. There is joy in Him when you are in the highest of highs. There is joy in Him in the lowest of lows.
Our culture tells us that we should be satisfied in the good times only, and any other less than satisfactory time should be combatted until we are satisfied with what we want. I tell you this, brothers and sisters, God does not want us to be satisfied in Him during our mountain peak experiences only. He wants us to be satisfied no matter what peak, valley, or pit we are in. He wants us to realize that He is our satisfaction. He wants us to combat our destructive, selfish, joy-stealing ways to be joyously satisfied in Him for the glory of His name.
Paul's life was made a living hell by people who opposed the Gospel, yet he still spoke "To live is Christ; and to die is gain." He was shackled in prison and still sang hymns to God. He was ridiculed when preaching the Gospel, but he unashamedly preached on. His health was poor, but his desire was to still visit the churches surrounding him to minister to them. He wrote "Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, Rejoice!" Are you grasping this, brother? Are you seeing this, sister? Our situations don't determine the joy we have in God. God determines the joy we have in spite of our situations.
When you live your life day-to-day, you can worship the Lord with joy knowing that the joy of the Lord is your strength. He is your strength because all things work together for the good of those who love God and who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8). Is this not a joyful proclamation? He is your peace because while we were still sinners God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Romans 5, 2 Corinthians 5). How can you not be joyful knowing God paid for your sins? You can be comforted because He cares for you so much that He invites you to cast all of your cares on Him (1 Peter5). Isn't this wonderful? Amazing? Worthy of being joyful?
Our God is a personal God that wants us to have the utmost satisfaction in life. He wants us to have joy. This satisfaction is not the satisfaction this world promotes. It's not the gratification of the flesh that the world wants you to have. Our God made us to worship Him. He is the ultimate joy!
We have talked about how worship comes from knowledge. So I ask you, have you been learning about our God? Have you been seeking His face in the Word? Have you been praying? How can we expect to have joy in the Lord if we keep Him at bay as a mere acquaintance? It's impossible!
The poor excuses of fun and promises of joy from the world are lies and will fade away. They can't sustain the level of joy you were meant to have. They are false fillers that leave you empty and wanting. Christian, find your satisfaction in the Lord. Find your joy in worshipping Him. Your cell phone, video games, and movies are not to replace the joy you have in the Lord. Your drugs, alcohol, and sex are destructive to your joy in the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, I implore you! Repent and be restored to the joy of the Lord! Run to the mercy of your God at the cross. Seek His joy! Seek satisfaction in Him! Quit playing with the "joy" of sin. Quit messing around with the false pleasures of this world! Seek the everlasting joy and peace of the Lord no matter what situation you might be in. Worship your God today with joy in your thoughts, words, and actions!
Blessings,
Nick
Did you know that you can have joy worshipping the Lord no matter what situation you find yourself in? Do you believe that God is more satisfying than your most satisfying experience? Do you believe that God can sustain you in the worst situations you will ever go through?
There is joy is the Lord. There is joy in who He is. There is joy in what He has done for you. There is joy in what He is going to do through you. There is joy in Him when you are in the highest of highs. There is joy in Him in the lowest of lows.
Our culture tells us that we should be satisfied in the good times only, and any other less than satisfactory time should be combatted until we are satisfied with what we want. I tell you this, brothers and sisters, God does not want us to be satisfied in Him during our mountain peak experiences only. He wants us to be satisfied no matter what peak, valley, or pit we are in. He wants us to realize that He is our satisfaction. He wants us to combat our destructive, selfish, joy-stealing ways to be joyously satisfied in Him for the glory of His name.
Paul's life was made a living hell by people who opposed the Gospel, yet he still spoke "To live is Christ; and to die is gain." He was shackled in prison and still sang hymns to God. He was ridiculed when preaching the Gospel, but he unashamedly preached on. His health was poor, but his desire was to still visit the churches surrounding him to minister to them. He wrote "Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, Rejoice!" Are you grasping this, brother? Are you seeing this, sister? Our situations don't determine the joy we have in God. God determines the joy we have in spite of our situations.
When you live your life day-to-day, you can worship the Lord with joy knowing that the joy of the Lord is your strength. He is your strength because all things work together for the good of those who love God and who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8). Is this not a joyful proclamation? He is your peace because while we were still sinners God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (Romans 5, 2 Corinthians 5). How can you not be joyful knowing God paid for your sins? You can be comforted because He cares for you so much that He invites you to cast all of your cares on Him (1 Peter5). Isn't this wonderful? Amazing? Worthy of being joyful?
Our God is a personal God that wants us to have the utmost satisfaction in life. He wants us to have joy. This satisfaction is not the satisfaction this world promotes. It's not the gratification of the flesh that the world wants you to have. Our God made us to worship Him. He is the ultimate joy!
We have talked about how worship comes from knowledge. So I ask you, have you been learning about our God? Have you been seeking His face in the Word? Have you been praying? How can we expect to have joy in the Lord if we keep Him at bay as a mere acquaintance? It's impossible!
The poor excuses of fun and promises of joy from the world are lies and will fade away. They can't sustain the level of joy you were meant to have. They are false fillers that leave you empty and wanting. Christian, find your satisfaction in the Lord. Find your joy in worshipping Him. Your cell phone, video games, and movies are not to replace the joy you have in the Lord. Your drugs, alcohol, and sex are destructive to your joy in the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, I implore you! Repent and be restored to the joy of the Lord! Run to the mercy of your God at the cross. Seek His joy! Seek satisfaction in Him! Quit playing with the "joy" of sin. Quit messing around with the false pleasures of this world! Seek the everlasting joy and peace of the Lord no matter what situation you might be in. Worship your God today with joy in your thoughts, words, and actions!
Blessings,
Nick
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