Stop taking chances.

Jesus doesn't need us.
We don't make Him better. And if we don't buy into the life of the Lord, He will anoint someone else. That is on us. 

In fact, the idea that people even have the mindset that Jesus needs them in order for this story to be complete is astonishing to me. We don't add anything to the way this is going to end up.

Everyone always wants to talk about the grace and compassion and love of the Lord, because it's happy. It gives us an image of such a earth made God. But what about His wrath and destruction and death? Understand something, His wrath is just as real. Just as living. Just as important as any of the 'happy' things.

We are doomed. The wages of our sin is death, (Romans 6) hell, eternal damnation, everlasting suffering, punishment.

We. Are. Dead.

How in the world do we take a God that powerful and clear, and continue to go about our day in utter disobedience to the Lords calling on our lives? Seriously. He means business.

"...I (Jesus) will throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matt 26)

Weeping.
Gnashing of teeth.

Can you imagine?
Yet, we still continue live a meaningless life. Lying, being sexually immoral, getting drunk (btw, yes they drank in the Bible. It is something Biblical. The difference being, the earth has conformed drinking into something to do for the 'buzz.' Getting drunk leads to things that don't bring any glory to the Lord. Eph. 5:18). We still live a life outside of the one the Lord has for us. And the worse part, we are okay with it.

Gods coming back. He can come today, tomorrow morning, on your birthday; and that ^ is how were going to live? We're going to just, "Take our chances." Are you kidding me? 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but if your living out of Christ.. your eternity is not with Christ. Simple as that.

I think the Church often makes the mistake when talking about the love and grace of the Lord, of not talking about the wrath of God first. If we don't understand our worth without the Lord, how can we ever appreciate what we have in the Lord? If we don't understand where the lost are heading, then how can we possibly have a passion to bring people into the light?

We are all going to be in front of Jesus. Jesus, the one who paid every last bit for us. The only one who can make us of worth and bring us out of worthless. The one who can wipe the stains away. The way who will protect us and keep us from the wrath of God.

Everyone of us will be in front of Him. Lucky for us, he is full of grace. And compassion. Lucky for us, our eternity can be set in Him.


Does that make you want to go insane and tell everyone about Christ? Mmm, yeah. Me too. :)


Know Him. 




Ps. 15 days.

Everything for a reason?

Everyone always says, 'Everything happens for a reason. Wait it out.' But do you ever really believe that? I think that, especially for the people who have grown up in some sort of church, this is one of those things that have been slammed in our heads so many times, it lost all effect. But I wanna take you back to that, I wanna explain how everything does happen for a reason. 

When my best friend passed away a few years ago, the passage from Ecclesiastes was everywhere. It was plastered on everything. It's the time for everything passage, "There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven. He has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (v.1, 9)

Basically saying, there is a time for everything. It's no surprise to the Lord. And you'll see the blessing one day. 

Well, honesty. I didn't like that. I didn't think that God would really know my future, and if He did then how the world did my best friend dying have to do with anything? I just didn't understand it. And as far as I really could wrap my mind around it, I defiantly didn't agree. 

Okay, turning the tables for a minute. This has been the absolute most insane year of my whole entire life. Ever. Ever. And probably, ever. There were suicides, lost relationships, run aways, brokenness; basically, whatever you can imagine.. it happened this past year. But something sorta changed. 

God decided my expectations on the out come wasn't good enough. 

He didn't like what I wanted to happen. He wanted more. 

I just wanted it to stop. I wanted the hurt to stop. Christ, saw more than that. 

And because He saw more, I see more of Him.

What's my point?

If you would have asked me 4 months ago why all those bad things happened to us, I would have had no answer. Now? This is my answer. It's simply a living testimony. It's undeniable. It's not ignorable. It's absolutely unbelievable. 

God took my pessimistic expectations and made them Christ sized. 

All that to say, every thing happens for a reason. Not in a cliche way that you hear everyday.. but everything happens for His reason. 

That reason? Just wait. Because whatever your thinking, Gods going to magnify more than you will be able to keep in.

The reason is more than you will ever contain. 

Be excited. 

:)

Ps. twenty days.

Actual surrender.

When you think of real surrender to the cross, what does that even mean? What does it really look like to give your life over to the Lord?

The Church answer: go to Church on Sunday mornings. Read your Bible everyday. Pray every night. Do those things, and you will probably be good. You should have no problem 'getting into Heaven.'

Most everyone, whether they have grown up in the Church or not, believe this and try to practice it to some extent. Don't get me wrong, these things are great. And they are vital to growing in your relationship with the Lord. But have you ever thought if there is really more than that? Have you ever thought about the fact that no matter what your background may consist of, we are all called to do the same things?

People out of the Church today often say, "Surrender for you and surrender for your neighbor may look different, but they are both chasing after a common goal."

I hate that. 

When Jesus was walking the earth, do you think he ever told people, "As long as you go to Church Sunday morning and worship me, you'll be good! And for you, just read my word once a day, and you'll be saved."?  No, he didn't. Why? Because surrender is not becoming a church go-er. So what's changed? Why, just because were in the 21st century, does Christianity look so much different than it did when Jesus was in body? It does not make sense. 

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age." 

Matthew 28:19.

That is as clear as it's gonna get.  

A sunday Christian? No.

Read the Bible once a day? No.

Pray before bed? No.

Tell people your saved, but never back it up? Absolutely not. 

That is not the way were called to live as followers of Christ. We were made for such a greater purpose then to sit in a pue and keep this insane love to ourselves. 

Some people say, "I'm not being called overseas. But bless you for going." Nooooooo. No. No. No. That's not truth. That's not speaking with a heart from the Lord. We are all made with hearts for the nations. Every. Last. One. The difference is, not all of us are going to obey. 

The Lord says to make our earthly relationships resemble hate to the way we are in love with Him. Sell everything we have, give it to the poor.  (Luke 14) 

Why is that so hard to accept?

Let me back up, none of the above is wrong. In fact, I encourage you to find a Church for Sunday morning. And pray to the God of the universe. And no, I'm not saying to get rid of everything you own. But my point? Where on the ladder of your material possessions and people on earth does the call of the Lord fit in? 

We are called to carry His name to everywhere. To everyone. In all areas of the earth. That is surrendering your life over to this awesome King of the world. 

We are called to surrender it all. And believe me, once you do, you will long to spread the crazy name Jesus has entrusted to us. And I don't want you to miss out. 

Too big.

Have you ever really thought about just how incredible the Lord is? I mean just try. Try to think about how huge and powerful. But yet how intimate and affectionate he is. While he is omniscient and omnipresent. It blows my mind. And it should blow anyones mind. In fact, it should do more than just that, it should shape the way you are. Thinking about a God as insane as that one ^.. you shouldn't be the same. However, a lot of us are.

A lot of us go through a day without even taking a double take at what the Lords doing that day. We walk outside and see God's creation all around us, and it doesn't take our minds away from earthly things for more than a second. 

Psalm 46 says, "God is out refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging."

Dang. 

That is a God we keep silent? A God THAT powerful, we don't give him the credit at all during a normal day?

I've always heard in the Church that we are to fear God. We are to fear his power and ability and that is what should lead us to giving our lives over to this Creator. But, what if I disagree with that for a minute? What if that verse shows a God that is not only powerful enough to be feared,  but a God that cares so intimately about us. A verse of security and hope and of comfort. What if that is what led us over to the Lord? Instead of being worried for the state of your salvation, we simply felt loved by the Lord? You feel Gods overwhelming presence so much and to the greatest extent, you have no choice but to live a life for His glory.

Fearing the Lord comes after you have experienced his gift of grace. It's natural and it's effortless. 

I pray for people to see His glory. To walk outside and have no other thought than one to praise His creation. To meet a stranger and see them as someone who the Lord specifically designed.

God is so good. Too good. Too powerful. Too strong. Too perfect for us. He's more than we'll ever know on this side of glory. But, wouldn't it be cool to begin chipping away at that God? Wouldn't it be sorta neat, if that was a God we all started to give our lives to? Yeah, I thought so too. :)

"I will not be shaken, therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence." Acts 2:25-28.

It's not YOU.

Lately, I have been completely taken aback at the glory of Christ. I have been so incredibly broken for the cause of Christ. Broken in a way that makes me long for, and pray for my life to be centered around the glory of God. But in all of this, I have really began taking a backseat in my daily life. I have began just watching people: my friends, my family, my co-workers, strangers; and i've been really in shock at how lives are being lived today.

We, including myself, have been brought up in America to believe that we are the most important people. We have developed our culture and our generation to be the 'ME' generation. Everything revolves around ME: I need a good job, so I can support my family, so I can be comfortable, so I can be fed, that way I will be provided for. I need to get a good college education. I need a car.. You see where i'm going with this. So many times a day we say things like this. It's almost become such a sub-conscience  thought, that it doesn't even bother us any more. And that is the problem. It doesn't bother us.

I can't help but think that this world would be drastically changed for the cause of Christ if our mindsets changed. If instead of being so wrapped up in us, we became saturated with what God wants to do through us for Him.


I have been introduced to several stories lately, where someone didn't think of themselves. Someone took the time, went out of their way to make someone else know they are loved by the King. And to make someone else know that they are being prayed for, the most powerful tool to get to Christ, is being personalized for them. And that act of selfless-ness, as simple as it may be, ended up literally saving a life. Imagine that, when someone obeyed Christ and focused on spreading His glory, His very own creation was saved in the long run. Ironic, I know.

I long for the time when this world will be changed for the love Christ has for us. When every last person follows after Christ and showing His glory among the people, and not following themselves.

David Platt writes in his book, Radical,"God delights in using ordinary Christians who come to the end of themselves and choose to trust in His extraordinary provision. He stands ready to allocate His power to all who are radically dependent on His and radically devoted to making much of Him."

The salvation of the lost are in the hands of us. Turn into a people focused on Him, not yourself. 

Serious love.

I think sometimes  we, as an American culture, lose sight of who Christ is. We have made it comfortable to worship the Lord on a Sunday morning. We have made it comfortable to pray before meals and before we go to sleep. We have made spending time with the Lord something that needs to be penciled in on the calendar. What if things changed? What if, instead of only having the time to worship of Sunday mornings, it was something that we did all dayevery day? What if, rather than prayer being a task, we really understood the power and the strength behind praying to the God of the universe? And, what if we finally understood that it is impossible to escape Gods presence? We don’t schedule a place for the Lord to be. He is there. He is here. He is in you. He is in me. He is all things. The fact that we have completely made Christ into something we think we can handle blows my mind. God’s love is too powerful and too real to be able to keep in a box and only bring out when needed. He is worthy of our lives. He is worthy our worship. He is worthy of every last thing we have. I want, more than anything for people to see the love of Christ. People need to experience the literal love that He has for us. Because when you do? You can never go back. Your permanently in reverence and awe of the God who created you. You’ll never even think about turning back. Spread Jesus. We have more than enough love; start giving some aways. People in the world have never heard the name of Christ. How is that okay?

"Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. Who was and is and is to come."