Pleasure – to gain personal satisfaction…

Do you know that we have a moral epidemic with the church, not just the world. We actually have Christians who will pay money to watch people sin against their bodies. They pay to see a married person cheat on his wife, they pay to watch two married people have sex, they pay to hear profanity, and they pay to watch people get brutally murdered – and they take pleasure it it. They talk about it at work, they make excuses for it, they will even pay to go watch the same thing again because of the pleasure they get from it. Now I know that this is unfortunately very confrontational in the church. I am guilty of this myself. We make excuses for our behavior, all the while still practicing the things that define us as being of the world. The fact is that too many of us are of the world, not in it. We put up this standard of judgement against the sin of this world as to be able to label and place people in a category of sinner, only to participate in the sin and act like it is nothing. Romans letter is giving us warning that by taking pleasure in sin, we are opening ourselves to the hook and death of sin. We are handing our minds over to the control and influence of sin by watching, or speaking, or course jesting about the effects of sin.
All the intro was about seeing movies. I am not perfect, it I can speak from the point of learns failure…watching two people have sex on a screen is wrong. 1- its sin to have sex outside of marriage an yet we pay to see it acted out. Not very many movies have a married couple having sex, and even if the characters in the movie is married the actors are probably technically having an affair being that they are probably married in real life. How many actors and actresses do we see in tabloids or the news getting their third or fourth divorce? Sin is in the home, and we are paying them to do it. 2 – its just kind of sick to think that we would approach a neighbor and ask the to let us pay them 10$ to stand at their window and watch them have sex – but that is what we are doing. We are exposing our flesh to what it craves, sexual lust. Ok, let me get off the sex, what about violence and profanity…without details Im just going to say it this way. Jesus doesnt want to be there at the movie hearing profanity and watch joe and Suzy cheat on their spouse, nor does he ever want Fred to die a torturous death. I would venture as to say He doesnt even want it acted out. I would never want someone to act the death of my child in front of me, and I definitely wouldnt want to pay someone to do it.
Movies are just past of this, it is an action of the heart. What are we guarding our hearts against. Because until we start changing the inputs of our lives, we will always end up with the same results. I want to have better results in my life, I want to be completely His and nothing and no one elses…I want to grow CLOSER to Him, not further away. Is it tough to make the decision, sure….is it going to separate you a little bit…probably. But leaders lead, they dont just hang out with the sheep. They live to bring health to the sheep. Leaders live to bring health and whole as to all those around them.
Isnt it time we lead….

God I need You. I need to examin my life to see what I am doing that doesnt please You and Your purpose for me. I want to be all that You need for those around me, and for my family. That means I need to honor O in east I see. Please help me to guard my eyes, to fix them on You, to set my eyes on this above, to look for You in every relationship and encounter, to find the leading of Your spirit in all actions…but I know that it is my job to DO something, not just hear and do nothing about it. I put this to action in my life – help me to not become idle in any are of my life. I am in love with You, thank You for loving me. Here I am, use me. Help me to be the hardest working, integrity driven, MVP today so that I can represent You. Thank You – I love You
B

I think there is a disconnect between what we know to do and what we actually do. We have these encounters that bring us to a place of revelation knowledge and even some action steps – bit we wain. We fall away. I think this is where we see the scripture let us not grow weary in well doing because there is a place of reaping if we faint not. We faint. We dont pray for one another, we dont take the time to complete the things that God burns with assign within us. How easy would it have been for Noah to faint. He was building the saving grace for the world, our existence as a people, all rested in his hands. But he also had ridicule, bad things being said about him, pressure from his own family. But he fainted not. He could say- as God as my witness, without ceasing. I cant say that.
When I think about all those that I know who have done something significant in life – they finished what they started. They didnt ceasing. They were without ceasing kind of people. Man, we need to really get a hold of this without ceasing part of our relationship with God. How many world changing paths has He put us on that we ceased because we got tired, or uninspired. How many visions and dreams have we not seen happen because have ceased or fainted. What is the last thing that he has told us, told me. What was I passionate about that I laid aside?
No more
Im going cease ceasing…
I need Your help God
Remind me of the things that I need to become passionate in FULfILLING.
God, You simply amaze me and Your grace is so much bigger than my sin of Ceasing. No more. You have given me victories that I have laid down, You have given me dreams that I have laid aside, You have encouraged me that I have looked to man to confirm instead of Your word… No more
God, please help me remove ceasing from my vocabulary completely. Help me to listen and follow intently and persistently all the things that You are sending me to be and do. Lord, I am Yours and I am sorry for my missing You in areas of my life. I love You and my passion is to be wholly Yours. Here I am, here is my day, i am Yours
Help me to be the most passionate, non-ceasing, consistent, useful, full of integrity, son… I love You
Here I am, use me.
B

I need You – You are the answer to all my questions, the strength to all my weaknesses, the redemption to all my flesh, and the love to all my selfishness.  I want to learn how to bless You.  We hear all the time how You want to bless us (and You do), but how do I bless You.  In Psalm 103 it says – Bless the Lord, oh my soul, And all that is within me, Bless His holy name,  Bless the Lord, O my soul and forget not all his benefits: who forgives all thine iniquities; who health all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;

It says for me to BLESS the Lord.  When I looked it up, it is the word BARAK – which in the hebrew means to kneel, or to bless.  There are a lot of things that would qualify under the kneeling – bowing, submitting, “His will” – but that isn’t the only part.  Bless.  How do I bless God?  I know all the simple answers of living a life for Him, honoring Him with my integrity, representing Him well and doing His will.  But how do I want to be blessed?  I think of honoring, I think of gifts, I think of moments when people tell me encouragement – those things bless me.  How much of my time am I taking to bless You God?  How often do I take the time to not just ask You for things, but actually thank You for things.  To remember what You have done for me, what YOU paid for me.  How You have blessed me…  Sure I am thankful, I know that I tell You everyday how much I need You and and thankful.  But am I blessing You?  Am I living on purpose to dedicate to You?  Am I still seeking my own, or am I completely abandoned to Bless You with  ALL that is within me?  After all – You have done EVERYthing for me.  You have forgiven me, healed me, redeemed me from many of my mistakes, YOu have poured Your love on me with kindness and mercy.  You satisfy my needs, You adorn me with blessings and favor, You restore my youth in life and work.  You are all…

God help me to know how to bells You.  Help me to see in all I do – to be a servant that blesses You with my actions, my heart, my words, and my mind.  I want to never be  taker – I want to give it all to You.  God here is my day, I am Yours. Help me to be the best, most effective, most efficient, greatest influence, and spirit-led person today… I love You…

B

Self-improvement for the right reasons.  I know that I recently posted on what it meant to understand the grace of God and this kind of falls in line with that posting.  Basically when I consider our personal responsibility to Christ (not because HE requires it, but because HIS love in us) I immediately think of areas in my life that are not yet submitted to Him.  Not that I am a messed up good-for-nothing individual, but rather a submitted-loving-the-one-who-saved-me son.  I want to do better, I want to be a better husband, father, son – then the trap comes in.  I know that sometimes I do those things to try to please God.  Self-improvement does not gain our approval from God – approval is based on value, and value has already been established through the price paid FOR us.  So, where does self improvement fall into my relationship with God?  Just like grace doesn’t demand apologies, but because of grace I want to honor with my apology, value does not demand self-improvement, BUT i want to honor God and be a more useful tool/servant/slave/son by improving those things that do not line up with what has been purchased for me.  Self-improvement is part of our relationship to Him.  It is part of our time and love for Him.  The more we spend time with God the more we see the things that are not HIS best for us.  Our growth is merely the depletion of what the ENEMY has instilled in the flesh nature (sin-nature).  Growth and self-improvement is not just a selfish act, or personal education – it is a revelation of the responsibility we have for others.  A life sacrificed in order to save the hurt, dying and lost generations.

Big loop, I know.  But at the depth of this blog I am experiencing a need to grow up.  Not for me, my acceptance is assured, but rather for every soul that I come in contact with.  Life is not about an endpoint, it is the life point I am currently living.  The only distractions in life are the ones that take our focus off of people, not off the goal.  (because the goal should be… people).

God, I need Your help.  I often become selfish in my thinking and leave out the need to be better for others.  I want to be better for my wife, my kids, my family, my church, and for YOU to use in any situation.  Please forgive me for being selfish with my time and my self-indulgence of my time.  I need to grow up and take on some new patterns so that I can be a better example and use for You.  Here is my day, I am Yours, help me to honor You in every conversation, thought, idea, word and action.  I love You, thank You for loving me!

B

Wow God – that is my question of the day.  Yesterday I meet with one of the staff and we got to talking about being in YOUR love.  It was easy to bring up that God loves them and that YOU are taking care of them.  It is helpful to realize that so that we can be all that we are supposed to be.  Then in the afternoon I talked on the phone with a friend that I told him that he needs to remember that YOU do not need him to self promote, YOU will take care of that…  Then when I read this morning, this passage of scripture – I realize how many of those conversations were pointed at me as well.  The questions is – am I trying to win the approval of YOU or man?  It is impossible for me to be YOUR servant if I am trying to please people.  In other words, when I am caught up in the opinion of man, I am not walking out the WILL of God.  I am walking out my will.  Even if it is the same decision – it is about the availability and faithfulness we present.  I have found that the end goal is not a victory, it is walking in victory in every situation.  What I mean is that if I am set on accomplishing something, I am often missing out of the what God is truly trying to accomplish.  How often in the WORD of God does Jesus heal, deliver, or raise someone from the dead when HE was “on the way” to something else?  I believe in goals, I believe in setting up a path – however my internal goal is to own every moment.  I have to be available in every encounter, every conversation, everything has to be subject to listening to the HOLY SPIRIT – or else I am not LIVING by the SPIRIT.  My life is not an accomplishment, it is right now.

God, help me to not see anyone as a distraction or task.  Let me not box them into an insignificant encounter, and instead be readily available and faithful to serve in my passion to be YOURS all the time.  I need YOU and i want to be YOUR hardest working, sharpest tool and integrity driven son and servant.  I want to be YOUR slave.  I need to be submitted to YOU in everything.  Here is my day – I am YOURS! I love YOU.

B

Partial – how many excuses have I made about why I am partial to someone.  I use terms that disqualify an individual or over qualify another.  God is not a respecter of persons, and when this letter was written (JAMES) that scripture was in context to the when a rich person comes and a poor person comes into the assembly.  We all KNOW what the right thing to do is, but yet we make excuses to get the things that we want.  Oh wait, you don’t do that right?  Well what about in ministry leadership?  How often do we allow someone who is GREAT at something continue to do it, even when they are doing wrong?  We don’t want to “rock” the system, or address the bad behavior.  We are good with those that may not have the personal conflict with us, but those who do – we avoid and keep at a distance when it comes to correction.  In essence it is the same thing.  We are choosing OURSELVES over others in every one of those cases.  We have to be careful to recognize our position in relationships and our purpose in relationships.  Basically we have to see our position and purpose to be fro the other person, not ourselves.  Since this recent move to Chicago  – God has been placing that phrase in me towards others. “MY purpose here is to lead you to succeed.  The purpose of my relationship with you is to help you become who God wants you to be”.  It has helped me soooo much.  I am not concerned (most of the time) with how things look for me, or how it sets me up for a win.  I have a grace from GOD that allows me to be able to have one-sided relationships for others.  Challenge yourself today to look at each of your relationships – how much are being selfish.  How many people have we avoided and disqualified instead of developing and pouring in!

God, here is my day.  I want nothing more than to be your servant today.  Help me to never self-preserve, never choose me over others, and to be an encourager.  As we go into our sermon planning today – help me to be a good help and to produce life in others today.  Help my relationships with all that we lead so that we can lead them to grow closer to you.  God I need you so much.  I love You so much.  And I want to be Your best, hardest working, passionate, and most obedient servant/son today.

I love You – thank you for loving me!!!

Job 14:1 says that “A man, born of a woman, is only a few days old – and full of trouble” According to my spiritual father/mentor The literal translation reads: the days of man are full of agitation, commotion, turmoil, and trouble. From man’s first day on earth until his last, he will encounter numerous obstacles, trials, and seasons of adversity that trouble his soul. In other words – there is going to be some form of adversity when we are LIVING a God life.  Somewhere along the way we have become convinced that if things are not “perfectly” lined up, or if there is any resistance that it is “not God”.  Bogus – I have never seen a beautiful victory without some form of struggle or conflict.  I have never seen a great team in ministry that didn’t value the power of overcoming conflict.

See, our success is not determined by the obstacles that we face, it is determined by the obedience and perseverance we embrace.  Through faith (belief without doubt) and perseverance (endurance through adversity) we inherit the promises of God. When we learn to recognize that there WILL be adversity, and our success in that adversity, whether life given or obstacle to our plan, is determined by our ability to listen to God and to not engage it with the wrong attitude. Going back to the original part of this post, when we sit down as a team and look at the path that God has given us – we stop and talk about adversity.  We literally think through what kind of things we will possibly face with the decisions we are making.  What will be the potential cost in our relationships, finances, and time.  And then we modify our plan to avoid the obstacles that are unnecessary, and to be prepared as possible to engage the obstacles that the Holy Spirit reveals.  I think of a hurdle race.  The runners don’t just go to a race site and start counting how many hurdles there are going to be, nor do they go to a race without practicing jumping over those hurdles.  In fact, the best runners have the amount of strides they take between hurdles down to a science.  They know how many strides, they know how fast they are running and when to jump in order to clear the hurdles.  They practice their win in order to overcome adversity.

God, as I approach today – I want to be prepared for adversity so that I can win for you in every situation.  Holy Spirit – give me the ability to listen intently today and help me to be attentive to everything you have to say.  God, I want to be the race winner for you and for others.  Help me to take the best advantage of adversity today and be an example of You in every conversation and every relationship.  I love You, thank You for loving me.  Help me to be the best, most integrity driven, most available, and obedient person.  Thank You for loving me – I am Yours

B

Ok, so whats more important – my pity party or the ability to overcome. We have a decision to make in every situation that is adverse to our desires or planned outcome. The choice is one or the other – we cant choose both. Either we are going to take pity or power. Think about it, when something happens or someone offends me…when circumstances seem unfair, or consequences seem one sided – I can decide to have pity, or power. By getting into the whoa is me trap I am negating the power to overcome the situation, but by denying my fleshly desired response of how something is unfair- I can walk in the power to overcome. Paul and Silas – heard this a hundred times – but they were handed a situation of God-related persecution to the point of death. They were not just in prison, but the order of execution was forth coming. Their choice – feel sorry for themselves, start talking about the good times and if it be the Lords will types of conversation but instead… They choose power through their words and worship. The nation of Israel ran into a situation where they sent the spies in to check out the land – 10 came back with an attitude of God has sent us here to die – two came back with power. Enough of a positive response that it declare their victory generations later. Pity or power. When I am facing another headache I have a choice to make, am I going to aim for the pity of others or am I going to aim for power.
Its not just about self response, but it is all the expectation or desired response from others that is our choice of pity or power. The moment I want someone to look at my situation and feel sorry For me is the moment I have decided pity (given my power to the situation).
I hope this all makes sense. God has given us everything for life and godliness, we are overcomer, we are victors, all the power of the enemy is under our feet, and the curse of this earth and of sin has been broken. So, while I have heard for years the fact that we are the redeemed – its true. We are the redeemed. My goodness, lets start waking in that redemption and quit trying to gain the sympathy of others in order to feel good (sorry) for ourselves. Simply stated, you are loving yourself more than others the moment you decide to accept pity instead of power. You are aiming for the acceptance and sympathy of others, and this not understanding the love of God. You know I had to go there. For whatever reason we keep seeking self indulgence instead of the power given to us by the love of God.
God, here is my Sunday. There will be many opportunities to reach out to people this day, please help me to be an example of You today. I need Your grace I order to do it, and I need to understand Your love in order to be Your servant. Help me to be the best tool, the quickest attendant, the truest integrity, and the hardest working servant today – for you to my family, my church, and Your people. I love You – here I am – use me.

1 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,

God, help me to contend for others.  I sat down with a couple last week and said something that really gripped me as I said it.  “I am here to help you succeed. I am in your life to help you become who God has called you to be.”  Lord, I believe that with my whole heart – I think I am finally understanding my call.  It’s so unselfish that I am going to need YOUR help.  I would love to say that I am no longer living for myself, but I STILL worry about what people think, I still do things with some thought of how it is perceived of ME.  My heart has changed though, I truly see that my relationship with others is really about them.  It isn’t about me – it isnt so that I can be recognized or appreciated – it is about watching them have an encounter with YOU that is so rich it changes their life – (again, because of You).  I need YOUR help – to never take the glory, to never take the credit, and thus become more efficient and effective in doing it.  I believe that YOU want to impact everyone – and I want to do my part to be the one YOU use.  God open my eyes to my personal selfishness and to the walls or barriers that I may have put around myself or people.  Let me be available to everyone and anyone  Ill do my part to CONTEND for the lives of everyone I know and don’t know.  Ill contend for the lost to be saved, for the hurting to be healed.  Ill contend for the staff to become more like YOU. I want to become a skill trainer and fighter for You.

I am so thankful for YOU. Thank YOU for loving me and still using me in spite of my flaws and my hang ups.  Thank YOU that YOU still work on me and use me.  I am in love with YOU and need YOU every second of everyday.  I am so amazed with what YOU have brought into my life – thank YOU.  Thank YOU so much.

I love YOU.  Please use me this day to be the sharpest tool in the shed, the best example of You, and the hardest working servant of Your kingdom. I want to win for YOU today.

I love YOU

Ben

Growing in you since the day you heard it – wow.  Is that true among us?  Are we still allowing the WORD to grow us since we heard it? Or is the problem that we have not yet truly understood God’s grace?  That is a can of worms right now.  When did I start to truly understand Your grace?  When did I truly start to let the WORD grow me?  I think those two came hand in hand in my life.  Last Sunday I was able to pray with someone to rededicate their life to the Lord.  They were so excited, yet they were doing the same thing that I had done years ago.  I used to get saved every week at church (sometimes twice) because I wasn’t growing in You.  I had yet to truly understand Your grace.  I needed to experience You enough to understand that it wasn’t my works that was maintaining my relationship with You – it was my pursuit of You and accepting Your pursuit of me that made it work.  You love me and You want to know me – when I allowed that to become my passion in knowing You then things began to change.  We try to say  – get in the WORD – and we try to say – YOU NO LONGER NEED TO WORRY, GOD HAS FORGIVEN YOU.  But we don’t do a good job of combining the two for an understanding of who God is.  This takes a mind change that each of us have had to make.  I think everyone of us has been saved at least 100 times, and I think each of us can look back to when it changed for us – it was when we allowed the grace of God to become evident in our lives.  It was when we allowed God to begin to work in us (we stopped disqualifying ourselves and damning God’s love in us).  Wow – back into the love journey I guess.

God, I am going to write to those listening or reading now if that is cool?  Thanks…

I believe that is where the grace message has been lost – this hyper grace thing that everyone is either embracing or fearing.  One the embracing side – everyone is experiencing the love of God in such a real way that it is freeing and exciting.  On the fear side, everyone is watching and seeing the realization of holiness becoming extinct.  To both sides I say – watch the edge.  If not for the grace of God is such an incredible phrase that we use to make ourselves feel better about something we accomplished or avoided (our way of getting credit, but falsely giving credit to God). Just saying…  But seriously – the moment I think that works have allowed me to maintain my relationship, or that works somehow brought salvation into my life then I have MISSED the love and grace of God.  Faith without works is dead – certainly – but even within faith it is about a faith in GOD not in ourselves or our abilities (we have started to mix the two too much in the church).  As for the hyper grace – it is so rooted in the essence of who God is, but without the personal responsibility.  We forget that it was HIS KINDNESS that leads us to repentance.  That we still have to be sorry for what we do – not in reference to our worth, but in honor of who HE is and what HE has done for us.  It is not that HE has to die again for our sins, but it is a thankfulness for what HE has done.  When I mess up, I know that my wife loves me (as much as she knows how), but because of my love for HER – I still apologize.  In our passion for God, we have to recognize that is still a relationship. And in our love for GOD – we need to do our part too.  I want to be a better person because of HIS love for me – so that I can be a better witness of Him.  I want to walk in the holiness that God has made available because of HIS sacrifice.  That means that I need to do my part.  Again, its not about worth or value.  That is what Grace has done for me – it as solidified my worth based on what GOD thinks of me.  BUT it does not excuse me from being transformed, being renewed, aspiring to be holy because HE is holy, or asking forgiveness when I am wrong.  I do those things BECAUSE HE paid for them, I do those things because HE loves me and HIS grace is sufficient.  I want to be more like HIM, so that I can be used MORE by Him.  I don’t think we can talk about Grace too much, as long as we realize that grace is for a reason (cause we need it).

God I love you – use me all day long for YOUR kingdom!

Love you

B