The Simple Life

Have you ever wanted life to be more simple? Have you ever wondered why theology has to be so complex?  I think to many people just trying to wrap their heads around the belief of an infinite creator, good and evil, morality, the fall of man, the concept of sin and our need for redemption through the sacrifice of God’s son—who is actually God incarnate as a man who willfully subjected Himself to torture and murder—seems far too complex.  Shouldn’t life be simpler than that?  Don’t we long for simplicity?  The fact is though, that we are not simple.  Life is not simple.  Our minds are so amazingly complex that scientists have barely started to grasp how they work.

So what is the key to a peaceful life?  How do we embrace a simple life in a complex world?  I think the answer is simple faith.  My mom has a blog called Simple Faith and I believe she is on to something.  When we finally get past our desire to understand all and humble ourselves in the fact that we never will understand everything, then things start to get a little more simple.  When we lay down our pride in fighting to always be right, then things start to get a little more simple.  When we give into love instead of hate, then things start to get a little more simple.

There are so many theologians in the world, men who spend years in college to become a doctor of divinity but then what?  They start arguing with other doctors of divinity about whose “theology” is correct.  Is that really what being a disciple of Jesus is about?  I don’t think so.  I personally think staring at a sunset can teach you more about God than a classroom.  Don’t get me wrong—I am not down playing education.  I am in fact a Bible college student myself.   I am just downplaying the seeking of knowledge over love.  That is where we go wrong.  Love God and love people!  Live the simple life.

But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. -2 Corinthians 11:3

Spiritual Warfare: Unknowingly Fighting for the Wrong Side

In my distress I cried to the LORD and He heard me.  –Psalm 120:1

Sometimes losing a battle can actually bring victory for our spirit because we are fighting for the wrong side.  I was recently involved in a spiritual battle and unknowingly I was fighting against God.  I was battling to understand His ways and I was battling for Him to react in certain ways that I thought He should react… But guess what? God did not respond in the ways that I thought He should.  This angered me and threw me into a battle of my own pride and self-will against God.  I became angry with God and told Him that if He was allowing things to happen this way then He must not even be there.  The problem is I was lying to myself.  My heart knows God in a personal way.  He has walked with me since I was a young boy.  I cannot deny His presence in my life.  But does that mean I know He is there in an intellectual way?  Not exactly.  I couldn’t prove God to you and this was my battle—I had set out to prove God to myself.  I was testing God and telling Him what I thought He should be doing.

The issue is I was going through these terrible uncontrollable mood swings.  I would get thrown into these deep depression spells that seemed to have no trigger.  They started months ago and had become increasingly more consistent to the point that it was happening multiple times a week, for a day or two at a time.  I almost considered going to see a psychologist.    Looking back at how uncontrollable this was I seriously think it may have been demonic influences and dark forces trying to steal my joy in Christ.  The problem I had with defeating this battle is instead of trusting in God’s word to get me through it, I turned it against Him and blamed Him, doubting His word.

At the point of writing this I have not had one of these depression spells in almost a month and I really believe I was cured and delivered by God.  How did it happen?  By giving up.  I gave up on the complex of having to intellectually understand how God works.  I gave up on trying to prove God’s existence to myself.   I was driving and heard a song on the radio that said “What do I stand for? Some nights I don’t know.”  I said to myself, “I don’t know and that’s ok.”  I was referring to knowing intellectually if God exists or not.  Suddenly a wave of peace and calming swept over me.  I felt a load of weight released from my shoulders.  It was the first time I felt the Holy Spirit in quite some time and it came from admitting my own intellectual doubt of God’s existence.

It’s ok to say “I don’t know.”  It’s ok to be honest with yourself and your doubts.  It’s ok to be you.  We believe by faith and not sight.  My heart is much further along in my faith than my intellect and God knows this.  I am finite and He is infinite.  I am not God and neither are you…  It’s ok. He understands this and loves you far more than you will ever understand.  Take a deep breath in and exhale slowly.  Whisper His name for He is near!  Hope lives and His name is Jesus!

I rise before the dawning of the morning, and cry for help; I hope in Your word. -Psalm 119:147

Evidence of Things Not Seen

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  –Hebrews 11:1

Today I choose to let my faith be my evidence, not my understanding and intellect.

Lord give us the humility to trust in you whole-heartedly.

Moving Forward

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. –Philippians 3:8

The past is gone forever and does not matter anymore. What matters is the future of your life! Your future holds purpose, hope and meaning.

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11

Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. The blood of Jesus covers all your sins. Yes, ALL your sins! Everything you feel guilty for… you are no longer guilty. Embrace the complexity of your mind with a renewed spirit. Submit yourself to allow a transformation to take place. Turn your eyes to Jesus!

It is the Spirit of God you sense…

Embrace it! Live it! Love it! Emanuel—God is with us!

(Psalm 139:14, Romans 12:2, Matthew 1:23)

-I Want To Believe In God [dot com]

If Anyone Has Ears To Hear, Let Him Hear!

Jesus said:

“Is a lamp brought to be under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand? For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:21-23)

“Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” (Mark 5:19)

The Lord has freed me from bondage to sin.

The Lord has forgiven me.

The Lord has changed my heart and taught me to love more.

The Lord has brought a new life giving light to my life.

The Lord has brought meaning to my life.

The Lord has given peace to my life that “surpasses understanding.”

The Lord has had compassion on me.

The Lord has loved me.

Many have said, “You often don’t realize what you have until you no longer have it.”

With the light, peace and joy that comes from faith in Christ I think many experience the opposite: You don’t realize what you have been missing out on until you have it!

If you have “ears to hear” then hear this:

Jesus loves you!

He said: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28)

Do you feel as if you need rest in your life?

God is here. He is with you now as you read this. God’s Holy Spirit surrounds the earth and is waiting for you to open your heart and let Him in.

You say, “This sounds great but I am an intellectual person and all this God talk is a made up primitive fairy tale.”

Here’s your intellectual argument:

Life is a miracle. The miracle of life cannot be explained or understood even by the smartest scientist without divinity. Life doesn’t just happen from nothing. Life has been engineered. Our DNA is a written code by our Creator. The evolutionary theory is completely flawed. What came first the eye or the eyelid? We feel in ourselves that there is more to life. We have a spiritual longing because there is a spiritual side to us. We feel within ourselves that there is something that cannot die. Life is not meaningless. An infinite universe parallels an infinite God. The entire universe and life system is far too complex to have just happened. I could go on and on but God has designed it so that we are to seek Him spiritually not scientifically. We are to seek heavenly wisdom instead of worldly knowledge. Men worship our own intellect but what’s the point of anything if we just die and become nothing?

“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their own craftiness.'” (1 Corinthians 3:18-19)

Life passes in the blink of an eye. Don’t waste it.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; Let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. ‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:6-9)

An Honest Search for Truth

Hello there 2012! So, my last post of 2011 was about lying and I figured what better way to start off the New Year than to write a post about truth. What is truth? Do any of us know the truth? What does truth mean to you? Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Do you believe this or do you think He was lying?

Here’s some truth about me: I believe the words of Jesus. I believe Jesus was telling the truth. I believe all truth to our existence can be found in Jesus Christ. I believe the truth can set you free and bring peace, joy, hope and love to your life. I believe in God and I believe our life is more than an accident. I believe the universe was created and not just an outcome of something coming from nothing. I believe that the creator of the universe is not silent and has revealed Himself to us again and again, but has only shown enough of Himself so that it is left up to us to seek or reject.

Here’s some more truth: Nobody can honestly disprove God. Studying the creation does not disprove the creator. I have felt the presence of God and nobody can honestly tell me I have not simply because they have not felt the presence themselves. Some of the most brilliant men in the world will tell you that the more we learn, the more we realize what we don’t know. Scientists have barely tapped into understanding the miracle of life but yet so many men will claim with certainty that there is no God. Scientists can’t even figure out where the moon came from but yet men claim science and logic disproves a creator. It doesn’t make sense to me. I will be the first to admit that I do not know everything. Actually I will go even further and say that with all there is to know about life, I barely know anything. But… I do know Jesus Christ and I have a spiritual relationship with him. You can choose to believe me or you may choose not to, and in turn call me a liar or delusional. But I promise you I’m not lying and I’m not crazy.

Jesus said “seek and you will find.” He was not lying. I chose to seek and I did find. What did I find you may ask? I found truth. I found life. I found hope. I found joy. I found peace. I found love. God wants a relationship with you and it is up to you to take a step of faith to initiate this relationship. God has not only told us “seek and you will find” but also “you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” The key part is “with all your heart.” If you do not truly seek with an open heart but instead go on a half-hearted spiritual search you may very well not find anything at all. You may find yourself right back where you started saying: “There’s no God.” There isn’t? Really? Prove it. You may honestly believe that God does not exist, but if that is you then I don’t think you have ever truthfully searched. You owe it to yourself to do an honest search. Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself. There’s still time. God is here. There’s more to life than just lusts for possessions, sex and power but you have to be willing to give up your fleshly desires and truly seek to find it. You have to be willing to give up your life to find life. You have to be an optimist. If you have only set out to disprove God then you have never truly searched at all.

God says:

“Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.”

-I Want To Believe In God [dot com]

An Honest Look at Lying

Liar liar, pants on fire!  Everyone knows the saying right? We hear children on the playground shouting this at each other or maybe your kids have said this to you after telling them a nursery rhyme or a “fib.”  Let’s be honest, we have all lied at some point but why do we do it?  For my last post of 2011 I’d like to take an honest look at lying. 

Speaking from personal experience I would say the main reason people lie is either to make themselves look more impressive to someone or to cover up something they’ve done that they are ashamed of.  Either way we are giving a false representation of who we actually are.  So why do we constantly feel the need to make ourselves appear better than we are?   

“Be yourself” and “be real” are very popular words of advice these days.  There’s so much talk of “fake” people.   Everywhere I go someone is gossiping about someone else saying “they’re so fake.”  So who are the “real” people? Don’t we all put on some fake representation of ourselves when we go out into public?  Aren’t we all somewhat fake? People can get so obsessed with what others think about them.  After typing that statement I quickly felt the urge to let you all know that I’m no different and with that proving my own worries of what others think of me.  We all want to fit in and we all want to be accepted.  Does this lead us to lie?  Shouldn’t it be the opposite?  It’s quite paradoxical—we lie to be accepted but nobody wants to accept a liar.  So by lying aren’t we just digging our own grave?  We tell one lie and that leads to another, which leads to another, and another, until there’s no truth left in anything were saying.  It’s a terrible trap that we could easily avoid if we just don’t lie to begin with. 

As Christians we know we should not lie and it tells us this many places in the Bible. 

“Thou shalt not bear false witness!” (Exodus 20:16)

“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight.” (Prov 12:22)

We also know that if we do lie we should quickly confess.

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (Prov 28:13)

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for another, that you may be healed.” (James 5:15)

After Jesus had been taken prisoner Peter lied three times to people denying he ever knew Jesus.  Why did he do it?  Can’t we all relate to Peter sometimes?  I’m going to be honest here and admit that I have lied before to get out of having to talk about my faith.  I did just last week actually.  It happened so quickly I did it without even really thinking about it.  For work I deal with a lot of musicians and most of them guys.  I have a recording studio at my home and in the past—my pre-Jesus days—I’ve kept a few “girlie magazines” around.  After committing my life to Christ I threw these magazines away.  I had a past client in last week that asked me where the magazines were.  Immediately with almost no prior thought I lied and said I had given them away.  This was not true at all.  The truth is I threw them away because I take the problem of sexual immorality and pornography very seriously.  I will not have those magazines in my house anymore because I am a Christian and try my best to follow the moral law that God has given us.  That is what I should have told him but instead I made up a lie to avoid talking about Jesus.  It seemed like such a small little innocent lie but the Holy Spirit did not think so.  Immediately conviction set in and guilt arose.  The incident has crossed my mind quite a few times since and hence I decided to write this post.   

I’ve come to realize that it’s just not worth it to lie about anything… ever.  The Lord has set me free by forgiving me of my past sins so why do I want to put myself back into the pit by lying again?  One of the most amazing gifts we get with the decision to follow Jesus is peace from the past.  I have finally moved on and put my past self away.  I’m living in light now but how quickly my flesh wants to throw me back into darkness.   I refuse to live there and I encourage you to do so as well!  Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life” and he also said “the truth will set you free.”  He was so right.  He was right about everything he said.  Instead of “liar liar, pants on fire” the saying should be “the truth, the truth, sets my heart on fire” for Jesus that is. With 2012 approaching it’s the perfect time to start over.  It’s time for New Year’s resolutions and I have figured mine out: to live in the truth that is Jesus Christ!  I hope you’ll join me!  Happy New Year everyone and God bless 2012!

“I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ–the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”(Philippians 3:8-14 NIV84)

-I Want To Believe In God [dot com]