“The tighter you squeeze, the less you have“~ Thomas Merton

Humans are selfish creatures. Some more in different ways than others. This is part of the disease of sin that permeates all of creation. Those who want more for themselves will compete and dominate others for what they want. It’s the law of the jungle and it exists everywhere. Even in those of us that know the ways of Christ. We just mask it in other ways.

In the life of Christ there were those of His followers that wanted Him to come in and dominate and rule. Repeatedly in scripture Jesus spoke of the necessity that He return to His Father in heaven, but people held on to a false hope that He would slay their enemies and set them free from tyranny. They held onto Him so tightly that Jesus rebuked Peter and called him “Satan” because his mindset was so opposed to what Jesus was teaching.

I was recently changing out some parts in a toilet in my bathroom. While doing so, the valve you use to shut the water off broke, and water was sent spraying all over the bathroom. I managed to grab a screwdriver and used it to push the valve closed, but then I would lose my grip and water would start shooting everywhere again. I fought with the valve for over a half hour. I was afraid the house would be flooded and I cried and prayed and finally I got the answer and was able to stop the water, but it required me letting go of the screwdriver and capping the line with the parts I bought to fix my toilet. If I hadn’t let go of the screwdriver, I never would have been able to stop the deluge and it would have eventually flooded my house.

We can be a lot like Peter. We hold on to things in a totally unhealthy manner to where we do more damage to ourselves and others by holding on. There are those out there who hold on to people out of fear of losing them when you probably never had them to begin with. There are those who hold on to position and title. In holding on to their position, hold others back cause they are fearful what they will be replaced. Perhaps you are holding on to a view of God that has no power to create any real change in your life, but the change requires a greater level of commitment and sacrifice.

Holding on to that screwdriver so tight for so long left my hands hurting for days after I let go. There’s no doubt that letting go hurts, but the fear of letting go will hurt us more in the long run and cost us more than pain in our hands. As we learn to let go, His Word tells us that He fills us with a love that is so much stronger than our fears.

1 John 4:18 – There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Jesus, please help us to approach you with open hands and hearts as you continue to teach us to let go of those things we are so afraid to let go of and fill our hands with things we are able to freely give to others. Amen.

It never ceases to amaze me how our hearts and minds’ first reaction is to cover and hide our “stuff”. Rather than seeing our weakness as a source of wisdom, support and strength for another, we Just like Adam and Eve cover ourselves and hide our stuff from others and even (we think) from the presence of God.  We think if we allow that pain or wound to be exposed again, we will be wounded again, or we think that people won’t accept us anymore. I would love to tell you they will, but there is always the possibility that they may not. They may shun you cause of your “stuff”. There’s no guarantee that people can handle your “stuff”. Even those who have experienced the grace of God in their lives. Especially those who have decided to hide their “stuff” too.

What a waste it would be to hide your “stuff”. There are people who need to hear your story. There are people who are in the middle of the “stuff” that need your story to know that they will make it through, to know they won’t be “here” forever. What a waste it would be to have suffered, and struggled and fought your way out of that “stuff” and not help or support one single soul from your experience.  Do you remember how lonely you felt. How lost you felt? When the end of the day was the only part of the day that you looked forward to? There are others who need you. Need your story, who need to hear your pain, and really need to hear “there is hope”!

What a waste it would be….

There was a time that posting here was a very unhealthy thing for me. It was more of a place to bring attention to myself and the things I know, more than to point to God. I really felt like I needed to shut my mouth and listen to God, so I did.

I’ve tried pursuing some other things to find the purpose and meaning I desired until I realized those things were really more for me than God. God has brought me through some things and blessed me with opportunities that I never thought I would have again. I am thankful for the tough lessons and the frustration I have experienced over the past few years.  

There are still a lot of things that God is still slowly walking me through. There are parts of my life that I don’t know how God is going to fully (fix) redeem, and I am ok with that. Just as God has been redeeming creation to Himself, I know that one day God will restore all that is broken, right all wrongs, and save all that has been lost. Abraham never saw God’s promise fully fulfilled, and I may never see or acheive everything  and that just has to be ok. I find myself in a place of active resignation (maybe I will talk about that soon) to God’s will for my life knowing that He is God and I am a man. I am learning it’s really ok to be “human” despite all the ugliness, the imperfections, and scars. 

There are many more mountains still to climb and valleys to walk through. There are many more tears to be shed and laughs to be laughed. There are good times, and bad times to come, but every day is a gift of God to bring Him glory.

Kevin

 I have to say that when I saw another book on marriage was coming out, my first impression was to think: : “What is Mark and Grace Driscoll going to say that I haven’t heard before?”  Honestly, in most cases, the concepts of friendship and how God views marriage is not new. In fact there are a lot of books out there that will tell you a lot of the same stuff.

What made it stand out for me was that the concepts presented weren’t from a “case study” point of view. This came from the story of their lives together. What they did wrong and what they work on doing right to make thier marriage stronger is what kept me reading. To top it all off, they were dealing with a lot of these issues while starting and pastoring a large church which takes the things they had to deal with and the ramifications if they couldn’t work things out to a whole nother level.

Another thing that stood out for me is how the Gospel is applied and scripture is exalted, not psychological techniques, to each area covered, which is something that  you don’t see normally. Most books are “you-focused” its all about you: your behavior, your actions, your feelings, your desires, ect. This is where this book deviates from the conventional. It talks about how to be a servant to your spouse, how to forgive, how to choke the root of bitterness in your life, and recognize destructive patterns of behavior in your marriage that you inherited from your parents.

I also love the simplified way in which Mark and Grace explore the various ways we express our love sexually to our spouse and is it a way that is scripturally healthy and benefical as a married couple.

There are a lot more things I enjoyed but I think you need to go and get a copy for yourself and check it out. You won’t be disappointed.

Kevin

 I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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In my 38 (almost 39)years on this Earth, I have seen so many things change. I have seen myself get older, my children transform before my eyes and become teens, and my career path change quite a few times. Change is inevitable.

The New Year has begun and for many it is a new start. It is a new opportunity to make some changes in our lives that maybe we didn’t have the gumption to do before. The types and quantity of resolutions are endless.

The problem is when things don’t change.

You’re still the same weight. Your marriage is still a mess. Your kids still hate your guts. Your finances are still a wreck. You still hate your job.

The blame game begins on the things that didn’t change. Despair  and disappointment set in and you’re done.

The year comes to a close again, and you resolve to make “the next year”, the “year” everything changes, and the cycle continues on. The failure to see change continues.

The following reasons things don’t change sometimes are things that I have come to understand about myself and still walk through and wrestle with all the time. I don’t claim to have mastered them, but I believe they will help you.

1)  We don’t see the change in the circumstances around us is because of our failure to see the change that needs to take place inside of us.

Many times things need to change inside of us in order for things to change before things can change in the outside world. We have attitudes, mindsets, and ways of thinking that need to change. Perhaps you are filled with pride or you lack mercy, or you lack character. If the way we think or see things doesn’t change, we would doom everything we want to accomplish. Left to our own devices, because of the sinful, fallen nature we have, we would mess it all up. We may see this as God torturing us or denying us what we want but this is His mercy on us that He doesn’t gives us what we want, when we want it. This is definitely a tough pill to swallow. No doubt.

2)  We don’t see change because we are looking for something outside of Christ that can only be found in Him alone.

This one is huge. Many of the things we desire for ourselves are merely a substitute for something we can find in Christ alone. Whether it’s security, love, acceptance, or provision, God wants to fill all of these things in our lives. All too often we turn to our jobs, our spouses, our kids, or even doing good things to fill the longing of our hearts. The problem is that they never bring lasting joy to our lives. God is jealous for our hearts and He will not let anything bring true fulfillment outside of Him and what Jesus did on the cross.

I have no doubt that all of you wrestle with these things in varying degrees. There may some of you that this may be an eye-opener for you. My prayer for you (and me) is that we will have ears to hear, eyes to see, and teachable heart to allow God to reveal us those things we need to learn. That we would be able to look back on the previous year, and see how far God has brought us all.

The one thing I am grateful for that doesn’t change is how much Jesus loves you and me.

God bless your New Year

Kevin

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 The Advent season seems to be more meaningful every year as God reveals more and more the wonder of what He did in coming to this fallen, corrupted, and doomed world. Becoming a man, lived a life of total obedience to the Father’s will in sinless perfection, and lived to be a perfect sacrifice to redeem this world. In paticular, He came and revealed Himself to me; a fallen, sinful, doomed soul and chose to save me despite the fact that by my actions I could merit no favor.

I can’t imagine the splendor of the heavenly hosts that the sheperds saw. The wonder of wise men who travelled from the East to a small town, to a stable where they would behold the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and pay homage. These things are beyond my minds eye can fathom.

I was just sitting here thinking: “What about the day after Advent?”

The angels are no longer lighting up the heavens, the sound of angel song ceases, and now all that the sheperds hear is the bleating of sheep.

The wise men begin their trip back home, but their thoughts travel back to a stable in Bethlehem and questions of: “Did we truly see the King of the Jews? Did we follow the right star? Why is a king lying in a manger?” begin to dance in their heads.

Did Advent come and open your heart and mind with wonder and fill your heart with hope? What about the day after Advent? Once you were feeling the joy of spending time with family and now you are saying goodbye and going back to “the same ole same old “. Songs of His glorious birth are replaced by the honking of horns on your morning commute to work. The trees that held under its branches items things you really wanted, is now empty and your heart still yearns for something more.

The day after Advent is more important than the day of. This is the day that you have to truly experience the joy of His coming.

You will face the trials and tribulations of life. You will have to go to work. You will have to face the same people that you had a problem with. Life doesn’t stop because of Advent, it begins!

Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Jesus didn’t come to remove you from your life. He came that He might live His life in you and through you! His Advent gives us hope that tomorrow will be better than yesterday. Because He lives in you and me we can face tomorrow. His coming was not just into a manger, but because He came, He now dwells in the hearts of His people!

So this day forward, we are no longer lost, but we have been found. We no longer have to live our lives to appease an angry God, but His sacrifice covers and clothes us in His righteousness. We have more reason to celebrate Advent today than we did on Christmas so let us declare His greatness each and every day, knowing His Advent brought us eternal life!

Kevin

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1 John 1:5-10:

5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

We discussed this passage of scripture a little in prayer Wednesday night. I have been thinking about it ever since. There is some wonderful, liberating, truth here.

 Verse 5 says that God is light and in Him there is no darkness. It goes on to say in verse 6 that if we walk in darkness, we are not practicing the truth and we are liars. Seems pretty harsh, but John is getting ready to pop the top on something wonderful!

7) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from ALL sin. The key is walking in the light (which we established that God is the light). If we skip to verse 10 for a second, the scripture tells us if we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and His word is not in us.

When we walk in the light, the light (God) exposes our darkness (sin). If there is no light (His truth), then we walk in darkness (sin) and we do not have fellowship with each other and His truth can’t be in us. In order for us to see our sin (darkness) we must walk in His light. The greatness of this comes in verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

God knows we are sinners. His light exposes our darkness, but it is the fact that the light opens our eyes to see our sin, and also opens our eyes to what Christ did on the cross. Now, because of what He did, we can walk in the grace that His death bought for us! That allows us to approach God, confess our sin, and to be cleansed from ALL sin! Thank you Jesus!

When we refuse to confess our sin, and try to hide the darkness inside us; when we conceal our sin like Adam and Eve tried to cover their naked bodies, we are not allowing His truth to set us free, or receive His forgiveness in our lives.  

Let’s walk in the light today. Let’s not be ashamed, but walk in the truth that in fact we are spectacular sinners, but we have been saved by a spectacular God and we no longer have to walk in shame, but know we are forgiven because of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice.

Kevin

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Psalm 24

¹ The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
   the world and those who dwell therein

 
I’ve been meditating on this passage of scripture last night and this morning. If we don’t meditate on the scripture, we can lose a lot of meaning from God’s Word.

 We say “Yeah, the Earth is the Lord’s. That’s kind of a given isn’t it”? Not really.

If we start looking at our lives in relation to the Gospel, we don’t live like the Earth is the Lord’s. If we are honest, we live like our lives our ours to choose to live how we want, we spend our money like it is ours and we can do what we want, and we pick scripture that we choose to follow and others we choose to “not listen to”.

That phrase “and the fullness thereof ” accentuates the fact that everything truly belongs to Him and Him alone. From the oxygen you breath, your family, to the things that you worship and give a greater place to than Him. It is all His!

Do we (includes me) act like our lives are truly His? Do our actions reflect a life submitted to Christ? I’m sure everyone can say there is something they are struggling to trust and give God control of. This is why we need His grace so terribly. Our need reflects our inadequacy. Our struggle for control reveals our powerlessness.

Jesus does allow us to experience failure, loss, hunger, frustration, poverty. It is not out of anger that God does this because has already paid the full penalty for our sins and transgressions. He took the consequenses for disobedience, the shame of our failures, and the punishment for our transgressions. What didn’t God do that allows me to go through these things? Why do we suffer? We suffer to bring Him glory, that in these weak, disobedient, wicked shells that will one day pass away, His glory can be made manifest. I am no longer being punished for my sin. I may be disciplined, but I am never rejected. We are His children, and the Father disciplines those He loves. I may go through difficult times but the Father will never leave or forsake us. EVER. We experience suffering because our hearts wander, we lack trust in Him, or we try to find our needs met outside of Christ.

Why do we struggle financially? It is because we do not trust God to provide so we strive, stress, and look for any other way under the sun to find security and sustenance. He will allow us to continue to struggle financially not as a punishment, but that we may through that suffering come to the understanding that He is our provider. Why do people struggle to find peace and turn to drugs and alcohol? It is because they do not find peace in the cross of Christ and do not allow God to bear the weight of our cares. God allows us to experience this lack of peace till we understand where we are to find true peace.

The Lord contends for our hearts. His Spirit works in our lives to make us aware of our need for Him, and reminds us that everything belongs to Him.

Kevin

Well let’s take a look at some scripture:

1 Samuel 30:

¹⁾ Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire ²⁾ and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. ³⁾ And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. ⁴⁾ Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. ⁵⁾ David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. ⁶⁾ And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters.

This passage of scripture has lots of Gospel implications. I will try to stay on point here. Here is David, man after God’s own heart, chosen to be king of Israel after Saul, a man who could have killed Saul a number of times in his sleep, but chose to walk in integrity, for all intents and purposes, a man doing the right things with God’s protection and favor on his life. David comes back home only to find his home burned to the ground and his wife and the families of his men taken into captivity, and to top it off, his men are about ready to kill him because of all this. Doesn’t sound like a good situation for David does it? Obviously there was a lot of criticism of the way David ran things, since David decided to leave the city and their families unprotected while they went off to fight elsewhere. People would probably say that he didn’t have his ducks in a row. 

In most circles today, people would say that “the devil must really hate David to attack him like this”. Or he would have faced a lot of  bad media press and calls for David to be replaced with a more competent leader. A lot of times we see tragedy, trials, and tribulations as attacks of Satan or just stupidity on our part (and these do happen and the devil is real), but rarely do we see the hand of  the Potter moving in our lives.

 I was praying one day and I saw the inside of my house. It looked like someone had come in and flipped tables over and moved things around a bit. It was a mess. It took me a while, but I managed to clean up the mess and get everything put back in place and it even looked better than before the “vandals” got in and messed things up. I was very happy with the way it looked and I thought “man, I would love for people and come over and check out how nice it all looks”. Well, I was brought back to the doorway of my house again, and when I opened the door expecting to see the house looking pristine and orderly, I was in for a shock. Not only was furniture flipped, but the couches were ripped open and the stuffing was all over, pictures were smashed and ripped, chairs were broken beyond repair, holes in the walls, just like the picture above. It was ruined beyond my ability to clean or repair.

It was then I heard God speak to me: He showed me that the things I have tried so hard to fix in my life were not necessarily the things He wanted me to fix (not that I had the power to do so in the first place). The more I arranged my house the way I thought it should look, the more dramatic the destruction would be when He comes in and does what He wants to do in my life. He showed me my lack of faith and trust in Him to bring me where He wants me to be, not where I think I should be.

God is not asking us to fix ourselves. What He is asking is that we trust Him. He is asking that we go when He says to go. He is asking us to rest under the shadow of His wing and take refuge and find our strength in Him. Change will come, but change that will last will never come by the work of our hands. Only through the finished work that Jesus Christ did on the cross will we ever find security, hope, and our destiny.

I’m not giving it a “bad” review, but I have read better books by Mr. Stanley.

Kevin