It is, for the most part, always been thought that we, the thinking, knowing, feeling humankind are, ourselves, the concrete fact.
The reality, if you will.
And, the "spiritual" things, such as God, angels, Heaven, and Hell have all been thought of as the mysterious and translucent.
Something to ponder, but not tangibly feel.
Though, what if that perspective is jaded?
Is there a possibility that our perception of things is misconceived?
Have we inadvertently switched the proper place of what is ghost and what is not?
C.S. Lewis in his famed book, "The Great Divorce," expresses that men are like ghosts. Shades in comparison to the true reality of God and all that is His. He articulates that we, humanity, are without Christ, simply phantoms.
The band, Gungor, named their album, "Ghosts Upon the Earth" in an effort to exclaim that we do not compare to the raw reality of God.
We are but ghosts.
Until Christ comes.
Because, in Lewis' novel, people who had accepted the truth and reality of Christ in their heart began to harden and become real.
So, in the same manner, we are only phantoms, aimlessly wandering the earth unless we let the Lord bring us into a hardened reality, through His Son.
That reality is Christ Jesus.
The Gospel and the Word.
Do not continue as a ghost.
Step into reality.
August 12, 2013
August 2, 2013
Emmanuel (God With Us)
Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus coming to earth and being willingly rejected by God, His Father due to our sin that He took upon Himself and disposed of on the Cross, was so that we could be with God and He with us.
It's a love story, people!
Boy meets girl, boy can't be with girl because of this or that, but by the end of the movie or book, we see that he makes a way.
God made a way!
It's Jesus, the only way, the only truth, and the only life!
Stop looking for Jesus under spiritual rocks!
You can't find Jesus in a wrist band!
You can't find Jesus in a special shirt!
Because, He has found you.
Stop searching, you're found!
All it takes is saying, "Yes."
He chose you. He made a way for you.
He sent His only Son to save you.
He did the work, He paid the price, He sacrificed.
You don't do the work.
You can't find God! Only He can reveal Himself to you.
And He has through the Cross!
Why do people say, "If I could just go to this place, or if I could just see a miracle, or just hear this person say this thing and then I'd be good, then I'll have what I'm searching for in God."
Since when has God conformed to our measure of thinking?
God does not work on our time table or level of comprehension.
You don't need a special situation to be with Him!
You know why? Because He's right with you!
He's in you! If you have accepted the Lord Jesus as your personal Savor and King, then He is dwelling inside you through the Holy Spirit.
Though going to Church is amazing, you don't need to go to church to be with Jesus!
You don't need anything but Him.
People all across the world in "third world countries" worship Jesus just fine with out a sound system, a guitar, or even a Bible.
Please don't hear me wrong, God reveals Himself through His Word, and through corporate worship, and through countless other things, but those are not the only way to worship Jesus.
Because Jesus is in you.
And you don't need anything else except Him to be able to worship Him and live in His glorious presence.
People! Stop "soaking" in His presence and start living in it!
Stop letting it just wash over you without letting if effect you!
Waiting upon the Lord is fantastic and is crucial to our relationship with Christ, but people,
Faith Without Works Is Dead!
Brothers, Sisters, fellow believers and human-beings, it is time to stop being so dependent on other humans to get to God. That is not how it was designed to be.
We were not made for a second hand relationship with God.
It's time to start meeting with God face to face, one on one, you and God, nothing and no one else.
It's time to start encountering Emmanuel for yourself.
August 1, 2013
Taking Our Place
Jesus did not die while we were loving Him!
Jesus did not subject Himself to be nailed on the cross whilst we were all on our knees worshiping and praying for Him.
Jesus did not have a prayer team, or a group of people who sent Him Bible verses and encouraging notes to keep Him going.
Jesus was rejected. He was beaten, detested, hated, despised.
People wanted Jesus dead!
And yet it says in God's Word, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 NIV)
Jesus was not welcomed into this world on a flush bed of silk and cotton.
Jesus was not "blessed" in the eyes of men, though He is blessing.
He entered into this world through an outcast and was laid in a barn!
Jesus was on the run for the beginning of His life-time
He was not welcome!
And yet He came.
God illustrates the depth of His love even before Christ dies with the story of Barabbas.
This thief, this murderer, this child of the world and sin, was with Jesus as He was brought before the rulers of the land.
And Jesus was the one who was taken and killed. Not the sinner, not the cheat, not the killer, but Jesus.
God set Barabbas free in a foreshadowing of what He would later do for all of humanity.
Knowing very well that Barabbas would not thank Jesus, but would continue in his sin, God had Jesus take his place.
That is love! We don't know if Barabbas ever came to Christ or got saved, but God loved and set him free all the same.
Don't think that God hates you. That is the opposite of the truth.
Do not convince yourself that God doesn't want you. For that is false!
God sent His Son, His only child, His baby, people! He sent Him to earth to be beat and briused and killed, because He loves you!
God will never forsake you. He is not looking to see how many times you can mess up or turn away.
He is not a god of Greek mythology. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.
And He loves you!
God is relentlessly seeking after you and He will not stop until He has every last bit of you.
He wants to bless you, to bring life into you.
Don't ever imagine that He would do anything bad to you.
Accept Him as He accepted Barabbas and just as He has accepted you.
Largly based off Judah Smith's Video Sermon, "Jesus Is Loving Barabbas"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwX_EpNR4CA
https://open.spotify.com/track/4i6stINijO5T8kPQ7PwqxP
Jesus did not subject Himself to be nailed on the cross whilst we were all on our knees worshiping and praying for Him.
Jesus did not have a prayer team, or a group of people who sent Him Bible verses and encouraging notes to keep Him going.
Jesus was rejected. He was beaten, detested, hated, despised.
People wanted Jesus dead!
And yet it says in God's Word, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 NIV)
Jesus was not welcomed into this world on a flush bed of silk and cotton.
Jesus was not "blessed" in the eyes of men, though He is blessing.
He entered into this world through an outcast and was laid in a barn!
Jesus was on the run for the beginning of His life-time
He was not welcome!
And yet He came.
God illustrates the depth of His love even before Christ dies with the story of Barabbas.
This thief, this murderer, this child of the world and sin, was with Jesus as He was brought before the rulers of the land.
And Jesus was the one who was taken and killed. Not the sinner, not the cheat, not the killer, but Jesus.
God set Barabbas free in a foreshadowing of what He would later do for all of humanity.
Knowing very well that Barabbas would not thank Jesus, but would continue in his sin, God had Jesus take his place.
That is love! We don't know if Barabbas ever came to Christ or got saved, but God loved and set him free all the same.
Don't think that God hates you. That is the opposite of the truth.
Do not convince yourself that God doesn't want you. For that is false!
God sent His Son, His only child, His baby, people! He sent Him to earth to be beat and briused and killed, because He loves you!
God will never forsake you. He is not looking to see how many times you can mess up or turn away.
He is not a god of Greek mythology. He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.
And He loves you!
God is relentlessly seeking after you and He will not stop until He has every last bit of you.
He wants to bless you, to bring life into you.
Don't ever imagine that He would do anything bad to you.
Accept Him as He accepted Barabbas and just as He has accepted you.
Largly based off Judah Smith's Video Sermon, "Jesus Is Loving Barabbas"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwX_EpNR4CA
https://open.spotify.com/track/4i6stINijO5T8kPQ7PwqxP
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