What Is Your Will In Christ?

We're living in a world of deception and disinformation - it's not a joke. It's become far more acceptable and common to say anything to promote one's own cause, whatever it might be, without penalty or conscience... and with reasoned justification.  These days the fabled wolf in sheep's clothing is a real threat to anyone willing to passively accept anything in any form of popular culture without sifting it through the established truth - and some don't have the best grasp on what that truth is. Many have drifted away from bible centered homes, studies and lives and that has the ability to leave even some who follow Christ weak and largely vulnerable. The pied piper   of populism, deception and flawed reason  (satan)  finds his mark among those l ulled by daily life and  willing to accept things that they hear or reason in their own minds without weighing them against what we've actually been instructed in scripture. I'm  most concerned for those ...

"But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way." John 4:23 (NLT) A young lady I know well recently made an honest confession concerning the fact that she felt awkward about crying in church. Without much hesitation, my response came fast. It wasn't something I'd rehearsed or memorized, but instead something I'd lived well enough to know first hand and that was also well experienced  in my own life and heart... "Tears can be a wash for the repentant soul, an honest expression of being overwhelmed by the beauty of our Creator's presence, the application of soothing healing waters to a wounded spirit, the present evidence of true gratitude, the waterfall of uncontainable joy or the overflow of the deepest affection... and sometimes in the Lord's presence, all of those things at the same time - each one beautiful in His eye...

As we come to face the new year, many are looking back - chronicling the events of the year past. But for followers of Christ, looking back is only profitable when it produces something positive toward the year ahead. Father God isn't a backward looking Lord, but a positive and forward looking God of hope, newness and creativity. Memory Lane might be a preoccupation for some, but disciples of Christ have the best reasons to avoid that detour and stay focused on the road ahead. Those reasons are at least as numerous as all of God's promises. Life in the world has its troubles and its difficulties and regardless of what might be said by some, Jesus never promised that we'd have everything we wanted or that life would be easy. Anyone promoting anything to the contrary should be checked against the reality of scripture and they might be someone to avoid. John 16:33 (NLT) "I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many tria...

I could easily find myself wrapped up in traditions at Christmas time. All of the excitement of finding the right gifts, decorating a tree and the house lead to a building anticipation and mark the coming of a renewed celebration. But what is it that I choose to celebrate? I could point to many Christmases past and remember them fondly, once again savoring the spirit, reliving the joys and the excitement of moments shared. In this Christmas present, I could find genuine reasons to be merry in spirit while surrounded by children and grandchildren, making the most of precious time together and I certainly will. But if I celebrate the traditions of Christmas, if I find anything in the present more occupying, hold anything in my heart more dear, or let it overshadow the very thing I claim to celebrate in the commemoration of one particular event, I've settled for nothing less than a celebration of mere humanity. The very word Christmas comes from the term Mass of Christ - a celeb...

I caught a glimpse in the longing eyes of a stranger. It was the gentleness in the heavy gaze that I felt locked on me as I hurriedly passed him by on my own determined mission. With shabby shoes and long worn out clothes, the man looked hard worn himself, but he had a peaceful calmness about him that conflicted with my immediate first impression...  He could have been a man once caught in a whirlwind by life's unending challenge. He might have once been someone just like me, but instead of fighting to get up just one more time, was too beaten down, weak and tired to fight his way forward yet again and gave up the fight when life once again rolled him over. Maybe it was a loss - a love, a spouse, a child, a friend or even brother that brought him down one last time. I couldn't know. Or maybe it was the decaying culminations of an addiction that started from a simple but desperate need just to cope in his daily struggles - just a little help, trying to get by. It might h...

If we were to set aside any and all of our "Christmas" activities and thoughts for a moment... and imagined being present on that very day when Christ entered the world in the form of a man-child, what was it like - that very day that we strive to celebrate? There were no decorated trees with packages under them, no ribbons, no bows. There was no Santa in red or reindeer with shiny noses. There weren't any elves or animated snowmen with top hats and there wasn't even a single strand of electric lights. What a desolate scene that first Christmas must have been.                                                  No!... Oh human imagine with me with deep thought, what wondrous adornment, what decoration our God provided that mere man in his greatest achievements of wonder would fail miserably to replicate... In the glory of the night sky - a vacuum for man's m...

There's an aura around the greatness of God that I cannot touch with words to adequately relate. If you've truly spent any time in His presence, then you know exactly what I'm talking about. But if you haven't, then you're missing out on the most precious thing this life has to offer - and exactly what we were created to enjoy... If you consider that everything in the nature of the world around us, this planet, all of the others and the wonders of the heavens beyond were all created by God, then you begin to touch on His massive ability to create. But then focusing on the complexities of just one of the tiniest fragments of near creation around us, say a leaf, or a bug, contained within nature, explodes manifold any sense of the scope of one's imagination to contain the full measure of God's own imagination and creative ability. One human being can't possibly contain a full accounting of the knowledge of what He has done that we could learn of. The h...

"7 Sing out your thanks to the LORD; sing praises to our God with a harp. 8 He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures.9 He gives food to the wild animals and feeds the young ravens when they cry. 10 He takes no pleasure in the strength of a horse or in human might. 11 No, the LORD’s delight is in those who fear him, those who put their hope in his unfailing love."  Psalm 147:7-11 (NLT)  Thanksgiving Day is rapidly approaching and it's made me think of some memories I gained as a child. I realize that there may be a number of different ways and reasons that people in the world might approach the holiday that we refer to as Thanksgiving and some who don't at all. But for me, it's a sacred day, one set aside personally with reverent and humbled gratitude... Growing up, the Thanksgiving holiday was always my mother's favorite which puzzled me as a kid. Why not Christmas with all that it rep...

“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Jesus' words in Luke 22:42 (NLT) Far too often we have a tendency to approach the Lord with an agenda - a list of things, or maybe just a thing that we desire from Him, when all that is required to find the perfect answers to our needs... is obedient worship.  Jesus Himself, pointed this out in Matthew 6 (NLT) 31“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." (emphasis mine) Take Joshua for example, - the leader that the Lord appointed to lead the children of Israel after Moses' time was finished. He faced a huge responsibility in leading the Israelites. The mantle of leadin...

If we follow Christ, we're not called to be victims of delusion wandering aimlessly through a meaningless span of time, but rather clear minded and victorious soldiers of Christ's own calling - following a path that He charted and illuminated for us. If we follow Him, we fall not... because He stands in victory, we faint not... because He raised to life... and we live in eternal promise... because He lives forever. He's made both the truth and the path available to us and we're now made accountable for our response. In truth, only laziness or foolishness could be our answer for failing to follow Him when He calls us to account for it.  But what is the truth and what path do we follow? How does one navigate a sure and certain course to the destination that God intended for us from the beginning when He created us?  We were created for one purpose and our accounting of how we served that purpose will be reconciled against that of our Creator in the end. Our only hope...

Let's face it,... we're not perfect.  As followers of Christ, we may be criticized for our faults by others who make the false assumption that we're suddenly supposed to be perfect because of our profession of faith in Christ. But don't let the false expectations of others who would mock you derail your growth or breed guilt and condemnation in your heart... We all have a past and we all occasionally wrestle with finding ourselves falling short of who we ideally wish we could emulate perfectly - Jesus. But in truth, the renewing of our minds is a transformation, an ongoing process that will continue until our time here expires. Our repentance for those occasional missteps and Christ's provision of grace leave us free of the guilt and condemnation we would otherwise be subject to. So take heart. Look up and smile with a heart full of gratitude for what the Lord's doing in you! The path of transformation - becoming more like Christ, is an individual journe...