No King BUT Christ no. 12

“Beloved friends, let us love one another; because love is from God; and everyone who loves has God as his Father and knows God. Those who do not love, do not know God; because God is love. Here is how God showed his love among us: God sent his only Son into the world, so that through him we might have life. Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the kapparah for our sins. Beloved friends, if this is how God loved us, we likewise ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains united with us, and our love for him has been brought to its goal in us. Here is how we know that we remain united with him and he with us: he has given to us from his own Spirit” (1 Yochanan (1 Jo) 4:7-13). I am always surprised how folks can trust in Jesus and profess His Kingdom and not walk away with an appreciation for loving God, loving neighbors, and loving enemies. It’s all over The Bible and you really have to purposefully miss love. I mean you really have to work to remove the love. God loves us so much and we don’t deserve any of His love. BUT, that doesn’t matter to Him. He loves us even though there is nothing we can offer that even comes close to a fair trade for His love. He loves us when we hate Him. He loves us when we are mean. He loves us when we fail to love our family. He loves us when we show kindness and mercy. He loves us when we are the worst possible versions of ourselves. He loves us when we follow Him obediently. He loves us when we go to sleep angry. He loves us when the rain falls and when the sun shines. He loves us every day, all the time. He even loved us before we were born and will love us after we die. That’s something else.

He loved us so much that He manifested part of Him on earth to fix all the mistakes we make. He loved us enough to show us that we can walk in His truth, goodness, and beauty. I just need to trust Him. And that means not trusting in myself and putting myself in charge of things. That throne in my heart where I like to sit needs to be given to Him as the King of my life. I have to get out of the driver seat and let God lead. Jesus may not be taking the wheel BUT He is providing the directions through the GPS of the Spirit. I have to follow the map.

Over the past couple years, I can see that when you don’t read the whole Bible, we tend to get a weird theology. When we read The Bible disjointedly and without context, I can come to wrong conclusions even if it is based on scripture. There is no substitute for reading and studying The Bible on your own or with a group in Spirit and Truth. There are plenty of plans to keep you on track, plenty of devotionals set up to get you through the whole book, and I encourage you to read the whole thing. Maybe start with the New Testament first and then work on the Old Testament. BUT please read the whole thing at least once in your life. There are a lot of folks out there without sound doctrine. And the only way to know doctrine is to read The Bible in Spirit and Truth. And if you want someone to read with you, encourage you to read, or pray with you about reading, I am here to do that. I am not going to tell you what anything means. I am not going to push my understanding on you. I am just happy to help encourage you to read The Bible. The whole thing. Maybe several translations. Maybe several times. It won’t ever be a waste of time to spend more time in His Word.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

No King BUT Christ no. 11

“So we left Horev and went through all that vast and fearsome desert which you saw on the way to the hill-country of the Emori, as Adonai our God ordered us; and we arrived at Kadesh-Barnea. There I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill-country of the Emori, which Adonai our God is giving to us. Look! Adonai your God has placed the land before you. Go up, take possession, as Adonai , the God of your ancestors, has told you. Don’t be afraid, don’t be dismayed’” (D'varim (Deu) 1:19-21). God has a lot He wants to give us as long as we set aside fear and dismay. He will march us through journeys in preparation for victories He has already won through the death and resurrection of His Son and we can still lack trust. He can walk us through the fearsome desert and we can follow His orders through the hill country to victory. I simply need to obey Him. And obeying Him is the first commandment because I need to love God. Too often I pledge allegiance to my fear and dismay rather to King Jesus.

The Bible is full of great stories and great wisdom and quoting it is a great ability. BUT until I began internalizing its lessons and wisdom, The Bible did me no good. Satan knows the scripture. The demons know the name of Jesus. BUT it doesn’t do them any good because they don’t walk in His Spirit. Until we really meet God through meeting Jesus as He is revealed by the Spirit, we are not transformed. Like the woman at the well, meeting Jesus is unsettling and jarring. “So the woman left her water-jar, went back to the town and said to the people there, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could it be that this is the Messiah?’ They left the town and began coming toward him” (Yochanan (Jhn) 4:28-30). Just like her meeting with Jesus while getting water transformed her life, Jesus has the ability to meet me wherever I am and transform my life as well. And many of our stories are filled with mundane encounters that led to real transformation. Some of our stories are powerfully startling encounters BUT without transformation, the encounter matters little.

Too often we worry that we are going to mess up in spreading His Good News. And often we do. I know that I have messed that up on many occasions. BUT the great thing about the Good News is that no matter how much I imperfectly present the Good News, God is still enthroned and is still in control. And believe it or not, He has a plan that includes me being a mess up. “Moreover, Yesha‘yahu boldly says, ‘I was found by those who were not looking for me, I became known to those who did not ask for me’; but to Isra’el he says, ‘All day long I held out my hands to a people who kept disobeying and contradicting’”(Romans (Rom) 10:20-21). He can be found whenever He wants to be found and folks that can think they are in the right can keep disobeying and contradicting. The Bible is full of God’s chosen people making mistakes. To think that we are not messing up His Good News is arrogant. And in spite of all that, He still chooses to lead us on journeys where He has already provided the victory.

Even though I can get dismayed or fear that He isn’t in control or put myself in charge, God doesn’t stop winning. “Y’hoshua said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid or confused, but be strong and bold, because this is what Adonai will do to all your enemies that you fight against’” (Y'hoshua (Jos) 10:25). He just wants to give me victory. He already won and I still won’t let Him give me the victory because I am too concerned about Him being in charge. If things are not exactly the way I want them to be, I miss the mark of seeing that they are the way He wants them to be. I too often get sidetracked by my idea of how things are going to be rather than get out of His Way and just follow. And I do it all the time. I get sidetracked by things that bug me about the way churches are set up. I get sidetracked by worrying about the theology of other folks. I get sidetracked by so many things that are features of a religion brought about by well-meaning people that are flawed. BUT what I need to do is walk with Him and obey Him. Because too often the problem is with me and my heart. “Yeshua answered them, ‘The reason you go astray is that you are ignorant both of the Tanakh and of the power of God” (Mattityahu (Mat) 22:29).

Way too often I am ignorant. I pray that God will help me be less ignorant. I pray that He helps me trust in Him. I pledge allegiance to Him and trust that He has provided the path. I just need to follow His path in obedience.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH