So today is Saturday... and Sunday comes afterwards, thank you for that Rebecca Black. Moving on... in an hour, i will be picking up an amazing woman and taking her to meet my parents for the first time and show her my hometown and the memory of the life i have lived there. This shouldn't be a secret to many anymore, but naivety isn't too uncommon these dayssss. I am just so so so thankful and so blessed to have spent so much time with an incredible daughter of the Most High and found constant encouragement from her life and her words. Her actions are a direct reflection of the love of Christ and she shares that with the world. daily. Compassion just flows from her presence because she resides in His. Our God is too good for words. I'd like to keep this concise, so let's just say "we we we, we so excited," eh? Praise the Lord, oh, my soul, Praise the Lord. Take heart, friends, He knows just what you need. He made you. Just let Him have all of you.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Power Outage
..gotten tired of how your blog starts? me flipping too. would you (singular or plural.. whatev) judge me if i stopped doing it? um.. well.. we'll see. power outage. what does this mean? weeeellll, i'm not talking about the second power outage at dbu over spring break. I'm talking about the power outage within the church. it's real. it's prevalent. it's consuming all it comes into contact with. how? we are preaching a false doctrine. hey.. do me a favor. DONT think about a PINK ELEPHANTTTT. whatever you do. do NOT think of a PINK ELEPHANT. think of ANYTHING but a pink elephant. pink. elephant. either you're thinking about a pink elephant, or you're thinking of something completely different because you were told not to think about a pink elephant. problem is, you still have the pink elephant in mind. well, you see, the church is teaching us not to sin. WHAT. no no no no no. how about this.. let's look at what God sees. when you have repented of your sin, and allowed Jesus Christ and the belief in Him that His once-for-all sacrifice was enough for our eternal salvation from a much deserved hell (Romans 6:23), your sin is taken from you. it's washed away. "sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." "For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotton Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (Lu..kidding, John 3:16). "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace" (Ephesians 1:7). "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. My little children, these things I write to you, that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 1:7-2:2). Jesus Christ's blood covers His redeemed. completely. There is absolutely NOTHING we can do to change that. NOTHING. God looks at us and sees the blood, not sin. Now i'm going to get a little controversial.. brace yourselves. God isn't concerned with our sin. WHAT?! Ryan, you're gonna lose your salvation AND your cls for saying that! (psych) Hebrews 10:14-17 is proof enough for me. "by a single offering He (Jesus) has perfected for ALL TIME those who are being sanctified. the Holy Spirit bears witness to us that (He, God) will put (His) laws on (our) hearts, and write them on (our) minds." Verse 17 is KEY, though, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds NO MORE." Grace, God's unmerited favor, is poured out upon us. every. single. day. We are unworthy, but praise GOD that we've been MADE worthy "through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (Heb. 10:10). Our sins are atoned for. past, present, AND future. GONE. washed away. God doesn't care about our sin because He doesn't see it; He sees the blood of Jesus. The church has taught that we are to continue to ask for forgiveness of sin when we commit acts of disobedience. Where is this biblically? nowhere to be found. What exactly does "once for all" mean to you? ALL SIN IS ATONED FOR. ALL OF IT. PRAISE GOD. Why sit there and disagree? You're about to learn about the freedom of Christ. Here comes the power ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.. I'm about to runnn. okay. i'm back. um....
God isn't concerned with our sin, right? What He ISSSS concerned with is our hearts. If He can have our hearts, we won't want to sin. duh. Repentance is a complete 180. It's saying we lived in sin and death and NOW, thanks be to GOD, we're turning towards the Savior and Lord of our lives. Psalm 37:4! "DELIGHT yourself in the LORD," when this is done, "He will give you the desires of your heart." This isn't saying that He'll give you a new car or a sweet house, record deal, job, or wife.. haha.. that's funny, He totally will do that last one, at least, after this next part muahaha, i can't wait to blog about that silliness. What this IS saying is He will replace our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36). He removes the evil through Jesus' sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit moves us to follow His decrees and His law (Ezek. 36). He replaces our desires with His desires. "walk in the light, as He is in the light," right? Then, once we allow God to renovate His new house, He fills it. God will provide the things He wants which is now what we want because He lives in us and as Asaph says in Psalm 73, "there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You." When He is our sufficiency and satisfaction, the blesssings flow. "Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him , and He will act. ... Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37: 5, 7). He just wants us. Our focus, our attention, our affection. He's forgiven you, so stop asking for the free gift you've already been given. Now, I'm not saying our desires for our old habits disappears. What I'm saying is we have to stop being so caught up in what's been removed. The debt's been paid. Now we allow the Holy Spirit to remove all the unwanted furniture from His house, so He can make it a home. Jesus was a man filled with the Holy Spirit. He lived prayer time to prayer time, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and direct His ministry. His "ministry" was just His obedience to the Spirit. When we take our focus off of everything but obedience to Him, His power will be restored and the lights of the world will shine as bright as ever. When the church, the bride, decides to get in tune with the Spirit, we will finally find the solution to our problems. We must stop being leeches. We must stop sucking the power out of the Gospel and Cross of Christ. God's grace and forgiveness have NOTHING to do with our performance, so be free from guilt, shame, and bondage. You'll screw up. a lot. so what, get back on the narrow. Live in the Word. Live in prayer. Jesus said His food was to do the will of the One who sent Him and to accomplish His work (John 4:34). "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). We have to EAT THE WORD. It is sustenance. if you haven't been in God's Word all day, you're probably starving. Your spirit is famished. you NEED Him. allow God to be God. Let Jesus' sacrifice be enough. The Holy Spirit will use whatever room you give Him, but, until you allow Homeboy to tear down the walls you've left up in His house, He can't allow His power to flow through you freely. God is bringing a power surge. The voltage of the Holy Spirit is about to raise to unprecedented heights, and I'm just glad He's ruining me to the point seeing Him for who He is. please please please pray, "the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective" (James 5:16, i think?)
Holy Spirit, move mightily in the readers of this post. MIGHTILY. let there be no disagreements, not because of my words, God, but because your Truth sets us free. Let there be freedom from bondage, God. That we would walk in Your Truth, the only Truth, and we WILL witness layers and layers of bondage falling off of us as our old flesh and desires melt away and Your love and power begin to rise in our lives. We're praising and giving You thanks in advance for the work You are going to do and what is already being worked out. Father, You are Holy, and we are thankful for the cross, the blood, and the power of Your name.
Now, be free.
God isn't concerned with our sin, right? What He ISSSS concerned with is our hearts. If He can have our hearts, we won't want to sin. duh. Repentance is a complete 180. It's saying we lived in sin and death and NOW, thanks be to GOD, we're turning towards the Savior and Lord of our lives. Psalm 37:4! "DELIGHT yourself in the LORD," when this is done, "He will give you the desires of your heart." This isn't saying that He'll give you a new car or a sweet house, record deal, job, or wife.. haha.. that's funny, He totally will do that last one, at least, after this next part muahaha, i can't wait to blog about that silliness. What this IS saying is He will replace our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36). He removes the evil through Jesus' sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit moves us to follow His decrees and His law (Ezek. 36). He replaces our desires with His desires. "walk in the light, as He is in the light," right? Then, once we allow God to renovate His new house, He fills it. God will provide the things He wants which is now what we want because He lives in us and as Asaph says in Psalm 73, "there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You." When He is our sufficiency and satisfaction, the blesssings flow. "Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him , and He will act. ... Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37: 5, 7). He just wants us. Our focus, our attention, our affection. He's forgiven you, so stop asking for the free gift you've already been given. Now, I'm not saying our desires for our old habits disappears. What I'm saying is we have to stop being so caught up in what's been removed. The debt's been paid. Now we allow the Holy Spirit to remove all the unwanted furniture from His house, so He can make it a home. Jesus was a man filled with the Holy Spirit. He lived prayer time to prayer time, allowing the Holy Spirit to guide and direct His ministry. His "ministry" was just His obedience to the Spirit. When we take our focus off of everything but obedience to Him, His power will be restored and the lights of the world will shine as bright as ever. When the church, the bride, decides to get in tune with the Spirit, we will finally find the solution to our problems. We must stop being leeches. We must stop sucking the power out of the Gospel and Cross of Christ. God's grace and forgiveness have NOTHING to do with our performance, so be free from guilt, shame, and bondage. You'll screw up. a lot. so what, get back on the narrow. Live in the Word. Live in prayer. Jesus said His food was to do the will of the One who sent Him and to accomplish His work (John 4:34). "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by EVERY word that comes from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4). We have to EAT THE WORD. It is sustenance. if you haven't been in God's Word all day, you're probably starving. Your spirit is famished. you NEED Him. allow God to be God. Let Jesus' sacrifice be enough. The Holy Spirit will use whatever room you give Him, but, until you allow Homeboy to tear down the walls you've left up in His house, He can't allow His power to flow through you freely. God is bringing a power surge. The voltage of the Holy Spirit is about to raise to unprecedented heights, and I'm just glad He's ruining me to the point seeing Him for who He is. please please please pray, "the prayers of the righteous are powerful and effective" (James 5:16, i think?)
Holy Spirit, move mightily in the readers of this post. MIGHTILY. let there be no disagreements, not because of my words, God, but because your Truth sets us free. Let there be freedom from bondage, God. That we would walk in Your Truth, the only Truth, and we WILL witness layers and layers of bondage falling off of us as our old flesh and desires melt away and Your love and power begin to rise in our lives. We're praising and giving You thanks in advance for the work You are going to do and what is already being worked out. Father, You are Holy, and we are thankful for the cross, the blood, and the power of Your name.
Now, be free.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
You're My Escape
..endured something terrible? Gone through hell in your own home? me neither.. but it feels like it. here's the deal, God is always at work, and He's wanting to work in and THROUGH us. we don't want either of those. the bible says so. david said, "i have no good apart from You," referencing the LORD, DUH. No one seeks after God. weird. did you know that colossians says that ALL things were created in, through, and for Christ? #freebie God is working on me like crazy and trying to give me reasons why He wants all of me.. because He knows what's best. Hey, I have something so much greater for you than what you used to love. I love you, I know what's best for you.. I did knit you together in the womb and all. anywho, follow Me. focus on Me. watch me Work. GLADLY. i'm tired of me. i'm tired of old junk. you can have the world, give me JESUS, please! well, after seeking Him and having Him love and burn me more for Him, well... He just blesses me. all i have to say is there's a song.. people sing it to God, but homie wrote it for his wife (so the legend goes). either that or a guy sang it to his wife at their wedding. regardless, here it is:
when i am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
when troubles come and my heart burdened be;
then, i am still and wait here in the silence;
until you come and sit awhile with me.
you raise me up so i can stand on mountains;
you raise me up to walk on stormy seas;
i am strong, when i am on your shoulders;
you raise me up to more than i can be.
this song is truth. whether it's sung to the Most High.. or to His daughter. either way. thank You, and thank you. you know who you are. ladies and gents, one day. that's all.
well.. ps... THANK YOU. for the 23461372478345762nd time. thank you. God is too good, guys. He is too good. Give Him thanks and praise. one, He deserves it. two, He's due it. three, He's worthy (i'm well aware these are similar). four, He asks for it. five, we should constantly want to. if not, read psalm 34 or something. all of them, actually. which brings me to something else! for the rest of my LIFE, i will read 5 psalms and a proverb everyday. i will read through both books at least 12 times a year. crunk, right? one, i will be really familiar with how God was praised by the man after His own heart. two, i will be really familiar with the smartest man who ever lived and who will ever live, so says the Word.. it's questionable because of all the women he had #thatsabadidea, but whatever you gotta do, man. um... thanks again. you're sweet. you're kind. you're gentle. you're patient. you're amazing. HEY, stop reading if this isn't for you! i don't want your judgment! (catch up on your reading! ...ahem) okay, that's all. thanks for stopping by!
when i am down and, oh my soul, so weary;
when troubles come and my heart burdened be;
then, i am still and wait here in the silence;
until you come and sit awhile with me.
you raise me up so i can stand on mountains;
you raise me up to walk on stormy seas;
i am strong, when i am on your shoulders;
you raise me up to more than i can be.
this song is truth. whether it's sung to the Most High.. or to His daughter. either way. thank You, and thank you. you know who you are. ladies and gents, one day. that's all.
well.. ps... THANK YOU. for the 23461372478345762nd time. thank you. God is too good, guys. He is too good. Give Him thanks and praise. one, He deserves it. two, He's due it. three, He's worthy (i'm well aware these are similar). four, He asks for it. five, we should constantly want to. if not, read psalm 34 or something. all of them, actually. which brings me to something else! for the rest of my LIFE, i will read 5 psalms and a proverb everyday. i will read through both books at least 12 times a year. crunk, right? one, i will be really familiar with how God was praised by the man after His own heart. two, i will be really familiar with the smartest man who ever lived and who will ever live, so says the Word.. it's questionable because of all the women he had #thatsabadidea, but whatever you gotta do, man. um... thanks again. you're sweet. you're kind. you're gentle. you're patient. you're amazing. HEY, stop reading if this isn't for you! i don't want your judgment! (catch up on your reading! ...ahem) okay, that's all. thanks for stopping by!
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