Happy Birthday...Sleep Well

Dedicated to his best friend Mugabe

I really wanted to entitle this piece, “Happy Birthday and R.I.P.” but I suppose those final words (R.I.P.) are so piercing that people readily expect just a sad, devastating, heart wrenching story and maybe rightly so. My conscious effort for this post is to simply share more about how my own life was impacted by his life and death. When we allow our lives to be positively transformed by a loved one we have lost we let their legacy live on!

Confessedly, I cannot write without thinking about his family and other friends who suffered through the anniversary of his death only a few weeks later that same month to celebrate what was the day of his birth! Though I will speak of him I will not give him a name because I believe it frees you to consider as you read, your own loved ones who have transitioned and the real impact their lives have had on this world and more importantly, on you.

Reminiscing

Once January rolled in I found myself anticipating those two memorial days I mentioned earlier and wondering how his best friend, who became a dear friend of mine, along with other loved ones, would be coping.  I hadn’t known him long but in the breadth of my knowledge of him I learned of his jovial, compassionate, generous, well-mannered nature. He was a Christian who was a hero. He died because he risked his life to save a classmate who got into difficulty swimming in high current water. I had to take a moment to absorb all that again!

As I observe this scene of my life I recognize that many young people were in it. People, I had not known prior to his death but who in a circle, lit candles with us in what was a somber moment in one of our student council meetings held in a little classroom at our all girls high school. We sang through our pain, sobered up by the thought that young people could also die; that death was not just for the old or the ill. I shake my head as I consider some of the things I believed as a 16 year old, as young people we are always so apt to believe that we are untouchable…invincible!  

Side note: Little did we know as a group of hurting kids that in this very moment God had orchestrated a collective bonding that would be the catalyst for our individual healing.
Some of those faces distorted from crying, hands fastened in another’s hand, singing ‘til we meet again’, I will never forget. Many of them I stayed acquainted with years later and one in particular, his best friend, was to remain rooted in the very soil of my life even to this day! 

Relationships

We expel so much energy in our quest to form connections with people and in our chasing after all kinds of relationships that sometimes do us more harm than good. Please note that I am not devaluing the deliberate efforts one must sometimes make to build bonds but how much more powerful is a bond created by God himself while you were still sleeping (smile). I am sure you have friends and family like that where you feel as though you have always known them or that they understand you like no other etc. I know you do! 

God in His infinite power and wisdom has a way of simply taking strangers and forging a bond between them that seemed to have existed before their time. I knew him well even though I had seen him alive only twice. I knew him well even though he had been introduced in to the script of my life only about 4 months before his death. I knew him well. I never mentioned this earlier but at the time of his death he had been dating one of my closest friends in school. I knew him well. Every experience with him present has been etched in the memory halls of my life! 

I remember his death was a very challenging period of my life but also a very revealing time. I learned what it meant to be a friend, especially to someone new. I learned that God had made the human spirit resilient. I recognized my fears, inadequacies and limitations. I met God in a new way. I learned to pray. I learned to appreciate God and all He had been doing in my life! It marked entry into a new sphere of my journey with God as He comforted, renewed and restored me. 

Ahhh! Writing now has made me realize even more the wealth and depth of my experiences during this short act in my life. Wow there are so many stories behind all these words that have stayed with me over the years and to really talk about them would take post after post after post after post (smile)!

Yes you have lost.

Yes your heart still aches.

But what an awesome experience it was to have that loved one in your life!

Reflection

What could you learn from their life?

What personal attributes might you take from their lives to make you stronger and better today?

How might you celebrate them rather than mourn them? 

I am still asking myself some of these questions and one thing I have learned through my reflections is that the God of love does not want us to stay in pain and grief and even in the midst of it all He still understands our hurt. 

To my friend, you touched many lives in your living and even more in your dying. Gone but never forgotten… 

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Until next time,

EJ
Onward & Live IN purpose

RealTalk Thursdays: Are God's rules still relevant today?

RealTalk Thursdays 1/17/13
A special thank you to the person who submitted this question. Thank you for taking part in our RealTalk Thursday series!

TWO Part question:

A) "People often say that a lot of the instructions given in the Bible were applicable to the culture and society at the time they were written, so we do not need ...to follow those today".
This point of view is evidenced by Christians indulging in large scale secularism (eg: partying, listening to songs with violent and sexually explicit lyrics, dressing immodestly, engaging in sexually immoral acts, etc).

B) "Do you agree with this viewpoint, or do you think it is merely justification for not being totally set apart and surrendered to God?"
 
Below you will find a summarized response however to view the complete response please see the video that is included. 

We look forward to your feedback whether in the form of comments or questions.

We have the firm belief that the Bible is still relevant today!

Though the backdrop of much of the bibilical text may be set in a particular context its teachings are not shackled by the practices and ideologies of the time. It is true that some of the accounts reflect the cultural climate of the time but there must be consensus on the fact that the Bible is not partial to the current practices of that era. For example, in a resolutely patriarchal environment God still inspired and instructed writers to make mention of women who were instrumental in advancing His work on earth but who also had relationship with God. These same women would have been otherwise left out of accounts as dictated by the culture of the time.

As we consider the Bible's relevance we must consider that there are even prophetic books in the Bible which make direct reference to our society today and other things to come. God's rules and regulations transcend the boundaries of time, way of life, practices and ideologies and despite the many things that might have changed with the progression of time God, God's Word, God's love for humanity and God's requirements on our lives have remained constant. With that said can we truly say that we cannot relate to or understand the personal struggles, societal temperature and behaviors depicted in the Biible? Also if you absolutely could not find any similarities between biblical culture and your own at the very least there must be an identifying with the people as the characters are truly timeless!

To ignore God's rules on the argument that they are irrelevant to our society today is to determine to be misled and to be self-serving.


Check out our overview video response below.

We hope you will join in the conversation.

Thanks for reading:)

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Until next time,
EJ
Onward & Live IN purpose

Do You Really Know Him Pt 2

So it may have taken you a minute to get here after all the reflection you were encouraged to do in Pt 1:). If you missed it you will find it here.

As your knowledge and experience of God is enhanced you should become all the more eager to share Him with others; someone else needs Him as much as you do!

There are many people walking around with the weight of their sins on their shoulders. In fact many non-believers are convinced that God could never forgive them and Christians who have wandered away from God are afraid to return because they fear the God they think they might meet! 
God is our gracious Savior and Father who runs to meet us with open arms as represented by the father of the prodigal son in Luke 15: 11-32. He lovingly accepts us, not because we deserve it nor that He has to but only because HE WANTS TO due to His love for us! 


His love changes Me!
Now whether your realization of God's unwavering love in the face of your sinfulness/weakness happened years ago or just yesterday, as stated, it is worth sharing because many people's idea of God is one that is badly distorted. If you fall into that category of people and you are reading this post, please know that there is nothing you could do that God's grace isn't equipped to forgive. Of course this isn't a free pass at doing what you want to do, whenever you want to but rather an invitation to redemption and right standing before God. It cannot be denied that the love of God expressed in His mercy should challenge you to be better; it should cause you to yield your will to the work of the Holy Spirit in your life and so transform you! You ought to be able to say as time progresses, "I am not where I used to be when the love of God first found me!" 

Side Note: Please remember that to be forgiven by God does not necessarily mean to be free from the consequences that are the results of our actions.

Let me reiterate this point :) Do not silence your testimony of God's goodness and forgiveness in your life because someone needs to come into the knowledge, compassion and grace of God and for all of us it is a matter of life and death not just spiritual death but even physical death. Think about it...Who can you tell today?


This song based on Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV) has been in my thoughts for a few weeks, here goes (singing in my opera voice...wink wink) 

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

His mercies never come to an end

They are new every morning, new every morning

Great is your faithfulness Oh Lord

Great is your faithfulness"

This is almost the summary of this two part blog and if you haven't realized it yet there is so much that might be learned about God through these words! Of course I will be sure to follow up with a post that shares my thoughts on it:)

Thanks for reading (smile)

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Until next time,
EJ
Onward & Live IN Purpose

Do you really know Him? Pt 1

"All unrighteousness is sin..." 1 John 5:17A (KJV)

"For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws. James 2:10 (NLT)

Let's chat:)
We hear it said quite often sin is sin. To break one law is to be guilty of breaking them all but do you believe it?

I remember in the beginning I had created my own categories of sin. Ones that I persuaded myself were not too bad, others that if I did them I was sure God would be disappointed in me and still others that I thought would be sure to cause God to strike me down because it would so greatly displease Him. You may have more categories than I did! What was certain was that my knowledge of God was inaccurate and inadequate and my understanding of sin was based on my own rationale and influences borne out of how I was raised, my personality and my experiences. SMH

With that said, our Holy God's response to sin is simply that sin is sin irrespective of what it is!

Oh for the correct knowledge of God!
So I stood in church one Sunday and though I was determined to be in God's presence I expected Him to stay away from me. You know how we are when we have slipped up we almost instinctively hide from and avoid God. But we are the ones who leave, not God.

That Sunday I began to ask God to forgive me of my sins and to thank Him for reminding me that I cannot walk the Christian journey in my own strength. As I talked to God in the quiet of my heart He was there! My Spirit suddenly had an awareness of His presence and His love. He was not condemning me but had certainly convicted me of my sin and offered me His cleansing and forgiveness. 

Somewhere inside me I was shocked that God had freely forgiven me! How could I have doubted His mercy and grace, were they not the same attributes that with faith in Jesus Christ had afforded me salvation? I guess I had put this offense in one of the higher categories (smh). This experience caused me to contemplate my knowledge of God. Did I really know God adequately? Why were some of my ideas about God inaccurate? 

You may want to ask yourself these questions too:)

1) Do I know of God or do I know Him for myself through relationship with Him?

2) Do I really know God adequately?  Is my perspective of Him complete?

3) Are my ideas about God correct? 

4) What may have caused my ideas about God and my relationship with Him to be skewed? Could it be the people who I relied on to show me love, the way I was socialized and the list of influencing factors goes on! 

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You can find 'Do you really know Him? Pt 2' here

Until next time,

EJ

Onward & Live IN Purpose 

Who are YOU?

Who are YOU?

Throughout our lives impressions are being formed of us! People are keeping a record of who we are and who we have been to them.

Consider it!

When being assessed for a job, the hiring manager requires several references to paint a picture in her mind of who you are in the workplace.

Applying for a traditional college or university you are required to not simply submit your qualifications then be accepted but within your application package there is expected to be a reference from a teacher to validate your academic identity/history and/or a character reference to attest to who you are as a person.

People are preoccupied with the question, "Who are you?" and you ask that same question of the people you meet.

So then.

                    Who are you?

You may be tempted to say your name and to rattle off a wonderful well rehearsed and fine-tuned introduction of yourself! Though you may be please with the little jingle of you you spent real time working on you probably still left out your greater calling; The part of your identity which is not limited by human capacity. You are to be God's symbol on earth. From your actions (your kindness, your encouraging spirit, your compassion, your truthfulness etc.) people are to encounter the heart and mind of God.

Let me share an experience I had.

After standing in a hotel lobby for close to 2 hours as the Customer service representatives dragged their feet to help me. I could feel the anger welling up within me. I wrestled with myself to not reach over the counter to shake the Agent who seemed unaffected by my presence at the desk (that was how annoyed I was - covers face). I had to ask God repeatedly to help me stay calm and inside I knew I was not doing a good job but God had helped me to keep my mouth shut and my attitude in check. 

At the end of 2 hours the supervisor came to the front desk to do something and realized I was still standing there. With much urgency she took over and started to assist me. In no time all the issues with confirming my room had disappeared and holding my room key and about to finally step away from the desk she says to me, "You must be a Christian! You have been standing for so long and you have been so patient. You have not complained once". I smiled and acknowledged that I am a Christian and walked hurriedly to my room thanking God for having kept my lips sealed. For He alone knew what was going on in my head. He alone also knew that there was someone watching me who was going to be touched by my patience; someone who He was giving the opportunity to see how His presence in someone's life could bring positive results.

In general people spend time trying to perform for people who are not even necessarily paying attention in an effort to convince them that they are righteous . The people who need to actually 'SEE' God through our actions we miss, because we were only just acting instead of truly being changed of God or yielding to His lead.

                                  Photo by CBS News

"By their fruit ye shall know them"(Matthew 7:16 ASV)

When someone looks at us they should never be confused as to who we are. It should be clear because our lives will show evidence of the Holy Spirit living within us. it should be our aim that our lives be characterized by "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance" (Galatians 5:22-23).

We should ask ourselves today,  "Who do people say I am? Who would they say I am especially when I don't know they are watching?"

If that answer reveals an identity that does not reflect God then we have to ask God to help us to change that aspect of our personality or to eliminate that behavior so that we might become more like Him. 

Are you prepared to do whatever it takes to change? 

For example: 

a) Reading God's word more 

b) Practicing behaviors and principles found in His word 

c) Speaking with Him daily 

d) Surrendering your will to His

I am asking God each day to work in me and to help me to yield to His work in my life as he changes me from the inside out!

Scripture Reference: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" Matthew 5:16 (KJV)  

Let us Pray

*Search me oh Lord

Know my heart today

Try me oh Savior

Know my thoughts I pray

See if there be

Some wicked way in me

Cleanse me from every sin

And

Set me FREE!

*A song that I have known and loved since childhood)

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Until next time,

EJ

Onward & Live IN Purpose

The God Conscience Part 4

Click here if you have not read The God Conscience Pt 3

Do not think we are saying that now that you are saved all the rules and regulations of our Christian faith no longer matter! Well that's quite the opposite. 

As Christians, God takes those external guideposts of His laws for how we ought to live and writes them on our hearts.  

When we sin against God, do we not know it or do we have to run to consult a manuscript to tell us that we committed a sinful act?! 

God's internal guidepost for us is the Holy Spirit! He is our God Conscience living in us, with us and around us. The Holy Spirit works within us to transform us into who God has purposed for us to be! The God Conscience within us empowers us and gives us Divine help to live in a way that is pleasing to God.

                               Photo by Turn Back to God

Don't get boggled down by all the things you believe you need to observe, do not let it hinder you from turning your life over to God. God will give you the God Conscience; your internal measuring stick for what is pleasing to God and your very own Teacher so you will learn right from wrong and truth from lies and walk in right living with God as you nurture your faith in and relationship with God.


Take some time today and get to know the Holy Spirit. He is the gift that God has given to make us victorious in our christian walk. 

Write down some of the character traits of the Holy Spirit. If you have never studied the Holy Spirit then here are a few verses which will help to get you started:

Who He is:
Isaiah 48:16
Matthew 28:19
Acts 5:3-4
1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; 2:4-6
2 Corinthians 13:14
1 John 5:5-8

His Personality:
Nehemiah 9:20
Galatians 5:22-23
Romans 1:4
John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13
Hebrews 10:29
Zechariah 12: 10
John 14:26; 15:26

We will look at the Holy Spirit more closely in the following weeks. Not only will we get to know Him more, we will understand how He operates in our lives as our God Conscience!

Next Week: The God Conscience - The Holy Spirit: Who is He?

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EJ
Onward & Live IN Purpose

His Hand or His Heart Pt 3

 Weekend Devotional: His Hand or His Heart Pt 3

Select the appropriate links to view the one you missed: His Hand or His Heart Pt 1 Or Pt 2

James 5:16
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (KJV)
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (NIV)  

Let's take this a step further. Take a look at the person capable of praying with results once more. It is a righteous man or woman and yes we said that he/she is called righteous because of the relationship with God. When God refers to us as righteous we also consider RIGHT LIVING. A righteous man lives right before God.

A righteous man is not a perfect man, for while on earth such a person does not exist (unless we are speaking of Jesus who is God who dwelt among us). A righteous man is one who has surrendered himself or herself to God. One who is determined to yield to the work of God The Holy Spirit in his life. One who despite his imperfections and frailty presses on to grab hold to that which Jesus saved Him! The righteous man pleases God because of His relationship with God and his right living before God as the Holy Spirit teaches him to be holy as He is holy, loving because He is Love and just because He is just.

Look at the verse again. The righteous man's prayer is seen as powerful and effective. Because God qualifies Him, his prayer is powerful and effective. Our prayers are already powerful and effective because we are the righteousness of God. God at work in us is what makes us righteous and causes our prayer to produce results.  You too are capable of powerful prayer as you exercise faith in God.

Then you will recognize that powerful prayers' secret recipe founded on RELATIONSHIP, RIGHT LIVING and RESULTS is not you but GOD!

When you are seeking God, don't just seek Him for what He can do for you and the results you will get; don't just seek His Hand, seek after Him and who He is, learn what makes Him smile, do what brings Him glory by yielding to Him in your everyday life so that it is His heart that you find then stand still and see the power of God in your life and through your prayers!

What has God been speaking to me about through His Holy Spirit that I have been ignoring? What can I do to please God?  
 

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EJ
Onward & Live IN Purpose

His Hand or His Heart Pt 2

Weekend Devotional: His Hand or His Heart Pt 2

If you haven't read His Hand or His Heart Pt 1, please click here first
 
James 5:16
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (KJV)
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (NIV)

We draw to the edges of our seats to observe God's power on display but have we been allowing that same power to work on us? The Pharisees and the Sadducees knew Scripture as well as they could recognize the back of their own hands. How the people must have respected and revered them! They followed the law to the tee and did the religious acts that together seemed to make them appear close to God. But come on we all are aware that God uses us even in spite of ourselves! We know from Jesus' encounter with them how far away from God their hearts were. Yes they got RESULTS but were cast aside because they had no RELATIONSHIP with God.

Elijah because of His relationship with God knew what to pray about. He knew what was in God's heart and mind to do. His prayer life began to reflect things that God Himself would support because His desires brought God glory (1 Kings 17 & 18). 

Our relationship with God, causes God to give us the keys to the kingdom so that whatever, "we bind on earth is bound in heaven and whatever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven".  What a privilege! God refers to us as righteous not of ourselves but because of what He does in the lives of believers. Have you stopped to look at who is praying these earth moving prayers? A righteous man. Again not righteous in and of himself but righteous because God has made Him so. Now suddenly you should recognize that you do not require any additional qualifications other than what God gives to be able to have power in prayer. Suddenly you should recognize that your prayer can be as powerful as Elijah's and as Joshua's because God in His greatness has given you access and authority!

How can you strengthen your relationship with God? How well do you know God? On what is your knowledge of Him based, your study of Him in Scripture our your own experience of Him? Who is God to you?

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Please select here to see His Hand or His Heart Pt 3

EJ
Onward & Live IN Purpose

His Hand or His Heart? Pt 1

Weekend Devotional: His Hand or His Heart? Pt 1

James 5:16
"The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (KJV)
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (NIV)

Many of us get excited when we read this verse especially because we cannot help but marvel at the power of prayer! When we look at the account of Elijah the prophet who prayed that it would not rain on the land and it didn't and then who prayed that it might rain again and it did we become so intrigued by the power of His prayer that we might begin to search after some secret recipe that we feel needs to be applied to our own lives to achieve such effectiveness.

In the same breath many who read this will quickly write off Elijah's account for example as madness and make believe; seeing it as impossible and only an exaggeration. However, to know God is to know that His power cannot be confined to a box nor to the 'logic' of the human mind! With that said, let's go back to the verse and the example of Elijah used in the text. What a depiction of the power of prayer at work through faith in God's abilities and power!

Do you want to have a prayer life like that? Why do you want to pray this way? I know they might sound like weird questions but they are completely valid so spend a moment to answer them.

Many of us pray, wish or even hope for this kind of power in prayer because we see that it carries with it RESULTS. Don't we appreciate results?! Which of us doesn't want to go to God in prayer and see the very things we ask for happening? A previously closed door to a new job flung open, physical healing for loved ones,  financial freedom, deliverance from an abusive relationship, resurrection of loved ones from the dead, rain to fall in the midst of a drought, food from the earth in the midst of a famine...I could go on.

It is so easy to get caught up with the RESULTS, that we may find, if we are honest, that we begin to long for them even more than we long for God. It is equivalent to getting so caught up with our blessings and gifts whether in the spiritual or in the natural that we forget who blessed us and who is the Giver of our gifts. When we show off and compare our God-given gifts as we compete for position and power in the church, when we attend a service just to 'see' a healing take place but to not inject ourselves in the worship and expression of faith in God which made the impossible possible, or when the very thing that God has blessed us with has become more important to us than our relationship with God,  have we not certainly forgotten the Giver of the gifts; the One who grants the results we so crave?

If we are to not end up short-sighted in our doing or to hear the soul piercing  words from our God, " Depart from Me, I know you not" (Matthew 7: 22-23) then we will have to maintain RELATIONSHIP with the One who produces these results.

As you meditate on this devotional ask yourself the following questions: 
Do I need to refocus my attention on God and not the gifts He has given me? Are there any changes in my behavior or thought processes that I might have to change to keep my eyes stayed on God?

See His Hand or His Heart Pt 2 here

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EJ
Onward & Live IN Purpose

The God Conscience Part 2

If you have not read 'The God Conscience: The Beginning' click here

Imagine having lived by your own prescriptions for life and that the time came where you were to be evaluated against God's laws of holy living. 

• What do you think your life would show? 
• How do you think you would match up? 
• How would you respond? 

Now the fact that we are not perfect beings makes qualifying ourselves impossible and to make matters more challenging, once we are guilty of breaking one law we have broken them all (James 2:10). As you continue to look over your life do you see any Godly rules, or even rules that you created for yourself, that you broke? Now remember that to break one rule would be to break all rules!


Do we really think that without the grace of our holy God that we would stand a chance of making it into heaven?!

As difficult as it may seem to you the list of do's, if we follow them they will keep us from doing the things on the list of don'ts. Many are quick to assert that they do not need Jesus Christ because they live a good life and do good things but to this God says, "There is no one righteous, not even one?" (Romans 3:10 NIV) 
We are really fooling ourselves!                     Photo by Jonathan Dodson

I once watched the account of a research scientist Dr. Donald Whitaker who was a professed atheist. He fell ill suddenly and being acquainted with diseases knew he was about to die. While laying there in the hospital, preparing to die he asked to have his friend, Ron who had spent many years trying to encourage him to believe in Jesus called. His heart was so perplexed, "what if     there is some truth to everything he told me and there was truly a judgment to face?" he thought. He says, "it is easy to be an atheist when you are successful...I didn't really know what it meant to be saved". 
He was determined to hold on to life for as long as he could thinking he needed to make himself right with God just in case. Most of the account spoke of the struggle he had in the few days that he clung to life waiting for his Christian friend Ron to get to the hospital. He was not only able to receive Jesus as Lord when Ron arrived, he was healed by the power of God! It really is worth seeing the documentary on near death experiences is linked here and Dr. Whitaker's account starts at almost the 1 hour mark, check it out! 

Our efforts or lack thereof cannot grant us access to heaven or help us obtain the gift of eternal life if there is no payment submitted for our sins. Our faith in and relationship with God is what gives us access. This is why it doesn't matter who we had been before we met Jesus or what we had done; Jesus' blood covers over a multitude of sins (smile).


Introspection

• What are some of the rules of Holy living with which you struggle? 
• Why are they a struggle? Is it because you do not believe you need to observe them, because you do not view it the way God does etc.? 
• What has God been speaking to you about?

The God Conscience Part 3 is here

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EJ
Onward & Live IN Purpose

The God Conscience Part 3

If you have not read The God Conscience Part 2 click here


Many of us when we became new believers felt intimidated and inadequate considering whether we could stay on the balance beam that is the christian pathway without tumbling down. 

If you ever wanted to find people who were serious about following the laws of God to the tee (to the very letter of the law) look at the Pharisees and Sadducees! They had a religious zeal that made them study the rules of God and caused them to be quite knowledgeable about the what to do and what not to do of their religion.
Jesus while on earth is witnessed on several occasions contending with these groups of religious leaders (Matthew 15 & 16). 

Jesus did not argue with them because they were not zealous enough but because their focus on the rules and the rituals of their religion stifled the real focus of the faith which was relationship, transformation and 'rightness' with God. We hear God say often that people like this "will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!" (2 Timothy 3:5 NLT) In other words, they do all the right things in their outward show (rituals, feeding the hungry etc) but are not allowing themselves to be changed by God on the inside.


Now let's not get it twisted! 

Following God's commands are important but to think we could master them in our own strength would be delusional! We must remember that we are not saved by just the rules that we follow (God's laws show us how to live moral lives and tell us what is sinful) if anything the law condemns us so it is faith in God the Son (Jesus Christ) who makes atonement for our sins that closes that gap between God and man bringing us together in relationship.  

Photo By Devoted Conversations
It doesn't help that organized religion with its varied denominations due to  different interpretations of certain practices is generally fighting against each other, seizing every opportunity to discredit another group who does not share  in its ideas. 

Admittedly, the Church can cause the path to God and godly living to become very confusing but be not discouraged, it is for this very reason  that God the Holy Spirit came; to bring us revelation and to still the storms likely to rage violently in our minds and emotions on our christian journey.

The Holy Spirit has come that He might teach us and empower us in order that He might transform us according to God's plan for our lives as believers and children of God. Our duty then is solely to weigh each church ritual, principle, guideline, rule which exist against what God has said and continues to say.



Our attitude should be that, "If God says and sanctions it not only will I believe it but I will begin to apply it to my life with God's help!"


See The God Conscience Part 4 here

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EJ
Onward & Live IN Purpose

Judge Not!

Would you ever describe yourself as judgmental? Probably not!

When are you judgmental? We are more likely to be judgmental when we begin to put confidence in our flesh! When we begin to believe we are better than others because we place value on who we are and what we have in relation to them. You know when we say, “I wouldn’t do that even if I wasn’t saved”. Or "we could never have financial issues because we have always been organized and good at handling our money". Or “we could never be in abusive relationships because we would never allow ourselves to, we are too strong”. Or “I am more serious about my Christian life because I speak in tongues and she still hasn’t”. Blah blah blah! This attitude of confidence in the flesh causes us to devalue someone else and/or the work being done in their lives because we actually believe the person who has certain issues is less than or not as good as us. SMH

Whether we want to admit it or not we have all at some point or another been judgmental. It is exactly why God takes the time to caution us about it, ““Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2)  

This is not to say that you cannot be happy with who you are and what you have accomplished but the moment we use it to conclude that we are better than others or when our desire to maintain it makes us hesitant to do God’s will we have put value in the flesh rather than in God and are destined to fall short.

I am not trying to be funny, but I can tell you that I have been in situations where I thought I would have had it together because I was ‘not that type’ of person but found myself dealing with the same missteps I was convinced I could never have made! God has a way of showing us, when we start to get prideful, how wrong we are for it by allowing us to do as we please and seeing the consequences of that attitude. The scene following that looks similar to a dejected animal that comes crawling back to its owner tail between the legs. I have had to do it one too many times and I have officially told myself that I DO NOT need another lesson because I totally get it! 

                                                    Photo by Pinterest

In order for us to keep our eyes focused on God and off ourselves or others we need to adopt the attitude that old church people have always lived by, “there go I but for the grace of God”. Translation, if it had not been for God at work on me and in me I could have been making those same mistakes or dealing with that same ‘mess’. This certainly keeps judgmental attitudes at bay. If we acknowledge that we are not in certain situations or that we are not worse than we had been a while back we uncover reason to glorify God because if we are honest it is just because of Him…don’t act like you don’t know that!

I know I am glad that God saved me and that He lives in me because I know I could easily have been a bitter, self-centered, miserable, spiteful, angry 5 foot woman. Yes, I didn’t mention all the things that I believe are awesome about myself because God’s transformational work in me has truly made me a better, nicer (smile), more optimistic person. I will leave you, if you can be honest with yourself, to consider who you might have been or what you might have done had it not been for God in you and your commitment to Him. Each day I have an expectation to become even better and nicer because God is still at work in me. 

We must recognize that we are only as powerful and wise as the measure of Christ that we have surrendered to in our lives. We can never go wrong when our confidence is in God! 

Therefore let us not think of ourselves more highly than we ought or else we will either negate or limit God’s action in our lives and never truly “grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Ephesians 3:18)

Please take a moment and read Matthew 7: 1-6

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Until next time

EJ