God wants to love on us

I have been reflecting on God’s character and heart a lot lately as I am praying to be more and more like him as I give my heart, soul, mind, and strength to him completely. Yesterday as I was praying I started getting so excited about who he is and what his character is like. All of a sudden I started laughing and burst out…”It must be so much fun to be you!”

God’s has a huge, and I mean HUGE, heart that is loving us and giving us blessings. We see so few of them because we can’t comprehend his ways. Every day he gets to bless people, make them smile, make them laugh, warm their heart, bring them joy, give them peace, etc. His heart breaks that we receive these things from him in such small supply. He wants to lavish them on us and overwhelm us with his love.

Are you allowing him to be who he is and to give to you fully and completely? I know I struggle to receive that, but as I learn more about his character and see him in new ways I realize that not receiving from him is denying who his is. I am learning to walk in a way where I actually am starting to enjoy the gifts, surprises, and joys he is bringing me and I am finding God has an incredible sense of humor!

Blessings to you!

One flock?

I ran into a new friend this morning and had a great time sharing with him. As we talked he shared about a youth group he works with. The group and my friend are both of East Indian descent. We shared about multicultural issues and how those issues divide people much like other issues divide the church.

Next week I will be a part of a conversation where division in a local church will be discussed. Division can be caused by many things. Sometimes it is different views, arrogance, pride, sin, or even things like multicultural issues. As Christians we are called to unify, love, accept, welcome, and embrace.

Our world church has been divided over and over and over again. We separate and divide on so many issues. We shut others out, turn them away, and close doors. The friend I shared with this morning was raised in India and he said something I have heard before. One of the largest obstacles Indians and Muslims have to Christianity is the fact that we are not unified. If we would heal, forgive, accept, and unite we would be a very strong witness and they would definitely listen to our call, but until then they see us as hypocrites. Ouch!

Are you living as part of a unified flock? Are you living in unity with others or are you turning your back and leaving others out? Are you willing to forgive, heal, accept, and unify for the sake of God’s message and his call to this world? We are representatives of Christ in all we do, and if we will not repent, forgive, love, and accept then who will. Is your flock going in the same direction?

Ready to follow?

What if Jesus was alive today and he walked up to you? If he asked you to follow, “Come, follow me, and I will make you leaders of men.” Would you follow? What if you couldn’t go home to pack, you couldn’t pick your kids up at school, you couldn’t post your blog entry or tweet?

God is calling us to follow today. His message is to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Often we want to ask where he wants us to follow, how to be obedient, and how much he wants us to sacrifice. In the Old Testament the act of tithing was described as giving 10%. In the New Testament Christ made the math easier for us and just said “ALL”.

One of the oldest and most repeated scriptures in the Bible is to “love the lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.” When we love with only part of who we are we are not truly following. If we want to really have a powerful, abundant, victorious, amazing life with God, the math has been made easy. All we have to do is let go and give all.

So much easier said than done!

Taken captive

Colossians 2:8
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Have you ever been taken by anything? Most of us living in America have never experienced captivity. We live in a free country, have not experienced martial law, and have laws that keep families and spouses from abusing us. Some from our country have been captured through political or military actions, or even for some type of ransom. When we think of captivity we tend to think of captivity of the body.

God’s word speaks of another type of captivity, that of the spirit and mind. It is the captivity that our enemy, Satan, wants to place us under. He tries to deceive, confuse, frustrate, and mislead us. His ways are corrupt, evil, and very sly. He can convince us of things that make no real sense but he shapes them in a way that we do not even recognize the problem.

God wants to set us free from captivity. He wants to tear down the lies of the enemy and reshape all we believe. Captivity isn’t just something that can happen to non-believers, although that is the core of what they experience as non-believers. Believers can also be deceived and come under a spiritual stronghold that results in captivity. These strongholds often will come about after a loss, trauma, extended period of stress, or from time being in a corrupt environment.

The part that is most difficult is to recognize that the stronghold exists. I personally have experienced the deception of a stronghold in my life and had no idea it was there until others held me accountable and brought it to my attention. Author Beth Moore introduces a way to break through these strongholds once they are recognized in her book Breaking Free.

1. Recognize the captor. Know who has brought you into this captivity.
2. Stand in agreement with God. Acknowledge your sinful ways and the deception you have been under and agree with God that you want it to come to an end.
3. Tear down the lies. Work to recognize all the untruthful, incorrect, or distorted thoughts, beliefs, and facts you have believed.
4. Put up the truth. Fill the gaps with God’s truth directly from his word. Don’t leave any gaps remaining or the deceit and lies will reenter those places.
5. Bow your thoughts to the truth. Believe, speak, and apply truth as a daily part of your life. Have faith that God will change things as you believe more in him and apply his word to your life.