Living Word Only

     Have you ever experienced the kind of love that engulfs you? Love that surrounds you? Love that offers companionship, acceptance, constant, never changing, beautiful and eternal? This is just a brief description of the kind of love we can experience from God. He makes this love available for each one of us. He calls to us to this amazing love, love that existed even before we had turned to Him and intimacy that does not change according to fickle human emotions.   Photo by Chris F: https://www.pexels.com/photo/wooden-plank-with-inscription-written-with-chalk-5833202/     If you have experienced hurt, abuse, misuse and all these things you might even be scared to be loved because people around you expressed their version of 'love' on you and it made you weary of the word itself. But this is the kind of love that washes over you like a gentle wave, healing and restoring scars and wounds. It heals pain, it restores faith in love, it restores broken hearts...

 The word drifting makes me think of a plank being pulled by the ocean on either side. Similarly like an untethered boat we can be drifted away from Jesus, from His Word and Teaching and from living a Christ like life. The process of drifting is slow and does not happen all at once. The first instance in the Bible which started small but grew really big and affected mankind up to today started with a question, Did God really say...? Similarly today people have many questions concerning the Bible, God, Jesus and the people in the Bible.  When we are building relationships, we start with questions, and the more we get answers the more our relationship grows and we get to know each other. So how is it when we have questions we would like to ask God, instead of seeking Him for answers or His Word, we drift further and further away from Him? Perhaps it is the source of the answers we seek. When we encounter miracles we turn back and start trying to justify with logic and get drawn ...

 How do you trust God when the wicked continue to be more wicked? When they stand in the way of even the most basic necessities wanting to humiliate you? Watching and listening to every word, hoping they can taunt you with the same words you have used. How do you trust God when not even a glimmer of hope shows in the horizon? How do you trust God when it seems blockages and closed doors stand everywhere you turn? How do you trust God in the midst of mockery, hatred and malice? How do you trust God when sabotage is all around you? The easy answer is you don't but the harder one is you trust Him anyway. You trust Him when it hurts, you trust Him when your circumstances are probably set up to ensure you fail, you trust Him even when obstacles seem insurmountable, you trust Him with everything, you trust Him with your doubts, you trust Him in your poverty, you trust Him in your lack, you trust Him even when you look stupid, you trust Him even when you are used as an example of one whom...

 You are known by a Savior who knows each and every little detail about your life. He rejoices over you and loves you. He placed gifts and talents in you that you are really good at and will share with the world. The journey may have been difficult, you may have sought to be known by others, a large following, those who hold status and position in the world, but all that pales in comparison with a Savior who knows you by name among all the other people in the world. His Word says, I know my sheep and they know me. I call them by name and they hear my voice and follow me. I lead them and they follow me. And if you feel you are lost, I have some good news, He leaves the others and seeks you out to find you. You matter to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Before you learned people were valued based on certain tiers you already held value in His eyes because you are His.   Perhaps the world requires crazy stunts and headlines, shocking behavior or outrageous acts f...

Jesus is the light of the world and He tells us whoever follows Him shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life. When Jesus came into the world, it was to free us from the bondage of sin and darkness. You may not even have recognized that you were in darkness or bondage because the activities you took part in and the behavior you engaged in was labeled as 'normal' by those around you. So try and imagine, Jesus coming from heaven, taking human form and coming to save people who did not even realize they needed saving. Yet His love for us, His obedience to His Father's will led to Him being led to the cross to die for your sins and mine so we could experience His love. You see when anyone is outside of Jesus Christ, they have their identity in the world, in fact, they may not even understand their identity and may just sum it up as a collection of the things they do to get to the goals that people told them were really important to get. However, in Christ, He is our...

 Growth in the transition phase is painful. This is the period between shedding off what was old and embracing the new. When growing in the Lord, you and I may not even recognize that growth is taking place. It certainly doesn't present itself outwardly when the inner walk is going on. However, when we look back at our behavior, thoughts and patterns that seemed so rooted, we begin to get sight of the changes that take place. Sometimes the growth looks like renewed hope in the ability of God to transform people, no longer raising voices in anger, quick forgiveness and quick repentance. As we come closer to God we realize how frail we really are and how much He holds us all together. In the Book of Isaiah the writer changes tune to how he even writes: Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. Isaiah 6:5    There are times we may ...

Polarity is to have two distinct and opposite properties. It has been used all over the world and has sadly crept to believers. It seems you cannot get two believers to agree on anything. Each separately spends time combing through scripture, quotes, sermons to prove the other side wrong. When we go against each other we are missing the bigger picture which is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Instead of fixing our eyes on Him we are trying to look for the smallest differences and wanting to argue out how our point of view is correct and theirs is wrong. The only eyes we should have for one another are the eyes of Jesus. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus loving Jesus. Jesus who loved us even before we knew Him, who loves us when we are wrong and when we are right, who saves us from our iniquity and considers us His own. Jesus who calls us His little children, who went and bore the shame of the cross so we could be called sons of God. Jesus!   When we are drawn to ceaseless arguments and debates ...

 When you look back on your life what will you see? A life full of joy or a string of regrets from the choices you made when you weren't looking this far back? How about those around you will they be better off for the choices you make now or will they be worse off? Think about it critically.    It may seem so far away and years ahead but each choice you make today is leading up to your future. The friends you make, the places you work, the lifestyle you live and how you choose to fund it. Imagine if life came with a manual, a manual that showed you how to live and what God's plan is for your life, so you wouldn't have to stumble, wouldn't have to waste time on things that don't last and you did not have to fit into the crowd or break out from the crowd. You would just be living according to this guide. It might not seem so interesting at first, I mean the reason you could hardly wait to move from your parents or guardians was for freedom. But even that freedom is a...