Resurrection Reality

 

    A reality about the resurrection is that it is the only door into Heaven.  When Jesus raised from the dead, he opened the only door that leads into Heaven.  It is an unseen door that is right in front of you.  You just have to trust and have faith that the Bible is true and God will uphold His promises.

    There were signs and wonders after Jesus' resurrection to prove he is God in a human body.  He is real.  The signs filled people with awe and amazement, but they still do if you believe.  Jesus is at the door holding the keys.  If you are known by him, then he opens the door for you.  If you are a stranger, then you will be sent away.  It is not a story.  It is reality.

    Your relationship with Jesus can be complicated.  That is okay.  The point is that you have a relationship with Jesus and are willing to work through the complications.  It may be obvious, but more times than not it is in your blind spots.

    What makes your relationship with Jesus complicated?  Sin is what complicates everything, so it is what you have to work through to get rid of.  Lies complicate all relationships, but is the root of a complicated relationship with Jesus.  You have to stop lying to yourself and trying to lie to God.  He sees the truth, so it is a waste of time and effort.  

    Another things that can complicate your relationship with Jesus is that it is new.  It takes time to build a strong lasting relationship.  It takes time to build trust.  You have to get to the part where you feel safe displaying discontent or argue for trust to be confirmed.

    Every relationship with God is different because every person is different.  It is incredible that each relationship varies in depth, awareness, and need.  The boundaries never change on God's side, but we have to learn to adapt our boundaries to look more like His.

    Every person's understanding of their relationship with God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is different.  It varies on the person: experiences in life, other relationships, and what they are willing to give.   The wild things is it also depends on what they are willing to take from God too.  It requires balance and a sense of urgency.  Reality is complex.  If you align it with the truth of God, then you get to spend eternity with all that was supposed to be.

Matthew 27:45-54, Mark 16:5-7, Romans 6:1-4, & Philippians 3:7-11

Sin Pollution

 

    Sin pollutes your soul, so it can't see the world clearly.  The more sin you have in your life, the more it seems normal and okay.  You don't even see how much it is killing you from the inside out.  It makes your soul sick.

    Christians battle their worldly nature to sin.  The battles will lead to a person to one of two endings of the war.  One the person becomes friends of the world and a tool for Satan.  The other option is they will be victorious with God and become strong to help others win the war.

    Sin is serious.  Jesus seeks to redeem.  He was so serious about trying to save you that he died for your.  He doesn't regret His sacrifice.  Accept it and believe, so you can live a life without regret or giving up.  You will have spiritual battles in life.  There is no way to avoid that, but with the Holy Spirit you will have a chance.  He will show you ways out, how to flee, how to fight when you have to, but ultimately the fight is Jesus. Don't try to take over his job.  You will not do it nearly as well.

    Resist Satan and he will flee you.  He is not going to stay too long where Jesus is.  It all starts with salvation, but then comes the Baptism.  It is a battle cry for what side you stand on.  Next, you have to learn discipline, how to obey, and forgiveness.  Once you learn you are able to resist Satan.  

    You will not win every battle, but do not let it crush you.  Instead learn from it and turn to God more in that area.  When you are victorious don't become proud.  It is God's victory more than it is yours.  Do not allow the victories to cause you to fall.  Instead become a disciple to help others find salvation and victory in Jesus.  That is where you find true freedom.  

Leviticus 25:14-17, Numbers 35:30-34, Jeremiah 3:1-5, & James 4:7-10

Disciple

 

    A disciple is someone who is a student or follower of a doctrine or teacher.  The best thing in life for people is to become a disciple of Jesus.  You may not realize it, but that is the kind of relationship we need with Jesus.  The Holy Spirit is willing to show us the answers.  We just need to be willing to ask the questions and follow directions.

    A Christian that is not living their life as a disciple has no instruction.  They are easily led astray.  Hosea married a prostitute, Gomer, to give her the opportunity to save her from her life.  He loved her enough to give her freedom from her bondage.  He sought her to give her redemption in the same way God seeks us to give us redemption.

    Immorality leads to Christians turning away from God.  Some people will choose their immoral life over God and end up in hell.  Sin is serious.  It is time that we treat it seriously, but also with love in our hearts for the sinners.  

    The most loving thing you can do is have Godly boundaries, stand firm in them, and uphold the consequences for people who do not respect them.  Show them how sin is real by not allowing it near you, but explain it to the immoral in advance, so that they are informed.  Do not tolerate sin, but do not reject the sinner.  We all have rules that we have to live by.  Help them understand God's rules and why it is best to live by them.

    To be a disciple you choose to follow His rules, but you also need to understand yourself too.  You need to look into your relationship with God and see how much He loves you.  Allow the Holy Spirit to get your attention if you are neglecting that relationship because it will be the most intimate relationship of your life.  It is what makes you special, so don't turn away from following Jesus.  

    God sees a clear path for you.  All you have to do is follow it.  All Christians are called to be baptized, learn, and then teach.  We are not meant to get too comfortable that we stop seeking out other people to bring into Jesus' family, baptize them, and help make them teachers of God's Word.  It is the responsibility of the Christian community to teach new Christians how to obey God's commands and how to allow God to work through them.

Proverbs 5: 21-23, Jeremiah 3:6-10, Matthew 28:16-20, & Mark 16:19-20

The Best Thing

 

    God is the best thing for you.  He is the source of all that is good in the world and in your life.  He is jealous for your attention and divine love.  His jealousy is not like our jealousy.  His is holy and pure.  His jealousy reveals how much He wants for you.  He wants the best for you.

    It started with your creation, but after you were put on Earth God wants a real relationship.  A real relationship starts with the covenant of faith.  You have to place your faith in Jesus and listen to the Holy Spirit to have a real relationship with God.  

    It requires wisdom to have a real relationship with God.  You need wisdom to see how much you need him.  He gave you in wonderful gift of free will, but it will be led by emotions if you do not turn to wisdom.  You have the choice to choose life with God or fall into the depth of sin that will crush you in time.  

    One day you will yield to God.  It is better to do yield when it is your choice instead of when you are facing eternal damnation.  No one can hide or escape from their sins.  They are just chasing after their own desires and going no where.  Sin will never be acceptable to God.  It can't be downplayed.  You can't hide behind it to avoid God

    It is okay to accept your sins for what they are and then repent.  Repent is to mourn over your sins and turn away from them toward Jesus.  Salvation takes all that was burying you and removes it.  After that it is maintenance to stay close to God.  Never seeing the peril of your sins only leads to death and destruction.  That is why God is the best thing for you.

Romans 3:5-8, 6:20-23, & James 4:7-10

Wisdom Part 2

 

    Wisdom is knowledge, insight, and judgment combined.  Holy wisdom also holds the spiritual gifts to assist you.  One day we will give an account for all that we do.  It takes wisdom to live a life where you can face God with no regret.

    Wisdom is a feminine word, but so it sin (foolishness).  The feminine word stands for adulterous.  The point is that we are meant to use wisdom to avoid foolishness.  If we follow Jesus and listen to the Holy Spirit's guidance, then we can live a stable life.  If we give into the seduction of sin, then we give way to destruction in our lives.  Sin leads to confusion and chaos.  

    God's wisdom is eternal.  It has a past, present, and future for every person.  Christians are called to endure which can be very hard at times.  Foolishness is much easier, but the consequences are take too much.  Sin is selfish. It will lead to self-pity, indulgence, and pride.  It is alluring, but it is all false advertising.

    Work for what is good in your life and the world.  Decide and follow through in trusting God in all things.  That requires ignoring and rejecting the lies of Jesus.  It is our moments in life that are the deciding factors to follow Jesus or be a fool.  It takes practice, but life is so much simpler to depend on God for your strength, find rest, and to be your best self.

Genesis 3:6-7, Psalm 51:1-6, Proverbs 5:1-6, 9:10-12, & James 3:17-18

Wisdom in God

 

    Faith is a journey.  It is a life-long journey.  Sometimes you feel like you are getting no where.  Sometimes you feel like things are pointless or hopeless.  Sometimes things move so fast that you can't even see everything that is happening.  Sometimes it is laborious.  We need to enjoy life, but the point is your journey is headed home to spend eternity with God.  Understanding this gives you wisdom and discernment.

    As you learn wisdom in your relationship with God, you learn His warnings.  You learn how to avoid some traps and ways to escape other traps.  Life is an adventure even it if it may look boring to the outside world.  It is full of temptation that will be happy to take you down, but trusting the Holy Spirit and listening in all circumstance, then you can avoid destruction.

    You have to understand who God is to have wisdom.  You have to comprehend how the way of the world is foolish.  You need to embrace God's way of living as the superior way to live life.  Your life is spent 100% of the time with yourself and God.  You have to live with the choices you make, but God is always your audience or partner.  Everyone else is only there a portion of the time.  Relationships are important, but never as important as the one you have with God.

    Wisdom in God gives you a sense of familiarness with your creator.  You can feel known and find comfort in knowing you are never left out in the world alone.  There is no escape from God.  You can embrace that or you can fight it or fight it, but the truth never changes.  Wisdom is knowing what is good, bad, and ugly and how to handle the situations.

    When life gives you situations where it looks like nothing good could ever come from it, it really requires trusting God.  The evil in the world will mess with your perception and make it's false wisdom look like the only way to win.  If you follow the false wisdom, then you fall into corruption and it will mess with your head on who you really are: God's creation, child, and being beloved.

    Corruption can be subtle.  You may not see it has even happened until you do something that you can't believe you actually did.  Peter loved Jesus, but he still denied ever knowing Jesus three times.  Corruption destroys wisdom in the moment.  It is serious, but you can move past it.  Acknowledge what you did was sinful, embrace the gravity of it, and then give it to Jesus so you can move on without it crippling you.

    Jesus knows who you are.  He knows everything you have done.  He still loves you and wants you with him.  He died for you and resurrected so you can have another day to do better and spend eternity with him in Heaven.  Wisdom is understand and embracing the truth.  It is also understanding that anything you do not repent of and let go, that you will have to answer to God one day.  Let it go today and face God with a clear conscience another day.

Psalm 139:1-16, Proverbs 5:21-23, Hosea 7:1-2, & Luke 22:54-65

Joy to God

 

    How can you bring joy to God while finding joy in life for yourself?  It was never meant to be an either or situation.  We should find joy, peace, and rest while honoring God.  We bring the King joy by trusting and following Him.  It is okay to have questions and wonder why certain things are the way they are, but you still have to put your faith into Jesus and follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to honor and bring joy to God.

    Sunday is meant the be the day of joy.  Attending church should not be a chore, a checklist item, or something you dread.  God understands if you don't go because you need true rest as long as you still invest into Him and do not make it a habit.  

    To bring joy to God is to live your life holy.  That means you live in this messed up world, but you do not lose your focus on your relationship with Him.  The world makes things confusing, but God simplifies things.  The hard part is sometimes the battle within yourself to come to agreement with God.  It is a personal battle that you have to work out with Him alone.

    When you go through your spiritual battles shows the world where you stand.  If you keep battling the same thing over and over, then it means you may be having some small victories, but you are not learning what God is trying to teach you.  If you emerge from it and it never comes back, then it reveals that you did as God asked and given the control over to Him  This type of submission brings Him joy from your life.

    One of God's greatest gifts is the gift of free will.  He will never make you do anything.  He will never force you to follow Him.  However, if you choose to abandon Him to pursue the world all about you, then you can't blame Him for the consequences.

    Jesus suffered and died in the most horrific way for you, me, and every soul living or dead.  He did this to make having a relationship with God easier.  He submitted to God's will because He is a part of God.  When Jesus resurrected, it changed everything.  It opened up the opportunity for eternal joy for God and you.  True joy comes from bringing God joy.

Psalm 16:9-11, Matthew 21:18-22, Philippians 4:1-5, & James 1:2-4