Silence

Have you ever experienced silence? Real silence - the absence of all sound? It is lonely. And, it is torture. 

When Jesus was crucified, when Jesus died to rescue us, when He willingly gave His life for ours, he was beaten, he was bruised, he was mocked, he was tortured. Jesus was beaten beyond recognition. His hands and feet were pierced with huge nails that stuck Him to a cross. A crown of thorns was placed - probably beaten into His head. He was literally tortured - for our sins, for the curse, AND He never said one word. Except that He begged God to forgive those who were nailing His hands to the cross: “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” 

The bible says that Jesus actually became the curse for us. The curse - all that sin is and all the darkness that comes from sin, Jesus took this from us, for us. He became everything that He hated, that the Father hated. He bore all of our sins, sickness, darkness, and evil. He took all of that on Himself. In His own body. He gave His life for the sins of the whole world: the world that was, the world He lived in, and the world that would come.

Jesus did not just give up His life, though. Jesus was in constant communion, constant relationship with God, His Father. His entire life on earth was filled with the harmony and Melody that flowed from God to Him and from Him to God. Jesus only knew a wonderful existence and harmony with God that can only be described as beautiful, poetic, flowing Love. BUT up on the cross, when Jesus became the curse, when He bore all of our sins, for the first time in His life, He heard.........Silence. Agonizing silence. He was being tortured by silence. His communion with God was broken. He was in severe pain. So much so that He cried out, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME?” For the very first time in His life, Jesus felt alone. It was not the beatings He took for us that hurt Him. It was not the nails in the cross that pained Him. It was the SILENCE that tormented Him. Jesus gave up the everything He had, He gave up His relationship with His Father, to rescue us. To give us abundant life - HIS LIFE. He traded our lives for His life. He gave us access to the melody, the harmony, the beautiful, poetic, flowing Love and relationship that He shared with God. 

Why? Love. God never intended for man to be separated from Him. We were made in His image, to share Love and relationship with Him. We were meant to swim in the Melody that is God, The Father, The Son, and The Holy Spirit. When God made Adam, when God made Man, Man was in perfect harmony with God. Man was God’s prized creation, His masterpiece, His heart. 

But Adam, but man, chose to disobey God so that he could know the difference between good and evil. When Adam ate the forbidden fruit, do you know what happened? 

God heard silence - the same silence that Jesus heard and felt. 

The Melody had stopped. God heard an agonizing silence that was so loud, Love cried out. The Melody, the harmony, the dance between God and Man was broken. The curse was born. 

How much does God love? God is Love. The Love that is God, Jesus, came down to this earth and gave His life for ours. Jesus gave up everything He knew, everything He had, everything we were made for, He gave it away. For us. We were created for God’s pleasure. We were made to enjoy relationship with God. We were never made for separation. We were never made for silence. Jesus endured the torture of silence so that we could be restored back to God, so that we could hear the Melody. Jesus returned what Adam gave away. 

Smile. You were made to dance with God. You were made to dance in His Love. Jesus took your silence away. 

Can you hear the Melody? We are never alone. 

No Greater Love

"Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends." - John 15:13 NKJV

There is no greater love than this: to lay down one's life for his friends. 

Jesus is simply saying that He is Love. In fact, He is the highest form of Love, the greatest expression of Love, in that He gave His own life for ours. Another way to look at it would be that He substituted, or traded, His life for ours. He took our away our debts and  our penalties. He took away our sins, sicknesses, diseases, and all the darkness that was in and on us, and He gave us His life: His pure, blameless, righteous, perfect, abundant life.   

Look at the words "to lay down one's life." One's implies ownership: His own life. For ours. For mine. For yours.

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." - John 10:17-18

He said, "I lay down My life... No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself...."

Jesus chose to lay his life down for our lives. Why? Because He is Love. He came to rescue His creation, His masterpiece, His friends. He actually calls us His friends. 

Can you imagine? The God of the universe, The God of the atom chooses to call us His friends. How powerful and amazing and humbling is that? Can you wrap your head around this? We are His friends. He came on a rescue mission to save His friends. 

Are you worth saving? God says you are. He says you're his beloved. Is it not beautiful that God could think so much of us that He would call us words like wonderfully made, marvelous, masterpiece, son, daughter, child, friend? 

What kind of God would even consider us? A God that is Love.

A God that says, "There is no greater Love than what I am going to do for you. I am going to trade My Life for yours. I am going to restore you to all the glory and wonder you were meant to have. I am going to heal you; all of you: Spirit, soul and body. I am going to give you back all that Satan stole from you. I am going to return the earth and all that is in it back to you. I am going to dwell in you so that you will never be alone, you will never be separated from Me again. I am going to Love you. You are my child. You are my friend." 

Jesus is Love. God is Love. There truly is no greater Love than the Love He has for us. For me. For you. 

Be Loved......................

As He Is

"Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world." - 1 John 4:17

As He is, so am I in this world. 

How is He? 

He is righteous. He is blameless. He is holy. He is good. He is Love. He is light. He is Life, and the author of Eternal Life. He is healed. He is the firstborn of God. He is free from the curse. He is risen!

As He is, so am I IN THIS WORLD. Today. Right now. 

I am righteous. I am blameless. I am holy. I am good. I am love. I am light. I am alive to God, and I have eternal life. I am healed. I am born of God. I am free from the curse. I am risen with Him.

How is He?

He is the High Priest, He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He is the name above all names. He is power. He is authority. He is an overcomer. He is a conqueror. He is heir to God's throne. He is the head of the body. He is the chief cornerstone - the living stone. He is the blessing!!!!!

As He is, so am I IN THIS WORLD. Today. Right now. 

I am His priest, his saint. I bear His name. I have His power, the Holy Spirit lives in me. I have been given His authority - I bear His name! I am an overcomer. I am more than a conqueror. I am a joint-heir to the throne of God - I am God's son. I am in His body, the body of Christ. I am a living stone. I am the blessed!!!!!

How is He? 

He is wonderful. He is lovely. He is amazing. He is perfection. He is whole. He is just. He is beautiful. He is grace. He is peace. He is patient. He is kind. He is long-suffering. He is merciful. He is love. He is love. He is love. He is love.  

How is He? 

He is mine.

As He is, so am I - in this world. Today. Right now. Forever. 

John 3:16

God Wants You

If you grew up in a church, or if you've ever watched a Sunday football game, you are probably familiar with the Bible verse John 3:16. This is probably one of the most popular verses in the Bible. I had this verse memorized when I was a child, as many of you reading this probably did, too. If your memory is a little rusty, this is how it goes:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." 

We all know what John 3:16 says. The question is: Do we all know what John 3:16 means? Do we know what God is telling us with this wildly popular, wonderfully simple verse? I don't think many of us have a true grasp on what this verse says. This one verse contains almost everything you need to know about God: God is love, He loves you like crazy, and He wants a relationship with you. 

Basically, John 3:16 is saying that God loves you so much, He sent Jesus, His Son, to this earth to rescue you so that you could have Life, eternal Life. 

That sounds simple doesn't it? It is simple. But, do you get it? You need to get it. This verse is too rich, too alive, to miss the treasures that are told here. Everything you need to know about God is right here, in this verse. Let's go treasure hunting and take a closer look and try to discover all that this verse has to say.

"For God so loved the world..." - God loved, and loves, the world. The whole world. Not just certain people, not just a certain race, not just your cousin. God loves the whole world, God loves you. 

"God so loved..." - I think here, the little word "so" means "so greatly", or "so intensely", or "so passionately". God desires, God loves, God melts for us, the world. If we were to look no further into this verse we would know one thing: God truly loves us - all of us.

"...that He gave His only begotten Son..." - What does this mean? God gave us, sent, fathered, Jesus Christ, here, on this earth, for us. Jesus is the Son of God - God in the flesh. God, the creator of the universe, became a man and walked around on this earth in a human body because He loved us "so" much.

"...that whoever believes in Him should not perish..." - There is a lot of information to absorb right here. This says that whoever believes in Jesus should not perish. "Whoever believes" means whoever, anyone, all who believe in Jesus. God is not partial to any man, woman, Jew, or Gentile. Whoever believes in Jesus should not perish! 

Perish means to die or be destroyed. This part of the verse has, at times, been used to invoke fear in people to convert them, or turn them, to Jesus. And, perhaps rightly so. After all, no one wants to be destroyed. But using fear to turn people to God, was not God's intent. This verse was not meant to be used as a weapon of fear. This verse was meant to be a weapon of love. 

The truth is, we were separated from God! We were already dead, already headed towards destruction, because of sin. God did not want us, any of us, to perish! He sent Jesus, His Son, to rescue us! This is a verse of love, not fear! All we have to do is believe in Jesus, that He is the Son of God, God in the flesh, and we will not perish. We don't have to beg, borrow, or plead in fear for our salvation! God is love. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love cast out fear..." - 1 John 4:18  

This whole verse is oozing with love and nothing but love. We just have to believe, put our faith, in Jesus, the Son of God, and we will not perish. That is awesome! But, it gets even better. This last part is probably the most wonderful part of the entire verse, and the part I believe is most often missed: 

"...should not perish, but have everlasting life." 

Do you know what this means? I didn't. Most of my life, I was told, or chose to believe, that I would receive everlasting life - after I died. Once I died, I would spend eternity in Heaven. That is what I always believed. That is true, but it is not the whole truth. The verse clearly says "...whoever believes in Him should not perish, but HAVE everlasting life." Have is present tense. Have is now. Everlasting life is now, here, on this earth. We do not have to wait until we die to have everlasting life. Once we put our faith in Jesus, the Son of God, we receive everlasting life immediately. We become alive to God. In fact, we become a child of God. 

How can you experience everlasting life here, in this world? It may help to know what everlasting life truly is: Jesus says, in John 17:3, "And this is eternal life, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." Everlasting life is knowing God. It is relationship with God. You have to get this: God did not send His Son just to keep you out of Hell. God sent Jesus Christ so that you could have a relationship with Him. He loves you.  

That is the whole point of John 3:16! God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, here to this world, to rescue us from our sins so that we could have a relationship with Him. God loves us "so" much, that He wants to spend time with us. He wants us to spend time with Him. Can you imagine? God, who is totally complete, whole, perfect, and lacking nothing, wants to spend time with us, with you, with me. What kind of God would want that? A God of love: our God. 

He loves you so much that He humbled Himself, became a man, to be mocked, ridiculed, and killed by His own creations, just so you would not die an eternal death, just so you could walk in relationship with Him. This is mind blowing. God, our God, sacrificed His perfect Son, for our imperfect selves because He truly loves us and all He wants is for us to love Him back. What kind of God would do that? A God of love: our God. 

Now think about this: God loves us so much that He even gives us the choice to choose Him or reject Him. He is not the God of "turn or burn." Yes, that is a consequence of not choosing Him. But God offers Himself to us in love. He is trying to melt our hearts so that we simply choose Him, not scare us to "life." He does not force Himself on us. He simply says, "I love you. I'm crazy about you. Will you trust me? Will you spend time with me? Will you love me?" 

How could anyone not want to get to know a God like that? How could anyone not help but be swept away and melted by such an amazing love? God is LOVE. The kind of love that will set your heart on fire if you let it. 

"For God so loved you, that He gave you His only begotten Son, that if you believe in Him, you will not perish, but have everlasting life."

Do you have everlasting life? Do you know God? God wants us to know Him intimately. If we can learn so much about God from one verse, can you imagine what we could learn about God from the rest of the Bible? If we dove in and discovered the depths of God's love for us, our lives would change forever. We would know what everlasting life truly is. We would find ourselves in the richest, most loving relationship that is beyond all human description. We would know God. 

An Awakening

Do you ever wish God would just set your heart on fire for Him? Have you ever begged God to bless you, or to answer your prayers? I have. I have often wanted to obtain the favor of David, the courage of Peter, the “blamelessness” of Daniel, the faith of Abraham and the wisdom of Solomon. Take any hero of the bible, any saint, I have wanted what they had. One night I even prayed that I could have a relationship with God just like Jesus had with God. I think I prayed this because I realized that Jesus shared something really special with God. Jesus knew God and I simply wanted to know God.  

Somewhere along the way, God revealed to me that I had all of these things and so much more. Jesus is my Savior, my Lord, my Friend. Because of Jesus, I have been given God’s grace. I am a new creature, my spirit is joined, made into one, with the Holy Spirit. I have the favor of David, and more. I am blameless, I am righteous! I have the faith and blessings of Abraham and any other blessing that any hero of the bible had. I even have the relationship with God, the Father, that Jesus had and has. In fact, I am a Son of God. I am a joint-heir with Jesus. ALL that God has to give is mine. And, He has already given it to me! All this time I wanted to have things that were already mine. I just didn’t know it. I didn’t know it because I didn’t know who I was and I didn’t know who God really is. I didn’t know that I had eternal life right here, right now.

This message (or series of messages) is an attempt to wake you up. You are God’s son, or daughter, His beloved! You have been given everything you could ever need. You have been given all of God’s gifts and blessings. You have been given eternal life = relationship with God! You’ve got everything! You just don’t know it - yet. It is time to wake up.

The Story of Two Sons

Jesus often used parables to tell about God’s love and God’s kingdom. In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus is telling the familiar story of the Prodigal Son. As the story goes, the first son ask his father (God) for his inheritance. He then takes his inheritance, wastes it all on ungodly living, realizes his stupidity, and comes back home to work as a slave for his father. His father (God), seeing him in the distance runs out to him, loves all over him, calls for his best robe, ring, sandals and fatted calf and throws a party to celebrate his son’s return. As the father (God) says, his son was dead, but is now alive!

This alone, is a beautiful story. If you have never read it, you should. There are some awesome things worth noting in this story. The father (God) was watching, waiting, and hoping for his son to come home. Even though this son was out living a less-than-desirable life, the father kept watch for him, spotting him on the horizon! What an amazing love! No matter what this son has done, the father celebrates, rejoices and loves all over his son. No questions asked, no harsh criticisms, no rebukes, no condemnation. Just the best robe, ring, sandals, and meat: just simple overwhelming love. What an amazing love!

BUT, the story is not over yet. If you remember, there were two sons. The second son was out working in the field when he realized a party was getting started. When he found out the party was for his lost, now found, brother, he became angry and refused to join the party. Realizing this, the father (God), came out and pleaded with him to join the party. But the second son basically said that he had never wronged his father, yet his father never threw a party for him. Then, the father (God) said, “Son, you have always been with me, and everything I have is yours.” 

WHOA! Did you catch those two things? The father (God) pleaded with his second son to join the party?! His son said “no.”!! Also, the second son, who had always been with his father, had everything that his father had to give him! The father (God) tells him that "...everything I have is yours."!!!

Do you see what is going on here? Are you awake yet? 

This story is really a story of three identities: 

The patient, graceful, loving father is clearly God. He has given us everything He has. In fact, He has given us only His very best! Even if we take all His gifts for granted, as the first son did, He still pours them out for us! Even when we don't want to engage in relationship with him, as the second son did, He pleads with us to join Him! God's love is simply amazing and it is without limits!!!! It will sweep you off your feet, if you let it.  

The first son knew who he was: He was His father’s son! He asked for his inheritance, and he received it! Even when he fell away and was living "in the flesh" he realized his mistakes, repented, and came back home - only to be swept away by his father's love. Again, the first son, knew he was a son.

The second son, did not know who he was! He did not realize that he was his loving father’s son. His never asked anything of his father, and he got exactly what he asked for: nothing. Not because it wasn’t his, but because he simply didn’t know who he was. His father plainly said that everything he has is also his son’s. The second son could have had the best robe, or the best meat, anytime he wanted. He just didn't know who he was or how his father loved him. 

When it comes to our relationship with God, most of us are the second son! We just don’t realize who we are. We don't realize how much God loves us. We may say that God loves us, but we don't KNOW in our hearts that God loves us. 

Here is the deal: God loves you! He is crazy about you! He celebrates you! He cherishes you! God is pleading with you to live in relationship with Him; to have eternal life - right here, right now. Everything God has is yours! ALL His gifts, ALL His blessings, ALL His love. It is ALL yours. It is ALL mine. It is ALL ours. If you are a born again believer, the Holy Spirit, the very power of God, lives inside you! Wrap your head around that! The power that created the universe and all that you know, lives inside of YOU. You are HIS! God LOVES YOU! 

Do you see what I am saying? God is absolutely 100% crazy about you. When He sees you, He sees His child - He sees Jesus. You are precious, you are favored, you are LOVED!

IF you could just grasp how much God loves you, you couldn't help but fall in love with God. You couldn't help but seek a relationship with God. You couldn't help but be more than a conqueror, here on this earth! You couldn't help but to be swept away by His overwhelming love.

God loves you. He wants to have a relationship with you. One where you actually walk with Him, talk to Him, listen to Him. laugh with Him. He wants to share His secrets with you, His thoughts, His wisdom. 

You have to wake up. Don't you know who we are? You are a cherished, loved, child of God. His very own delight. He is absolutely crazy in love with you. He is never angry with you. He celebrates you. He wants His very best for you. He simply loves you.

Wake up. If your heart is not on fire for God, you just don't know who you are. God has given you everything He has. He has given you the match and the gasoline. Set your own heart on fire. Become alive!

This message is for everyone, but it is specifically for those that believe that Jesus is their Lord and Savior. 

You Are Adopted

You did not receive the spirit of bondage and fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. - Romans 8:15-16

...just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will... - Ephesians 1:4-5

Have you ever read these verses before? Do you know what they are saying? We, those who believe in Jesus as our savior, are adopted. We are God's children. Did you catch that? We are adopted! Do you know what this means? We are chosen. Chosen by God - because He wants us, He loves us.

Check this out: A parent can choose to love their own, natural child, as they should. Children are one of the greatest gifts that God has given us. But not all parents choose to love their own children. Some children are mistreated, abused, ignored, or even abandoned because we live in a broken world. The point is, a natural parent can choose whether or not to love their child. BUT, with adoption, the choice has been made. When a child is adopted, that child is chosen to be loved. When a couple chooses to adopt a baby, they are saying, "I want you, I have to have you." Adoption means, "I have so much love to give, it hurts. I WANT you to be my child. I WANT to love you!"

How awesome and amazing is that?! God, the GOOD Father, wants you so much that He is choosing to adopt you! You are loved so much, in His desire to have you, He sent Jesus (His true Son) as a savior, to rescue you and redeem you so that He could adopt you. Why would He do that? How could He love us so much? As it says it Ephesians 1:5, He did it according to His good pleasure. 

Whoa. It is God's good pleasure to adopt you, to choose you, to love you. It gives God pleasure to love His children. That is amazing. No, God is amazing. How beautiful is it to know that God wants us, He wants to love us, AND it gives Him pleasure to love us? 

By adopting us as His children, God is saying, "I am absolutely crazy about you. I want you. I love you. I have to have you. Let me love you." Can you see this with your heart? This knowledge is almost too wonderful to contain in the soul. It makes the heart just melt for God. It makes the heart cry out, "Abba, Father!", or "Dad, Daddy!" 

You are adopted! You are desired. You are chosen. You are wanted. You are cherished. You are prized. You are delighted in. You are loved in its purest, richest form. Praise God! He is the GOOD Father, the GOOD Dad.

Will we ever comprehend the width and length and depth and height of God's love, as it says in Ephesians 3:18? I don't know, but doesn't knowing how He loves us make you want to try? God is Love. You are loved. Praise God!

Love More

The internet is a wonderful communication medium. At least it can be. You can instantly connect with thousands of friends, loved ones, and neighbors anywhere in the world. What an amazing technology we have access to. The internet can also be a communication condemnation medium as well. What I mean is that it is real easy to say things on facebook, email, twitter, forums, or where ever that you would never say in front of other people; especially when they can look you in the eyes.

It is too easy to allow venom to seep through our fingertips when we sit down to communicate via technology. It is also too easy to hide. 

We just had an election for the office of President of the United States. Our country is clearly divided. This morning, on facebook and other mediums, venom flowed. Well meaning, otherwise good people, were being critical, hateful, and downright mean towards their neighbors, peers, family members and loved ones. Many of the people passing judgment were God loving people. Some used colorful language, some used damning words, and others preached end of times. 

It is easy to condemn people on facebook. My question is though, do you think these same things would have been said by those who said them if they had to look their neighbor in the eye when they said them. Could they say the same things to the person on their right sitting on the same church pew that they are sitting on? 

I don't think we always know what we are doing. I love God. I too want to honor Him. But this is what I know about God, He said a couple of things of wonderful things we should take note of:

"And you shall love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." - Mark 12:30-31

There is no other commandment greater than these. Here is the question: Is condemning your neighbor on the internet, where you don't have to look them in the eye, is that loving your neighbor? Is that what loving them looks like? 

We may disagree with our neighbors over politics but to curse them for their opinions and their choice of voting seems a little "unloving." There are no easy choices when it comes to selecting a candidate to vote for, at least not in these times. If your neighbor votes differently than you do, does that make them ignorant and immoral? What if they love God as much as you do? What if they love you as they love themselves? 

Jesus loved. He forgave sinners all around Him. He did not accuse or rebuke them. Well, He did rebuke the self-righteous Pharisees and religious leaders, but to all other sinners, He forgave them. He had compassion on them. He healed them. He loved them. 

On the internet we are quick to say what is really in our hearts. Unfortunately, this reveals what is really in our hearts. Do you see what I'm saying here? Anyway, God sees our hearts. Yet, he doesn't condemn us. Maybe it is because we are busy condemning each other over our political views and opinions. 

Someone you really love voted differently than you did. Do you really think they are immoral, stupid, lost, corrupt, evil, etc? Maybe they are, i don't know. But, if they are, do you love them enough to tell them to their face? Or, do you loath them enough to tell the world on facebook how right you are and how dumb they are? Is that really what your intent is? Do you think facebook gives you the strength to stand up for God while at the same time act as He never would? Or does facebook simply allow you to reveal what is really in your heart? 

None of us are perfect. Not yet. Thankfully, we are loved no matter how close or far we are away from perfection. God looks past our flaws. He LOVES His children. He does not condemn us - those who are in Jesus. If you don't believe this, read Romans Chapter 8. If our sins are forgiven, then surely our votes - if they are "wrong", are also forgiven.

God is love. He said that "There is no other commandment greater than these": 

1. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
2. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Love your neighbor. What does that look like?