#allofChristforalloflife

allofchristforalloflife

literally means the wholeness of Christ the wholeness of scripture bleeding into the wholeness of my life. Every aspect of my life every moment of my life every second of my life in front of everyone or in the closet where only God can see. Allowing the penetration of the gospel to penetrate the darkest deepest parts of my heart. Including the areas of pride that I don’t want God to touch. To erase the sins but not the scars of the evil I have done against him and him alone. To correct where I am worldly so it does not show the world but only Christ and Christ alone.

The Tree

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
Psalm 1:3 ESV

We think of trees as true and pure. They are strong and beautiful grant us cover in the heat of the day, and shield us from a cool rain in late spring. Trees are what gives us breath, they take the bad part of our air and turn it into what we are able to breath.

While our Lord walked this earth he came upon a fig tree that did not produce a fig and he cursed it never to produce again (Mark 11:12-25). And to me this one scares me a little. So this fig tree did not produce for Christ when it was out of season, but Jesus still curses it. Why? Yes, he was warning the people of his time of what was to come. What are then to take from it?

We come into seasons of life and we are to be ready and willing to produce fruit. You ever get tugged by the Holy Ghost and blow it off? Do you ever get shoved by the Holy Spirit and say no? I have the problems will come if we deny that to many times. If we allow sin to over take us. Yes, disobedience is a sin just as much as lieing and adultery are. Remember revelation says as for the cowardly, the faithless, the destable, as for the murderers, the sexually immoral, their will be the lake of fire (Rev 21:8). Yes this says the cowardly along with sexually immoral.

Are we the tree that produces fruit in season? I know I have failed and made decisions that have taken me away from where I thought I should be. When I come to the mighty thrown to see Christ face to face where he wanted me and where I end up will be a massive short fall on my end, as I am sure for many of you as well.

There are two young men living a life in the pit of hell because I did not listen to the nudge of the Holy Spirit man years ago. I have place my roots next to the living waters and I pray that I will produce the fruit of Christ when he calls upon me once again. Let us not be overtaken by fear, rejection, cowardliness. Let us have a Spirt of power and truth and boldness. This is my prayer for you.

Be blessed 🙌

Building the Broken

For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. Galatians 2:13 ESV

We live in this circle of life build up tear down, build up tear down. And we chase God in between these seasons of life. This year has already started off crazier than the last two if you ask me. And as I sit and watch the church our friends all I see is us trying to put back together what use to be.

I was talking to my beautiful amazing wife about my prayer life the other day, and I have made this comment many times. That the months leading up to fathers death my prayer life was insane. The empathy for the ones I prayed for, the closeness I felt to God. I crave that prayer life once again.

Now bare with me I know what the scripture is speaking of for all you theologians. But, this is where God is taking me.

We see God more in our lives and when that season passes we want to be there again. Our we sinners for wanting to create something that has already happened? If God has moved you past it, why do we want to rebuild it? If you saw someone else build something and God blessed them why do you want to build it? It’s not yours to build but God’s to build.

I wanted my prayer life to be the same that is was before my father’s passing. In order for that to happen I would have to still be the same person I was then. God has changed me God has purified me grown me. Why do I want to build up walls that God already used then tore down? We have been there grown from it why would we want to revert back to our old ways?

For the church God tried to wake us up and grow us from what we used to be. Covid hit we seeked him and we went back to what we were. Riots struck and partisan lines grew and we went back to what we were. Now the birth pains are getting closer. The pains are getting stronger. Why do we keep trying to rebuild what God is moving us from?

It is time to build something new. It is time for man the church and the religious to sit back remove our hands and say God. Not our will but yours. We no longer want what we have been doing because we broke it and it’s in pieces. Lord purify it Lord cleanse it. Lord build it. Lord Jesus wake us protect us open our eyes to see what your building. How you Lord our building the church. A pure church were the broken is made new and not the old. Where there is no color where there is no race but only the cross. Jesus come come with the breathe of Life so the dead will wake.

It is by Christ and Christ alone we shall be saved. Let us not build what use to be the sinful the shame. But let us build what God wants us to build without shame without bitterness and pride. If we seek first his kingdom.. let us all not seek law or gifts, let us not seek the things of this world but let us truly truly with ever once of our souls seek Christ and Christ alone. This world would see a revival that it has never seen the likes of.

It is time..

Many blessings till next time.

Purity of simplicity

For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God. 2 Corinthians 1:12 ESV

How have we gotten where we are today? As watered down the Gospel has become to the secular world I feel inside the church it has become more complicated. Armenians vs Calvinist and Reformed vs everyone. Baptism of babies or not, open heaven or closed. We as the church of Jesus Christ fight over the gifts that the power of the Holy Spirit has given us. Tongues no tongues, prophets no such thing as a prophet oh unless your meaning edifying or decernment. We as human sinners have jumble up the doctrine and in doing so has quieted our voice to the world.

Jesus tells us in Matthew that only the pure of heart will see God. That means pure of heart. No bias no agenda but a purity that matches that of Christ. But, if we come with an agenda other than that of the Kingdom of God we are only trying to advance our pride. Our pride in our beliefs or belief system is the very downfall of the church.

The very simplicity of the Gospel is where and only what we are to boast. The sad part is I bet 80% of our church today cannot even say what the Gospel is. So, if we as Christians cannot describe the very Gospel that saved our souls then how can we truly fulfill the great commission Matthew 28:19-20?

For me this is the fault of the pulpit and the student. This can most certainly fall under the lack of discipleship we have in the church today. And, if there is discipleship then most of us myself included don’t realize we are being discipled.

We must put down our pride, put the bias of our beliefs at the foot of the Cross. If we want God to use us and truly for the Kingdom to advance then it must be His way and not ours. If we can’t love our brother in the Church across town, then how can the world know the love Christ gave us? The Gospel is simple and we must keep it simple. 1 Cor 15-3-5 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. This is the Gospel.

Jesus said we are to Love God with all our heart and to Love our neighbor as our self. We have allowed the devil into the church and to separate us for centuries now. We are one church with one God by one Spirit brought to us by the blood of one Jesus Christ. Let us quit mudding down the gospel for mud is harder to see through than water.

Many blessings

Revealed by Fire

Each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
1 Corinthians 3:13 ESV

This to me is one of the scariest versus in the bible. We are told by so many growing up “get saved give your life to Jesus” it will “be fun” they said. Oh hogwash, the hardest thing I have ever had to do is walk this world as a follower of Jesus Christ. Yes, the most rewarding blessed mercy field life, but none the less extremely difficult at times. This text we are touching on explains why. But I am here to give you hope as well.

Everyday you wake up, you will be tested. Yes, it will be hard yes temptation from the world is nothing compared to what other Christians faced all over the world. But, we all face sexual lust, greed, pride, bitterness and so much more. The foundation you build on will be tested by fire. What are you building on the cornerstone of Jesus Christ?

When the trials of the day hit how are you going to react? When you are struggling in a marriage are your eyes on Christ or on your computer? When your so close to financial ruin are you on your knees fighting or giving up? Or when you can’t get out of bed because depression and blackness has locked you down. What is going to burn in the fire or what will come through the fire?

We get so wrapped up in the fire of the day we take are eyes of the maker of the fire. No, God does not temp but he allows those temptations to happen. Are we going to crucify the flesh when the worldly temptation comes knocking? When the spirit of depression grips our minds and are souls are you going to pick up the psalms and read them outloud, or are you going to bury yourself under the covers cause you can’t move.

We cry for revival we cry for change we cry for Jesus. But we are so blinded we don’t grasp the truth. “For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in Power” 1 Cor 4:20.

Why do we have such a hard time grasping this truth. Jesus said repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. He died on the cross then raised from the dead 3 days later. That power that Kingdom resides inside every believer in Jesus Christ. I heard a quote once from a pastor. He said “the devil knows that he can’t take the victory from you. But, the devil will never allow you to walk in the fullness of that victory”.

The fire is coming rather we want it to or not, that choice is not ours. What matters is what we believe when we get in the fire. So, when the things you latched onto that belong to the world begin to burn. Let them burn and do not rebuild them. God burned them up for a reason. He wants you to trust His power not yours.

Many blessings

Unstained

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
James 1:27 ESV

Almost every Christian knows this verse, or has heard it at some point in thier lives. This verse should be a reminder to us of the calling God has placed in every Christians heart. When your heart is tugged on when you see the homeless. When your heart breaks at the sight of a funeral precession. These are normal feelings. Because God has placed the undefiled presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Over time we train ourselves to become blind to what is around us. We train our heart strings not to tug on us as much depending where in the city we are.

The problem is not necessarily the widows and the homeless. The problem that we Christians have is being unstained from the world. This is one of those verses we will preach and preach the first half but we need to stay away from the second half. Not many pulpits today preach on being Holy. I Peter 1:6 ESV for I am Holy, Ye be Holy. Because when we do that we might hurt someone’s feelings. We can’t step on toes when it comes to mingling with the world. Oh but Jesus hung out with the sinners and drunkards right? Yes he did but we are not Jesus!

Jesus walked into a bar and he brought the kingdom of God in with Him. Jesus walked into a parlor and He changed people’s hearts. Can Jesus do that through you, yes He can if you are Holy. The problem doesn’t lye with Jesus the problem is us. We are stained. We can walk into a bar by the power of the Holy Spirit and with in 10 minutes what makes us different from anyone in there?

The problem is we are taken from the world and grafted into a new tree (Romans 4). We don’t realize that being in a new tree means we must be new. I believe we don’t grasp the concept of newness. We struggle so hard with being in a new place acting new and being around new people. Oh my gosh the stress!! Men we struggle with this more than women. I believe the Jews in thier own way in the time of Paul was struggling with this as well with new gentiles coming into the church. Why do we not get it why do we keep struggling why do we fail why do we crumble at the thought of our past? Failure after failure; because we allow our past to dictate our present.

Shoot God tells us He throws our sins as far as the east is from the west psalm 103:12. So if he removes our sins then why do we still fall into the traps of the world? If we struggle with the things we have done how can I not be stained from the world? I can never be “unstained” I can never be Holy. Your right specially if you are living like the world even in your closet.

Yes God throws are sins as far as the East is from the West. The issue is we don’t. If you had done the disgusting vile horrific things I have they would haunt you as they do me. So, it is easy to fall back into the shame the sadness of life because that is where we think we deserve to be, it is who we believe we are. We say God made me new, that He created this new life, but deep down do we believe it?

Unstained means to be Holy to be set apart from the world. We are to look different act different walk different talk different. What separates you from your unsaved friends? Is it that you go to church? Is it that you read your Bible more than them? What separates you from the secular world? Or are you the one secular friend that needs Jesus? How are you different?

True undefiled religion is to be unstained from the world. God pulled you from the pit. He grafted you into His family tree. 1 Cor says that those in Christ are a new creation, the old has passed away look see the new has come. We can be owned and chained to our past. But why would we when Christ has already freed us from those chains? I have a hard time with this myself so I am preaching to me as much as to you. But to be unstained we must truly believe in the word He gave us. That we are new in Christ. That he has washed our sins as white as snow. For nothing can wash away our sins nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Do we believe? Do we truly deep deep down within our souls believe that He made us new and washed us clean. If we do then it is up to us to stay unstained by the world.

How will the authorities know that you are a true follower of Christ?

Many blessings