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

Broken Foundation

Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming. Ephesians 4:14

Over that last couple of years my wife and I have had the privilege of pastoring the young adults in our church. Over that time we have seen it grow exponentially and I have had a class with 1 person in it. This generation of young adults is fluid but they are all hungry for knowledge. Over the last year we have seen singles become couples, and those couples get married. Shoot we have had babies in class for our young married couples. I will say with babies chasing squirrels is easier to do.

I say this because so many have left or “graduated” to another class and I question if I have set them up for success. Is the foundation that I helped them build a foundation of stability, strength, wisdom, and power? Or is it a broken foundation that will be tossed to and fro. My biggest fear is that the foundation isn’t deep enough to withstand a storm and the house falls around them and they just walk away. If we want to get real for a minute that is what happens 80% of the time and all of us have seen it. It’s because thier foundation is broken.

A couple of weeks ago I asked a question that in my opinion every believer should know. What is the Gospel? This struck my core because not one in my class could answer it. So, what is the Gospel you ask? It is God’s salvation for man. But it goes so much deeper than that. Why did God need to save us? Who is God? Why do we deserve redeeming? Is the Bible true? God never changed?

You see these are foundational questions that digs our foundation deeper and wider. The Apostle Paul lays is out the best in 1 Corinthians 15:3 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.

The Apostle lays out the Gospel in a nut shell. It is our job to dig into and decipher it. The word Theology is a scary word that so many believers run away from. All it means is the study of God. We are called to know God on an intimate level. Not just go to church read a verse once a day. Listen to worship music. Are we growing a knowledge of God like that? No we are not.

Is the foundation you are standing on able to stand with the bareans? Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Acts 17:11 ESV

As the tides begin to change here in the West what is your faith built on? I know that I can see how I have failed so many young adults and it crushes me. I did not make sure they knew the basic tenant’s of our faith. I have seen some tail off at college and end up at rehabs and some are becoming prominent leaders in churches. So it is not all horrible but still concerning.

Does your family know the Gospel?

Does your friends know the real God?

Does your loved ones know that thier redeemer lives?

Does the clerk at your local store know where she will end of for eternity?

These are piers for the foundation of pur faith. Do we believe or not believe? Our life our walk but most of all our closet shows the proof of that.

Many blessings

God of Calamity

Isaiah 45:7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.

I recently heard a sermon and in this sermon the preacher claimed this verse yet contradicted it by saying that God is not a God of calamity. I must beg to differ on this subject. So if you would amuse me because the loving merciful God that grabbed each one of us out of the pit, is also the God that cleansed the earth with flood. In that flood He killed everything except for one family. Yes, we serve a God of calamity a God that forms light and creates darkness. When you create darkness calamity is soon to follow.

We can see in our lives that very moment when God touched the deepest parts of our soul and the calamity it caused in our lives. You see when you have a true holiness that touches true wickedness and rebellion what do you think happens? The chaos in our souls that ensued as the holiness of God overtook our hearts. It was a daily fight and still is at times.

Let us look at Job and his life and we see the very thing that we are speaking of. Was God the very one to attack Job and destroy everything he had? No that was the devil but God allowed it to happen. We see this also in the prophecy of Ezekiel with the Gog and Magod war. The Father says And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.
Ezekiel 38:4 ESV

So yes we see and know that God causes the calamity around us but why? I go back to Job to answer part if this question. One thing we must point out is that calamity deals with physical objects around us. With Job he lost all of his kids all of his wealth. God allow the devil to get to Job with the physical, but he never gave the devil permission to get into his head. Jobs friends did that for him, the devil never had to nor did he ask. 2. God restores and is the ultimate redeemer. Job got back twofold what he lost. God restored the world after the flood. God will use the Gog and Magog war to help grow Israel and fuel the country.

We see so much chaos and calamity in our world. I ask you this after something horrible happens what does the community or people around it do? Yes, there are a few bad, but people still are there to help and show the love of Christ. Through calamity the love and mercy of God is always on display. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 ESV

So let us do what we are called to do and rejoice in all moments of life. The chaotic, the cataclysmic, and the calamity. It is through those hard moments that God is training us for the hard times ahead. We cannot ask God to take us out of the fight because we don’t agree with him. We must start praying for God to give us the faith to overcome the battle He has us in. And know that no matter how chaotic things seem God has everything right where he wants it.

Blessing to you all

Grace of the King

Unstable as Water

Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence.
Genesis 49:4 ESV

At this point Jacob is dying and telling his sons what their future will hold.  So as Rueben his first born defiled his fathers bed. Jacob calls him unstable as water. Because of his unstability he will not move forward. Even though he is strong. Even though he is his fathers air. Even though he is the oldest and most powerful. Ruben will forever be stuck where he is.

When I was in high-school I got a tattoo of a gecko. This tattoo signified for me my stature in high-school so to say. I was able to hangout with everyone. But it wasn’t just hangout it was that I could mold into the fabric of every group. The nerds, the jocks, the cowboys, the druggie’s. Was this a good thing? No not really because yes I got along with pretty much everyone, but I couldn’t find myself. I am sure you are saying that is not unstable. But in actuality it was the beginning  of the unstability that would stagnate my life.

We see every day how unstable the world around us is. The political climate is so volatile the very mention of certain names could cause a riot. The CDC doesn’t know which direction to go now days, and the administration is tumbling down a hill with no one stopping it. The mention of race or masks causes an uproar. The very climate we are in cries out unstable. Yes, it has calmed down from the riots. But just because you can hide the unstable state you are in doesn’t mean your not unstable.

There is no fixing the world around you if you yourself are unstable. The story of Rueben is dominated by his lusts for women. He was powerful in battle stronger than the other brothers. The moment he stepped by a beautiful women he could not control his lusts. So many men and women show their power by day with strong work ethic great jobs beautiful strong families yet at night on their phone or computer they are controlled by the lusts of their flesh. If over 80% of the men in church are addicted to porn no wonder the most visited website in the last 3 years is a pornsite.

For you are unstable as water.

This boils down to what God has called me out on. That I am at times unstable as water. Man when the vid first hit I was livid and adamant about not having to wear a mask. THATS MY FREEDOM YOUR TAKING AWAY! You put me in a political conversation and eww boy my blood would rise. Then put me in a conversation on abortion and it would boil. Place me in a sexual temptation and I would lose my mind. This has completely stopped my walk with Christ. I have been stagnate.

You see I am unstable because the situation dictates how I will react. How can I or any of us move into what God has paid for us to move into when we are as unstable as water. We let our emotions dictate our reaction. We allow the moment to control our lusts and greed and passions. We are the tempature instead of the thermostat.

Are we going to allow the tipping point of the climate around us to dictate our reactions? As long as we are unstable the world around us will be unstable. We must depend on Christ and Christ alone in every situation. He and He alone is in control and the political outcome is in His control. Your lusts and greed need to die at the cross. You are not a slave to sin but FREE IN CHRIST!

Become solid in your foundation and it will stop the water from overflowing. The living water is a steady stream of life, not a chaotic flood overwhelming you. When you control the things in you, your steps will be many.

Many blessings to all. Grace of the King

Light from Darkness

4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:4 ESV

In the beginning a new creation was formed. The very earth we step on was formed so we had a surface to walk. The oceans were formed and the air was clean and fresh. God himself walked with Adam and Eve. Why was is so perfect? Yes, God is perfect but we see in verse 4 that God separated the light out of the darkness. Can you image the chaos of the darkness as this world was forming. How ugly and violent the forming of something so beautiful was?

We must realize that before the chaos overtook our world God already removed the light out of the darkness. But we view this scripture completely backwards. We believe that God removes the darkness from the light. We see that Christ comes in our lives and and removes the stains of our sins. We believe that Christ comes into are lives and slowly washes us.

WE HAVE THIS BACKWARDS

Christ comes into our lives and pulls us from the darkness of the world. 2nd Corinthian 5:7 says that those who are in Christ are a new creation, the old is passed away: Look see the new has come. We say these scriptures but do we really grab ahold of what God is saying to us? Through Christ God removed us from darkness and separated us from the world.

We see this with Adam and Eve how they walked with God and talked with Him. Yet they allowed sin into our world which separated us from God. That sin is the darkness of the world which we gravitate to. Even as someone who is saved I still gravitate towards sin. I allow the darkness of this world to pull me into the cave where the loudness of the devil overwhelms the calm quiet voice of God. Why? Because I have this thought stuck in my head saying that Christ only cleans what he wants to help me grow. That becoming a Christian is a slow process. Yes, Justification is by faith and sanctification is over time. But thanks be to God who gives us victory through Christ Jesus (2nd Cor. 15:57)

My bible tells me that before the beginning of time God wrote my name and placed me in His mercy. That I was separated from the darkness before I was formed in my mothers womb. My bible tells me that I have victory of sin and darkness through Christ Jesus. My bible also tells me that God Himself has given me dominion over every thing both spiritual and physical through Christ Jesus. We know the promises of God we know what he says about us.

We allow the darkness to dwell in us when God already separated us from that darkness. The problem is when will we start believing it? When will we stop fighting for victory and start fighting from Victory.

Brokenness

Apart from brokenness, how do we know what living life truly is? I have been digging into the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts. This is what Christ said of the Apostle Paul.

Acts 9:16 “For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

To me, that is a scary scary thing. We, as Christians here in the West, live in a bubble compared to the rest of the Christian world. Pastors are arrested and tortured just for preaching the Gospel. We must get past the trails we face and realize that the brokenness we go through is to break open the pride so we can grasp the magnitude of God’s mercy and grace.

I use this analogy a lot when explaining the bad in the world. If you ate a medium rare, steak baked potato and bowl of beans every day. Now, the steak and sides are cooked perfectly and the exact same every time. How would you know that you had a bad steak? You would never know until you had a bad steak.

How do we know that God is loving and merciful? Because we see the fallen world around us. For us to truly grasp who God is, we must be broken from our pride. I say that because we want to see God from our standpoint and based on what we think our needs our. So, when my father passed away, I had every right to be mad at God for taking my father. If my father were here, I could reach out to him. I could ask him what to do and how to move forward. I could call him when I am frustrated. I could hear once again that voice that I so long to hear. That need of his presence in my life to tell me that I am screwing up. I have every right to be mad at God.

So then, if my father was still here, how would I grow into the leader of our family? How would God mold me into what He wants me to be if there is no room to grow? From pain, there is always growth. So, God breaks us to see growth. When a new limb grows from a tree, that limb must break through the bark of the tree.

True brokenness that pain that is in that moment is ugly and violent. But, the beauty that comes from it is wrapped in glory for the heavens. When we start seeing the one who created us and the one who is changing us instead of seeing our hurt and our pain, that is when we see growth.

Psalms 51 is the greatest Psalm King David wrote. He wrote Psalm 51 one year after he slepted with Bathsheba. And in verse 8 he says to God let me hear joy and gladness, let the bones you have broken rejoice. LET THE BONES YOU HAVE BROKEN GOD REJOICE. Not the bones the world broke or our family broke, but that God has broken.

The world we live in is fallen, and bad things happen. But good always comes from it. I relapsed on my wife’s birthday years ago. Because of that relapse, she is a biblical counselor and is helping men and women every day. God is using the brokenness from the hurt I caused her to help others. People have had their lives changed because of my wife. We can choose to live in the brokenness or grow from it.

No matter what, it will never be forgotten. We have scars from our past because sin scares us. Now hear me when I say this because all scars are not our own sin, but some are from others’ sins toward us. I was raped and molested for months when I was a child in 3rd grade to be truthful. That traumatic event has left scars that I am still trying to heal today. That wasn’t my sin; that was someone else’s. I was the target of that sin, not the sinner.

Our sin scars us as well. Yes, God throws are sin as far as the East is from the West. God forgets our sin through Christ Jesus only. But we don’t. When we sin, especially sexual sin, it is forever burned into our soul. We lie we repent we forget it the next day. If we forgot all our sin, how would we know where we came from? How would we know what God has brought us through? It is in the brokenness that true worship of God our creator the Most High is the purest form.

Without brokenness, we are not able to see God in His Holy Glory. We tend to be blinded by pride and selfishness before we can truly be broken. Brokenness in the potters hand is a masterpiece in the making.

https://youtu.be/M_Q6ZSzV8iQ

A flickering light

1 John 1:6,7 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
1 John 1:6‭-‬7 ESV

My amazing pastor spoke this scripture during our candle light service Sunday. We lit our candles, and the Holy Spirit started showing me some moments in my life. The light of the candle danced in the wind as I walked back to my seat.

Just over a year and a half ago, I relapsed after a long stint of sobriety. During that stint, I was a soldier for the Kingdom of God. I fought. I prayed I had a hunger for God’s word. Even God’s hardest most embattled soldiers flicker at times. We allow the darkness in this world to overshadow our love for God.

As our pastor lit his candle, then his wife’s and daughters, I walked over to have him light mine. This young preacher has lit my wood on fire so many times. He has kicked me in the but a few times as well. He is not only my pastor but my friend. He always has an ear for me, so the symbolism of him lighting my candle is all too accurate.

What I was not prepared for was the 4 steps back to my family. I turned and took that first step as the candle was big and bright. It was hot because I could see a hint of blue at the base. So true for all of us when we first get saved. We come out of that baptism on fire with our hearts being held by the very hand of the Holy Spirit. Nothing can quench us; nothing can knock us from the grace and will of God.

Then, I took the 2nd step, and then it began to flicker. The ac vent blew right at me like the devil himself blowing out my candle. After I relapsed, I had a friend tell me that if I was a true follower of Christ, I would never have done that. Another one told me he had a dream that I had died a spiritual death. The second one has haunted me for the past year, and a half. So, in our walk, we will fall into darkness at some point. Not everyone’s fall will be for all to see. Most will hide it. No one sees my candle about to burn out, not even my soul mate. In the brief moment in our lives, we begin to believe the lies of the devil rather than the promises of God. So, we fall out of the will of God, so our light fades. As in my case, it almost blows out.

3rd step is the hard part. In any walk of a Christian blocking the lies is the toughest battle we have. I took my had and covered the flame, blocking the wind from touching it. At that moment, I about turned around to relight the candle, but the fire grew, and the candle light was strong again. As we should protect the light inside of us. We have to place barriers and blockades in some cases to stop hearing the lies coming from the devil and his dominions. He will have people believe that what they are saying is helpful but will only drag us down. It is up to us to trust the hand of God in our lives is the one blocking the devil and removing things in our lives to help.

The final step is how often we get to see the last step play out. Being the spiritual leader of my house, have the ability to extinguish or infuse the lights burning in my house. I lit my wife’s first because she is my first responseiblity. She is the first gift from God I had received just at the time I had not realized it. Then, I lit my moms candle. Since my father passed, she is my responsibility, and I have been lacking in that realm. Then, I lit my future son-in-laws who lit my oldest daughter’s. I then lit both my my middle daughters.

The symbolism might not mean much to most. It shows everything that God has blessed me with and the future that my daughters hold. Before I relapsed, my focus was on outward ministry. Video podcast weekly that was growing rapidly. I was a coordinator to help men get back on their feet after recovery from addiction. My biggest focus was as a campus pastor for an adolescent rehab center.

Yes, those ministries I miss and would go back to them in a heartbeat. But, what God is showing me is that he wants me to focus on my family. Preparing them for the world that is coming. More importantly, though, is what is the legacy and the light that I will leave my grandkids and my great grandkids?

Our lights will flicker and seem as they will burn out. What I have realized is that no matter how dem our candles might be when we place it in complete darkness, it’s still lit. To make our lights grow brighter, we must place them next to others to light theirs. Combined, it’s a miracle flame that all can see. By ourselves, we are a flickering candle. When we surround ourselves with other candles, we are a city on a hill. That generation after generation will know and see.

The 9th hour

In my years before Christ BC so to say, there was a time called the devils hour.  Every morning around 3 am, the crazies would come out. Generally you would start the festivities around 1 or 2 so you are peaking your high right around 3am. You can go to any rave underground raves, adult bookstores, and even clubs that are open that late. So why is it 3am?

The devil has to copy but as the complete the opposite of what God does. The law and to love God the devil says do what you want to do. We have the power of the Holy Spirit, so the devil makes the spirit of the anitchrist.  Simple points, but there are so many more examples to show.

So, what is the opposite of 3am? It is the 9th hour or 3pm. 3pm has been a time to pray and sing psalms for thousands of years. We see this in the Old Testament most notable the prophet Daniel when in Babylon. Cornelius was a gentile praying during an hour that was for the Jews and priests. The next day, Peter was praying in the 9th hour and had a vision as well.

Here is the most important moment that is in scripture that happened on the 9th hour.

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
Matthew 27:45‭-‬46 ESV

So our Lord takes his last breath on the 9th hour. So many things happen on the 9th hour. We see time and time again our forefathers praying, praisein, and seaking God on the 9th hour. I am not saying this is the only time to pray. What I am saying is there is something special about the 9th hour, and we all should learn from. The 9th hour is when the curtain was ripped, so we could have a personal relationship with God, the father. Let us all seek his will.

Is There not a Cost?

Is there not a reason?

As my pastor was preaching on being anointed this Sunday, he said something that truly struck me. He asked Is there not a cost? Is there not a reason?

As I have been struggling as of late to even hear God in my life, I have been trying to trace back as to why? Where have I fallen of the tracks, where is the very spot that I left the will of God? So many times, I as I am sure you have, seem to have slipped away from the will and the anointing God has placed on us. It can seem so difficult, and yes, I know that God is quite in times of testing. But I am speaking deeper than a testing. I want to touch on the moment and time when we no longer can hear the voice of God. Now I am not talking about backsliding and yes there is sin but there is sin in everyone’s lives that needs to be repented of.

You could say this is the Jona moment possibly. Remember when I said could no longer hear the voice of God. I did not say he quit speaking, but we quit hearing. We pray and we read, and we go to church, but we cannot hear the very voice we are trying to hear from, and why? Why is it so hard to just hear the voice of God especially when you know you have fallen off track or slipped out of His will? How do we get back into it? How do we grab ahold of everything that we long for and crave? It is the precious Cross of Christ that we long to grab ahold of, and yet it is so hard at times. Yes, Jona was running and when we look at it, God told him to do something and then he ran. Jona still loved God, he still followed God he just was not obedient. In the end God got what he asked for, just as God always gets what he asks of us. Sometimes we must get thrown in the belly of the whale before we accept what God has asked us to do.

So, Sunday as my pastor was preaching and he stated Is there not a Cost? Is there not a Reason? Our Lord God spoke to me finally, as I have been deep within the belly of the whale. As the Lord spoke to me, I wrote it down as I would not forget, and the Holy Spirit laid this on my heart.

It will cost you, it will cause pain, but how much pain did I suffer for you? How much did I give to you? How much more do I love you then me? How much do you live for me as I lived for you? Will you die for me as I died for you?

You see we have this grandeur of an idea that we are here to spread the gospel and live a life glorifying to God. But that life should be easy and not painful or not risky. That when God lays something on our hearts and presses in it over and over again, that when we finally do it should not hurt others. That when we finally step into the will of God people should not get mad. When we say and act the way God wants us to it should be pleasant and nice. The Apostle Paul and was stoned and beaten time and time again. He was chained in prison most of his time in Rhome. What then are we doing? Are we hated or loved by the world? Is there a price on your head because you are living for God? Do the Christians around you pray for you and your endeavors? And while you are doing it, is it you’re on will or are you anointed by the Holy Spirit? When we base everything off our own skill we will fail. When we grab ahold of the anointing of God, combined with the skill He gave us whooo let the Heavens rejoice…

You see when I preach some like it, and others hate it. When I write I don’t see the difference. The cost is handled by God as the outcome belongs to God, and the obedience belongs to us. The reason should be simple. The reason is deep within our hearts. Why do we do what we do? Deep within ourselves we find that reason to either glorify ourselves or to glorify God. And that my friends is between you and God alone.

God Bless