The Standard

What are healthy standards? People say that those who want a lot have "high standards" but is that really a bad thing? God has high standards. He desires that we be perfect and holy, but we desire that we be imperfect and compromise what He requires us to be in the interest of being "cool" and "acceptable". Funny how we don't want God to fade on His standards but we fade on ours and rather eaisly at that. As a man, my standards are simple. I only want to be like Christ. As a man, I have standards that anyone that I'd be thinking of pursuing must have. They must desire to be like Christ. See how this works? our standards are not to be superficial, but they must be no more than we are willing to be ourselves. Otherwise you have forayed into that hypocritical zone. No one wants a hypocrite. I say that to say this: Where are the standards? Where is the pressure to conform to an image of Christ? Where are the Fathers, the men who would teach the younger generation how to be like Christ? Where are the Mothers, the women who would teach the younger generation to say with conviction, If I perish for the sake of Christ, I perish? Looking at the standards which have been bent and honestly broken so much over the years, one comes to wonder, where are the standards at? Homosexuality is commonplace and even accepted in the church. There are men in the church who sleep with married women in the church, vice-versa. There is more evil in the church than there is outside of the walls. One reason and one reason only, there aren't any standards based on Christ. Fix your standard on Christ and it will not be shaken or moved. Make Christ's approval your standard.

Lost?

I hear a lot of people say that the sisters should be "lost" in Christ. Let us look up the word lost. no longer possessed or retained: lost friends. 2. no longer to be found: lost articles. 3. having gone astray or missed the way; bewildered as to place, direction, etc.: lost children. 4. not used to good purpose, as opportunities, time, or labor; wasted: a lost advantage. 5. being something that someone has failed to win: a lost prize. 6. ending in or attended with defeat: a lost battle. 7. destroyed or ruined: lost ships. 8. preoccupied; rapt: He seems lost in thought. 9. distracted; distraught; desperate; hopeless: In this light, I believe the more accurate statement should be grounded in Christ. When lost in Christ what do you have to hold to? I prefer that she is grounded in Christ as opposed to being lost. Again let us look up the term grounded. the solid surface of the earth; firm or dry land: to fall to the ground. 2. earth or soil: stony ground. 3. land having an indicated character: rising ground. 4. Often, grounds. a tract of land appropriated to a special use: picnic grounds; a hunting ground. 5. Often, grounds. the foundation or basis on which a belief or action rests; reason or cause: grounds for dismissal. 6. subject for discussion; topic: Sex education is forbidden ground in some school curricula. 7. rational or factual support for one's position or attitude, as in a debate or argument: on firm ground; on shaky ground. For our purposes let us focus on the fifth definition, there ought to be a foundation of Christ that has been laid down that you can firmly stand on as opposed to not really knowing where you are in Christ. I say this because if you are lost in Christ, do you know where to stand? Being grounded in Christ allows you to truly understand where to stand and why to stand. I don't care if you agree or disagree with what I say, I just ask you to think about what it means to truly be grounded and sustained by Christ and what it means to say you are lost in Christ. Just keeping it real.

The Mind Of Christ

Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus. A simple sentence packed with so much to dig into. Think like Christ. How did Christ think? Glad you asked. Christ thought Kingdom first, how to get the rest of the people to understand the Kingdom second, how to get them to apply Kingdom third. Now if this is the pattern of the Chief Shepard then what does it say of the sheep who say they follow Him? Should we not be concerned with the matters of the Kingdom first? Should we not seek for others to understand this Kingdom and then apply the Kingdom mindset to Earth? Examine how Christ sought God's glory in all that He did. Every miracle that He performed screamed To God Be All The Glory. Christ did nothing to make His own name great, but due to His obedience to God, God brought His name glory. He was even obedient to the humiliating death of the cross, which God used to lift His own name up. What a ironic turn of events. That which they meant for shame and humiliation, God used for Glory and exhaltation. Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus. The mind of Christ says Glory to God not Glory to Man. The mind of Christ says I only accept Glory from God and not Glory from man. The mind of Christ says service over savoring sensation. Christ's mind says that this walk is not about me, yet this walk is about us, brothers and sisters in arms carrying each other to the finish line. The mind of Christ says give and give with reckless abandon. The mind of Christ.

Ties

Honestly what ties you to Earth? Let me ask it like this, what would keep you from being satisfied when you die? I would have to echo John Wooden the famous collegiate basketball coach when he was asked in an interview "Are you afraid to die?" Mr Wooden replied "No. Why would I be afraid to die? It's the most wonderful thing that could happen to me." That is serious battle hardened faith. Coupled with the astute realization that there was no treasure to be had on Earth that would warrant competition with the treasure to be had in Heaven. Namely fellowship with God and Christ being able to see Him and the price He paid for our redemption's sake. Nothing should keep us from being able to lay this life down eagerly and expectantly when we leave. For this reason I have no understanding of sadness when people die for that is why they were born. We cannot live here forever, we weren't designed to do so. Although early exits do tend to catch us offguard there is comfort in knowing that the dearly departed had a walk with God. I worry more for those whom we do not know about recieving Christ as their Lord and Saviour than I do for the dead. To be honest about it, I would have to take the same route as Lecrae here, if they die without hearing the gospel, I hold myself fully responsible. Not that I give them scripture and a sermon, but that I make them aware of the reality that there is nothing they can do, nowhere that they can go, nothing that can be thought that can effectively excommunicate them from Christ. I have a responsibilty to make Him known and if I shirk that responsibility, thier blood is on my hands. Yet the question I must ask of all of us is what is going to keep us from bringing as many people to the table as we can? Why be satisfied with only bringing ourselves? Jesus has illustrated in many of His parables that we are to be outwardly minded, meaning that we be not selfish with salvation, but we share this true wealth. It is the only thing we recieve on Earth that we can take with us when we die. Salvation is true wealth, not money, not abundance of things. Salvation. With this in mind the only thing that we should truly be tied to on Earth is seeking salvation. Not for our benefits but for thiers so that as a byproduct when we do die, we can do so with a clear consciousness that we have done what the Lord wills. We can then die free.

Looking.....

As I look around at relationships I see one thing that we should definitely take into account. We are created to glorify, honor, and respect God in all our ways. But it seems like this is given a backseat to our own desires when we enter a relationship with another person. Maybe it's the Adam and Eve syndrome coming out to where we honor thier desires more than we honor God's desire. But here it is. We should seek to honor God's heart by searching out what He desires of us as individuals first by this I mean we should definitely be sure that we are serving others not to be seen serving by others but for our hearts to be seen humble by God. We should esteem others as better than ourselves, we should beat each other in showing honor, love, and respect to each other. Not to impress the other person, but to honor God's heart. The thing about us is that once we do "find" someone it seems we are willing to do anything to please them, and that should not be so. We are placed on Earth to please God, not ourselves. The only one we ought to bend over backwards to please is God because His standards do not waver in the wind as ours do. However I see in our relationships that we tend to base our actions on if it will please the other person versus will this please God? We do throw God out on the street once we achieve what we desire. Like alright God, I have what it is I desire, I no longer need or desire your input, begone. Which is ridiculous, because with one word what you have could just as eaisly be taken away by the God you have just thrown away. Thus you will have repeated the sin of Adam and Eve of coming to treasure the gift above He who gave it. It's like this, if we treasure God and the Cross above all things it stands to reason that God will reward you with the desires of your heart so long as your desires will not supplant the desire you were created to fulfill. So yes, in relationships you should enjoy the other person, it will not always go smoothly, however as long as you both keep God centered views things will go a lot smoother in the long run. Yes there will be a long run when God is the glue that holds your house together. But this is not the reason why God is the center, God is the center because without Him, nothing exists that was ever made and God is the center because you prize Him above anything that He made. That includes him and her. Therfore, treasure God in all that you do relationally and individually because from that desire to please God do all things flow. Be God lovers. Not lovers who just have a knowledge of God. Huge difference.

True Freedom

Freedom is not free. Let no one delude you into believing freedom is indeed free, it may be free to you, as in you do not have to pay for it in a sense but let me assure you that someone pays for it either with blood or with guns drawn in it's name. For the Christian, freedom was purchased with the blood of God. Namely in the person of Christ as God the Father watched from Heaven as His Son poured Himself out so that we could all be rightfully called Sons and Daughters of the King. Our freedom cost this great sacrifice. Picture you eternally recieving praise and worship and choosing to step down and recieve curses and hatred for the sake of those who curse and hate you. That in itself was a great sacrifice. He did not choose to make Himself great for His own sake, but He chose to make Himself humble for our sakes. He had to be a common man for they would never crucify a King. Here is the irony for in crucifying a percieved human, they crucified a King. It took His sacrifice to purchase our freedom. We could not atone for our own iniquity for we are prone and exposed to sin since flesh was sewn on bones in a word since our conception. It took one who was human and divine to lift our sin curse. It took this great sacrifice of God-blood to give us our true freedom. Freedom defined: the state of being free or at liberty rather than in confinement or under physical restraint: He won his freedom after a retrial. 2. exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc. 3. the power to determine action without restraint. 4. political or national independence. 5. personal liberty, as opposed to bondage or slavery: a slave who bought his freedom. 6. exemption from the presence of anything specified (usually fol. by from ): freedom from fear. 7. the absence of or release from ties, obligations, etc. 8. ease or facility of movement or action: to enjoy the freedom of living in the country. 9. frankness of manner or speech. 10. general exemption or immunity: freedom from taxation. 11. the absence of ceremony or reserve. 12. a liberty taken. 13. a particular immunity or privilege enjoyed, as by a city or corporation: freedom to levy taxes. 14. civil liberty, as opposed to subjection to an arbitrary or despotic government. 15. the right to enjoy all the privileges or special rights of citizenship, membership, etc., in a community or the like. 16. the right to frequent, enjoy, or use at will: to have the freedom of a friend's library. 17. Philosophy . the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination. Compare necessity ( def. 7 ) . (Dictonary.com)

Encouragement

People seem to think that encouragement is only when you are weak in your walk, in your faith, or in your life but that is a flawed view of encouragement and what the word really means. To encourage is to:to inspire with courage, spirit, or confidence: His coach encouraged him throughout the marathon race to keep on running. 2.to stimulate by assistance, approval, etc.: One of the chief duties of a teacher is to encourage students. 3.to promote, advance, or foster: Poverty often encourages crime. (dictonary.com) Thereby encouragement is not soley limited to those who have fallen on hard times, hard circumstances but encouragement is for all times no matter if you are up or down. Every now and then everybody needs to hear a simple you are doing the right things, stay on that track. We as people have conditioned encouragement to be something synonomus with struggle and that is just not so. Encouragement is just as much needed at the top of the mountain as it is when you are struggling to breathe in the valley. It simply means to assist, to advance, or to inspire. Needless to say about mountain climbing one peak is just another valley when you look at the grand scheme of things in life. Sure it might look like a person is at the height of achievement, but in reality they are stuck in another valley as it relates to the entire mountain range. So it is with life that we not only need encouragement when we fall, but when we succeed as well. We still need that push to drive us to keep on climbing that next mountain and that next mountain until we have conqured them all and it is time to retire. So encourage somebody today, tommorrow, next week, next month. You never really know how much it will help them to endure the next set of challenges they might have to face.

Deservedness

What do we rightfully deserve? Life? Not promised. Money? Not necessary. Happiness? Depends on what you make of what you recieve. I ask this question because when something bad happens to one whom we would call "good" we question if they deserve this to happen to them. Let me take the blinders off. God calls none of us good but rather justified. We are not inherently good, no matter what we do or don't do there is this monster raging to be released in us. This monster is revealed as our sin nature and it rears it's ugly head whenever it recieves the possibility to do so. Even when we do not seek to have it released. This is probably why Paul says Every time I desire to do good, evil is always present. At every turn at every moment our sin nature threatens our percieved deservedness. Which is why we all deserve death. We all deserve wrath. We all deserve repayment for every one of our iniquitious sins. This is our only deservedness in life. We do deserve the pain of the cross daily, we deserve suffering, we deserve to be reckoned with as our hidden evil desires bring upon us. The wickedness of man deserves to be punished. I will not be heard complaining because I realize what I do indeed deserve. I deserve punishment. But behold, there is a lamb of God's provision that took the destruction I was due and thru Him, I was made deserving of the presence of God so long as I will believe and so long as I am convicted to believe I will act out of that conviction. Deserving nothing, thru Christ we recieve that which we do not have a right to recieve. Our deservedness.

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is required of us if we desire to move on with life, and with our relationship with God for Jesus spoke plainly of it in Matthew. Jesus says if you do not forgive men, do not expect your Heavenly Father to forgive you. Jesus said it. To forgive is to: to grant pardon for or remission of (an offense, debt, etc.); absolve. 2.to give up all claim on account of; remit (a debt, obligation, etc.). 3.to grant pardon to (a person). 4.to cease to feel resentment against: to forgive one's enemies. 5.to cancel an indebtedness or liability of: to forgive the interest owed on a loan. (dictonary.com) This being said to truly forgive someone means to no longer hold what they have done to you, your feelings, your ego, or even your faith against them. This means they are in the clear. Anyone who tells you that you can forgive and not forget is only telling you a lie. You must forgive and forget. God forgives and forgets our sins and is faithful and just to do so if we will confess them to Him. If you cannot forget what they have done to you, you haven't forgiven. You need to go back to them and ask them to forgive you of your debt that you hold against them. Again Jesus said this in Matthew. So this is not my teaching or admonition but His. To move forward with your life indeed you are bound to the law of forgiveness which says not only do I not hold you responsible for what you have done to me, I don't even think about it. True forgiveness is this and this only.