Guilt Magnet

I often find myself torn between who I am, and who I would like to be. I find myself, constantly-in fact, daily- fighting in an internal battle between my human nature, (that is, the flesh), and the spirit.  I struggle with living out biblical concepts like: Fully trusting and obeying God, depending upon God, and waiting upon Him; (just to name a few.)

The truth is, there is nothing I want more in the world, than to be the person that God Himself created me to be. I want to be of service in His Kingdom; I want to be an instrument in His hands; I want to be a jar of clay; I want to fulfill the purpose God has set for me…But by the same token, this burning desire within my heart to please God, to bring a smile to His face, joy to His heart, and to be in complete sync with His will for my life, doesn’t always translate so smoothly into corresponding actions. And here’s where I falter. Here’s where I so often fail. Here is where I feel so much like the apostle Paul when he said:

“When I want to do good, I don't. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. But if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am not really the one doing it; the sin within me is doing it. It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am!”  (Romans 7:19-24a; New Living Translation) 

In other words, I want to trust God with all of my heart; I want to obey Him fully; I want completely depend on, and wait upon, God. But the fact of the matter is, I stumble and I fall. And as a direct-and almost immediate-result of this stumbling and falling of mine, guilt follows, not far behind; creeping into my heart like a chronic disease that doesn’t want to leave. It attempts to rob me of my peace. And it often succeeds; (at least temporarily.) I dare say, this has become a vicious cycle for me. Because every single time I fall, I’m reminded of all the wrong that I have said and done in the past. Consequently, guilt settles in like a stubborn thief; weighing heavily on me.

Now, in my heart and soul I know I’ve been forgiven, redeemed, and made new by the precious blood of Jesus Christ! (Amen!) By contrast, I cannot help but to feel disappointed in myself; because after all, God has always shown His faithfulness and goodness to me. He has never deceived me. He has always been there for me; even before I came to believe. So, I cannot help but wonder why I struggle to fully trust, obey, depend, and wait upon God; (among other things.) It makes absolutely no sense to me. Nevertheless, it is truly, and honestly, the predicament in which I often find myself.

Thankfully, there’s hope for me, and for all of those who believe. For the Word of God says:

“That is why we have a great High Priest who has gone to heaven, Jesus the Son of God. Let us cling to [H]im and never stop trusting [H]im. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for [H]e faced all of the same temptations we do, yet [H]e did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive [H]is mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it.”  

(Hebrews 4:14-16; New Living Translation)

And what’s more, if we come to God wholeheartedly, and confess our sins, He’s more than willing to forgive us, and cleanse us from our sins; also permanently lifting from our shoulders, the heavy burden of guilt that comes along with them. For it is written:

“But if we confess our sins to [H]im, [H]e is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.”  

(1 John 1:9; New Living Translation)

In closing, I would like to express my heartfelt and eternal gratitude, for the abundant love, undeserving grace, and the Everlasting mercy, which God Himself pours upon me every day.

(Thank you, Jesus!)

So, my prayer for us all, is that GOD ALMIGHTY may always keep us in His perfect Peace, and guilt-free; (provided we confess our sins before Him, daily and strive to change our ways.)

May we always know that the precious blood of Jesus Christ, poured out for you and me on that wooden cross, is all we need to be completely washed clean, and totally free from the burden of sin.

And may God have mercy upon us all, as we strive to answer the call that God has given us all:

To develop a loving, intimate, and genuinely sincere, relationship with Christ as we walk through this life; waiting expectantly for His return! (Amen! Hallelujah!)

MAY GOD HIMSELF HELP US ALL!

In Jesus’ Precious name I pray,

Amen & Amen!

May all the glory, honor, and praise be given to God always!

Amen & Amen!

Free Indeed!!!

When I see myself through the lenses of God’s love for me, I’m no longer small and weak;

I’m no longer meek…

I finally begin to see, who God has called me to be.

Not because of me; but rather because of God’s love, grace, mercy, and heartfelt compassion for me.

I’m no longer a collection of flaws, or wrongful thoughts.

I’m no longer held captive by the lies of the enemy;

Because God has set me free indeed! (Amen! Hallelujah!)

And I will not let go of this freedom given to me!

Because God has set me free indeed! (Amen! Hallelujah!)

So, I will choose to believe!

This I know indeed: I will choose to believe!

Because this road that I’m on is not my demise;

It is the road through which I’m sanctified.

God is not a man that He should lie!

And I will find sweet grace in His eyes…

God is not a man that He should lie!

So, I will choose to believe!

And as I’m sanctified, let His Holy Name be Glorified!

(Amen! Amen! And Amen!)  

   

Let all glory, honor, and praise be given to God Almighty! 

Forever & Always!

Amen, Amen, and Amen!!!  

What if Jesus Came Back Today?

Lately, I have been pondering upon a very intriguing, and frightening question. A question which led to several follow-up questions, and consequently, compelled me to engage in self-examination. And today, I'd like to take you-the reader-on a little journey in an effort to describe how this self-examination process unfolded. My hope by doing so, is to humbly encourage you to also devote some time for self-examination. Perhaps you may never have thought about it before. But examining our individual lives, is a vital part of our spiritual growth, as we strive to lead lives that resemble that of Jesus Christ; following in His footsteps. In other words, examining our daily choices, particularly the way we choose to spend our free time, the type of conversations we choose to engage in-or not-as well as, the TV shows and movies we choose to watch, can be an incredibly eye-opening experience. But before I elaborate on the subject, please allow me to digress, and go back to the beginning of it all.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been pondering upon an intriguing and frightening question. And such question is this: "What if Jesus came back today?" Thus, naturally propelling follow-up questions such as: "What would He find me doing? "Would He be pleased with the way I spend my time and lead my life here on earth? The quest for sincere, objective, honest and transparent answers to such questions, consequently led me to engage in self-examination. Quite frankly-but not surprisingly-a number of things came to mind, which require change. Especially with regards to the way I spend my leisure time; (which just between you and me, happens to be quite a lot... :)). As I attempted to objectively examine my daily choices, I discovered something that ought to have been quite obvious, yet I still managed to be amazed by it. Perhaps I may not have been amazed by this "discovery" in and of itself; but rather by the fact, that it was so overt. And yet, I had made little or no effort to change it. This "discovery" I made, pertains to a number of habits of mine. These habits are not necessarily sinful habits. But they are constant distractions which subtly rob me of time, and even-I dare say- temporarily shift my focus from the things of real significance and/or importance. That is, heavenly things; things with eternal implications.

One of these distracting habits of mine, is spending the majority of my free time on social network sites. Such as: Facebook, twitter, orkut, so on and so forth. Now, please do not misunderstand me. I'm not suggesting or implying that spending time on social networks is necessarily bad. It can-and is-used for good.  But by the same token, it can also be distracting to me at times. Again, my intention is not to play the blame game here. After all, if someone is to blame, that someone is none other than: Me, myself, and I. For I alone am responsible for the choices I make. Once again, I cannot emphasize this enough:  My intention is not to blindly criticize the existence of social networks; or the Internet for that matter. If that were the case, I would have to delete this blog, or resign to the possibility of being called a hypocrite.

The point I'm trying to make is this: Access to the internet and advanced technological gadgets, such as i-phones, i-pads, i-pods, Notebooks, Notepads, laptops, and the good "old fashioned" cell phones, can be-and are-wonderful things. For instance, we can now share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with people from all over the world, from all walks of life and different backgrounds, thanks to our access to the Internet. We can share our faith and hope in Jesus Christ with friends and family members, through social networks, blogs, websites, and TV broadcasts. We even have Bible apps (applications) on i-phones nowadays! (Isn't that amazing?!)

By contrast, we must not forget to mention the fact, that the incredible technological advancement which we are witnessing in post-modern day society, also contributes directly and significantly-from my perspective-to the astounding increase of things, both material and virtual, competing for our precious time and attention. And we wonder why we often find ourselves, out of breath, out of time, stressed, fatigued, and even sometimes, depressed. (But I digress...That should be a topic for a future blog post.)

In closing, please allow me to say this: Everything in life, has its pros and cons. Technology is no different. I have said it before, and I'll say it again: Technology, in and of itself, is not bad. The problem arises, when we become chronically distracted, addicted, or even enslaved by it. And that is why, we must be careful to examine ourselves, examine our hearts, our minds, and our daily lives. (I for one, am the first in line.) We must avoid chronic distractions, and weed them out of our hearts, before they enslave us, and shift our focus from what really matters: Heavenly things. We must strive to keep our eyes upon Jesus at all times. We must ask God to help and guide us in living lives that are pleasing to Him. We must constantly remind ourselves, that life here on earth is a vapor. We do not know what tomorrow brings. We do not know when He will come to take us home, or when we'll go. We do not know. Therefore, we must always be ready to go. For we do not know what tomorrow brings.

May the LORD our GOD have mercy upon us all, and lead us constantly in His Everlasting Light, so that we may not be caught by surprise when that frightful, yet glorious DAY arrives!

In the glorious Name of Jesus I pray,

Amen, Amen, and Amen!

Scriptural food for thought: "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Christ is [in you]; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith."  

(2 Corinthians 13:5; New Living Translation)

"Instead, let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the LORD." 

(Lamentations 3:40; New Living Translation)

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses in the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race [H]e has set before us."  

(Hebrews 12:1; New Living Translation)

 

Let all glory, honor, and praise be given to the LORD our GOD always!
Amen, Amen, and Amen!

I Refuse...

I refuse to be deceived; 
I refuse to fall asleep;
I refuse to live as though I were in control.

I refuse to rely on my utter insufficiency;
I refuse to live selfishly;
I refuse to place the spotlight on me.

I refuse to focus all of my time and energy into making a seemingly endless check-list of all my wants and needs;
I refuse to look back; only to be drowned out by a sea of past regrets.

I refuse to believe the lies of the enemy;
For the LORD our God is with me; (as He is with all of those who love and trust Him.)
Who can be against me?

I refuse to be deceived; but I choose to BELIEVE! (Amem! Glory be to God Everlastingly!)

I refuse to be led by fear;
For I KNOW YOU ARE ALWAYS NEAR.

I will let go of this pseudo-sense of control.
I will not be fooled. Instead, I will place my trust in You.

I will finally embrace the full measure of Your Everlasting grace, and trust that it's enough for me.

I refuse to live consumed by the worries and uncertainties of life.
Instead, I will rejoice and be glad in Your Glorious and Everlasting sacrifice...

...For you came to live and die for me; and for all of humanity! (Yes, You did my LORD! Glory be to God Everlastingly!)

But You rose again on the third day!; thus, the HOPE we have today!

I do not speak of my own accord;
I do not speak to be known or recognized;
For that would be my demise.

Rather, I speak because the Truth must be known;
The Gospel must be preached;
And salvation granted to all of those who believe! (Amen! Hallelujah! Glory be to God Everlastingly!)

I am small and inadequate;
My words are lacking;
I'm faint and weak.

But You, Oh Everlasting God, lavish your Everlasting mercy and grace upon the meek.

I am unfit to speak. For "I am a man of unclean lips..."

(excerpt from Isaiah 6:5b)

But I cannot be quiet;
I cannot keep silent.

For your Truth must be known;
The Gospel must be preached;
And Salvation granted to all of those who believe! (Amen! Hallelujah! God be to God Everlastingly!)

Therefore, I say onto you: Believe God's Everlasting Truth, and it shall save you!
Receive these words of Truth that have been spoken to you.
Receive them with all your heart by faith in Jesus Christ, and it shall give you Everlasting life! (Amen! Hallelujah LORD! Let it be so!)

Once again I say: I refuse to be deceived; but I choose to BELIEVE!

I refuse to let go. For I know You are in control.

Although I am faint and weak, I refuse to fall asleep.
I refuse to be overwhelmed by fear;
For my God is always near.

I refuse to live this life as though I will not die.

For one day, it could be tomorrow, it could be today...The fact of the matter is, I will be face to face with Jesus Christ one day...

...To love, worship, and embrace, but also to be held accountable for the life I live here today.
So what will He say on that fearfully glorious day?

Will I have lived a life geared towards placing Him in the spotlight?
Will His Holy name have been glorified in the way I lived my life?

I do not know. I can only pray it may be so.

But this much I know: I refuse to take the spotlight.
I refuse to take control.
My life is not my own;
To Jesus I belong.

All glory, honor, and praise be to God Everlastingly!
Amen, Amen, and Amen! 

May This be The (Prayer And...) Song Our Hearts Sing!

Dear Lord,

I come before You today, in awe of Your Majestic Presence;
Vividly aware of Your Greatness, and Glorious Light! (Amen! Hallelujah!)


And as I ponder upon Your insurmountable Power and Majesty,
As You shine Your Everlasting and Glorious Light on me, I'm able to see just how miserable of a person I truly am!

Oh, LORD! Why would You care for me?
My life is as fleeting as the summer breeze;
My flesh is as weak and fragile as can be.

My own will power lasts only a moment;
I can do nothing without You!
I have no strength of my own;
I can do nothing by my own might.

All that I have comes from You.
Every single breath I take, every single second of my day, every single moment of my life is orchestrated and arranged by You!

Oh, LORD! 
How I love you!

Who am I, that You would care for me?
Who am I, that You would die for me?
Who am I, that you would willingly and lovingly, give your life in sacrifice to forever set me free from the burden of sin?

Who am I, that You would choose to dwell within me?
Who am I, that You would choose to send your Holy Spirit to guide and instruct me?
Who am I, LORD?
Who am I?

Depart from me, for I am a sinner!

I am not worthy of You LORD! And I will never be!
But, please, do not leave me. For I have no other hope apart from Thee.
You are the sole source of my everything!

I bluntly and openly acknowledge my misery...
But, please, do not leave me!
Have compassion and mercy on me!

Strengthen me; guide me; equip me and enable me, to serve You effectively and efficiently! 
This is the outpouring cry of a servant's heart.


What will I live for if not to serve You?
What will I live for if not to worship You?
What will I live for if not to bring you praise, and lift high Your Everlastingly Powerful Name?


What else could I live for?
What else is worth dying for?

What else is left for me to do, other than to live, and be prepared to die for You?
What else is left for me to do, other than to worship You?

There is nothing else that I could possibly want more than to serve You; than to be in the center of Your will for my life.

There is nothing else I could possibly ask for with all the strength of my heart, than to remain faithful to You, throughout all the days of my life.

There is nothing else I could possibly ask of you, than to give me the courage, wisdom, and strength, to proclaim the Good News of Your Everlasting Grace! (Amen! Hallelujah!)

To give me boldness and authority from the LORD my God, to speak of His Everlasting Grace and not be afraid! (Yes, LORD! Let it be so!)

Let me not worry about what to say;
Let Your Spirit flow forth!
Let your Spirit lead me, and guide me, in all that I say and do!
Let me not be empty inside LORD!
Let me have all of You!
Not for my sake; but for and by Your Everlasting Glory and Grace! (Amen! Hallelujah!)

Let me be diminished, so that You may be glorified and lifted up high!
I care not for my life; as long as Your Holy Name is proclaimed and lifted high!

Let the Power of Your Name and Everlasting Grace be known to all the Earth!
Let Your Holy Message of Truth be preached to the four corners of the Earth!
Let no one be caught by surprise! Let everyone hear the Message of Jesus Christ! (Amen! Hallelujah!)

As for me, there is only one thing I humbly request of Thee: You.

Give me You, and I shall be satisfied. Promise never to leave me; not even for a moment, and I shall have everything I need. 

For there is no one else for me. None, but Jesus.

And it is in His Holy, Everlasting, and Powerful Name that I pray,


Amen and Amen!


Video Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvjKUFVLLrE&feature=related

Lyrics to None But Jesus :

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored

When You call I won’t refuse
Each new day again I’ll choose

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know You’re Sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will

When You call I won’t delay
This my song through all my days

All my delight is in You Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord Forevermore

In the quiet, in the stillness
I know that You are God
In the secret of Your presence
I know there I am restored

When You call I won’t refuse
Each new day again I’ll choose

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus
Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos, in confusion
I know You’re Sovereign still
In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do Your will

When You call I won’t delay
This my song through all my days

All my delight is in You Lord
All of my hope, all of my strength
All my delight is in You Lord Forevermore

[ These are None But Jesus Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]

Lyrics Source: http://www.lyricsmania.com/none_but_jesus_lyrics_brooke_fraser.html

No Copyright infringement intended.

All Glory, Honor, and Praise be to God Almighty!
Forever & Always!
Amen, Amen, and Amen!

It All Begins With Surrender....

It may be hard to believe, but we are almost through with the first week of 2011! And if you're stunned like me, please allow me the privilege to wish you a belated Happy New Year! Amazing, isn't it?! 2010 flew by; it came and went in the blink of an eye. Quite frankly, the fact that the first decade of the New Millennium is gone, hasn't quite sunk in yet. (But I'll give it another week or two.) This can only mean two things: One, I'm getting old.(lol... :)) And two: I'm not getting any younger....(lol... :)) My apologies for my skewed sense of humor. I just couldn't resist the temptation of starting off my first blog post of the year with a little joke; (even if it's a bad one.... :))

All jokes aside however, I must say, that the thoughts that I'm about to share with you today, involves a topic which I believe every truly born-again Christian struggles with. And that is, surrender. But before I elaborate on the subject, I must digress in order to give you-the reader-a little background information with respect to the "birth"-so to speak-of the content of this blog post. Perhaps by doing so, the topic at hand will became more relatable, meaningful, and practically useful, in your day-to-day walk with Christ. (Amen Lord! Let it be so! In Christ's name I pray, amen and amen!) So, please, I humbly ask you, to bear with me.

Sometime between the final hours of the last day of the year 2010, and the dawning of the new year, I felt compelled to write; but not simply to write about a random topic off the top of my head. I felt compelled to write a message of hope to God's people. A message that would renew their hope, and strengthen their faith in God! (Amen! Hallelujah!) A message of encouragement. Something to help the people of God understand, that it is never too late to start anew. And that with each dawning of the day, our hope in Christ Jesus is renewed! (As is His Everlasting mercy towards us! Amen!)

But oddly enough, although I felt compelled to write and share a  message of hope with God's people, I had absolutely no idea what to write about. So, I tried to convince myself that it was all in my head. I wrestled with that tugging in my heart for days. But that ever-compelling feeling would not leave my heart. I HAD to write. That was the only thing I was certain about. Don't ask me how, or why. But I just knew, that I knew, that I knew, that I had to write. There was no escape. No way out. But I still did not know what to write about. After a bit more wrestling, and some more questioning, I finally gave in. I sought God in thought and said: "God, I feel compelled to write. In fact, I know I MUST write. But since I have no clue what to write about, I'll leave that up to You." "I surrender completely to You."

Then, it suddenly dawned on me. "Wait, that's it!" I said to myself. "Surrender; that's what I must write about."

Now, you may be asking yourself: What does surrender have to do with hope?" I promise I'll get to that in a moment. But for now, let's ponder upon another equally intriguing question: How often do we, as Christians, attempt to do the work of God based on our own strength, our own abilities and capabilities; based on our interpretation of what we think God would like us to do? (I don't know about you. But I have admittedly been down that road countless times.)  Now, please don't misunderstand me. The very fact, that we-as Christians-seek to do God's will, and are eager to 'decipher' it, and to do whatever we can to contribute to the unfolding of His plans and purpose(s) for our individual lives, is a wonderful thing! It shows we aim to please God. We long to be in the center of His perfect will for our lives! (Amen LORD! Hallelujah! Let it be so!)

Now, I am no expert on the subject. And I have yet a lot to learn. But here's what I've learned (so far) throughout the course of my internal battles. Here's what brings God's peace into my heart: God doesn't require us to 'decipher' His will for our lives. We don't have to constantly struggle trying to figure out what He wants from us. No. All He requires of  us is this: Genuine and complete surrender. Because once we wholeheartedly surrender to God's leadership and Lordship, He, Himself, will do His work through us; by the power of His Precious Holy Spirit working within us. (Amen LORD! Let it be so! In Jesus' name, amen and amen!) In other words, we do not have to do God's work for Him. We are however, called to surrender wholeheartedly to Him, so that He can do His work through us, for the glory, honor, and praise of Holy Name! (Amen and Amen!) 

Additionally, I cannot neglect to mention, that our vow and/or commitment to surrender to the LORD and His will, must be renewed daily. Moreover, it is imperative to note, that surrender also encompasses obedience to God's Holy Word, fearful (that is, respectful) reverence to His Holy Name, (Amen! Hallelujah!), and last but not least, the development and nourishment of an intimate relationship with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit on a daily basis.

Now that we've discussed the topic of surrender quite extensively, let's describe its relationship to hope. Shall we? Well, it's simple really. When we surrender to the source of all hope-that is, Jesus Christ-we cannot help but have hope. To put it simply, when we surrender completely to Christ, we subsequently place all of our hope, and all of our faith in Him. And those who place their trust and hope in the LORD shall not be dismayed. For the Word of the LORD says:

"But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." 

 (Isaiah 40:31; New Living Translation)       

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with [M]y victorious right hand."  

 (Isaiah 41: 10; New Living Translation)

And it is with those scriptural verses in mind, that I would like to conclude this blog post. But before I leave you, please let me say this: The key to starting off the new year on the "right foot"-so to speak, is surrendering completely to God on a daily basis, in addition to, placing all your hope and faith in Jesus Christ! (Amen & Amen!)

More Scriptural food for thought: "For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster[;] [plans] to give you a future and a hope."  

(Jeremiah 29:11; New Living Translation)

All glory, honor, and praise, be to God Everlastingly!!!!!
Amen, Amen, & Amen!!!!!

May God Bless You!!! :)

Have a wonderful evening, and a Very Happy New Year!!!