All set?

I say those two words to clients on a daily basis.

"All set, john doe"

This morning my devo topic was the big ten versus the big two commandments. And I thought to myself,  "am I all set?"

The big two commandments of course being the two that Jesus said that basically summarized the big ten given to Moses.

Matthew 22:37-39 GNT

Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and the most important commandment.  The second most important commandment is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as you love yourself.’

So?

Do we love God with ALL our hearts, souls and minds? ALL?  Are we holding on to something in our hearts that we haven't confessed to The Creator of our hearts?

Are we harboring anything in our souls? Hurt? Unforgiveness? Those things burrow deep into our souls.

My main issue is my mind. I allow my mind to go down rabbit holes all the time. Ones that are not helpful in any way for me to explore. Even this morning I took a trip regarding issues that don't change anything for me. But I allowed it to ruin my morning until I took it to Jesus!

What a friend we have in Him!!

I know some might argue that we won't be 'all set' until we are in Heaven but I am talking perfection. I am talking about perfect submission.  I'm referring to that state of mind where God is truly going before tou and you are content in what your world looks like because of that.

Loving our neighbors, that's got to be one of the hardest commandments!  People will always find a way to "harsh my mellow." Its a fact basically.  However, Jesus tells us to love folks even in that. I am convinced he said that because he knew that would only be possible when we lean on Him for strength.

Every waking moment we have to crucify self, and remind our selves of the Gospel! 

Love Jesus and the rest will follow!

Lying prophets

Are you a liar?

Are you a prophet?

I know the answer to one of these questions.  I am a liar, I have lied before,I am sure I will lie again. I am not sure why I do it, sometimes its just easier to get what I want by twisting the truth a bit.

I am guilty of it.

As for prophet, well as a child of God, I am called to walk a path apart from the world.  A genuine struggle because it is not my human nature, its going against the grain. But it forces me in essence to call on the Lord of lords.

In his book, The Explicit Gospel, Matt Chandler explains how sometimes we need to go back to the basic principles.  God is to be revered, not taken lightly. In his presence,  we have to have a healthy fear, we have to be in awe of the Creator not the creation around us. We have to be careful that we never come to a point where we think we are smarter than God.
If we are able to accomplish these things, then being a lying prophet is not an option.  Jeremiah 23 warns us of listening to lying prophets and also being one.

Who will it profit to be one of those people? NO ONE!

Father in Heaven, save us from ourselves!

Love God and the rest will follow.

The walk...

I walked 2.5 miles of my town the other day and the things I saw made me realize that I live in a bubble. 

I didn't realize respect for elders was a choice.  A single mom yelling at her baby's father about how he had the day off and chose to sleep it off instead of spending some time with the child. People cursing at each other. Women referring to their friends with demeaning words as if it were their name. I didn't realize that these things had become the norm.

I knew it was happening but not that it was normal to do those things.

I am not even looking at all these things from a Biblical point of view.  Just as a human who raised with principles? Ethics? Has our world forgotten or has it chosen to walk away from it all?

I tried to rationalize it but I can't find a way in which these things are ok let alone normal. 

What's your definition of normal these days?

Men holding each others' hands in public? Women making out with other women on the street? Society is so desensitized by the movies and television that this is all now part of the redefined "norm."

Now the other side of me is racking every nook and cranny to find where this is ok.  The amazing, awesome part of this experience?

Realizing that my God, my Jesus actually died for all of these people.  I am a sinner just like everyone else and He chose to die for all of us and took our sins upon Hs shoulders.

I stand in awe.

Everytime I think of this concept. 

At Bible study,  Matt Chandler talked about the concept of the Gospel being just much for the Christian as it is for the nonChristian.  Just because you heard it and got saved doesnt mean you then tuck it away.

The Gospel is for you.  Everyday. Your sins today, Jesus redeemed you from them.  He is your righteousness every moment.

The walk through this world is filled with moments where you think you have a handle on all of this but the truth is you are not respectful, you dont show up where you should, you break rules, you curse but most off all you choose to live lifestyles that are not glorifying The God who created you.

Guess what?

This is why you need to remind yourself that the Gospel is for you everyday.

For God so loved the world that he gave us his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. -John 3:16

Live God (daily) and the rest will follow...

Family defined...

How do you define family?  I feel like these days we throw this word around like it means nothing.

If you think that I am going to say its everyone related to you by blood then you are not going to like what I have to say.

In recent years I have seen the value of gold dimish. Platinum was better, then titanium came on the scene. 

At the end of the day gold is just another metal.

I feel like the word family has become the same way.  Friends became best friends then bffs then family.   What does any of it mean?

I am walking around with 20 sisters 40 brothers and I don't even call half of them once a month?

ENOUGH!!

If I am to be labeled good enough to be part of family,  then treat me like it.  And I will make sure I treat you the same.  If I ever call you my family,  know that I would sacrifice my personal life and time for you.  The sad part is,  this is not true for a lot of people in my life.

I am tired of people calling me their sister and then not being a part of my life or not allowing me into theirs.

I have more people who are not my blood related family who are invested in me and allow me to invest in them.

At the end of the day, blood doesn't relate me to you or you to me. Relationship does!

Jesus died on the cross! Knowing that or acknowledging that doesn't make you a Christian.

A relationship does...that is all!

Love God and the rest will follow...

The real reason why...

I met a girl once who said she switched from Christianity to islam because it had more rules and she needed that.

Mind. Blown.

But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Humans may cry they want freedom but once its given to them,  they have no ability to restrain themselves.  Look what happened in history over and over.

America? Wanted freedom from Britain but then ended up enslaving other humans...

Israelites? Wanted freedom from Egypt but ended up bowing down to a cow...

Taliban came under the guise of freedom for Afghanistan and it turned into law filled governing...

There are so many instances where countries claimed to be getting freedom from a military dictator but ended up in religious oppression.

Why do people find it so hard to live in freedom?  Recently, my pastor was saying that a lot of evangelicals are leaving the church to join messianic temples because they felt as though they needed more rules and rituals.

The concept of Grace is astounding and dumbfounding, I know.  I cant wrap my head around it.  I try to make up rules to try to keep me in line sometimes.  I even try to scare myself by contemplating what happen if I dont do certain things to honor Jesus.  Its quite comical really!

The thing is as easy or free as some might deem Christianity to be, it has been the hardest thing I have yet to live out.  Fighting the human side and giving up things to Jesus is not easy.

The reward? Eternal life of course.  Sounds utterly ridiculous,  right? But that's what the Bible says and so I believe. But that's not the only reason why I believe...

I believe because Jesus has done extra ordinary things in my life that cannot be explained. I believe because He has proved himself over and over even when I have not.

So, really, if you think about it living in freedom is harder than it sounds. 

Don't say you want to wear a burkha or hijab to feel like you are more religious.  And to top it off dont decorate your hijabs. The real reason for those is to make sure that you don't attract attention to yourself. By putting decorative patterns,  jewels on it you are completely defeating the purpose.

If you are going to follow a tradition, keep it traditional, don't change it.  It was put in place for a reason. 

Jesus calls you to live in freedom from culture and tradition. But with this comes the relationship.  Being in a relationship is not a free for all, you are required to work at it. But its done in love and justice.

Love God and the rest will follow...