Missing Peace? John 16

I think one of the most common reasons we miss out on peace is because we don't go to the Lord with what is going on in our lives and we end up getting swayed by circumstances not moved by Him. I know, for me personally, what I do is take control (which is opposite of the freedom he has called us too). We were not created to take things on ourselves. No man is an Island. There is a Creator who is in control and all life and goodness comes from him. Yet we don't go to him. why?

Look at the passage in John 16:16-20, " ¹⁶ A little while, and you will no longer see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me." ¹⁷Some of His disciples then said to one another, "What is this thing He is telling us, ' A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me'; and, 'because I go to the Father'?" ¹⁸So they were saying, "What is this that He says, 'A little while'? We do not know what He is talking about." Jesus knew that they wished to question Him, and He said to them, "Are you deliberating together about this, that I said, 'A little while, and you will not see Me, and again a little while, and you will see Me'? ²⁰"Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.

I love how the Bible is exactly like life today.

What happens is we talk about it to others or take it on our own, even when He is speaking directly to us. We shut him out get into our circles and close our hearts to Him. All that comes from that is pain on ourselves. It boils down to this; do we really trust Him and do we really trust He is there? I know a good way to check doubt, it is if I go to myself with a decision or to others before going to God. If there is any hurt, pain, confusion, or doubt He is there listening to you talk to others and saying "Are you deliberating together about what I said is true, Truly Truly I say your grief will be turned to joy" If you believe in Him, then open your heart to Him and trust Him, that He is who he says He is. He is who He promised.

Silence, John 17

How do we encounter God and not conjure anything up or become fake when we encounter Him? Well the answer is to just "be". Just be in His Presence, recognize He is there and in everything.

But what we do as humans is over complicate this and we surround God with all these idea we have about Him and don't actually know Him. So God has called us to pray, he recognizes the structure of a human and says we need to pray not only so he gets Glory, but he wants to encounter us. He wants us. So the only way to break out of our own ideas about God, is to sit in silence. Like Jesus in the garden.

We must seek that quiet place and sit in silence and break all labels of God. Sit in silence everyday where we are still and only focus on one thing: God. All other thoughts we have to let pass by us and say that those things are not of us. Breathe and think upon one thing Jesus. Let it take you from the known to the unknown. Then we bring that encounter with the Lord, we take that silence to the streets. Among the chaos, there will be silence. There will be encounters with the Lord. We can become one with God all the time, we can stay abound in Christ. Just be present, and recognize His Presence then move to his rhythm. We don't need to abuse Him by seeing Him in the morning and go on by living like he doesn't exist through the day. That's going back to knowing about his grace instead of encountering grace. It won't affect Him he doesn't need us. He does want us though. He is a jealous, loving God. So let's seek Him and know Him, go from the things of Him and go straight for Him. Be present and encounter His presence, start off in the morning with just you and the Lord, put on the armor, and go live in the world while always still encountering Him, it starts in the Silence

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IKpFHfNdnE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA5Jhh5fxL8

Trust Fall Nahum 1:7

"Trust is all we have tonight, but trust will be forever."- Future of Forestry

Do we really trust that the Lord is good?

If we trusted the Lord was good then we wouldn't need to worry about laws, social norms, rules, rituals, and regulations. We wouldn't need to worry period. We should live in the freedom that God has called us to freedom, not enslaving ourselves with our doubts or false realities. Reality is we were made for intimacy not religion. We are to know God not just about Him. A friend of mine named Sean Mooney talked about Eve wanted to be like God, which is not a bad thing, but she wanted the things of God instead of God Himself. When Moses tried to take the people up to the mountain to be with God, they would rather have the laws instead of coming in contact with Him. Do we believe God is good and he cares for us? We weren't made to sit in church, but be his bride and live with Him, not just hear about Him. Let us rest in God himself and trust that he loves and let go of all the bad things and good things. Let us not be swayed by our circumstances, emotions, good days, or bad days, only by the presence of God. Let's move with Him.

What Chains? Galatians 5:13-14

I was preparing for house church and I heard from the Lord the day of my talk. I was giving a sermon on freedom in Galatians 5. I was talking about how we chain ourselves up because we want to take control, we don't know if God is good enough to handle our situation, we think we understand our circumstance better than God, and so chain up everything we want to control which isn't freedom. So as I thought of this example, I was thinking that we set ourselves apart from freedom and if we want to be free we have to give those chains over to God. So as I prepared for this talk I went through this in my head and said, " God, hears my chains." and God said, " What chains? Have you forgot about my Son and what He did for you? Those chains don't exist anymore, my Son died for all of that, the chains you are talking about in your head, you create them to make yourself feel better. You are free go live in victory." The Lord is a Victorious Warrior.

Excerpt #1 from No Man is an Island

The words of Christ are clear: " Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." This is not merely a helpful suggestion, it is the fundamental law of human existence. It forms part of the first and greatest commandment, and flows from the obligation to love God with all our heart and soul and strength. This double commandment, giving us two apects of the same love, obliges us to another asceticism, which is not the answer of Eros, but Agape."- Thomas Merton

The Heart Behind the Worship- Isaiah 66:1-2; 1 Timothy 6:15-16

It's not about you or me. Usually when we worship, praise, or idolize something it is because we get something out of it for ourselves. When we enter worship (which we should be doing every waking moment) we should be giving Him glory because that's where it belongs. Sometimes I worship because I have to make myself feel better. As you have heard from some of my friends before God is not a pill, a rabbit's foot, or something we put in our back pocket and we just get Him out when we want. We shouldn't be asking Him to do stuff for us so we feel better. We should be waking ourselves up to His presence because He is already all around us. Rescue is already here. It is good to ask for his help to keep glorifying His name because the Holy Spirit is the Comforter, but let's not abuse His love for our own satisfaction. He doesn't force anything on us so why do we force things upon Him. I hope that as a church we don't go to God just to feel better or get filled up. If you believe in Christ, you are already full of the Holy Spirit, just wake up to it. God isn't a gas station. I pray we open ourselves up and surrender. Our attitude should be one of humility, contrite in Spirit, and trembling at His Word. So when we sing praises and live out life let's come humbly and think about what we say and what we mean about the things that come from our lips. It all depends on our heart behind the worship. "Father, will you come..." We don't sing that so he can just heal our troubles, but also that we can just rest in Him. Let's not leave Him like a gas station, let's treat Him as a resting place that we never want to leave. We sing these words so we can worship God in all of His Glory declaring we want to stay in God's presence- Let's meditate and be alive to IT. I know some of us may understand this whole concept, but let's not just understand it. Let us live it out through our heart.

"Let's meditate on God, and who He is, not your problems and how He might fix them, but just meditating on Him alone...solves all problems. It is really that simple."- Francis Chan

Yedah- John 17:3; Revelation 4:5-11

The unknown that come from the depths of God is a scary place to be, but it's what we were meant for, The Adventure. God wouldn't have said "know me" if He didn't think we could do it. The only thing with that is, "it takes an eternity to know God". Thank God we are built with that, with eternity written on our hearts. It's not an adventure until you try to discover something that hasn't been. It's worth the fight.

Wake up O sleeper, Notice the Beauty, Live the Adventure. Even though we are unworthy, there is a man who is worthy who lives. He wants us. He took all the pain and shame for us. "All ye who are heavy burdened and heavy ladened, come the Lord will give you rest." So receive the love and love. "Your love is sweeter than honey..." It's worth the sacrifice, if anyone wants to call it a sacrifice. It's not a sacrifice, like I said earlier, we were created with eternity written on our hearts. What a beautiful thing that we are satisfied fully by something eternal not materialistic, The Word is fulfilled, and The Lord gets the glory. It seems to good to be true. That's probably because it is Truth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf5WYigZHME&feature=PlayList&p=5F8CC5A2AD4A566F&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pxBay2r2SI&feature=related

The Depths-Matthew 14:22-36

The availability of the depths are there, we are just not willing to go for it. I pray that we don't watch others who are hungry for the Lord run on the water while we chain ourselves to the boat of self-loathing and our own fears. I pray we don't become like the majority of America. I pray we are not just another face in the crowd. God has a plan for anyone. God uses the weak. Jesus may seem far away sometimes when we go into the depths of the knowledge of God, but it's because He wants you to go further and further out to Him. He is still waiting for you there. There are no waves, just water to walk on to go to your Father. Love waits for you!

Paradise- Phillipians 2:1-11

A paradise, a land of exploration,

a promised land, a mount of blessings, freedom...

We see it now as an everyday thing, mundane, and dull.

Because our actions, our voices, and we ourselves have destroyed it, yet it still stands, it remains strong.
Let us awake ourselves and come alive to the Creator and the Creation instead of flying by on our plane of self-righteousness.

It's Beauty is in ANYTHING and EVERYTHING.

"All life flows from God" I hope you see it and I hope I do too.

When You are on the Mountain Be on the Mountain-Genesis 1:26

"I was created in the image of God"

My mind understands the concept, but does my heart? And though they are located in the same entity, they operate differently. Do I think and believe that being created in the image of God is enough? My mind says yes, but my actions question the Creator of peace, hope, joy, and love.

Resolution- Drop the materials, open my heart, and just be. Don't move on just be. Drop the self. Love.

Questions from a Beautiful Heart- Galatians 5:1

Why do I strive to be something I am not?
Why do I shout curses on a mount of blessings?
Why do I always make plans to fill up my time?
It is because "I" am scared.
I am worried about myself, which that self doesn't even exist.
I would rather be chained up, because then I will know the result.
Life is an adventure of freedom, but I am afraid to take it.
Every moment of awakening, I have a choice.
We have a choice.
Either to step out, or to lock up.

"If I was crying, in a van with my friend, it was for freedom from myself and from the land. You came to save us. All things go"