Fear of Being Alone- I Kings 19

This is the latest sermon I gave at Truenorth on 12/18/11. Hope you enjoy it.

http://gfc.tv/snellville/tn-121811/

Romans 15- Encouragement, Patience, and Unity Help to Kingdom Advancement

this is my teaching at grace fellowship church at 11/6/11

http://gfc.tv/snellville/tn-11611/

Rest into Work 1 Kings 17

I wanted to write this blog for all the busy bodies out there and also so that I can remind myself of these things. If you feel weary and heavy ladened or you feel like you have spread your self too thin or you feel like you are not bearing fruit or you feel just smothered in utter chaos. God has an answer for you: Rest. Rest in Him.

We were made to go from Rest into work, not work tripping into rest. When we go from work into rest we tend to ask God to fix us or help us, when really we should be going to Him in the beginning (try the mornings) and asking Him what he wants us to do for Him. He is on the throne. Once we spend time with Him in the morning we can then see Him throughout the day, and gain a greater awareness for truth. We can see Him as He is and as He made creation. We can see reality, once we spend time with Him resting in Him alone. Spending time with Him, is refreshing, we can see reality, see more gifts He is giving us in simplicity, and this is how we were made to live.

We need to spend time with him, so that we can also see and hear Him during the day. If we want to see God in our life, than we need to spend time with Him, if we want to walk with God in this life, than we need to go on walks with God.

Here is an excerpt from a book called the Passionate Life by Mike Breen and Walt Kallestad. This may help this post make more sense.

"God sends Elijah through a season of rest, before His major prophetic work. The true sign of godliness-imitating God- is to pattern our life after Him. And for God rest is vital...the commandment to keep the Sabbath holy is right up there with "Don't steal, kill, or commit adultery." In other words, being a workaholic is just as bad as being a murderer or adulterer. Rest is not optional if we are to walk in the lifestyle of a disciple. Since our first experience as created beings with our Creator is a day of rest, we must start from a place of rest to fulfill our calling to be fruitful."

Moses goes to a mountain to be with God.

Elijah retreats and hides.

John the Baptist goes in the wilderness.

Jesus spends thirty years before coming into his ministry, probably resting with the Father during that time and then even when He ministers He still spends time alone with the Father

All resting before ministry happens.

The Poem that Inspired "a Part of the Body Facing Circumstance"

"The Guest House" by Rumi

This being human is a guest house. Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness, some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all! Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows, who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture, still, treat each guest honorably. He may be clearing you out for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice, meet them at the door laughing, and invite them in.

Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.

All life flows from God Romans 8:28, Galatians 5:22-23

I was talking to my d-group yesterday and this is something they like talking about, so I thought I would share. Here we go.

All true goodness comes from God. It does not come from outside of Him. True love comes from Him. We sometimes laugh at things that are worldly, which is not true joy, its a mortal dying happiness. So when you experience a pure joy, you experience true life, you experience Him. So as we watch the leaves fall, or have a simple conversation that brings you life. We are meeting with God. The crazy thing is, He is not just limited to just a laugh. There is much more going on than one gift at a time. When you experience true goodness, you are experiencing a taste of who He is.

Enjoy Him

A Part of the Body Facing Circumstances Ephesians 1:22-23

Glorious day to you all!

Know that if you are in Christ, than you are part of His body and everything is subjected under His feet. So that means, everything that is not of God is under you. He has given you authority over these things, because His Spirit is in you. In John 15 and 16, Jesus is continually talking to His disciples and now to us. In 15, He talks about abiding in Him and the unity we have with Him. In 16:33 He says, "take heart for I have overcome the world." So in this continual monologue he is making it evident that if we are one with Him, we are now authoritators and overcommers. We are more than conquerors.

So as you read this, know you do not have to be under the control of your circumstance, though your flesh may be getting abused by your circumstance, your spirit is above those things. Evil that is under our feet only has power if we allow it to have power. Stand over those things and don't allow them to take control. The key here is Him, He puts us in our right place, below Him and above death. We were made to look at Him, not ourselves or our circumstances. We were also made not to have control, He is in control. So as a circumstance comes which may make us feel uneasy we should let it come, invite it as a friend, because Gods goodness always present in any circumstance. So let us look at Him to see the goodness He is giving to us! Enjoy every moment, even when facing fleshly abuse or a fallen world, He still wants us to see Him. He is in it for the process and gives us things to make us more like Him. James 1:2-4.

An Email From a Friend

I received an email from a friend a couple of days ago and every time I read it I can just sense pure joy. I went to visit him and he called me a, "lagniappe" which means an unexpected but welcomed gift. then he said this later in his email,

I imagine that this is what grace is: a lagniappe. So we spend the day and night receiving one lagniappe after another. Who needs Christmas presents?

What if we lived life in this awareness, that we are receiving a gift in every moment. What if we were still for a few minutes and recognized that their are multitudes of gifts that are being given to us, besides grace. Living in that awareness that there are more gifts being given to us than we can realize, should put a joy deep in our hearts and live life as it is...beautiful.

So know in the midst of a world that seems to be falling apart around you, there are many lagniappes still coming your way from God. Receive! Who needs Christmas presents?

Into the Silent Land

One of my favorite Pages I have ever read on identity and labels on the self

This is a conversation with a young man in a monastery trying to become a monk and a monk (Fr. Alypius) that already lives there.

Fr. Alypius- "You say you seek God, but a ray of light doesn't seek the sun; it's coming from the sun. You are a branch on the vine of God. A branch doesn't seek the vine; it's already part of the vine. A wave doesn't look for the ocean; it's already full of the ocean. Because you don't know that who you are is one with God, you believe all these labels about yourself: I'm a sinner, I'm a saint, I'm a wretch, I'm a worm and no man, I'm a monk, I'm a nurse. These are all labels, clothing. They serve a purpose, but they are not who you are. To the extent that you believe these labels, you believe a lie, and you add anguish upon anguish. It's what most of us do for most of our lives. In a secular world we call it our career. In monastic terms, we call it our vocation...You already are silent. I understand how there is a lot of noise and chaos swirling around. That's true of us all. But you, you are silence. You are the silence that is aware of the chaos. You are the silence that sees the chaos...silence and contemplation are concerned with what is deeper than thinking. Silence is always present." - Martin Laird Epilogue in Into the Silent Land

Keep it Simple Stupid John 15:13

God is good ALL THE TIME. He is the one for me, he gets all the glory. Seek Him first!!!

I don't know if a lot of you know this but I am in a relationship with Maeghan Keaton. It has been such a joy being with her this past year. I wanted to share some things with you all that God has taught me using her in just these past two weeks. If I told you all the things I have learned in this journey with her, this post would go for eternity. Words truly can't describe how God has used us both in each other's lives to know Him more and to let Him be glorified. We are apart of the body of Christ so we can learn from each other. She is experiencing things that I can learn from and vice-versa. "And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'" So this is what I have learned from the Lord through my relationship with Maeghan these past two weeks

What God has taught me through my relationship with Maeghan...

1. to choose love and goodness...

there is so much life when i walk in faith to Love Him and others

2. He answers prayers

He answers our prayers better than I can dream up answers

3. I am one with God

It is my natural state to be one with the living water and bear fruit in season

4. Being real is beautiful

There is nothing better than open communication and being yourself

What God is still teaching me through my relationship with Maeghan...

1. A thankful heart creates a large avenue for love to be poured out

Hebrews 13:15-16

2. If I am being myself in my natural state, God and His angels rejoice more than I think

Hebrews 13:1-2

3. More awareness that I have every spiritual blessing is better than praying like I dont have every spiritual blessing in my reach.

Ephesians 1:3

I did not marry up, because we are not married, but I sure am dating up. We are both dating up (not tooting my own horn). What I mean by this is we are both undeserving of this beautiful wonderful life, but God's grace never ends. It's all because of God and his grace that I am in this. Thank you, Lord for Maeghan Iris Keaton.

For all you men out there, if you want to see real fruit in a relationship, follow in God's footsteps not in your girlfriends. No puppy dog boys following your girlfriends, only Christ following feet washers

I do not have everything figured out, not even close. I am weak and I do sin. I do know one thing though I am enjoying the journey with God and I am enjoying continually learning things in my life. This life is fun, not easy but fun.

Finding out where you are; Matthew 12:33-36

A tree is known by it's fruit. Am I bearing fruit? If I am abiding in Him than yes. (John 15) "If I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation." (Romans 10:9-10) So why don't i see fruit all the time, because if He is in me after confession then he should be in me, the hope of glory and I am abiding in Him. This is where the heart comes in. God is always in us once we live out Romans 10, but when we don't see fruit, it's not that he is not there, and not within us. It is just that we believe a lie which leads to sin. Our heart gives into that because we don't know if he is in us or not (lack of faith in who he is and who we are).

Well if you truly live out Romans 10 and live out the gospel he is in you, the hope of glory. Jesus is Lord, Christ in you, the one who is always faithful to abiding. Do we believe this? Do we also know that it's not about us? Let Him bear fruit through you, He wants to. Are we aware that He wants to or are we hiding the goodness of the Lord behind a lie that our heart has given into? How do we know where our heart is?

"Out of the overflow of the mouth the heart speaks." If God abides in you, you can be affected by Him or a lie, so when we speak out of pride and selfishness then that is probably a good indicator of where your heart is. Be aware of what you say. If you want Him, choose Him and walk in faith confidently. Words reveal character. Listening is sometimes better than speaking.

"But I will tell you every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it on the day of judgment." Again be aware of what you say. But don't be silent out of fear, but out of awareness of who God made us to be. Why speak careless words and why speak mindless chatter? Does this advance God's Kingdom? No, then why do we still say it?

Glorify God in all things. Focus your whole being on Him. The Holy Spirit will help you see where you are at

A letter

This is a letter I wrote to my milledgeville family and these are some things I learned from being around them, if you want to know how to love and be part of something great go to school at georgia college and hang out with this crew!

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I am writing to you from not only experiences in your church, but from my heart. A lot of what I have learned and seen throughout my years being with your church has taught me to live. It has shown me the goodness of faith, not only why I should have faith, but why I should walk in it. It has been by the way you have lived your lives, I have seen Jesus in ways that blow my mind, my perspective, my thoughts, and my dreams. You have taught me to know Him, not just about Him. You taught me that prayer changes things.

I am talking to each one of you. If you are in Milledgeville, I am talking to you and you specifically. You all have shown me God in new ways, and in that respect, I am indebted to your devotion and love to the Lord and your care for my heart. You all are such a unified church and family. You have made yourselves a tight family and now you are the foundation for your church, so now that you have laid this ground work, God’s kingdom can come in an almighty way. Everyone in Milledgeville can know God because of this foundation, if you allow Him to be known. It starts with one person at a time. It starts with relationship. Seeing people the way God sees them. It is watching Him work on people’s hearts and not yourselves. It is living from heaven’s perspective. It is seeing every single moment as a holy moment, no matter if it is good or bad. Be thankful in all things, he has given you every moment for a specific reason. Embrace change. See yourself the way God sees you. The truth is God is within you all, so if you feel like you haven’t done anything to influence my life, you are wrong. He deserves more credit than we give Him, and because He is in you, I give you some credit for being obedient to Him and by making him come alive in your awareness of Him. That love and passion he has given you, you are definitely letting it shine, no bushels in this house. This is what I want to discuss with you. Your identity in Christ.

He is alive. He is the ground of your being. He is your homeland. If you want him, look within yourself. Stop searching other places, you don’t have to go anywhere. Stop adding things to your life, you have all you want and need inside of you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Amen. This life is all about letting go and letting God. It is about subtracting, not adding. When you let go, you will be more aware of Him and in that you will see Him more and more. This intimacy with Him and seeing how He is in control of all things and moving throughout it all will birth you into action. You have all you need. His grace is enough and more than that. These things sound too good to be true, don’t they? God lives in me and that’s all I need? It is to focus on Him and be aware of Him where he is? See what he sees? Do what he does? All life is, is about Him and somehow these fruits from the spirit just become alive to others? It all sounds too good to be true. Well it is too good and it is way to true.

Know that there are two kingdoms you can serve: Yours or God’s.
If you ever serve yourself, you are probably questioning, Is God who he says he is. For example is “God really good? I don’t know so I will take control of it myself.” Or another doubt we can have is, am I really who he made me to be? and because of that doubt you take control. Answering these questions with a faithless heart can lead down a path of self righteousness and self seeking. And every decision we are ever faced with leads down one of these two paths: your fleshly path or God’s.
Now “the good news” is that God has created us so that we were really made for his path all the time and that is also the path that is most satisfying. Now you may feel that his path is not most satisfying in the moment, but it is the best for you. He knows the best way to love you. If you feel that it is not satisfying when you go down his path, then that means you are just being made more like him and he is building up your faith. Now we end up taking our own path, the faithless selfish one, because we don’t truly believe he has the best for us. We end up taking control because we always want answers, we don’t want to feel like we are left in the dark. When we take control, we can have the results turn out the way we want them to. We feel momentary satisfaction, because we are getting results on our time table. We imprison ourselves with our thoughts and our mind then it controls us. It “feels” ok to be put in prison because we know what is ahead of us. You were not made for a prison of the mind or selfish decision making. You were made to be free. It is for freedom Christ set us free, so do not submit yourselves again to a yoke to slavery. (Gal. 5:1) Your thoughts are not who you are. Your mind is not who you are. You are God’s and He is in you.

Do not let judgment bring you down, nor pride. If there is any quarrel amongst your group, know that it is a two way street of loving. If there is any “heat” you have between each other, open communication is the key. But meeting with the Lord before you speak is more important so you see them the way the Lord does. Know the Lord loves you and know you are already taken care, expect nothing in return from the ones you meet with to have open conversation. Love like you have love from the Lord. Remember you are all unique and you all leaders to someone in some way. But more importantly you are servants. If you cast judgment that is going to rip up your relationship with them and how you view that person. If you have a negative judgmental perspective on someone that is going to have some effect when you come in contact with them. If you feel they are not living out who they are (how God’s see them) tell them that, but they always have the identity that God have given them and that is Christ in them. So see Jesus in them.

Keep loving and unifying the other parts of the body (other ministries) in Milledgeville. If you are not moving or they are not moving you might be slowing down some kingdom advancement. Just like the foot can’t go anywhere without the leg. God’s kingdom has no divide and he wanted himself to be known to all. Your heart for unity and family is straight from the Father’s heart. Keep excelling in this and keep excelling in growing your family, by again seeing them the way God does, by pulling/calling out the Jesus in everyone.

I talked to brother Ben Battles and first I want to say you are in good hands. If you don’t know him, He is most attractive by his words of wisdom and acts of love. He is not phased by words or things of this world, he only moves to the beat of God’s heart. If I have learned something from him and our relationship it is his humility and servanthood. Having said this, he desires your church to be fully immersed in His presence, fully immersed in communing with every part of the body, and seeing everyone, whether they have faith in Jesus or not, as God sees them, the reward.

If you want to know how to break apathy or feel that your church isn’t moving to further the kingdom, walk in faith (act even if you don’t feel anything, God is there, He will show up and let Him love through you), prayer (talking to Him, Knowing Him) (John 17:3), and fasting (getting rid of things that are around the heart that aren’t of God, a life of surrender, the greatest way to love).

You have really been a people that know how to love. You are the best lovers I know, I give you these challenges or things to think about throughout this letter because I know you can handle it. God is so proud of you. You have the source of life in you and with that you can change Milledgeville forever and your time in Milledgeville can go down in history because there were a bunch of scrubs like yourselves decided that you would lose your life so God may be glorified, some people call this a revival; Jesus calls it normal Christianity.

I pray that God would release a grace and anointing on your heart to love Him with everything.

Be still and know He is God.

I love every single one of you with all my heart! You are so close to my heart, I will most definitely write you brothers and sisters again.

Seeing God Gen. 1:26

I apologize that I have not written to you brothers and sisters in awhile, school has been hectic finishing it up, but I have some requests of things to write about and I will get to those later, thank you for waiting patiently. I love you all.

This blog post is about seeing God in everything. Now some people may see this as pantheistic. I am not saying all is God, but I am saying that his creativity, his workmanship is in all things. I think there is definitely a difference in Him and his creation, but I also believe in Genesis 1:26.

If we see God in everything and see things the way He does, we will be preparing the way for heaven on earth. There is creatvity that is from God in everyone. It is finding his personality in all things he created and calling those things out in a believer or a non-believer. It is having dove eyes for the Lord (look at old posts if you dont know what dove eyes are), but having dove eyes for Him you see things as they are. You see reality. What would happen if we saw God moving in and around us all the time and through everything? What if we could go wherever the spirit was telling us to go? What if we were able to call out God in someone who doesnt know Him and encourage them in that way? To see them as a person of peace and not some enemy. Hate the sin not the sinner. How does God see that "sinner"? He sees them as someone in his image, in his likeness. The question is do we? Everyone is the prize for God. He does all he can so he can have us at the end of the day while still truly loving us. Be praying that God would illuminate things of Him in others, so they can be awakened to God wanting them, wanting them so badly he gave them creative characteristics like Him.
I pray God would remove everything that stands in the way of love. Preconceptions, Judgments, Lies, Labels from the world, etc.

P.S.- If you see God moving in everything , even in bad times, they will not be bad times. Focus on what God is doing, not things that have already happened. You were made to gaze on his face and intimacy with Him. This will give you life and life to the full. What a joy! No more need to strive, just be. Enjoy Him, he always enjoys you!

Faith/Wisdom and Logic

Faith is the only way to walk. Faith and true wisdom work hand in hand. They are the same. We walk in faith and wisdom. When we walk in faith we are being the most wise, because we claim we don't have everything figured out, but we know someone that does (The Lord). Socrates thought this way when he was on trial, he talked against the people in the city because they claimed to know everything, but he said he was the wisest because he was claiming that he didn't know everything like these leaders in this city.

But there are some people who walk in faith because people told them to, but they may not be aware of the implications and the holiness that comes with true faith. That's where I think some logic or thinking can help. Not saying it is needed but it can help.

Now I think God can also use Logic for good. I don't think it's the solution, I don't think it's life or death, but it can be good. Yes, the mind can be maipulative, but God is using all things for our good.

Logic can be used to show the goodness of faith. People can walk in faith and not know why or they can get a logical understanding through the word or why faith is so good to walk in. Logic can show it's purpose. God gave you a brain to get closer to Him. Use it, but don't ever and I mean EVER let it be your master. Your thoughts are not who you are! God shows who you are. He reveals the goodness of all things and he can use your mind to do it. He can reveal the goodness of faith through what he gave you. Whatever you are doing in life, God can be using it for good, even though man and this earth can make it look bad.

http://gfc.tv/snellville/2010/12/advent-love/

check this video out, me giving a sermon back in december about love out of the overflow and out of obedience. just copy the title of this post and put it as your url. Hope you enjoy it.

Knowledge/Understanding and Wisdom/Revelation Acts 1:1

This is a continuation of Do and teach. So read that first if you haven't.

Knowledge and understanding are not bad things it's just not the place we want to teach from. We want to teach from wisdom and revelation which comes from the Holy Spirit. We can take Knowledge and understanding and meet God with that head knowledge and receive wisdom and revelation from Him. It's going from a place of "knowing about" things to actually "knowing (yedah)" them. "It's taking the things we know and bridging them over to the unknown"- AW Tozer. Knowledge and understanding are good things and they can be the beginning of something great, it becomes a great platform to jump off of, but lasting fruit does not come from that place. It comes from God, when you encounter Him and let him teach you. Let the scriptures be illuminated to you by the Spirit.

For example: The Pharisees always taught out of knowledge/understanding of the law, but they never saw it with God's eyes. Jesus saw where the Father was going when the law came into place. He met with the Father then taught from that place of wisdom and revelation. Crucial difference between Pharisees and Jesus. Jesus had the Father's perspective because He met with him and taught from that place instead of some words he got from a book or some things he heard from the mouths of the surrounding people.

A Leaking Vision can cause an Apathetic Heart

This is something I picked up on when I was talking to Josh Perkinson, Maeghan Keaton (my wonderfully amazing girlfriend), and Lauren Lisle. So thank you peeps! I was washing my hands when I thought about all this stuff that I shared with them.

Some ways an apathetic heart can be produced is not trusting in God or the vision that leaks out of the minds of the body. So vision needs to be constantly brought up. Where are we going? Where does God want us to go? What is His vision for us?

I have been in a lot of questioning when it comes to what God wants for my campus. Then I just asked him. If we look at it scripturally, He wants his people, so he not only wants the campus he wants the city, the nations, and the world. He wants people to KNOW Him. So if that is his heart, why not go love what he loves. So our vision is going after the city and for everyone to hear the gospel. Walking towards God's heart is being obedient to God. If we don't see the whole city know Him in our time (4-6 years in college) we are still successful because we are walking towards what He cares about and we are walking towards the vision he gave us. Our measure of success is measured in our obedience to the Lord. If we become like the shephards of the east and go after this vision ourselves, than we are successful. Let's Go! Go Love! Be Love! Live like Jesus!

P.S. God delights in you, so it's not about doing, just have faith that he already sees you as a great success and a great reward. He does all things in His power to have you, you are his reward. He loves his people.

Living the way He called us to live.

If we want to live a life for Christ, than we need to be obedient to what He has for us specifically.

" You are too close to yourself to see yourself (-John Raymond) and it is only in the eyes of God you see your existence. You are there because he is looking at something. You see yourself in His eyes of fire. He has also spoken to you and called you a son or daughter/ co-heirs/beloved/bride/co-laborers/body, and it goes on and on, so you know he speaking to something.

But if you really want to know who you are, you have to know who He is. What we think about God is the most important thing about us. - AW Tozer. If you have a skewed view of God, you might have a skewed view of yourself and what you do in your life. From that place you can live out who you truly are. He has given each person certain gifts and experiences. So we are all unique. (I will blog more about this later). So here is the order. If you are still alive you still have a destiny

1. You have to know who God is

2. Then, He begins to reveal to you through His spirit and the promises of scripture (Who you are)

3. Your relationships (loving the body and the world)

4. Your destiny

Guess what? He loves you and He sees you. He is fully present to you all the time... What a great way to love somebody and He knows the best way to love you specifically.

Do and Teach- Acts 1:1; James 1:22; Romans 5:5

I haven't blogged in awhile, but now I am going to be blogging about some new things I have been thinking about. This one I have told a lot of people at our house church and at other house churches. It is simple.

Luke in Acts 1, mentions the things he wrote in his first book (book of Luke) which was about what Jesus went to do and teach. The way Jesus lived his life was divine. His divine order, according to Jon Courson, was that Jesus did things before he taught about it. He practiced before he preached. He encountered things before He talked about them. If we are to be a follower of Jesus we probably need to do the same. See Jesus didn't just talk about love, he was love. He loved God and the disciples before he said, "Love God and love others."If we tell people to love God and love others but yet we aren't acting in it first, then we might be considered heretics to some. We must be like shephards of the east, missionaries, forerunners, or witnesses where they are people who encounter before they taught. They then teach out of wisdom and revelation not just a knowledge and understanding of words on a page. The place we teach out of is where we meet with God and then teach what He gives us. Do not teach something you haven't talked to God about it. Commune with His spirit and teach from there just like Jesus. Romans 5:5- If you want to love with the Love of God then you have to meet with His spirit and know that it comes from Him. With God we can love. Let us be a people who don't just talk about love, but BE LOVE.

I am not saying we neglect teaching the gospel, but let's be it and then teach it. Be dependent upon Him, it's possible with Him