The Doorway. Ephesians 1:15-23

We have been brought up in schools to just receive what people say to us and throw it back up on someone else. We have been informed is such a way that we become like the informer, like a system of robots, not of love. True love comes from giving us a choice, a mystery, having things in secret, not forcing us in a direction. Education was intended for us to stretch our minds and being able to be our own person. Education is like a doorway. We were meant to walk into our own way of thinking and encounter our own experiences, not encounter someone elses experiences. When we take someone elses experiences and thoughts we become the doorway. Don't become a doorway, take it and walk into your own encounters. "Take what we know as a bridge over into the unknown." - A.W. Tozer. I would rather walk into an adventure than be pieces of wood

To help you learn about this read Paul's letters and watch the movie "The Dead Poet's society"

New Eyes- Colossians 3:1-5

Over this Christmas Break, I went to Passion 2010. While I was there I heard Andy Stanley speak. He spoke on a way to live and he used three chairs to break up the different attributes of life: Who we are, Who we hang out with, and what we are going to do with our lives. He said that we first need to figure out who we are going to be before we figure out who we are going to hang out with and what we are going to do. While he was teaching, someone yelled out, "What about Jesus?" Because he didn't say the word Jesus so far in his talk, this guy assumed Jesus wasn't being talked about. Just because Jesus is not said verbally does not mean he is not present spiritually. The Holy Spirit is everywhere even when Jesus isn't being named. I hope that the Christian lifestyle hasn't turned into a thing based off of emotion and circumstance. I hope we can actually be the body of Christ where we don't feel like we have to conjur anything up to get him in the room or say a few church words to make us feel like he is there. The reality is HE IS THERE. Always has been, he is right now, and he will always be. I hope we don't have to always take some tool of music or words of speech to feel like we have to pull his arm to get him to come meet with us. But, instead, have an open heart and see the reality that the Holy Spirit is in our midst. That we don't need labels to put on him, that we don't bring him down to our level. We belittle Him and never see the true reality of who He is. "What we think about God is the most important thing about us."- A.W. Tozer, I pray that we could be a generation, that could seek Him, be devoted to Him, and see Him in everything even in the presence of persecution or mocking His name. He is still there.

Excerpt #2 from No Man is an Island

Selfish love seeks to keep him in subjection to ourselves. It insists that he conform himself to us, and it works in every possible way to make him do so. A selfish love withers and dies unless it is sustained by the attention of the beloved. When we love thus, our friends exist only in order that we may love them. In loving them we seek to make pets of them, to keep them tame. Such love fears nothing more than the escape of the beloved. It requires his subjection because that is necessary for the nourishment of our own affections.

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.