Regrets

Just some scattered thoughts about regrets.

I started researching verses for this blog entry because some feelings of regrets have crept into my mind. I was going to find verses similar to "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil" under the concept that regrets occur when we aren't conscientious about our surrenders and say/do things, or don't say/don't do things.

Just to touch on that... We need to live without any blinders on. We need to be fully aware of what is going on. Sometimes we miss opportunities to allow God to encourage someone through us, or we might be ignorant of facts and assume the worst(Either for someone else, or assume you are responsible--[pride?]), or we do or say something because we are "in the moment."

Be careful with your words and actions. You don't get a redo. What you say and do will remain etched in history.


But, going beyond that, I found a verse written by Paul: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, (Phil. 3:13)


I also came upon a blog that states how regretful thinking produces depressive thinking.

So that's where I'll place the main focus on this entry. Regret begets depression. And depression saps us of our energy--rendering us, eventually, useless for God. (Is that not Satan's foundational tactic--to cause us to not be able to serve God?)

Regret is when we look behind us(Sometimes with fresh eyes and new knowledge) and kick ourselves for not seeing such and such, for doing such and such, for saying such and such. Then we begin to feel bad about it. Wishing we would've been more observant, more knowledgeable.

At least in my situation, I begin to connect dots to the present. "What if because I did this or that...what if so/so is treating me this way, or thinks of me this way?" And obviously that is when regret produces depression and produces sin.

What is past is past. We can't change it. We can only learn and adapt from it.

When we give into regret we put on the same blinders that blocked our view in the first place when this all began. And when that happens, we are susceptible to overlooking things, saying or doing things that will cause us regret in the future.

Regret has its place--but only for momentary review. In order to grow, we must acknowledge our shortfalls. But we won't grow if we remain down. We have to stand up and live with an adapted knowledge and perspective.

So, if you are regretting a decision, look to that for a moment, learn, adapt, then forget it and look to the future--look to adaption. If you sinned, then get it right(Note: Sin against man requires getting it right with God and man. Sin against God only requires getting it right with God).

-Kevin

Wherefore let him that Thinketh he Standeth...

For years I've been struggling with a certain sin. Recently, however, God has placed tons of stuff in my life that has driven me before His throne. Friends, family, life decisions, etc. And because of that(perhaps), I have seen in my life a decrease in committing that sin. Occasionally, I would think "Perhaps I have come to wear this won't be as big of a problem."

But then Satan hid behind a corner, then WHAM! smacked me with a rod. He successfully got me to sin, and since then has successfully grabbed my thoughts, thinking about the sin. (Even numbed me occasionally to where I would walk along the line of the sin. [Praise God I didn't slip off the line into sin those times...]).

With those incidents, God has placed on my heart the verse "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall."

I wanted to just admonish you, the Reader, to take heed, lest you fall, too. You may miraculously be standing tall of a sin that has long ensnared you. You may think you finally got the victory--but take heed. Satan will never stop trying to devour you--even if that means holding off for a little while.

Satan is a lion, seeking those he can devour. If you are not vigilant and sober, he will pounce and devour you.

That doesn't sound very helpful, does it? "Satan will never stop trying to devour you."
It should, though, discourage you in this sense. You can't do it. You cannot withstand the Devil for every time he attacks you. You may be able to the first couple of times around, but eventually you will be so weak you can't stand.

But take heart! God is with you. Avoid that initial "Of course He is" that probably just entered your mind. That is one of Satan's tactics. To numb you to the truths of God's word. To numb you to the power of God. To numb you to the power you have(but can only be obtained through Christ).

When you are numb to the facts of Scripture, when they become "of course" to you, then you will begin to lose the wonder and awe behind them. God is with you! Is that not comforting? The one who created everything with just His voice. The one who defeated death through His son. The one who sealed Satan's finality through His son's death(and resurrection). That God...that God is with you. That God is by your side regardless of what's going on. That God is there, offering His hand to lift you to your feet. That God is there giving you strength the moment you ask for it.

So, sure, Satan will consistently fight you. He doesn't want you to further the kingdom of God. He hates God and will do anything to end His effectiveness. He wants to dishonor God's name. So he seeks those He loves. Satan seeks you.

But don't let that render you hopeless. God will give you strength.


Wow, interesting. I was looking for the verse:
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it]. "

I have "committed" that to memory, and God laid it on my heart to put in this post. But what is interesting is that this verse immediately follows the initial verse.

So, 'Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed, lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God [is] faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear [it]. "

We need to take heed so we don't fall, but God is faithful. He won't allow us to be tempted above our capacity to handle. He will make a way of escape so we can bear the temptation.

-Kevin

"Behold, thou art there"

"Wither shall I go from thy spirit, or wither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into the heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover, even the night is light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee."
--Psalm 139:7-12

Where can we go that is away from God's spirit and presence? This passage talks about the omnipresence of God. And it is beginning to become one of my favorite passages.

Because...if I am on the mountaintop, having a blessed time, God is with me. But, that isn't where God only is at. When we come off the mountain, and we experience hard things, God is there also.

If suddenly we find ourselves all alone, with no one in sight, just a vast land of waves crashing into us all the time--God is still with us! How great is that thought? When we are all alone with no one else to help us, guide us, strengthen us...God is still there!

If we are going through a dark time in our lives when even we can't see where to go(Referencing my blog post below) God is still there. You aren't hidden by the darkness, God can see you as if he is looking at you while you're standing under the sun! Because the darkness and light are both alike to him. He can see perfectly in both. He knows where you are when you are walking in the darkness, He sees you. He is right there with you.

You are not alone. Even when you are out there on the ocean, floating in the darkness, going through turmoil--God is there.

Once you realize this, you need to hold out your hand and let him guide you and hold you. God doesn't want you to remain in the dark, He wants you to be in the light.


Isaiah 58:11 And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

2 Corinthians 4

I try to incorporate verses in my posts, to give substance to my posts about different issues--after all, who knows more? God or me?

But, today I want this post to be entirely God. I'll embolden verses here and there to stick out from the rest of the passage, but please read it all. May God bless and speak to you through His word.


-2 Cor. 4:1-18

Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.

But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to [give] the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

[We are] troubled on every side, yet not distressed; [we are] perplexed, but not in despair;

Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.

So then death worketh in us, but life in you.

We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak;

Knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present [us] with you.

For all things [are] for your sakes, that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many redound to the glory of God.

For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding [and] eternal weight of glory;

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal.

A Light in the Darkness

Sometimes God causes you to wander through the darkness so the light inside your soul will shine brighter, drawing the attention of others who blindly wander in the dark without a light.

 

Sometimes, God causes you to wander through the darkness so the light inside your soul will shine brighter, drawing your attention to God—the light of the world.

Sometimes we are blinded or distracted by the lights around us that we don’t truly see the light of Jesus. Those other lights may be artificial, Satan-manufactured lights like disguised tragedies. Or they can be well-meaning things that have taken on an artificial light—stuff like going into slumps of going-through-the-motions.

Sometimes, perhaps, God allows Satan to test our desire for going to church, for singing, for serving in different ministries. Satan places circumstances around us like a person who makes us feel worthless, or a system that pressures us in doing things just to be able to say “I did x-amount of such-such, I’ve done enough to keep people off my back.” When that continues, our desires for those things dwindle. Why go to church if you are made to feel worthless? Why serve if you’re forced into thinking you have to do such-such just to keep people off your back?

 

Thus begins our journey in the darkness. We no longer have the lights of ministry, church, or motions around us. The only lights in sight are the lights in the distance(who knows where they lead?) and the light in our souls. However, right now that light isn’t shining too brightly.

 

Suddenly, there a flash of light emits from our souls, illuminating a pathway in front of us—away from the other lights. But as quickly as the light shone brightly, the light dimmed back to its previous luster.

 

We have a choice: Stand here, doing nothing, blinded by the darkness created by circumstances; Step toward the pathway that just was lit up by the light in our souls; or Walk toward the lights in the distance.

 

God’s will in all of this is for us to choose the path(Not the tragedies in the distance, disguising themselves as lights), and follow the path until the light in our souls shines as bright as the sun. And once that light shines as bright as the sun, we are no longer in darkness. And the circumstances that darkened the skies previously can now be resolved. The person who made you feel worthless can be confronted. Confrontation doesn’t guarantee resolution. Confrontation guarantees a clear conscience on your part. 

The system that pressured you to do things just to please man now encourages you to do things to please God and deepen your relationship with him—to grow.

 

Because you are dwelling in the light, you can see you are not worthless. Because you are in the light, you can see that the pressure in the system was a pressure to please God all along(or at least its purest intentions are such).

 

That is God’s will for darkness. He didn’t create it, but he allows it. When it is allowed, the light we took for granted before becomes much more valuable to us.

 

Don’t pile on the blankets on the light in our souls when darkness shrouds us. Don’t close your eyes to the small bursts of light that radiates from our souls, directing us to the brighter day. God wants you to cling to the light in our souls—to cling to Jesus. When we abide in Him, his light grows. Not because it was insufficient to begin with, but as the window of our soul is washed clean, the light is more brightly seen.

 

-Kevin

Worthlessness.

One of the easiest thing to trigger an avalanche of pride. It doesn’t help to solve things like this with saying their sin, but the truth of the matter is that they are sin. When you are constantly thinking you are worthless(whether circumstances in life genuinely feel that way, or you are blowing things out of proportion), you are constantly putting yourself in the center of your focus. And that is pride. God should have the center of your focus.

 

But, forgetting for just a second the fact of the present sin worthlessness causes, I want to point out some future scenarios God has placed on my heart that comes from a worthless feeling.

 

When you give in to the feeling of worthlessness, when you trust Satan’s word over God’s, you will naturally begin to seek ways to show yourself you are not worthless—or show others you are not worthless.

I remember in my own life, I felt worthless so I would instigate petty arguments with people, trying to show my “knowledge” or come out on top. (That just got me into problems senseless to delve into here).

 

Since arguing wasn’t going for me and only got me in trouble, I went out to, tactlessly, other people asking them flat out if I was worthless to them. Or I would make a comment that would force them into an uncomfortable corner that produced a testimony that I wasn’t worthless.

 

But, I soon saw the error of that, and switched tactics. I’m not sure if I wanted to add sin to sin by finding sinful ways to satisfy my longing of worth, but I desperately wanted to feel needed, wanted, accepted. So, I went on to pointing out the good qualities I had to offer to others. (I remember one time where I blatantly stood up and proclaimed to a group of teens the first time we got together that I could do such-n’-such for the group.)

Even now I find myself sneaking into the spotlight with comments and actions to make myself look worthy of care and acceptance.

 

But now I look to you, Reader. Do you feel worthless? Do you feel hardly anyone cares for you? Do you feel like you can never do what people want from you?

 

Don’t pursue paths mentioned above. Don’t stumble into the trap of “I must be in the spotlight so people notice I’m not worthless.” It won’t take you anywhere good in the end. (Perhaps it will satisfy your temporary longing for worth, but hardly ever anything more for too long).

 

I want to help you, Reader. You are worthless of anything to make you deserve God’s love. But that shouldn’t bring you down. Because, despite the fact of your worthlessness to earn God’s love, he loves and cares for you.

Psalm 3:3 But Thou O lord, art a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.

Psalm 30:11 Thou has turned for me my mourning into dancing; Thou has loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness.

Psalm 34:18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill, and destroy; I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly.

Romans 8:28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

II Corinthians 1:4 Who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

 

Matt. 10:29-30  Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

 

Jer. 29:11  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

 

And as a closing thought, we shouldn’t do things in life to please men. That obviously would include trying to prove to others you matter.

Eph 6:6-8
Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart;

With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men:

Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether [he be] bond or free.

 

God cares for you. Consume your thoughts on that truth. God loves you, envelop your thinking around that.

Prayer

Recently, as I think I’ve stated in previous entries, I’ve been burdened for a friend of mine. And within the past week or so I’ve been burdened more and more to pray for this individual.

During the message tonight(Though the topic was unrelated to this matter), God and I had a powwow. I began praying again for my friend because I was impressed again to pray for him. So, I was initially carrying on hypothetical conversation in my head with a youth worker at my church.

“What should I do if God lays on my heart constantly to pray for someone?”

Obvious reply, “Pray for them”.

Then I thought, “Well, what if God is giving me this burden to talk to them, help them, guide them? Am I given this to immerse myself in their problems for their benefit?”

Then God took over. “Why can’t you simply pray? Are you so without faith that you can’t trust me to handle it? True, I use people to further my will, but do you recall my word ‘Lean not unto thine own understandings, and in all thy ways acknowledge Him’? Your heart is deceitful. Leaning on your understandings of any matter, but this matter in particular, you will come to a point where you “understanding” thins out. I will handle this. He is my child, and I love him. When I want you to help him beyond asking me to help, I will bring him to you in my time.”

 

 

So, there apparently are things he needs to learn. Things he has to know now. He knows I’m praying for him, he knows I’m always there for him—I’ve told him such. It isn’t my place to pry open his heart. He has to open it himself.

 

How little faith it is to think there has to be something more than just praying to help. I’m coming before the throne of the one who made heaven and earth, who divided the Red Sea with his breath, the one who created me—created my friend. I’m asking His divine help. I’m begging Him to intervene and work mighty wonders in his life.

 

In the end of it all, I must acknowledge God. I must trust in the Lord with all my heart—not leaning on my own understanding. He hears the cries of His children. He loves me, and he loves my friend. I must realize praying may be one of the most powerful things I can do—because it is beseeching the help of the one who can help. I may screw things up if I try to intervene in my time, in my understanding, in my strength. But in God’s time, in God’s understanding, in God’s strength my friend will be healed. “Confess you faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

 

Healing begins with prayer. Prayer avails much when God hearkens to it. God hearkens pray to those whose hearts regard not sin.

 

 

May this situation push me to live right in God’s eyes so he will hear my cry, so he will attend to the needs of my friend.

 

-Kevin

“And not to please ourselves”

“We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let everyone of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself, but, as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me.” –Romans 15:1-3

 

At my church, in the youth group, we have opportunities to study God’s Word and to memorize it. We are supplied lists of verses to study on different subjects. For today, I went about studying a verse sheet categorized on “serving.”

 

Lately, I’ve been really burdened for my friends who are struggling and hurting. I love to help people, and it hurts me when my friends hurt—and hurts even more when there isn’t anything I can do.

So, because of that, I’ve been praying hard about a particular friend. Uncertainties cloud my mind as to what I ought to do. I want to help, but I don’t know how. I want to be there for him, but I don’t want to come across as pushy, or overstep any boundaries. (After all, how can I help if I lose him as my friend?)

 

But as I studied that verse sheet Romans 15:1-3 jumped out at me. I am commanded to bear the infirmities of the weak. But in the same breath I am commanded not to please myself. I am to please that person to HIS edification. Not my edification. I’m not to bear his burden so I can fill some void, to appease some longing in my heart, to quench some worries?

No, I am to bear the infirmities of my weaker friends for their edification.

 

May God enable me to remove myself from the picture. May God enable me to launch out in service to my fellow brethren, but for the right motives.

 

Another thought God presented was the fact that even Christ didn’t please himself when he bore the reproaches of the men that reproached us.

From the surface, I am assuming this is a reference to Calvary. So, think about it. Christ was beaten and killed so we could have a sacrifice for salvation.
I kind of always assumed it was dual purpose(and no, not a selfish reason that we, as finite beings, would assume). One was to, obviously, save us. And second so we, His creation, would be able to spend eternity with him.

But, this verse says he didn’t accept those reproaches to please himself. He did it for us. How humbling is that? The God of the universe, that knows all, is all, loves all, is everywhere, is love, is patience and power…that God…He bore our infirmities on the cross…for us as his motivation? Not because he wanted us to be with him for his pleasure, but for our benefit.

Wow.

 

Anyway, that’s what God has recently laid on my heart: Serve others for others’ edification. I hope God can speak to you through this. Life would be tons easier if everyone had a friend they could lean on, who can bear their burdens with them. Someone who will ignore their own pleasures, but seek to help them, to edify them.

 

-Kevin

(Titleless)

There may be times in your life where you’ve realized you’ve done so many wrong things. So many things that are sin against people. So many things that you forget every instance of such sin. But you’re sure it has been committed.

 

I’m there now. Reading back on a conversation I had months ago with a friend on an instant messenger showed me I had a major pride issue. I was right about such-such thing, everyone was inherently wrong over it.  I kept bringing the conversation back to myself—in a positive light or negative.  You might have said something about yourself, a flaw in your character, a struggle you might’ve had, but I was oblivious to it and continued on with my own matters.

 

If that describes a conversation I had with you, whoever is reading this, then I apologize. It was one of those sins that sneaked under the radar of “bigger” sins in my life. I even remember this trend going as far back as when I was 13 or 14.

 

But this isn’t a “smaller” sin. In fact, God speaks very strongly against it in His word. “An high look and a proud heart…is sin,” “The Lord shall destroy the house of the proud.”

Perhaps the reason God hates it so much is because it was the first sin that snagged the hearts of his creation. Satan exalted himself above God and consequently caused himself to be exiled from Heaven. (Was it no wonder that Satan tried to lure Jesus Christ into the trap of pride?)

 

Pride cloaks itself in various forms. I’ve noticed my pride before, but sometimes I haven’t. Like how often I truly bring the attention back to myself. How often I try to make myself look good, or try to keep eyes on me(even if it means degrading myself).

 

I will try to open my eyes to my pride. If I have driven you to a distance away from me because of it, I ask for your forgiveness, and to give me another shot. If you felt you couldn’t talk to me about things that truly mattered because of this, then forgive me also. I will try to only listen to what you say, and speak when you want me to(about the matter).

 

 

If you feel hurt over anything I’ve done(proudly or elsewise) please confront me. I don’t want our relationship to be weathered because of blindness.

 

 

-Kevin

A Love that Proves

The world generally has to see things to believe it. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Discretion is needed to sift out falsehoods. Therefore there is a desire for proving facts of the proposed phenomenon.

The fact that we are sinners deserving of hell is unbelievable. Who is to say there is actually a hell.

The fact that there is a God who loves us sinners despite ourselves is unbelievable.

The fact that God loves us enough to send His son to Calvary to die for us is unbelievable.

The fact that Jesus rose from the dead is unbelievable.

The fact that Jesus wants to save us—and will when we call on him, depending on His works, not ours—is unbelievable.

And because it is all unbelievable, the world desires proofs. One can argue nature is proof of God and proof of His power; one can argue a number of similar proofs, but those can be brushed aside, re-categorized.

However, our actions and reactions are great proofs. But they prove both sides: God loves and there is no God.

Everyone notices others. You go into the library and see a man sitting. How he acts, talks and looks describe him. He may jump up and help someone who just dropped their stack of books. You take note of him to be a polite man.

But the person who is being helped takes note of something else: love and genuineness. Just last week he bullied the polite man’s younger brother. And the day before he keyed the man’s car for whatever reason. Despite that, the man helped with his books, the man showed love. Like many times before, that man handed him a tract, insisting he read over it. Instead of shoving it back, it was accepted because there was proof of a love inside the man that was abnormal—supernatural.

Matthew 5:16 says to let our lights shine. Why? So the world can see our good works and in turn glorify God.

You can proclaim God’s love with your lips, but if the listening party does not see it shown in your life, they will shrug it off.

However, loving others will be evidence of difference. If you, life God, love despite shortcomings, they may understand more of God’s love. If they didn’t see your love, though, would they be attracted to the supposed love of God? Doubtfully.

Your loving others is proof to God’s love. Your hating others disproves His love.

Perhaps that is why Jesus says loving God and others are the greatest commandments.

 

But let me finish this nugget with another thought. The world isn’t the only group that needs proof of things. Christians need it, too.

You say you care. You say God is love. But they won’t accept it if you don’t show it. If you neglect them, or shove your own agenda on them, they will soon disbelieve your claim of care for them.

If you live a life where the love of God doesn’t shine through your being, they will soon question if God really is love. After all, if he was, wouldn’t he demonstrate such love?

God demonstrates his love by the death of his son. God is shown to be love when we let the light of his love shine forth. If we are negative, hateful, prideful, self-consumed the light of God’s love will have a hard enough time shining through the murky window of our lives.

Open your eyes, soften your hearts. There are people hurting. There are people wishing you cared. There are people lying to your face, but longing for you to see through that lie and care for them. There are people with breaking hearts. There are people uncertain of the future, uncertain of God, uncertain of life. There are people who NEED you, but you had a bad day, you stubbed your toe, you got a bad grade, your car broke down, you’re having issues with submission to authorities and you are thus having a crummy time.

The light of God’s love cannot shine through your life’s window murky with self-consumption, pride, anxiety.

Take off the blinders. Wash off your life’s window. People need you to listen. People need you to care. If they can’t find care from you, do you think they will find the care they desire from God if His people aren’t caring?

 

Are we not the body of Christ? If so, ‘Why aren’t his arms reaching, why aren’t His hands healing, why aren't His words teaching, why aren't His feet going, why is His love not showing them there is a way?” (—Casting Crowns, ‘If We Are the Body’)

Don’t put a dark veil over God’s love. Rip it up, and add mirrors to reflect more of the light! Let God’s love shine like the sun through you. Let God’s love empower your love. Love others! Don’t keep your eyes closed to the hurt of our brothers and sisters in Christ any longer.

 

Let them know that is God is love through your love. Clean up your life’s window so the light of God’s love can shine brighter than the sun. (Can I say it enough?)

 

They. Need. To. Know. You. Care. Show them. Love them. Let them know God is love.

Which gameplan are you following?

There are 2-3 gameplans in life. One is God's, one is yours and the third is Satan's. Satan's gameplan is for you to focus on something other than God. Your (flesh's) gameplan is self-gratification. God's gameplan is obedience to Him.

Life is filled with battles. It can be victorious battles, or defeated battles. The times you lose are the times you rely on gameplans invented by Satan or yourself. The times you are victorious are the times you rely on gameplans invented by God.


For human relations, God's gameplan is love.(Rom 13:8-10) Flesh's is self-feel-good(explanation due in a few sentences). Satan's is hatred ultimately, though he may resort to Flesh's gameplan if the human is so dogmatic against his that he ignores the subtle gameplan of Flesh's.

Now, an explanation of self-feel-good. Humans(or at least this human) thrives on love and acceptance. We want others to love us, and we want a number(small or great) of people(friends) we can rely on for comfort and happiness. When we focus on human relations as avenue for such "self-feel-good," we become consumed with making ourselves feel good. We seek out people who will do just that; we, perhaps, wonder whether we make good impressions so we can keep those people in our lives; we do things to advertise our "worthiness" to be loved and accepted(whether those actions are "innocent" or not).

Wanting friends is not bad. Being consumed by them where your every action is determined by, or reflected upon your relations with your friends is. (John 12:42-43; Gal. 1:10; Matt 6:5-6)

Another area of life that there is a gameplan for is in your thought life.
God's game plan is laid out in Philippians 4:8(Pure, just, lovely, honest, of good report, virtuous, praiseworthy). Satan's game plan is the opposite of those things(Impure, unjust, appalling, false, of bad reputation, of no virtue, lacking worth of praise). Flesh's game plan is prideful thoughts.

When we follow Flesh's game plan of prideful thoughts, we become just that--proud. And pride is an abomination to God. Pride comes in various forms, but the root is an undue focus on self(That's both constant depression and self-exaltation). Flesh wants the focus on itself, and if there be shortcomings of sin, the "good" will be highlighted, and/or others will be brought down to a level below us.

Satan's plan is easy to see--it's everything opposite of God's gameplan. So thoughts of hatred, impurity, dishonesty, or thoughts that would cause our character to falter are within his game plans. It's easy to follow this, because Satan can use situations in life to prod us into thinking his way.

God's game plan is laid out, as said previously, in Philippians 4:8 ("Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. ")

I think we can derive something from that last phrase as well. Instead of praiseworthy things(which may or may not be the true meaning), our thoughts should be that of praise. We should consume our minds with thoughts of praise to God.



Don't live life trying to figure out how to live right. It has, for the most part, already been plainly revealed. In life, how we live ought to be in obedience to God. In human relations, how we live ought to be in love. In our thought life, how we live/think ought to be in truth, honest, justice, purity, loveliness, good reputation, virtue, and ought to be in praise to God.


-Kevin

Right Target

I was sitting here discussing the sins of a group of people with my friend. I then had the thought that we shouldn't target the sins, wondering how to be a good example for change. But instead, we should target their hearts.

I mean, trying to persuade outward change doesn't change their hearts. And if their hearts are not changed, then sin will spring up in an another place, or the same later on.

But then I turned the thought around, and pointed the direction to myself. I shouldn't target my sins, trying to erase them from my life(whether in my own power[obvious "no-no"] or in God's power). I should focus on my heart. After all, sins are only the outward manifestation of internal wickedness.

If I try to tackle, say, lying on the surface, then it will only reappear later on, or the internal wickedness will just bud a new sin. But if you, with only God's power, tackle your heart, then the fruits of your wicked heart will fall off the tree.

When your heart is changed, it will be much easier to rid your life of sin. A heart fully controlled by the Spirit means you are walking in the Spirit. And when you walk in the Spirit, you will not perform the deeds of the flesh.



Thanks to God for inspiring this post.

Pursuing a love for God.

Several posts have the theme of victory over sin. I'm amazed at how God adds to the main story of those posts. Let me briefly touch on things again from before.

The key to having victory over sin is a hatred for sin. In order to have a hatred for sin, you must have a genuine love for God. A love that will drive out all other loves.
In order to love God, we must experience His love. "We love him because he first loved us." If we don't know God's love for us, how can we possibly love Him?
In order to experience his love, we must abide in it. Jesus in John 15 tells us to abide in His love. He also explains how we can do it--by obeying His commandments.
To prove our love, we must also keep his commandments, as Jesus also said.

So, how do we love him? To abide in his love, there must be a desire to abide in His love. "We could ask God for a love for him," you might suggest.

But, our love for God doesn't fall onto our laps. We must pursue it. If it just fell into our laps, God would not have commanded us to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might." Loving God is active, not passive.

Your heart can be cold when you are keeping his commandments. You can close your heart to God and "obey" him. God may soften your heart through the various means of "obedience."

But a pursuit to love God will produce a desire to live for God, to obey God. And when we obey God with all our heart, we will abide in his love. And when we abide in his love, we will experience his love. And when we experience his love, it provide the possibility to love him. And when we love him with our whole hearts, the love for sin will go down the drain. (* Note at bottom) And when we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.


* Satan uses two tactics when he tempts us. One is to use something tantalizing. The other is to tempt us when opportunity exists. We can have the opportunity to sin, but if the sin isn't tantalizing, we will be able to resist Satan(after our process of submitting to God. James says to submit before he says to resist).

You can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens you. You will not sin when you are walking in the Spirit. Pursue a love for God.

Your life.

Your life. It is filled with joys. It is filled also with sorrows. Sickness, pain, death, hatred, divisions...

Life would seem a senseless roller coaster of emotions. Why have pain? Why have sorrow? There would be no purpose in it...if there wasn't a Divine Orchestrator.

God chooses you when "bad" things happen. He knows you can handle it, and He wants you, with that ability to handle it, to be a beacon for Him.

No, I don't think the idea would be to stand on a pedestal when you experience hardships and proclaim the love of God. Not everyone will listen to that. What they listen to is someone who is going through similar things, who live through it with God's light showing through.

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. " -Matt 5:6


Don't look at your problems(be the genuine, or petty) and then blow up in God's face about the lack of fairness. This problem you have both molds you, and gives you an opportunity for God to mold others.

Life is a tapestry. Your discolored life of a thread weaves perfectly into the tapestry as a whole. It may be stained with the cold colors of sorrow, but placed into God's hands it shows beauty. "Beauty? My son/father/mother/sibling dying is beauty?!"

The showing of beauty is the beauty of God's hope. There is hope in every trouble in life. That hope can be ignored, or it can be harnessed, and the light of God's love revealed.


Don't dwell on the dreariness of your life. It may truly be hard and dreary. I won't minimize that possibility. But you can handle it. You can grab hold of God's hope for yourself, and then shine forth the light of God in so doing. So, please, see this problem you are facing as God telling you that he trusts you enough to choose you to shine his light to the world.

Freedom

"All my chains I can't disengage
And I don't believe that I want to
One hand sings your praise the other brings me shame
I have selfishness to blame

And I'm singing for freedom
I know I'm not the only one
Praying to the One
Who can bring me this freedom
And I'm ready for change

Broken down I lay
I keep holding my chains
No longer bound but here I stay
I scream Father please
I need rescuing I need you and you alone

And I'm singing for freedom
I know I'm not the only one
Praying to the One
Who can bring me this freedom
I'm ready for I'm ready for (change)

Still you patiently wait
Yet i won't just let go
I see you and you alone
Saying come follow me despair has come so you can see
Release

And so I'm singing for freedom
And so I'm singing for freedom

The time has come separation has lost the war to love
Take my hand grace has found you where you once began
Your alive You're alive in the waking of new life
Take my hand in the end there's only love
There's only love

There's only singing for freedom
I know I'm not the only one
Praying to the one
Who can become this freedom
And I'm ready for I'm ready for
Father please I need rescuing
I need you and you alone"

Christian lyrics - FREEDOM LYRICS - RUN KID RUN


Oh, how that describes me right now. I can't take off the chains sin has placed on me, but I don't even know if I truly want to. One half of my body praises and serves God...but then the other half serves my self--selfishly I work to satisfy my flesh.

So I sing for freedom, pray to God to free me from this sin. But he tells me He already has--on the cross and from the empty grave. I look back down to the chains on my wrists and realize I was mistaken--they weren't locked. So now they fall to my feet.

In my head, I take a step away from the chains--but in reality I remain. I break free and run as fast as I can...on stationary feet. Despite all my knowledge to run away from the chains that no longer bind me, I stay. My feet won't budge, so I scream to my Father to come and rescue me. I begin to pray, cry, sing to God to bring freedom.

God waits for me. God knows it is too important for me to choose Him, to run to Him. So He beckons me, but yet I stand here by my chains. He pleads me to forsake this folly, but my deceiving heart deafens me, and I gaze at the chains.

I see His hand reach out. His lips mouth words, and slowly my ear begins to hear the beauty of his words. "This war is won by love. In the end of it all, it is love that brings you to me, and me to you."

We love God because he loved us first. So, in order for us to love God, He must first love us. But we can't love God if we don't know fully His love. It will only be an appreciation.

Once we experience His love, we can love Him. Abide in His love, and God will abide in us. God's love will be loosened on our hearts. Then we can love God. Once we love God, the love for sin will diminish. The key to winning the war with sin--hate it!

But Jesus says to abide in His love is to keep His commandments. (John 15). So, keep his commandments, abide in His love, love Him, hate sin, and you will then take that step away from those chains.


-Kevin

Salvation

It is definitely more than a ticket out of hell. More than the pass into heaven. More than a title. More than a knowledge you are the son of the King. More than a hope for the future. More, even, than forgiveness of sins.


When Jesus rose from the dead, sins present, past, and future were forgiven. The only thing that was needed was humans to reach out and claim that forgiveness. But is that salvation? I dare say that it is not exclusively salvation.

No, salvation is change. Salvation is a relationship. Salvation is a longing to love God, and a inner hatred toward sin. Salvation changed our heart, and opened the door for the Holy Spirit to come in and breathe into our spiritually dead bodies the breath of life.

When we were dead, the dirt of sin fell on us without resistance. The rotting of sin bound us. But now we are alive! The dirt should bother us. Sin should be so excruciatingly painful.

But...how often do we view sin as it is. If our BEST ACTS are disgusting rags...how much less tantalizing are our acts of sin?

I'm not sure if hating the end result of sin is the same as hating sin. Perhaps not even hating the consequences of sin in regards to the break in our relationship with God is hating sin. Hating sin is a detest. A genuine longing for it to be demolished.

I don't think we will get victory over sin until we hate sin. And we won't hate sin until we move past the future results of sin to the present truth of sin. Sin is dethroning God from your life. Sin is placing your will over His. Sin is loving yourself more than loving Him. Sin is spitting in God's face--He offers freedom just so we can run to that which we have been set free from?

Until we hate placing ourselves on the throne, sin will lurk in the distance, and with a snap of the fingers Satan has you in his clutches.

In order to hate placing ourselves in governance, we must love placing God on His rightful throne. That means we must love to obey His wishes. Beyond that, we must love God himself. No one will ever love someone telling them what to do until they love that ruler.

Loving God means keeping His commandments. Once we love God, we can love His rule in our lives. Once we love His rule, we can hate our foolish "power" of our lives. Once we hate placing ourselves on God's throne, we can hate sin.

In order to hate sin, we must love God. If we don't completely love God, then we won't completely hate sin--and if we don't completely hate sin our hearts will be spotted with sin stains, stains we eventually hate to remove, eventually love.

Love God, hate sin. Love God's rule, hate your rule over your life. Obey God, ignore sin. "Walk ye in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh."

When the blindfold is taken off.

Kids are prone to believe with all their heart whatever those they love say. Sometimes it can go further than that. (As a kid) what your father friend believes, and your father believes too, grows on you.

Christianity. More than a religion. More than rules. It is a relationship that is derived from the longing of the heart with the Creator of your heart.

But...put your child in a sect of people that are heavy on rules and the child grows up to worry about rules as a subconscious. Being rule-wary is not wrong, but in Christianity rules should not be placed above relationships. Especially rules that may claim as being a relationship tool.

A child will be blindfolded by the trust he has to his loved ones. They seem to agree with this sect, therefore they grow to like it. They go through life wanting to do right. Wanting to make sure they are wearing socks when they go to church, that they sit in the appropriate pews, that they dress right, speak right, and look right. Sometimes this mentality will dominate their thinking wear if you do any differently, you're sinning.

No, this can't be Christianity. To make rules on dress, appearance, where to sit, who to talk to, where to go...is this truly Christianity? No doubt it is religion...but can it be Christianity?


So, this child has now lived his life up until he is close to embarking on the journey called life. He's been blindfolded to the mentality of relationship over regulations. Now suddenly the blindfold is ripped off of his eyes as he sees issues within this religious sect. The shepherd he knew for years begins to grind at his heart in a negative, non-rebuking way. The system of rules established show themselves to be extraneous.

As life is a year or two away, he has begun to make choices: Of dress, appearance, of what to do and where to go, of how to talk, and of who to be with. Basically he has begun to think for himself. But there is no doubt in his mind everything he chooses will be looked down on. But how is he to know what is right and wrong choices if those telling him he is wrong are those who make extraneous rules?

Shadows begin to cloud his plans. Circumstances arose, and now he has wondered if the choices he makes and are planning to make are right. But at the same time he knows that living in that religious sect will drain his will. Stress will build, and only time will determine when he explodes in a violent wave of distress and burden.

This is what happens when the blindfold is taken off of those with the mentality that rules supersede relationship with God. The act of removing the blindfold is not what confuses this grown child, but the sudden change of reason and views.

Now he must begin to worship God, read his Bible, build a relationship with his Creator from scratch--even though he had ample time as a small child. To blame exclusively the particular religious sect would be foolish. Though they have much faults, the decision was all on this child now grown.



Do not blindfold children into believing rules are more important that a relationship. Rules are important. But a relationship with God should be pursued, not a pursuit of the accordance with the rule book.

A relationship with God will produce personal rules that go beyond rules laid out in the Bible. But those rules(the personal ones) should not be forced on fellow believers. Especially those under you(in a church setting, not a parent setting.)


-Kevin B

God alone can satisfy.

I don't believe I am yet in a position to, from my heart, declare that only God can satisfy. Do I believe that He can only satisfy? Yes. Is it my hearts sincerest declaration? Not quite.

Why?

I don't believe God has brought me to the place where I can say all else fails under His satisfying love.

I've been struggling with an issue of satisfaction. I have yet to be persuaded(evidenced by the continuous searching for satisfaction) that God is THE ONLY source of satisfaction.

And perhaps the reason I struggle with this certain sin is to teach me to KNOW God is the only one who can satisfy. Perhaps in order to learn lessons, we must come to a point where God shows it to us with all sincerity--but that moment may not come until after we have gone through the tunnel.

Keep in mind, God does not tempt with sin(Tempt can be tempted to do wrong, or test, I believe). He does however allow us to choose what we want, because we are not robots. He can use wrong choices for our learning. He may also allow Satan to tempt you with certain things to learn lessons.


If you are struggling with sin, do that which was stated in the earlier post. If you come to the point where you are calling out for God and waiting for His Spirit to quicken you, then consider what good God is trying to teach you through your choices.

Sometimes when you do everything you can do, you have to call on the Spirit of God to bring life.

Ezekiel 37: 4-10

Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD.
So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but [there was] no breath in them.
Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.

So,Ezekiel is commanded by God to prophesy to these bones. In so doing, they would eventually come to life, and become a great army. He prophesied to them, and there was rattling and noise, and the bones came together, and the bones were covered with flesh... but the bodies were not alive.

Ezekiel did everything God told him to, but there was still no life in them. Then God tells him to call to the four corners of the world and call for God's spirit to come and breathe into them the breath of life.


Let's apply this to our spiritual lives. Sin causes death. So, we can say we are dead in sin. (Though technically this is not true once we are saved, but I hope you understand where I am coming from.)

We can try to read the Bible, try to pray, try to go to church, try to put up walls to defend against Satan's attacks, try to do our best not to commit certain sins. And yet, we fail. We 'fall' into sin again and again. Why? Because we did not have the Spirit of God breathing into our nostrils the breath of life.

We need to do what we can to combat Satan. We need to read the Bible, pray to God, go listen to the preaching of God's Word. But sometimes that isn't enough. We need God's Spirit to come in and breathe into us life and power and victory.

When you are at the end of the road, turn north and call for God's spirit; turn to the south and call for God's spirit; turn to the west and call for God's Spirit; turn to the east and call for God's Spirit. Life may come in a moment, it may come in a day, it may take a week, but call for God and he WILL come.

Stand your ground

Recently...or rather for about 2 years...I've noticed that Satan has favored a certain arrow, one that he uses frequently. Rarely does a week go by that Satan doesn't whip out his bow, ready it with his favored arrow and send it rocketing into my heart. There are places where I know he will attack, and there are places he lurks quietly in the shadows until he is ready to strike.

I've grown to be wary of those places, even though sometimes I choose to go in there. The arrow fancies me...until it pierces my heart. It glitters in the sunlight as it is in Satan's bow. The attractiveness of it ensnaring me into his seductive grasp until TWANG...Satan lets go.

However, recently God has spoken to me. If Satan can seal a deal in one area, he'll move onto another one. While we should walk circumspectly, walk with caution, peering in every way--we should not avoid EVERY place Satan sets up camp. Sometimes it is God's will for you to cross paths; running does no good.

Think of David. He was sent to bring the food to his brother who were with Saul's army in a battle against the Philistines, notably Goliath. I can't say off the top of my head if the Bible records that David knew of Goliath's presence, but even if I doesn't, I speculate David was fully aware of the enemy's presence.

He could have decided to avoid that encampment, choosing not to go to his brothers. After all, he might be attacked by the enemy. Would it not be wise to avoid circumstances that would give the enemy opportunity to attack? Whether this crossed his mind or not, he knew he had to obey his father and give his brothers the food prepared for them.

So, David packs and is on his way. I don't know how long it was from David's home to the battlefield, but I'd guess he'd play songs in worship to God at times when he took a break. He did this when he watched over his father's sheep. God fellowshipped with him, and even endowed him with strength--strength to slay a lion and a wolf(or was it a bear? I apologize, I can't remember).

When he arrived at the campsite, he gave his brothers their food, and then heard Goliath's disgrace toward God. Not willing to let God's name be bashed like that, he eventually fought Goliath face to face. Not in the useless armor that King Saul offered, but in the strength God gave him.

He got stones and his sling and went running toward Goliath. With a flick of the wrist the stone sailed out of the sling, slicing the air with great power, embedding itself into the forehead of the giant, Goliath.

God gained a victory that day. Because David chose not to flee from the enemy, but to stand fulfill God's will, fighting the enemy if needed.

This is what we need to do. We need to stand our ground in the given strength of God. We must raise our sword(the Bible) and defend and attack Satan for victory in Christ's name.

We will utterly fail if we go out in our own defenses, our own strength. We need to rely on God, depend on him to give us the victory over sin and Satan.


So gird up yourselves. Take on the whole armor of God. Take the shield of faith with which you can quench those fiery darts of the devil. Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, and gain the victory God wants you to have THROUGH Him.


-Kevin B

All the pretty things...

If you could just have one thing, what would it be?

Pretty innocent question, right? Well, I believe this is one of the first questions Satan asks us in his arsenal of attacks. Once he asks it, you ask it. If I could have just one thing--out of anything--what would it be?

Fame? Love? Money? A toy? Anything inanimate(Gadgets, appliances, car, house, etc)? Better life? Better body? Better education?

Once Satan attracts us with the lure of that question, he will plant another lure. A lure of the above things, or other things. Whichever we lurch out to, Satan will use again, forgetting the others for a spell.

He then says "Ah, so you want this. Well, what's stopping you?" He reveals to us a way to obtain whatever that thing is that we wanted. Perhaps a better job to pay for that gadget...or he gives you an opportunity to steal some cash from a friend or family member. If you take whatever opportunity he gives to obtain what you want, he will give you another and another. He wants you to have what you want, so long as you take it in his opportunities.


Uh oh. You realize what you wanted is what you can't/shouldn't have. So you back out. You turn, and return your desire to God. You think Satan will just step back, and go "Oh well, didn't work. Let's find something else."? No. Satan will continue to bombard you with that lure until he knows he can't get you with it anymore.


But Satan doesn't stop after one failure, he will continue to try out his supply of other lures. Perhaps he can snag you with love. And on and on it goes with his luring.

All the pretty things of this world are at his disposal. We are in his kingdom. He is the god(the ruler) of this world. Earth is not God's kingdom. So, Satan has EVERYTHING in this world he can use to lure you away from your love of God.


Why must we lust after things to fill our hearts with "satisfaction" when God is the One who satisfies? We fight so hard to get what we want. It all is a central longing and satisfaction: God. We want to fill the void in our hearts that God belongs in. (Not in means of salvation, but in means of relationship). God wants us to fill that void--but not with the things of the world. We can't fill the void with love, fame, toys, this and that. We can only fill our "God-void" with God.

God is all we need. He gives us strength when we are weak, peace when we are troubled, love when we feel we fall short, pleasures when we are abiding in Him, life if we dwell in him, wisdom if we lack in it, refuge when attacked, rest when we're weary, water when we thirst, and bread when we hunger. What more can we ask for, if God supplies our every need? What more do we desire if God satisfies our every desire if we give our lives to Him? What more pleasures do we seek if God flows out pleasures forevermore at his right hand?



-Kevin B

Introductions.

Welcome. This is my blog in which I will dramatize my day. For starters, my name is Kevin Barrick. I am an aspiring author, which is why I am creating this blog. It will give me writing practice which will strengthen my writing weaknesses, and polish my writing strengths.

I will write some days on thoughts, nuggets, that present themselves to me. Or on other days, I will write in added description my day, should it be on the level of interest. I hope you will stick around to read my "adventures."

Come back shortly to see my first entry!


-Kevin B.