Labels: Inspirations Thoughts
We all have to admit that Noah Webster was a pretty sharp guy. Not only did he give us the greatest reference book of all time, the accuracy of his dictionary has to be admired. Let’s give two of his definitions a quick glance:
Religion - "the belief in a God or group of gods to be worshiped."
Relationship - "the condition of being related; connection."
Genius! That’s what this is! So, when it comes to your walk with the Lord, are you a member of a religion or are you really involved in a relationship with Him? Are your beliefs just about something or truly in Someone? I’m not saying that religion or traditions are all bad, it’s just that when you are talking about Jesus Christ, relationship is just so much better! Let me explain.
Scripture tells us that even the demons know who Christ is. When Lucifer was booted out of heaven, he took a third of the heavenly host with him because they worshipped Lucifer instead of the Lord. So it’s safe to say that even demons have “religion.” They probably even have a “relationship” with Satan as well. Look around. The world is filled with sleepwalkers who settle for religion when they could have relationship. Or they settle for a relationship with a creation rather than with the Creator. Far too many of us are lulled into a false, inferior religion of habits, distractions, and addictions instead of being transformed by the insane truth that we can actually be related to God in Christ! Ephesians 1:5 says, "He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will."
Religion provides identity (who you are), security (what you’re worth) and community (who you’re with). But, so can alcohol, drugs, illicit sex, gangs...and so can materialism, intellectualism, workaholism, and peer pressure. There’s only one REAL option: to wake up from whatever lifeless religion we practice and trade it all for a living relationship with Jesus Christ! Later in Ephesians, the apostle Paul writes:
"’Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’ Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.” Ephesians 5:13b-17
I didn’t wake up from my sleep walk until I was 21 years old. I was shaken awake by my parents’ prayers and by the strong love and witness of a youth pastor in my community. Isn’t it time all of us woke up? Or time we helped wake-up our friends? Don’t waste another day!
Today’s prayer: Lord, it IS the strangest day when we wake up to find that everything we think is real and meaningful ISN’T real or meaningful without You. Help me continue to lay aside anything that keeps me from growing closer to You. Lead me to share Your new life with my friends and family. Help me to understand Your will through Bible study, fellowship, and prayer with You. Thank you for the relationship I have with You through your grace and love. Amen
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Friday, March 31, 2006
THE DAY RELIGION DIED
posted by JoN3d!5oN @ 21:04
Saturday, March 18, 2006
HONEST TO GOD
Labels: Inspirations Thoughts
Track #6: "SEARCH ME, KNOW ME"
From the album The Strangest Day
Most people know the Bible story of David and Goliath: a shepherd boy with a slingshot and some smooth stones who takes down a nine-feet tall Philistine killing machine. And then David grows up to be king and lives happily ever after. And--oh yeah--along the way, he writes some pretty Psalms.
But this is only half the truth. The other half is the trauma and turmoil that fills David’s whole life. The prophet Samuel anoints him king while he’s still an awkward adolescent. The reigning king, Saul, is so jealous of David’s growing popularity after he kills Goliath that he tries to kill David even as David becomes best friends with Saul’s son (and heir to the throne), Jonathan. David has to flee and eventually takes refuge among the same Philistines he had defeated earlier. Eventually, David takes the throne after Jonathan and his brothers die in battle along with Saul.
To make matters worse, King David—who already has a castle full of concubines—sees a young woman bathing as he looks down from the heights of his palace. He lusts after her, has sex with her, gets her pregnant, and then arranges for her husband to be killed in battle so that he won’t be disgraced. And even though he has committed adultery, theft, murder, coveting, and who-knows-what-else in just this one episode, David is a man loved by God. This irresistible love breaks David’s heart and calls him to confession, repentance, and a rededication of his life to the Lord. This was a common cycle for David, and I must confess that it is a common cycle for me as well.
I’m not proud of the sin in my own life. But I am amazed that no matter the mess I’m in, God’s grace reaches deeper. No matter how far I stray, God’s love reaches farther. God is never shocked or surprised by what brings me to my knees. In fact, He uses all these circumstances to draw me closer to Him.
I can relate to a guy like David, and the lyrics he wrote might as well have come right out of my own spiritual journal. Hear his words of confession and submission:
Today’s prayer:
Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me.You know when I sit and when I rise;You perceive my thoughts from afar...Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?If I go up to the heavens, you are there, If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn,If I settle on the far side of the sea,Even there your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast....Search me, O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. —Psalm 139:1-4, 7-10, 22-24 (NIV)
posted by JoN3d!5oN @ 20:55
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
COMING TO OUR SENSES
Labels: Inspirations Thoughts
God created us for Himself and for one another. He created the intimacy of marriage, where one man would spend one lifetime with one woman. God purposefully made us sexual beings with a need for spiritual, emotional, and physical intimacy.
But we blew it. And we continue to choose lust over love and intensity over intimacy. Why? Because sin thrills us. The irony is that sin is never truly satisfying, and every time we experience the "rush," it numbs us more and more until it takes more and more to stimulate us. Just as drug abusers need harder and harder drugs to get the same high, what starts as a curiosity with swimsuit issues can develop into a hard-core porn addiction. The rush from playing violent video games can degenerate into watching "snuff" videos and fantasizing about "blowing away" schoolmates. The flip side of the coin is that drugs, porn, and video violence can also be an escape from the pain—or hopelessness—of real life...a sort of "self-medication."
Either way, the result is the same: spiritual numbness, physical addiction, and emotional dissatisfaction. The standard answer is "Just Say No"...but that only leaves a void screaming out to be filled. The Lord’s answer is "Just Say Yes." Say, "yes" to honest confession, broken-hearted repentance, Spirit-filled sanctification, and brother-to-brother accountability. A strong passion can only be replaced by a stronger one:
"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
--Galatians 5:16-25 (NIV)
Today’s prayer: Lord, help me experience Your love and acceptance with such power that any substitutes pale in comparison to Your mercy and grace. Help me confess and repent from sinful actions and attitudes. Help me say "yes" to Spirit-empowered character so that saying "no" to sin is the most natural thing in the world. Wrap me in the arms of Your love so that no other passion will ever satisfy me. Amen.
posted by JoN3d!5oN @ 20:48
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
SAVED TO SERVE
Labels: Inspirations Thoughts
One morning, as our drummer and I were checking out of our hotel, we overheard a man talking loudly on a cell phone. He was definitely upset about something. We didn't hear the whole conversation, but what he said right before he hung up was enough to inspire Josh and I to write a song. He said, "Look, I'm just sick of being part of the problem. I just want to be part of the solution." Brilliant...
The world is at war, but not one fought with guns and bombs. Instead, our warfare is spiritual (Ephesians 6:12). And like the Battle of New Orleans in the War of 1812, our battle actually takes place after the victory has been won. Strange, but true.
Christ defeated sin and hell when He died on the Cross. When He rose from the dead, Jesus demonstrated his Lordship over everything and everyone. When we accept His free gift of salvation, we are transformed from "prisoners of war" to "spiritual warriors." But in spite of God’s claim upon our reborn lives, we Christians often fall right back into our old habits and patterns, forgetting who and Whose we are. It’s bad enough that we do this to ourselves...but bailing out means that others may remain in spiritual darkness and perhaps even die in their sin.
The apostle Paul writes: "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone; the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the ministry of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." 1 Corinthians 5:17-20a. (NIV)
Did you catch that? "As if God were making His appeal through US!" Through you...and ME! That seems rather risky. I mean...I know ME. I’ve lived with ME my whole life. I’ve been a lying druggie and a homeless runaway. I’ve spat in my parent’s face, rejected God’s love, and disobeyed God’s Word. Even after Christ saved me, I’ve been insensitive, incompetent and indifferent. And yet, God is making me responsible for His mission. But God didn’t choose us because we’re good, he chose us because He’s good. Even stranger, but even more true.
My generation has made a good living out of being cynical. It’s so easy to be against EVERYTHING. The whole Grunge music scene in the Northwest snuffed out anything hopeful until it finally snuffed itself out. The curretn generation has not really been against everything – as much as it’s been for nothing. The pendulum has now swung from anger to indifference. I’m not sure which is worse. But I am sure that every believer can choose to stand FOR hope. We can stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution. And no one is a more believable ambassador for the Kingdom than someone whose butt has been literally pulled out of hell by the King Himself. Let’s cut the whining, pick up our spiritual weapons, and follow our Leader into battle.
Today’s prayer: Jesus, thank You for saving me to serve. Help me to hear and obey Your voice. Help me to hear the voices of those who still need to be rescued from the same sins You saved me from. Use me to lead a revolution within my world of influence. Help me be part of the solution... Your solution. Amen.
posted by JoN3d!5oN @ 09:53