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Idol Worship

Idol Worship

 

1 John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen

In the previous post, I talked about the void in each of us that causes feelings like a lack of value or rejection. It’s a hole that only God can fill though we try to fill it by numerous ways to our own destruction.

Those things or ways by which we try to fill that void become idols in our lives. For me, my chief idol was trying to be perfect. If I was perfect (by my definitions), then I would have the value I sought and fill that void within me. It was a place of utter bondage, as you can imagine. Yet, all idols are bondage.

An idol is anything we trust in when we should be trusting God. Idols keep us from experiencing God to the extent that He desires and we desire, because we are putting something in a place and role that is meant for only Him. They create barriers to deepening our relationship with Him.

In what ways have you tried to fill that void? What is the driving motive to those ways? That is your chief idol. Turning from that core idol affects all the rest. Everything you do should be driven by the motive love, nothing else. Anything else signifies you are trusting in something else when you should be trusting God.

If we confess and repent of that chief idol and turn to let God fill that place, then He will deliver us from it. God is the deliver, not us. It’s by His strength that we are set free. Our part is to seek to align our will to His in desiring to turn from that dependency and be wholly dependent on Him.

God wants us to live an abundant life of delights in our soul. He is the one to take us there. To come to a point to trust Him enough to let go of all those things we’ve trusted to give us value, we have to deeply know God. Trust is the fruit of knowing, thus seeking God is the foundation to all else. When we seek Him, we will come to know and trust Him. In that trust, we will be able to truly let go. Then, we will discover a freedom, peace, rest and joy that is astounding.

Letting Go

Won’t let go, holding on tight
Until the end, I won’t give up the fight

I strive to be all I can be
Hoping it will make me truly free

Always one more struggle to face
One more issue to unlace

How much longer Lord?
How much longer?

I want to be who you desire
The woman of truth, love and fire

You’re fighting a losing battle, one you can’t win
It isn’t your strength to gain, but mine to let in.

In trying to be strong, you block my grace
My friend, your running the wrong race

Let go, trust Me, be weak, then you’ll be free

More than you’ll ever need to be free
It isn’t found in you, but in Me.

In dependence, you will find
A new power of your mind

It’s a paradox for sure
Be weak to find the cure

My strength is perfected in weakness
Because you trust my infinite greatness

A reservoir for every need without end
An endless supply at every bend

You’ll never be without Me, nothing to fear
You’re in my hands, close and dear

Don’t trust in your ability
Look to the power of the trinity

Trust in Me, rest in Me, be in Me
Then you’ll be truly free.

~ Rachel DiPaolo


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Seeing without Blinders

Seeing without Blinders: Organized Religion

I’m expanding on the previous post; Why leave the Church System (CS). In hopes to spur diligently seeking, I further explain why it’s imperative to leave the corruption of the CS and cling to the Truth and the true temple of God, a place made without hands. Luke 17:21

As individual seeking is deemed unnecessary (see previous post), those in the CS receive an “image” of God “handed” to them by “trusted authorities.” This receiving without discernment, creates a gateway for deception. It opens the pathway for false images to arise. It opens the door for the father of lies to enter in. Without individual seeking, which leads to discernment, truth and spiritual understanding, darkness prevails. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10

The number of professing believers who diligently seek God to know Him as He is through the Bible by the instruction of the Holy Spirit are few. Thus in the CS there are numerous ways for the father of lies to covertly spew his poison. There comes a point where the deception spreads and takes over the entity. A little leaven affects the whole lump. Lies breed corruption and spiritual decay.

God knew this corruption would happen. It’s foretold through the prophets to warn us. As a result, in the end as a part of judgment, God gives the CS over to its own corruption as it’s released into the hands of the enemy. Revelation 18:2 God allows the people to walk the path they have chosen, which is to follow and heed “religious leaders” instead of Him. As a result, the enemy now reigns where he shouldn’t. Lamentations 2:7, Matt 24:15. When we see this happening, we are told to flee, and not to go back for any reason. Matthew 24:16-18

In Lamentations 4:12, it says no one would believe that God would let the enemy take over the sanctuary. Read the Bible again and you see that He has and He will as a part of judgment. For those seeking and “watching”, they see what the CS has become – an inhabitation of every foul thing Revelation 18:2, a den of thieves, and place where souls are destroyed as they are kept from entering into the kingdom. This is powerful language of the Bible to make an insurmountable point.

But I don’t see evil people in my church. Over and over we are warned that the enemy looks humble, kind, godly… is transformed into ministers of light and righteousness, wolves in sheep clothing.  2 Corinthians 11:12-15 What will that look like? Remember it’s deception. They don’t appear as slick salesmen (well, some do); they look like the humble and godly person. Even someone with “good” intentions can be lead astray. A soul without discernment because of a lack of LOVE for the truth is a breeding ground for lies regardless of how nice.

What is so evil? We are doing nice things. The father of lies is moving in. John 8:44 God’s definition of evil and good are different from this world’s definitions. Evil is anything counter to God’s will. The greatest evil is that disguised as good.  Without individual seeking, an image of God is being manifested in the CS that defines good and evil and keeps people from seeing the truth. Our eternal life is knowing the true God; not some image. John 17:3

But my church references the Bible … One of Satan’s greatest tactics is using God’s words and twisting them to make them a lie. It’s what lures people in because there is an element of truth. He did this with Eve and Jesus. Satan uses the Bible for his purposes to destroy, which you see throughout church history. For those who lack a LOVE for the truth, they won’t be able to discern between the holy and profane. They don’t see the twisting of the scriptures. Thus, they are given into the delusion that puts them on the path to destruction. It’s like being lost to the world’s lies. A lie is a lie. As the CS keeps people from true seeking, those inside are kept from the light, thus darkness spreads.

This corruption and evil that is destroying souls is why true seekers are leaving. In diligent seeking, eyes are open to see what is taking place in the CS. The sanctuary is being given over for judgment and the impending plagues.  Examine the lives of those in the CS and your own. In the CS, you will experience the plagues that come upon it. Revelation 18:4 Therefore, you have to leave. Most are expecting plagues that look the same in each life. What looks the same is the suffering, but how they’re manifested appears different. Revelation 9:17-18.

In seeking, you see the signs and leave. If you haven’t been seeking, you will stay because you are following the religious leaders who tell you why you should be there. What voice you have been following is the voice you will heed.

Why would God give His people over? They turned from following Him. They followed an image of Him instead of Him. Matthew 7:22-23 (read these) They followed their own will. From the beginning God set before us life and death; His way or our way. Most haven’t sought to really know God’s way and fully chosen Him. God is giving them over to the choice they have made, themselves.

God is love. Sometimes the greatest act of love is allowing someone to walk their own path to learn it isn’t life so that they will turn to the One who is life. Many are living what they think is life, but are swimming in the mud-pit. God wants them free.

Jeremiah 23:15-30, 16:9-12

Seek. Psalm 34:10 Embrace God, His truth, and the instruction of the Holy Spirit. Desire the fellowship of the true believers who are the temple, a place without walls. Instead of each week receiving messages leading to spiritual depravity, each day dive into a fellowship with God seeking His face in the Bible to know Him and trust Him. Instead of heeding the voice of a person, heed God’s voice. Seek to draw near to God in truth and spirit and not to the doctrines of the religious leaders.

It’s the Word of God that saves and sanctifies. John 17:17. It’s the truth that will save you in the end.

Seek the truth from God. Stop following others. Start following Him.


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Drawing Close to God

Drawing Close to God

The ultimate choice we have to make is between following God and following self. Following God leads to eternal life and following self leads to death. To be in unity with God, we have to turn from our self-will (true repentance) and follow God’s will. In following God we seek to do only His will, just as Jesus did. John 5:30 But we don’t know God’s will unless we seek to know – thus why God tells us to seek and live. Amos 5:4 When following self we do what we think is good and right – whatever it is.

To learn about God through the Bible a similar approach must be taken in order to draw near to God in truth and spirit – we have to deny self.

God tells us to believe in Him. The Bible with the instruction of the Holy Spirit is a gateway to deeply knowing God so we can believe in Him as He is. This venue isn’t everyone’s; for we are all unique. But it is a part of my journey, and for you who feel called to this thought-provoking venue will resonate with my journey.

Reading the Bible isn’t about learning “techniques of good living” to then fulfill our own purposes and desires. We have to let go of all our self-will in coming to God in order to really know God and for Him to be our Lord.

There are three areas of denying our self-will when abiding in the Bible in order to learn about God, thus draw near in truth and Spirit.

The first area is in regards to making time to seek God. It’s putting abiding in the Bible to be taught by the Holy Spirit as the priority. Consider all the times you’ve put something above spending time with God, when God has told you to seek Him first. Matthew 6:33 Times you choose to sleep in, attend to another person, do a task, or get consumed in work. At those times, YOU are deciding what is more important versus doing what GOD has told you to do – love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, to put Him first, and to diligently seek Him. This choice to do what you want is following your self-will. When you continue this pattern, deep down you think you know better, otherwise you would do what God says. So who’s will is dominating in you?

The second area is who you focus on when you do abide in the Bible. To get to know God through the Bible, you have to set your needs, wants, and expectations aside and focus on God. If you read the Bible with the mindset and motive that is focused on you, then you aren’t denying self, you are putting self first. You are putting your self-will and what you think the time in the Bible should be about above seeking to know God. Instead of saying, God, what do you want to teach me? What do you want me to know about you? It’s always about fixing you, searching for a certain answer, or preparing for a Bible study. Whose will is in control at this point?

If your interactions with your spouse were always about you, you would learn very little about her/him. There would be no true intimacy or bond. You would do what you thought that person wanted, but you really wouldn’t have a clue. You haven’t sought to know him/her intimately because every interaction has been about you. Therefore you wouldn’t have a real relationship, certainly not a healthy one. With God it’s the same. We have to realize we don’t know God unless we individually seek to know Him. Until we do we have a false image of Him, which means we have a false relationship. It’s necessary to seek Him while putting ourselves aside to know Him as He is. Then we’ll start to develop a real relationship.

The third area has to do with conforming the Bible to your beliefs versus the Bible molding your beliefs. It’s realizing that you have filters and ways of viewing God and the Bible that are wrong. That you hold ideas that you think are “truth” but aren’t. When you come to learn of God, you have come with a humble heart which is willing to receive and hear anything God may teach you instead of trying to fit the Bible to your paradigms. If you think you already know, you don’t really seek. You conform what you read and hear to what you already believe. If you think you already know then who are you following when you abide in the Bible?

In order to know God through the Bible, there is a choice to make, God or self. It’s a prelude to the ultimate choice of choosing Him in everyway over our self-will.

The way to life is choosing God. The only way for the Bible to be unsealed to you so you can draw near to God in truth and spirit is to choose God in these areas. If you don’t deny self when coming to the Bible to be taught by the Holy Spirit, then you are reading for your own purposes and goals based on what you think is good. Your will is in control. This is how the Pharisees could know the scriptures, but be totally off. They used them to fulfill what they determined was right and good.

God has to be first. He is Lord. He can’t be second.

One side note, letting go of self-will isn’t about losing your identity. It’s coming to the understanding that God’s will is good and leads to true life and therefore that is what you want to do. If you were walking through a dense forest and you had a guide with you who knew the best and safest way to get through it, what would you do? You would follow him. Same with God. God knows the path to life. We walk with Him when our will is submitted to Him because then we are walking in His footsteps. The journey leads us to what we’ve always truly and deeply desired, because God is that good.

Tomorrow when you sit down to learn about God through the Bible consider these three areas. Ask the Spirit to examine your heart; are you really making this about God and seeking Him or about you?


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Holy Spirit as Our Teacher

Blog Talk Radio:  Holy Spirit as Our Teacher

 

20150224_141008A new PODCAST (click here to listen)is available on trusting the Holy Spirit as our Teacher. It’s an important topic for us all to consider and to examine our lives by.

Overview: An essential element to cultivating a deep and real relationship with God is trusting God to teach us about Himself. Believers have been given the Holy Spirit to teach them all things. But often we lack trust in this perfect teacher. In this audio, I talk about the Holy Spirit as our teacher and why it is critical to trust Him in this role in our lives.


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What Are You Made Of?

What Are You Made Of?


Mark of Self – the one you don’t want
Revelation 13:17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.

Mark of God – the One you want
Ezekiel 9:4 and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”

The other day at the gym, I saw a man with a tattoo on his forearm of a bar code with the words “Made in Rio” above it. It struck me, the mark we bear reflects by whom we are made, thus by what we are made of? The man with the tattoo was “made in Rio” – a part of that heritage, culture, beliefs, and family. Each of us is a part of one of two entities made up of a heritage, beliefs, and family …

Ultimately, there are two options by which you can “be made of”; self or God. There is no neutral ground. Either you are made of God or made of self, which is under the sway of “evil” (what is contrary to love) because it is counter to God. 1 John 5:19 What we are made of starts in our minds and in our wills – that is why the mark is on the head (mind) or on the hand (will). Revelation 13:16

Which mark do you bear? Take time to contemplate this question in the light of Truth. Many are deceived in thinking they bear the mark of God when it’s truly of self; for that is what deception is.

What makes up your thoughts? What do you meditate on? Ideas of people, religion, or philosophies of this world? In what do you really trust? What do your actions show?

Have you experienced a renewal of your mind, a mind transformed from seeking your will to God’s will? To be spiritually minded instead of carnally minded?

Whose will do you truly desire to do? Yours or God’s? Do you desire to do what you think God wants or do you spend time daily with Him to truly know Him and His will so you can walk in it?

Who do you serve truly?

To have the mark of man is to strive to serve this life. It means you live by the wisdom of the world. You trust this wisdom fulfill your desires and purposes. You try to be the best in and of this world. Your mind is filled with thoughts and beliefs of people, institutions, etc. It’s ultimately about serving you; of course this can wear many disguises because to outwardly do so would be “selfish”. But that is at its core. You know best. The world tells you if you don’t live according to its wisdom, then you won’t advance. You can’t “buy and sell” unless you follow its protocol, bear its mark, own its philosophies and follow them, that is the only way you’ll advance to becoming to who you want to be, which will ultimately fulfill you and be good, of course.

Let’s dig a bit deeper. You feel you strive to do what is right and good. Even if you are oriented to be a good person isn’t that really serving your own need to be good and feel justified? Jesus said only God is good. Luke 18:19 So why do people strive for to be good outside of God? Possibly it makes us believe there is a change. We are different. We are special. We will be in God’s good graces, though we aren’t seeking His goodness. The only true transformation comes by the hand of God and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. It isn’t about our efforts but Him living and working through us. Many will be surprised in the end to see that they were really serving self, or the image of God constructed by self, but not God. They haven’t sought God to know Him to truly follow Him. How can you follow who you don’t know?

To be truly born again from above and to have a transformed mind is to “be made of” God. It means you have sought the truth to the extent to make a choice between self or God. Only the truth dispelling the lies of this world enables you to see past the deception the self will for what it is, death and destruction. With the knowledge of the truth of God and His ways, you let self go (true repentance) to follow God’s ways that bring peace, love, joy, rest, and life. Bearing God’s mark means you seek to live with God as Lord of your life, not you. Therefore, you seek to know God, know His ways and seek His counsel in all areas so you can walk in it. He is your first love. You meditate on the things of God. You want to advance and grow in the wisdom of God, not man, therefore you spend time seeking God’s wisdom not man’s. To seek God, to know, trust and live in and by Him is to be made of God.

Who owns you truly? Do you feel like a slave to this life? To the things of this life? How much time do you spend seeking God? How are you trying to advance in your life? All these things tell you who you are really serving, thus what mark you truly bear.


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The Choice

The Choice
Whom Will We Serve

 

2 Chronicles 15:12-13 – and whoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman.

Luke 14:26-27 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

Some powerful verses, aren’t they?

The Choice

We have a choice to make; a choice between God’s will and our will. Are we going to follow our way and what we think is best or are we going to follow God? Which we choose will determine if we enter into the kingdom of God.

We can only choose if we know what our choice is. Therefore, we have to learn who God TRULY is and who we TRULY are. Only then can we decide. Otherwise we may be choosing ourselves and not realize it or choosing a false image of God, not God.

This choice is the one Adam had to make. He chose himself when he chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He decided he could choose what was right, good and best in his life. Like Adam, we all have this choice to make, our way or God’s. But first we have to see God and see ourselves.

Born into Self-Will (sin)

We are born in this world following our self (sin) – like the fallen Adam. Bound to this self will, we learn to trust our pride, strength, intellect, ideas of what good is, and goodness. Our trust is in us. What we trust is our idol/god. We experience life with us at the helm. We see what it manifests. We have no idea that there is another option because it is all we know. We are blinded to God’s way. We haven’t learned of it therefore can’t chose Him or walk in it. We will do what we know. What we know we trust.

Then something in our spirit awakens. We become aware that there is another way; to trust God instead of us. This first awakening is what people acknowledge with the “sinner’s prayer” – it’s simply awareness. This awareness plays out in four ways as in the parable of the sower of the field. Matthew 13 Only the seed, the Word, that falls on good soil continues on and prospers. Good soil is the soul nourished with the spirit and truth. Though many have awareness only a fraction choose God.

Seeking God to Choose Him

Until we seek God grounded in the Bible with the instruction of the Holy Spirit, we don’t have the information to make the choice of truly denying ourselves to follow God. John 6:45 One, we aren’t fully aware of the self that is contrary to God (sin is a symptom of self, it’s self, the source, we are to repent, turn from) second we don’t know God deeply enough to trust Him with our lives. How do you really trust what you don’t know?

At this awakening, we can choose to pursue God or not. Pursuing God means seeking Him with all our hearts to know Him deeply and personally. It isn’t easy. It takes commitment to diligently seek. We need to get to know God amidst all the deception that fills our lives, which keeps us from this very act. Lies like you don’t need to seek, you don’t need to read the Bible, you just need to do be a good person, and you are too busy. There are many counterfeit substitutes within spirituality to keep us from digging deeper so we can truly make a choice for God and believe.

If you believe there is gold in your backyard what will you do? Go dig. If you believe God is your God what will you do? Go dig. If you believe only God is righteous and you aren’t therefore you don’t know what is truly good, then you will seek God and His ways and truth because you are clueless. You’ll desire to draw near and know Him. Faith without works is dead. Faith is believing and trusting in God and His ways. You can’t follow what you don’t know. To truly know God as He is and not some image concocted by you or this world, you have to get to intimately know Him. You have to get to know God and His ways in order to follow them. You don’t choose what you don’t know and trust. Believe is a loaded word.

This need to seek is why the path is narrow to life and few find it. Matthew 7:13-14 It takes commitment and diligence in seeking God. This is why many are called few are chosen. Matthew 22:14 Of the called, few choose to seek out God and get to know Him as He is. For those who truly seek God, they are able to choose between themselves and God because they understand what the choice entails.

Christian Image – False Security

One of the greatest distractions from seeking is buying into the image of a follower of God. Once you think you’ve found, you stop seeking.

This “image of a Christian” keeps people from seeking. (One who lives the manufactured Christian lifestyle) This manufactured image misleads people into thinking they made a choice when they haven’t. This “image” has a fundamental trait – no real necessity to seek God to get to know Him. It deludes people into thinking they have God when they don’t because outwardly they’ve changed their actions. They have only heard the call but they haven’t sought to really be able to make the choice. They are still following self.

In Matthew 7:22-23, people were doing great acts in God’s name. But they were doing what they thought best, thus living by their righteousness and not God’s. They never spent time to really get to know God. They lived the image of a Christian but were far from truly being a Christian.

This is why God says to seek Him. Amos 5:4 In seeking, you get to see who He truly is and who you truly are. In that awareness, you are able to choose between Him and you. Choosing Him is believing in Him. Believing means He is Lord in word and action. This is true faith.


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KNOW God’s Love

KNOW God’s Love

 

God is love. All He does is in love. 1 John 4:8

A wealthy wise woman had a beautiful daughter. That daughter was the source of her affection, delight, and love. The woman desired to give her all that she had, but gave only what was best for her daughter because she loved her greatly. She would never do anything that would cause her harm.

As the daughter grew she began to doubt and question the love of her mother and what she could and wanted to give her. She couldn’t understand why she couldn’t do everything she wanted when she wanted. She listened to her friends who mischievously caused her to doubt and question her mother’s intentions. She listened to people who didn’t know her mother. She listened to people who wanted to destroy her mother.

The young girl decided to go out on her own. She separated herself from her mother and her love and from the richness of life she desired to give her. She struggled to make ends meet; she made a slew of bad decisions bringing on pain and heartbreak. She lived in fear, worries and anxieties. All she knew was a corrupted love from people who wanted to take advantage of her. She never knew true love. The mother’s love never faded. She longed for her daughter. But she couldn’t force her to know her love. It was her daughter’s choice.

What stands in the way of this girl and knowing her mother’s love are lies. Influences of the world led her to believe something different than what was real, but her belief created her reality. Like this young girl, lies prevent you from seeing God and thus experiencing the fullness of His love. This world governed by darkness has constructed a web of lies that keep you from knowing the love of God. The lies penetrate every dimension of life. The lies, starting in childhood, bind you and keep you from the truth like the importance of seeking God in His Word (the gateway in this lost world to deeply knowing God thus His love), the true value you have, the true nature of love, and God’s perfect love toward you. Trapped in lies; fear, worry and anxieties abound because you can’t see God and His love for you. Knowing God’s love brings peace, rest, and joy to all circumstances because you can trust His love and that He is perfecting all that concerns you. Psalm 138:8

The fundamental aspect you need to know, deeply know, about God is He is love and loves you. Without this understanding you can’t really trust Him. Most assume they know God’s love, especially Christians. However, they are often the ones most blinded to their lack of knowing because they THINK they know. When you think you know, you don’t seek. Many have stopped seeking or never really started. They are consumed and blinded by their activities, good works, programs and ministries all in the name of God, yet they’ve forgotten God in the process. Revelation 2:2-4 As a result, they don’t really know God’s love because they haven’t spent time getting to personally know Him. All they know is what they’ve been told. Knowing God leads to experiencing His love. Knowing comes from passionately seeking Him one-on-one, not in a group.

Fears, worries, doubts and anxieties are all signs of lacking a deep understanding of God’s perfect love. If you could plainly see God you would never have another fear, worry or anxious thought. 1 John 4:18 You would see how every aspect of your life as God’s child is under the watchful care of loving Father. Luke 12:29-32 Deep knowledge of His love brings all His desires for you to reality – truth, dependence on Him, unity with Him, peace, rest, and a life of faith.

What you believe creates your reality. If you believe in God’s love you can trust Him and follow His voice wherever He leads. If you doubt His love for you, you won’t be able to fully surrender to Him, how could you? Our work is to believe. Believe in God. Believe in His love for us. John 6:29 Because of the deception and lies that abound, it’s work to believe in such an amazing and perfect love and get to a place of true peace and rest.

How do you penetrate this web of lies to deeply know God and His love? You have to cultivate a deep relationship with God, then you’ll know His love. Seek to know God within the framework of Truth, His Word. The Bible is the doorway out of the web of lies to the truth. Through it the Holy Spirit teaches you and shows you who God really is. It’s a process of pealing back the layers of lies you’ve held since birth. The lies you hold run deep and many below your conscious level. It takes diligent seeking and a love for the truth. But, God promises if you seek you will find. Luke 11:9 Realize you are bound in a web of lies that keep you from an intimate relationship with God. Knowing the truth is what sets you free. Don’t let this world lost to depravity keep you blinded to all that God desires for you.

As you get to know God, then you will honestly choose God and a life united to Him. You will begin to experience rest and peace in all things as the fears, worries and anxieties start to fade. Like the young girl, it’s a lack of understanding that keeps you distant from God. Draw near to Him in truth, and you will find a loving God who will astound you. Never think there isn’t love for you from God. That thought simply means you don’t know Him. But if you believe in that lack, then that is how you will live your life, not trusting God and thus living apart from Him instead of in unity where all His blessings reside for you. He loves you. All He does for you is done in perfect love. James 1:17 This truth is what you are to seek in this life and once you discover it – you’ll be able to trust God as He calls you to.

Deeply, personally knowing God is the foundation for all for it enables you to truly choose Him as your Lord and Savior. You won’t trust Him to be Lord of your life if you don’t know and trust in His love for you. You will continue to hang onto your own self will and life for that is what you know and trust.


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Love Letters to God

Love Letters to God 

In the last post, I recommended writing two love letters to God; one reflecting where you are today in your relationship with God and one where you would like to be.

The first commandment is:

Matthew 12:30 ‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

How many of us actually live a life that fulfills this commandment? What do you do with someone you love? Do you do the things that cultivate a relationship with God in which you can love Him with all your heart, soul and mind? Sadly most are more concerned about following the commandments of men (i.e. being in church) and those are put first, while this one is lost in the busyness.

I challenge you to put God first. Seek for Him to be your first love.  Do what it takes to Love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Spend quality time with Him each day getting to know Him through His Word; talking, listening, sharing and growing in unity. Seek to learn from and listen to His Holy Spirit given to you.  Start by writing a love letter describing your relationship today and then write one for where you want to be. Then you’ll know where you are headed and then DO what it TAKES to get there.

Here are a few exerts from the letters I wrote. How limited our words are.

Exerpt of my Love Letter of Today

My Lord,

How my heart longs for you; your presence, love and truth. You are my everything. Apart from you I’m nothing and can do nothing. You are my life.  

Time with you each day means so much. I cherish each moment we spend together. It ills me to miss it. Your words spoken to me are perfect. You always know just what to say and when to say it. My heart longs to hear your voice constantly. Let your whispers ring clear in my ears. Be ever so close to me.

Thank you for the love you’ve shown me. It’s one far purer, deeper and more real than I’ve ever known. Thank you for the strength, peace and help you give me. Your faithfulness is my hope, delight and strength. I feel protected in our embrace. The shelter of your strong countenance give me peace.

I love you Lord. I want to know you more. I want more of you to consume me as I’ve tasted your goodness.

Exerpt of my Love Letter of the Future

My Lord,

We are bound, You and I, in the soul. We do everything together in unity of will, truth and love. You are the love of my life. Your love pulsates through me and others feel that vibration. I can’t stop talking of You for you consume my thoughts and my life. Our oneness is deep, rich, powerful and passionate. Only in your strength do I breathe. I see and feel you in every step and at every turn. Your words of wisdom fill my thoughts; I can’t wait to hear what you will say next. They leave room for nothing else.

All day long I hear your sweet whispers to me. In everything I think of and consult you, for our lives are one. I’m clothed in your love. May your fountain of living waters never cease to fill me. May there never be a separation between you and I.

You are my joy, strength and life. Your love is sweeter than any I’ve known. It changes, renews and refreshes me. I feel captivated by your love. I’ve never felt more alive than I do now.

Your spirit moves in me like a gentle breeze. It never leaves; even in the stillness the power of your spirit is evident.

I long for you and yet you are always there. I hunger for more and you constantly fill me up. There is no love like your love.

I feel the fortress of your countenance surround me and in you nothing can harm me.

Our footsteps are as one. My mind never wanders from your truth. My eyes never glance at another. I’ve know the perfection of our ways, there is no one who can compare.

In you my energy is boundless, I could run forever. Yet the rest and peace that fills every breath creates a balance of perfection.

With your hand under me there isn’t anything I can’t do; no challenge I can’t conquer. Your care for me overwhelms me.

I am most blessed among all to know your love. May you be the love of my life for eternity.

There is no better time than NOW to start getting to truly know God as He is so that you can truly love Him as He is.


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New Year – Time for Goal Setting

New Year – Time for Goal Setting

Crumble up that piece of paper with your New Year’s goals and resolutions. We’re starting over, unless this word above is at the top of your list as the building blocks of your life.

As the New Year dawns, setting goals is a task that comes to many of our minds. We’re reminded of the goals we set last year, all the ones we didn’t accomplish (sigh) and the ones we did (yeah!) We reflect back on how life didn’t go as planned and wonder why we bother setting goals in the first place. Some of us resolve not to set goals so that we aren’t disappointed despite the proven fact that those who set goals accomplish far more than those who don’t.

As you are thinking about your priorities this next year, I want you to consider ONE very important goal. The most important goal you will every make because it affects all the others; a goal given to you by YOUR God. The first and most important activity you partake of in your life. Love God with all your heart, soul and mind.

Mark 12:30 ‘And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment

What do you do when you love someone? Think about the love of your life or the one you hope for. You can’t wait to see them. You make them a priority. You reorganize your days because of them. You are devoted. They consume your thoughts. You can’t get enough of their presence. You talk and listen, you hang on every word. You replay what they said in your head trying to figure out what they really meant. You share your inner most thoughts. You aren’t always hanging out with just their family and friends. You want to be alone and intimate.

This passionate engagement is how we should be with God. Drawing close to Him means abiding in His words and letting them permeate our lives in faith, stirring the deep. Just as we long to hear the thoughts, desires, will, and concerns of those we love, if we love God or want to grow in love with Him we will spend time with Him in His Word, listening, talking, sharing, and growing. And being with the family, other believers is wonderful, but it doesn’t and can’t replace alone time with Him.

Here is a little test for you. Who do you say God is to you? Do your actions match your words? Many say they love God, but their choices and how they spend their time tells a different story. Let yours tell the same story. Be authentic. Be real.

If God is YOUR God, don’t you want to know (deep personal knowing) Him, especially because He tells you to know Him? Wouldn’t you want to know the One you are trusting with your life? Isn’t it true that we actually can’t truly trust without knowing?

I challenge you in this New Year to make your actions match your words. Make God a priority, THE priority. Spend quality time with Him each day in prayer, reading the Bible, and listening to His counsel. Spend time with Him as you would with someone you love. Treat Him like YOUR God. Treat Him like YOUR first love.

If you didn’t set another goal but this one, it wouldn’t matter because this is the only one that truly matters and when you do this simple act it affects every other purpose and plan you have.

A good goal is SMART

Specific – Decide on a place and time each day to meet with God.
Measurable – Track the times you spend with Him.
Attainable – Chose a time that you’ll be able to be consistent. Consistency helps habits to form.
Realistic – Be realistic – like 40 minutes each day verses 2 hours.
Timely – There is no better time than now to make God THE priority in your life.

Over 10 years ago, I started seeking God and spending time with Him each day. It was the most impactful life-changing decision I’ve ever made. The ripple affect of spending time with God each day has been astounding touching every area of my life and every aspect of my soul. It’s the best discipline I’ve ever kept. It changed everything. I read Matthew 6:33 and did it. I didn’t worry about anything else; I just focused on seeking God. His Word is true – all else did follow as it should.

God made it simple – seek Him and live. Amos 5:4 He is the way to abundant life as He has planned for you. Don’t make it more complicated than it is. Seek Him. Put Him first. He’ll handle the rest.

If you are already spending time with God … perhaps try to take more time to being still and listening for His still small voice. With practice you can learn to tune into His voice more clearly to hear His perfect counsel and wisdom for you life. Also, try staying connected throughout the day. Pray before major tasks. Make additional time to be still and listen. Try to be more consciously connected to Him throughout the day so that you can pray without ceasing.

If you set any other goals make sure they are ones that allow you to spend time with God each day.

Start by writing TWO love letters to God; one reflecting where you are today and one reflecting where you want to be at the end of the year … that second letter is a reflection of where you are headed.

Happy New Year!