A Happy Place

"Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.

John 16: 22 NKJV 

Where is your happy place?  You know, that place where you seem to spend a good amount of your time.  For me, lately my happy place has been a my local gym.  I have a good friend who's happy place is working on his old Jeep.  The truth is, we all have that place where we go to feel happy and content.  Unfortunately, there are those among us whose happiness is derived from alcohol or drugs as well.  There was that time where I found my happy place to be sitting inside one of Portland's strip clubs.  Well, let me just say that my current happy place is much less expensive than my last venture.  But, that is where I chose to spend my time.  What changed?  What made me realize that those things which I was doing were not beneficial to me?  Well, my own realization of who it is that I really am for one.  What also changed was my perception of who Jesus truly is.  I've written many times about the truth of Christ.  Of how the apostle Paul has introduced to us a new way of seeing Jesus.  Paul assures us that the Jesus he knew will never leave us.  That's because He lives on through us {Galatians 2:20}.  In my heart I always knew that Jesus was a living being, I just thought that He lived in heaven.  That is what I had been taught.  So, Christ has never been dead to me.  Just, shall we say, misplaced.  What's also interesting is that I could go all of those years in whatever happy place I'd found without knowing that Jesus was there with me.  Go figure.  Let me say that my circumstances are not that much different from any that others may be going through.  You might be going through a drug addiction and feeling as if that is what makes you happy.  Hey, I've been there.  You might see a abusive relationship as a happy place, I get it.  Whatever you see as that place where you feel content, know that Jesus is there with you.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

Galatians 2: 20 NKJV 

One of the thoughts I used to justify my bad behavior back in the day was that, "Jesus wants me to be happy."  Whatever it is that I'm doing, Jesus wants me to be happy doing it.  Well, was Jesus happy sitting there in a strip club?  Yes, that might have been my happy place at the time, but was Jesus happy as well?  Now, before you get bent out of shape because I'm placing Jesus in a strip club, remember that Paul assures us that Christ is indeed in us.  Knowing this, we can then assume that whatever it is we do, Jesus is there.  However we choose to conduct ourselves, Jesus is there.  So, yes, Jesus was indeed there with me while I killed time at the strip club.  Was He happy there?  Not at all.  But He was there because He is in me.  That changed one night when, as I was about to spend another night in my happy place, Jesus reminded me of the man that I really am.  I was not the man who walked into these places for enjoyment.  My happiness did not come from things which the Lord does not look fondly on.  So it is with you as well.  I ask again, where is it that you find happiness?  Is Jesus happy there with you?  I know that you might have convinced yourself that He is...but is He really?  Are you living your life in a way that Jesus who is in you can be happy as well?  I wasn't.  That is, not until I realized who it is that I truly am.  I'm not a man who is happy without Jesus.  I'm also not a man who is happy in something which brings grief to Christ.  That's not who I am.  So, for now I'll find my happy place in the local gym where I continue to make myself healthier.  In my heart, I know that Jesus is happy there with me.  

~Scott~   

Love Without End

 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

1 John 4: 8 NKJV 

There was a radio pastor this week who proclaimed that we, as a society, had lost the ability to love.  Now, we might convince ourselves that we see this each and every day when we're out in the world, but is it really true?  I'm not buying it.  Although, I'll admit that there may be those among us who are afraid to love.  There might also be those who have a undying fear of a love not being returned.  It is here where this topic strikes a cord with me.  See, I love God.  I love Jesus.  In my heart I also know that He loves me with a undying love as well.  It is through His love for me that he saved me from my former condition {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  It is through His love for me that He has made me one with Himself {John 17:21}.  The Fathers love for me is without question.  Yet, it wasn't always that way.  Ok, let me rephrase that, I didn't always believe that this was the case.  Despite numerous scripture references which highlighted Gods love for me, I felt as if His love was something I had to earn for myself.  That's right, even though Gods love had assured my future and delivered me from sin, I felt as if I still had something to prove in order to earn all which He had done for me.  I mean, nobody shows that much love and grace to someone without expecting something in return, right?  Well, that's what I had been told.  More than few pastors convinced me that although God loved me, there was still a danger of losing His love.  I've heard too many stories from Christians who have trembled in fear that their own behavior would somehow lead God to instantly stop loving them.  I myself have felt those same fears many times where my own behavior has been on the edge.  So much so that each and every time I found myself on my knees praying for the Father to take me back.  He never did.  God never took me back...because He never let me go in the first place.  

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5: 8 NKJV 

One thing that I would say to everybody out there is that the love of God is unshakable.  The love of God stands the test of time.  The love of God endures when everything around us fails.  The love of God is the one constant which we have in life.  I know that this might be contrary to the message which many of us have heard from the pulpits, but it's true.  God will not withdraw His love for us because He is upset or angry.  Our actions and behaviors might not be the best at times, but Gods love for us still remains unchanged.  I recall standing outside the door of a strip club one night and wondering if God would ever love me again.  I mean, look where I was!  My own desires had drawn me somewhere that I know He didn't approve of.  Was God mad at me?  Oh yeah, He was mad enough at me that He took the time to remind me that this was not the man I truly was inside.  It was at that moment that I realized that God was closer to me than I ever realized.  Yes, I had gone into clubs before, and He was there with me.  This isn't some blasphemous rant, it is the truth of Christ which the apostle Paul tells us of in Galatians.  It is Paul who introduces us to the reality of Christ in us {Galatians 2:20}.  That is, wherever we go, Jesus is there with us.  Jesus in a strip club?  You bet!  Well, at that time I had no realization of Jesus being in me.  So, does Jesus get mad when we behave badly?  Does His anger burn so hot that He can no longer stand to remain in us?  NO!  Remember this, Jesus never changes {Hebrews 13:8}.  He is the same yesterday as He is today.  That same Christ who was in me yesterday is in me today as well.  So, what is the reaction of Jesus when we behave badly?  Well, I believe that Jesus is grieved when we engage in behaviors that we know are wrong.  Grieved because He knows what is best for us.  Does His love for us change?  No.  One of the best illustrations of the Fathers love for us comes from the parable of the prodigal son.  In it, the son leaves home with his inheritance and squanders it on bad behaviors.  However, when the money is gone, he comes to his senses and returns home in hopes of his fathers forgiveness.  Well, we're told that while he was still a ways away, his father saw him and ran to him to welcome his son home.  I believe that this is the reaction of our heavenly Father when we come to Him.  I believe that it is our own guilt and shame which leads us to believe that God would abandon us.  We might give up on ourselves...but God never will.  

Last night I dreamed I died and stood outside those pearly gates

When suddenly I realized there must be some mistake

If they know half the things I've done they'll never let me in

Then somewhere from the other side I heard these words again

Let me tell you the secret 

About a Fathers love

A secret that my daddy said was just between us

See daddy's don't just love their children every now and then

It's a love without end Amen

~Love Without End - George Straight~

~Scott~ 

Son Day

 

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.

Romans 8: 19 NKJV 

A recent discussion has focused on the scripture of the revealing of the sons of God which the apostle Paul reminds us of in Romans.  So, I got to thinking, when is it that I become a son of God?  Is it when I first believe?  Is it when O accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior?  Well, the apostle John tells us  that we are already known as children of God {1 John 3:1}.  This is the identity given to us through the love of the Father.  I get it.  So it is that through the Fathers love He has proclaimed us as His children...according to John.  But, are we not children of God through our creation as well?  I mean, that alone should qualify us as His loved children, right?  We're told that God breathed into us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  Now, do we not consider our earthly parents who also gave us life as mother and father?  Therefore, it is not a stretch to have the realization that we are also children of God who created us.  But wait, didn't God have but one Son?  Again, John assures us of this in 1 John {1 John 4:9}.  So what gives?  Are we children of God who, by the way, only had one begotten Son?  We may be getting into brass tacks here, but to readers of scripture who are unfamiliar with the lay of the land, this is what it might look like.  A Father with only one Son...who has many children.  Allow me to explain.  Back in high school one of my friends was a European immigrant who had been adopted by a family here in the U.S.  As you might imagine, he was cared for and loved as much as his new family's biological children...of which there were three.  So it is with us through Christ Jesus.  Yes, Jesus was our Fathers only begotten Son.  However, it is through Christ Jesus that we ourselves have received adoption as sons to Himself {Ephesians 1:5}.  Therefore, we are accepted as children of God through the love and sacrifice of Jesus.  There is nothing that can ever take that from us.

Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1: 5 - 6 NKJV 

But wait, John was not the only one who spoke of our identity as children of God.  Paul also tells us that those who are led by the Spirit of God are indeed sons of God {Romans 8:14}.  As Gods children, we also share in the joint inheritance with Christ {Romans 8:17}.  So it is that we can be assured that we are indeed sons of God.  However, is our identity known by others?  Perhaps, if we are open enough to share with them.  Indeed, the time will come when the children of God will be revealed to all of the Fathers creation.  I do not personally know when these events will occur, but I am assured that as a child of God that I await something more than this earthly body {Romans 8:23}.  In fact, a good friend who does his best to remain nameless has stated that indeed all who have passed before us eagerly await the new bodies we will receive on that day.  Yes, everyone awaits for the redemption of their earthly bodies.  Think about it, these bodies of ours are aging and, in some cases, failing us.  So, what is it that we give our hearts to the Lord for?  What is the reason for our salvation?  Is it the promise of our eternity in heaven?  Well, I'll be writing more in the future that heaven may be closer to us than we think.  Is it our eternity with Jesus?  Well, Paul tells us that it is Jesus who lives in us {Galatians 2:20}.  So, if Jesus is in us, do we still await a eternity with Him?  If you ask me, we have Jesus right here with us here and now.  So, the very reason for our salvation may just come down to God revealing us as His children AND receiving our redeemed spiritual body.  Definitely something worth waiting for.  

~Scott~ 

Broken Mirrors

 

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.  Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer.

2 Corinthians 5: 16 NKJV

I used to own a old car that had its rear view mirror cracked and broken.  Naturally, it was pretty difficult to see anything behind me, thus I adjusted my driving skills accordingly.  Being too cheap to replace the mirror, I lived with having my view compromised.  Like that old car, many of us have endured a life of having our views compromised.  How is that?  Well, while listening to a radio sermon this week I was reminded of how rarely it is that we see God in those around us.  I know what you're saying, what do you mean seeing God in people around us?  I mean exactly that.  Why is it that we fail to see the Lord where He is most likely to be?  Many Christians will search all over for a sign of God, when all the while the evidence of God is right next to them.  I'm thinking that for others to understand this thinking that I need to clarify the meaning of my observation.  See, many people live a Christian life believing that they are separated from the Lord.  That after His ascension into heaven Jesus resided there side by side with the Father.  We're told this in scripture {Acts 1:9, John 3:13}.  So, this is the view many of us have of Jesus.  This was the view I had of Jesus until I discovered the words of the apostle Paul.  It is Paul who introduces us to truth of Christ Jesus.  Paul reminds us that Jesus is not forever bound to heaven as we have been taught for so long.  No, we can find the Jesus of today in...ourselves {Galatians 2:20}.  I mention this with the caveat that Jesus has always been in us.  Remember, it is Jesus who has never changed {Hebrews 7:3}.  So, if Jesus lives in us, as Paul realized, then He has always been there.  Now, the realization of Christ in us is not common Christian doctrine, so it may have yet to be revealed to more than a few believers.  However, this in no way makes it a wrong teaching.  So, given that it is Jesus who lives in us, why is it that we fail to see Jesus where He is?  Why is it that in place of Jesus we continue to see the old, sinful man in others?  Oh, yeah, Jesus did away with our old identity as well {Romans 6:6}.  So, all which remains is Christ who is in us. 

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galatians 2:20 NKJV 

Tell me something.  When was the last time you were cut off in traffic and you shouted out in anger, "Jesus why did you do that to me?"  When was the last time someone was rude to you and you said, "Jesus, is that what you really think of me?"  I'll tell you why, because we have never associated Jesus with bad behaviors.  We have never associated Jesus with wrong behaviors.  In our Christian teachings, Jesus is pure and just and right.  I will agree that He is indeed all of these things.  However, I will also agree that it is much easier to see Christ in us than it is to see Him in others.  Especially in others who engage in bad behavior.  How is it that I can say with a straight face that Christ is in me...but not in the guy who insults me?  Jesus has never picked and chosen who He will be a part of.  That is favoritism, and God isn't about that {James 2:5}.  The love and acceptance of Jesus is all inclusive.  In fact, anyone that tells you that Jesus could never love you is a bald faced liar.  Do we fail to associate Jesus with wrong behaviors even though our own behaviors are, at times, questionable?  How can I say that Jesus could never reside within a bad behaving person while I myself exhibit bad behaviors every so often?  Sounds kind of hypocritical doesn't it?  How about this, how about we see everyone around us in truth.  That is, having Jesus in them.  Can someone have Jesus in them and not even realize it?  Of course!  I submit that most people we encounter have never even heard the concept of Christ in them suggested.  All too often, when I explain my view of the living Christ, I get a few blank stares.  Christ Jesus has yet to be revealed in them.  Our prayer is that He would be revealed in them.  If you think it's hard looking into your own mirror...try looking into someone else's instead.  

~Scott~ 

The Adversarial Life

 

What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8: 31 NKJV 

People deal with adversity and disappointment in many different ways.  There are those who will allow the disappointments of life to rule over how they live.  I'm not that guy.  There are those who will see setbacks in life as an excuse to give up trying.  Again, that's not my style.  I'm that guy who, when faced with the unfairness of life, will try that much harder.  I'm the guy who, when wronged by another person, will forget that person and keep doing what I do.  Not everyone can live this life I live.  As I said, people deal with adversity in many different ways.  This is simply the way I've chosen to deal with my disappointments.  There is a story around NBA circles of a chance meeting in a restaurant between Michael Jordan and Seattle coach George Karl before the 1996 NBA finals.  It seems that Jordan stood up to greet coach Karl, but the old man simply ignored him and walked away.  Was Jordan angry about being snubbed?  Perhaps, but he also used it as motivation to defeat the Sonics in the finals that year.  The first time I heard this story I knew that it was a page out of my book.  You can ignore me, anger me or insult me, but if you're looking for a reaction from me you're not going to get it.  I won't give you that satisfaction.  I've heard a few comments at the local gym about the shape I'm in.  Now, I could get down on myself and feel abandoned, or I could use this as motivation to improve myself.  The funny thing is, one of the people who made a negative comment to me some time ago is the same guy who congratulated me on hitting my 250# bench press goal.  I'm guessing he knows by now that his negative comments produced some positive results on my end.  This isn't some "when life gives you lemons make lemonade" motivational speech.  In fact, I'm not at all sure if too many people can live the adversarial life.  All I know is that I live my life with the confidence of knowing that I can.

"That's all I needed - for him to do that - and it became personal with me"

~Michael Jordan on being snubbed by George Karl~

So, where is the Christian perspective of this adversarial life I live?  Well, one of the keys to the way I do things is, obviously, confidence.  Confidence in who I am.  Confidence in knowing the truth of Christ Jesus.  Many people view Christians as meek and weak, so more than a few are taken back by the way I do things.  How many people can say with confidence that they live as Jesus?  Not too many.  In fact, many would see this as some sort of heresy against the church.  The Jewish authorities plotted to kill Jesus for His proclamation that he was the Son of God {John 5:18}.  Jesus also tells us that if we have seen Him we have also seen the Father {John 14:10}.  But being confident to live as Jesus?  Who does that?  I'll tell you who, the apostle Paul.  It is Paul who speaks to Christ Jesus living in us in Galatians {Galatians 2:20}.  I do not speak heresy when I claim to live my life with the confidence of  Christ Jesus who is in me.  I only speak to the truth of who Jesus truly is.  Jesus is not the far off savior who died on that cross then spent the rest of eternity in heaven.  No, Jesus died on the cross so that he COULD dwell in us.  Jesus died on that cross in order that the body of sin, our body of sin, might be done away with {Romans 6:6}.  Once He dealt with that sin issue, God could once again live among His children.  I would say that this adversarial life I live is not so adversarial at all.  I would call it more of a life lived in the confidence of Christ.

Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin.  Now if we died with Christ, we also believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more.  Death no longer has dominion over Him.  For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Romans 6: 6 - 11 NKJV 

~Scott~ 

The Price Of Admission

 He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

1 John 5: 12 NKJV 

Growing up I felt as if heaven was some far off place which I couldn't possibly reach without a whole lot of effort.  This was the way I was taught, be good, please God and I would be rewarded with eternal life and heaven.  I'm sure too many Christians out there have heard the same thing right?  Well, here was the issue for me, besides being a Christian, I was told on a constant basis that I was a sinner as well.  Yes, Jesus had died on the cross to cleanse me of my sin, but I still needed to do good and confess my sin if I was to ever have a chance of seeing heaven.  That, it seems, was the price of admission.  Now tell me, which one of us growing up was a perfect child without ever behaving badly?  This was my struggle as I fought to be considered good enough by God to enter His kingdom.  I was told that God can never be in the presence of sin, and if I was indeed a sinner then I had a problem.  How could God love me?  How could God ever accept someone as imperfect as me?  To me, it seemed that the price of admission to heaven was too high.  Well, it took me awhile to come to the realization, but I finally realized that the price had been artificially set long ago.  See, long ago some church founders made up their minds that they needed a narrative to sell to Christians around the world.  We needed guidelines by which we would worship the Father, live our lives and enter His kingdom.  Of course, when I see it this way I do not feel that God would ever deny anyone who comes to Him.  However, when we frame it that we are only doing what the Lord desires, the marching orders become more believable.  This is exactly what the early church leaders did.  Suddenly, instead of the one true God who loved all of us, we had a God who judged us by a competition.  Yes, we could get to heaven, if we behave and continually confess our sins.  And so I ask, what sin is there which Jesus did not cover at the cross?  

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Ephesians 2: 8 - 9 NKJV 

The first time I questioned what I had been taught was one of the first times I read the apostle Paul's definition of being saved that we find in Ephesians.  Wait, Paul, are you telling me that this entire salvation thing isn't a competition after all?  Yes, it turns out that I am not in control of my own salvation.  It is God who saves, and God who gives the free gift of salvation.  That's right, I said free gift.  You have never needed to toil away in the requirements of Christian living in order be deemed "good enough" for Gods acceptance.  I have had the opportunity a few times to point others in the right direction when it comes to salvation.  What do I tell them?  Do you know Jesus?  If the answer is no, I introduce them to the Jesus I've come to know.  If they say that they know Jesus, I ask if they REALLY know Him.  Because I see a difference in the Jesus we have been taught all of these years and Jesus how He truly is.  Who is Jesus?  I am.  Now, before you dismiss my claim, consider what Paul considered to be his one true identity.  Paul did not consider himself a sinner despite having brutally persecuted the church.  No, Paul realized that his old identity was gone, replaced by Christ who lived in him {Galatians 2:20}.  This is the very same Jesus who lives in me.  This is the man that I am.  There is no competition for me to be considered good enough in Gods eyes.  For when God looks upon me...He sees Jesus.  It is the same Jesus which God sees when He looks upon any of us.  Whether you have had the realization or not...your identity is now in Christ Jesus. 

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Galatians 2: 20 NKJV 

~Scott~ 

Singularity

 

But I want you to be without care.  He who is unmarried cares for things of the Lord - how he may please the Lord.  But he who is married cares about things of the world - how he may please his wife. 

1 Corinthians 7: 32 - 33 NKJV 

I heard a radio pastor this week speak to the fact that the apostle Paul had at one point been married.  To illustrate his point he pointed to the fact that a man in Saul's position in the teachings of Judaism would not have advanced as far as he had were he not married.  That is how important marriage was in his religion.  However, I definitely see some conflicts in Paul's writings on marriage which we find in his letter to the church in Corinth.  First off, it is obvious that Paul never knew what a "honey do" list is.  Either that, or our own views of marriage relationships has gone by the wayside.  For Paul lays out clear differences between married and unmarried men and women.  As Paul tells it, the unmarried (myself included) care for things of the Lord and how he might please Him.  However, the married man cares about the things of the world, and how he might please his own wife.  While I can see some validity to Paul's statements here, I also believe that they are not entirely true at least in the modern marriage relationship.  I have dear Christian friends who love their spouses dearly who also love and revere the Lord.  Are they going against Paul's advice?  Perhaps, but I think that it is also important that we view marriage in the context of which Paul was speaking that we might better understand his words.  I'm not at all sure that too many people today could survive a marriage relationship that was prevalent during the time Paul spoke to Corinthians.  See, in the world Paul knew, the husband was the be all end all in any marriage relationship.  The wife submitted to the husband.  Yes, Paul also speaks to the fact that husbands and wife are to honor each other, but the husband clearly was the head of the relationship in the Jewish society.  These, of course, were different times.  Fast forward to the present day and we see a totally different view of marriage than what Paul once described.  Not only has marriage become disposable, but it is no longer just a union between a man and a woman.  So, has God changed, or have we changed what God created?  I think the answer is obvious.

And the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.  The the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.  And Adam said, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man."

Genesis 2: 21 - 23 NKJV 

I can't think of a more physical bond than to a person whom God has created FROM me.  This was the creation of Eve...from Adam.  This was done for a purpose, to solidify the relationship between a man and a woman.  Many of our modern wedding vows are taken from this part of scripture.  Well, as I recall, Adam and Eve were not married in the sense that we understand it.  God simply brought Eve to Adam.  Of course, God recognized Adams need for a partner {Genesis 2:18}.  But how does this relate to those of us today who are single?  Has God deemed us unworthy of that relationship?  No.  Even Paul, for all of his writings on marriage, recognized that there would be those who would not marry.  Paul speaks that for those who cannot maintain self control, it is good not to marry { 1 Corinthians 7:9}.  Now, most people are not single because they cannot maintain self control, but if you are single as I am, it isn't because God has somehow deemed us unworthy.  First of all, nobody knows the full intentions of God or why it is that he allows certain events.  It may be His desire that you grow in your understanding of who He is before you enter into a marriage relationship.  Despite being single, I do not entertain the thought that I'm not good enough for a marriage relationship.  That is something the Lord determines.  Can we make our requests known to God that we desire to be married?  Of course, I've done that many times in my life.  But remember, it isn't about me or you, but Gods desire for us.  If there is one I know about the desires of the Lord, they are always in our best interests.