Know Fear

I'm preparing to go to Dickinson this next weekend to participate in a friend of mine's DiscipleNow weekend. I'm leading a High School group and I'm speaking on Saturday night. I've been thinking about what I'm going to speak about and God brought me back to my post of March 3, "Who Am I?"

As I thought about fear, I started thinking about what it is that we fear. Most people, when they are talking about fearing God, are afraid of God and His judgment. We live at an arm's length because we know our sin and we are afraid that God is going to zap us as punishment for that sin. And this is true when before we come into a relationship with God. Once we ask Jesus into our heart as our Lord and Savior, we no longer have to fear God's judgment. We are forgiven and our sins are forgotten by God. When we begin to understand what the March 3rd post really means to us, the fear changes to that of awe and reverence.

When I think about what God has done for me, I can't believe it and I stand in awe of who God is and what He has done. I still have a healthy fear of God but I am able to approach Him and draw close to Him because my sins are gone.

Discipline vs. Pruning

Several months ago, I started using a devotion book based on a book entitled, "Secrets from the Vine." This book is based upon Jesus' teaching in John 15. It really began to teach me some interesting things, but like a big dummy, I decided to switch to another devotion book and never finished "Secrets from the Vine."
Well, about a month after I switched devotionals, I lost my job with Farm Bureau. I was a little disappointed but I knew that this was opening the door to a new opportunity. I began to put out applications with school districts for Choir jobs. I had an interview in a district, but I didn't get the job and I got very angry with God.
Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was asked to lead a study of the book "Secrets from the Vine." I am finally getting to finish the book that I started. Little did I know how much God was going to show me.
We've spent two weeks talking about how when we are not producing fruit (good works that glorify God), we go through God's discipline. This discipline comes in the form of rebuke, chastening or scourging. God begins with rebuke and if we refuse to repent, He moves to chastening and hen to scourging if we continue to resist Him.
When we finally repent of our sin, and for some of us it takes longer than others because we are a little hard headed (guess who hat would be), God ends the discipline but He begins to prune us to produce more fruit for Him. The problem comes in that discipline and pruning both cause us pain and we end up confusing one with the other.
Because we think that we are undergoing discipline when we are actually being pruned, we get frustrated and often times angry with God. We are confused because we think that God is disciplining us for no reason.
I look back at the difficulties that I've faced the last months and realize that what I thought was discipline was God pruning away things in my life so that I could be more fruitful. I made the mistake of getting mad at God and turning away from Him. I realize now what was taking place. As a result, I've had to repent and allow God to start the process of pruning me again.
Are you in that place today? What do you do to figure out what God is doing in your life? The author gives these suggestions:
1. Examine your life and see if there is any unconfessed sin in your life. If so, pray for God's forgiveness.
2. If you can't think of any sins that are unconfessed, ask God to reveal them to you.
3. If after a period of time, say about a week, God has not revealed any sin, understand that God is pruning you to produce more fruit for Him.
4. Relax and release yourself to Him and allow Him to work in your life the way He sees best.
If you have any questions about this, please leave me a comment and I will answer you or by the book "Secrets from the Vine" and study it for yourself.

Who Am I?

If you want your behavior to change so that it wil be more like Christ's, then you will have to acknoledge your new identity in Christ, and you will have to resist Satan's attempt to deceive you.-from "Life on Purpose"
So who are we in Christ?
1. We am no longer an enemy of God. Before we accept Christ as our Savior, we are enemies with God. We are in direct conflict with Him. Often it's not an obvious "hate" relationship, but we don't desire God's will and plan for our lives and it puts us at odds with Him. When we accept Christ, we accept God's plan and desires and we are no longer His enemy. Now we are His children.
2. We are forgiven and justified. When we accept Jesus, we are forgiven of all our past sins. God no longer sees them. The Bible tells us that God casts our sins "as far as the east is from the west." Think about that: if you started flying east, your compass would read East. As you continue to fly, you would eventually reach California (the West Coast), but your compass would still read East. East and West never meet. Not only am I forgiven, but I am justified. I am clean in God's eyes, just as if I had never sinned. The blood Christ shed on the Cross covers my sins and cleans them.
3. We are a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" The old is gone, what does that mean? Our old desire to do what we want to is gone. We have been given a new mindset. We want to do what God wants. Our nature has changed. The power that Satan had over us is broken. We now have the power, through the Holy Spirit in our lives, to say "No" to sin. We are still tempted, but we have the ability to resist.
4. We are heirs to God's Kingdom. We have been made a child of God. We have been adopted into His family and we are given all the rights and privileges afforded to God's children. Because we are adopted, we can never lose that inheritance-Heaven.
Have you ever entered into that relationship with God? What great news that we are new in Christ. If you want to know more about this relationship, leave me a comment and I'll get back with you.

Coming Soon

So it's been over 3 months since I posted my last thoughts. I'm in the process of starting this blog back up. I've been through some things that have lead me to really re-evaluate my life and my walk. I hope that in the next few days to be able to share some personal things and hope that they will help you in your life and your walk. Keep checking back.