Heaven

No weakness. No hurting. No pain. No shame. No heartbreak. No darkness. No brokenness. No sick. No lame. No blind. No loss. No deficiencies. No insecurity. No death. No separation. No poor. No sadness. No depression. No chains. No bondage. No aching. No falling. No hate. No judging. No wandering. No evil. No end.

This is Heaven. This is the offer of Christ. This was the creation of God. P

erfect harmony with His will and our desires. This is eternal life. Believers-this is what you signed up for. Unbelievers-if this is what you desire, it can be yours.

The fact is that we are broken. All philosophers, psychologists, and authors agree. There is something wrong with humanity. What is it? Separation from our original purpose, from our original essence, and our original unity. The problem was and still is sin. That we turned from light to darkness. From worth to worthlessness. From selflessness to selfishness.

But there is One who thought we could be redeemed. One who thought and thinks we are worth saving. And this love abundant came and lived among us, and taught us, and died among us, and lived once again. Why? Why do it? Simply this. To bring us back to ourselves-our original selves. To bring us back to the origin. To bring us back to Himself.

And to anyone that should call upon Him, they shall be saved. Will life be sudden bliss? Is that the promise? No. The promise is that one day we will enter into His perfect and spotless kingdom. And in this kingdom...

There is peace. Full peace. Full joy. Full prosperity. Full unity. Full hope. Full purity. Divinity. Wonder. Amazement. Health. Abundance. Fruit. There is love. There is light. There is Christ.

Furious

Furious

His love is deep. It goes into the depths of us, into the most secret and quiet places. Is he safe? Yes, but He will change you and remove you in every way. He is gentle and lowly in Spirit.

His love is wide. It is strong as death. It is sure. There is no one and nothing that is not affected by His love. It is all expansive, reaching all places and all hearts.

It covers us. It doesn't j

ust touch one place, but every place. From hearts to minds, from bodies to finances. It covers all there is to be covered. There are no gaps. No insufficiencies.

He love is fierce. It is forceful. Will He barge into your house? No, but He will knock on the door every single day in hopes that you'll answer. He will do all there is to do to reach you, and to show you Himself.

His love is strong. It doesn't fail. There no odds with God, and no limits to His power. His grip on you is no weaker or less capable than it was yesterday, and could not be greater tomorrow. It can not be measured, and it does not give up.

It is furious. He will defend you and redeem you at any cost. It will love you to the point of all emotions, that He is so obsessed with you it overwhelms you. This is not of works, but by grace and through faith.

His love is sweet. It is pleasurable and altogether desirable. There is no greater craving we could have, and no greater satisfaction that comes from anywhere else. Like a mother holds her child, so the love of the Father comforts us.

His love is wild. No one could ever talk Him out of it, and no one contains it. It is not hold back, even by you. He can not be tamed, but will seek you in hopes that you find Him.

It awakens hearts to life. In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Though you were dead in your sin, His death in love made you redeemable, so that you could live, and that your life would reflect His life. Wake up sleeper...

The Unlovable

Matthew West has (still relatively) new song out called Forgiveness. I don't know how many people have researched it, but the story behind it is powerful.

Matthew decided to write all of the songs for his newest album about real life stories people had sent him. In this story a mother's child was driving home. As the daughter was driving, she got hit but a drunk driver. He survived, but the daughter passed. There was of course a court hearing, and after x amount of months he was sentenced to 22 years in prison for DWI and manslaughter.

The mother started going around to various schools and organizations talking about the importance of driving safely, and the dangers of drinking and driving. She became a spokesperson for what she had experienced, and a warning beacon that has hopefully saved lives. I respect her a lot for that. After somewhere between a few months and a few years of doing this, God began to speak to her about forgiveness. She of course responded with the natural responses that all of us would give. "I have forgiven him/her. I'm not holding a grudge. I'm fine God." But after enough time and prayer, she realized she hadn't forgiven enough, and definitely hadn't forgiven this poor and lost young man who had killed her daughter.

Through radical change and a radical God, she forgave him. No, not just in her heart. She went to the prison to visit him, and told him she forgave him. The story doesn't end there though. She now considers him to be a friend, even a member of her own family. I don't know about you but I don't have a lot of confidence that I could do that. As if this wasn't enough, she also pleaded with the judge to have his sentence cut in half. That's right, 50%! If I remember correctly, he gets out this fall/winter some time.

So what's the point? Why write about this? First, it's to show the power of forgiveness. It's to remind us that forgiveness isn't just for the forgiven, but the forgiver. Second, it's to remind you that the word "impossible" is not in God's dictionary. Third, it's to demonstrate loving the unlovable.

Here's the thing. This story is a perfect allegory to the Father, Christ, and us. The Father is the mother, Christ is the daughter, and you and I? We're the drunk driver. We spat in His face. We crucified Him. We slaughtered Him. Even now we sin against Him. But His forgiveness, His love, His mercy is strong enough to go past us-for love is as strong as death. He didn't just forgive us, but He welcomed us to be with Him. He invites us to enjoy life everlasting. Truly there has been and never will be a greater love story than this. The Father, lover of the unlovable.

Of Mud

John 9:6-7 Having said these things, he spat on the ground, and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him "Go,wash in the pool of Siloam." So he went and washed and came back seeing.

Jesus, a man of all kindness and glory, sees a blind man whom we learn in the next verse has been blind and poor for some time. He used to sit and beg on the street side. Jesus then spits in the dirt to make mud, rubs it on the man's eyes and tells him to go wash. The man washes and comes back, and for the first time in a long time (or maybe ever) sees color, light, darkness and beauty.

When I first read over this I just saw it as a miracle. Not that miracles are amazing, but they're sort of expected when I read about Jesus. It's easy to pass them by. But the last time I read this I just had the sense I was missing something...and here's what it was.

First, God has seen one of the "least of these" and not only stopped to recognize him, but heal him. So Jesus, a King, the one whom through all things were created, the full explanation and exact copy of the Father in Heaven, stops and cares for this man- a man whom He has not practical human attachment to. It's incredible to think that God would notice this man, but also notice me, and also you.

Secondly, Jesus spits in the dirt to make mud. I asked myself "why use mud? Why not just speak as before?" Here is why. Dirt is the most worthless thing on the planet, We have it in abundance, and unlike water, it isn't necessary (directly) for sustainence. It is the cheapest and most free thing in the world other than air. God took this thing that we don't just not value, but that is disgusting and avoided, and He used it for glory. In the same way, He uses us. We were lost in sin, in total death and helplessness and utter sorrow, and He, in His goodness and love, decided to save us. He adds Himself to the dirt, and through it comes a miracle. Sight.

We serve a God who is not only mighty and strong, but compassionate and kind. Yes, He has higher standards than we could ever reach on our own, but He has continued to give and in His generosity, Has given His son so that we could be free of sin and death. He has loved us. He loves us. He will continue to love us. Come.

Crazy Thought

Crazy thought.^

We were created as wholly intimate with God. In perfect harmony and shalom, we walked with Him. Then one day man turned away, and sin caused us to die.

It's well known that conflict, when occurred and resolved properly, can bring the conflicters closer than they were before the conflict. We see this not only in healthy marriages, but also in Song of Solomon. Solomon goes to his wife's chambers but she denies him. He leaves, she repents, is punished, and goes to find him.

What's incredible is that after we resolve conflict, which in the case of Christ and man is sin and forgiveness, we are drawn a little closer to Him, but not as close as we were originally. And if our fellowship with Him is this great while living in our flesh, how much more glorious will it be when we are once again in His likeness? When we no longer see through a mirror dimly, but see Him as He is, and are His perfect and spotless bride.

Maybe though, you haven't begun to walk in the Spirit here on earth. Even though it isn't perfect fullness, it is communion. In that communion there is comfort, peace, and forgiveness. There is also suffering, but power and purity. We have the promise that we will be rewarded both here on earth and in heaven, and that the rewards far outway the costs.

How do we enter into this communion? We learn of Him, who He is and what he's done by reading His Scriptures, and we believe and accept Him. He is faithful to not only be present but moving.

All That Matters

All that Matters

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

I think we typically read this and think "love is important." I know I've read it multiple times as simply a way to boost the ideal that is love, and naturally we think of brotherly love and romantic love first. However, I thought of it in a very different and more simplistic way today.

A lot of times in Western Christianity we have a tendency to focus on knowledge, insights, and some of us miracles. And yes, I'm talking about Christians here, not the world. I know for me, I love philosophy and theology, and I have a really deep yearning to see miracles and visions. However, while these are wonderful and Godly things, they aren't the main point.

Paul isn't just saying that if you have all things but love you are nothing, but I believe He's also saying the opposite. If you have love but nothing else, you have everything. The difference between a good Christian and a "bad" Christian is not that one reads the bible more or prays more, writes more or sees more miracles. The difference is that one loves with the love they've been shown, and the other doesn't.

As we go about the mundane and routine, remember what matters. Love is shown only when we have the courage to show it. There is no such thing as unintentional love. Do things you've never done before. Be things you've never been for some one before. Love in new ways and new strengths you've never loved before. Thats all that matters.

The Place Where He Is

"Take me to the place where you are. I love you. Lord, I love you"

"Just to be with you I would do anything. There's no price I would not pay.
Just to be with you Ive done everything. There's no price I did not pay" -Third Day, Love Song

Where has God been? Jesus was in the quiet. he was comforted by His disciples and the Spirit. He taught the disciples. He healed the sick. He made the blind to see. He had dinner with the prostitutes and tax collectors. He was betrayed in a much bigger way than any of us have been. He prayed until He sweat blood. But most of all, He suffered a painful, brutal, and gruesome death on the cross.

These are all these places He's been. He has been all things to all people. He experienced everything that includes suffering and comfort, mourning and joy, sadness and peace. He was a man of great sorrows. Ask yourself "am I willing to go to all of those places? For even Christ?"

He paid every price there was to pay to be with you, and bring you with Him. He asks the same of us. He demands the same of us. The only thing that could come between you and Him was sin, and He took care of that problem. His work to conquer sin is finished. There is forgiveness and healing for all who will choose to be chosen.

If your answer is "No, I'm not willing to do that," be honest. For most Christians it's not. Don't lie to yourself, and certainly don't try and lie to God. But, as you go about your life, don't expect anything more from Him than youre willing to give.