a grace reminder

i had a phone call with two of my best friends tonight ... and if not for all of us, I know for me ... I was reminded of several things:

1) life sucks. Jesus promised it would - consider James 1 and all the suffering Christ endured, Paul endured, and hard lives so many other great saints endured along the years ... the life for a Christian, straight up sucks ... that does NOT mean it is not worth every moment ... the hope of eternity far out weighs it all

2) life is not about me. It is all about God. His word tells us that, and our own self pity tells us that. I would like to meet the person who enjoys always feeling sorry for himself, and always being down b/c things are going his way. That person is not happy ... he is miserable, by choice - not b/c things are actually SO BAD!

3) if our affections are not totally wrapped up in Jesus, in pursuing Him with every last ounce of energy and every last breath we take ... then we will never be satisfied with any part of this life. if I seek to satisfy my longing and affections with hopes of this or that - and the this or that is not Christ - I am done for!!!

Delight yourself in Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart! (Ps 37:4).

A Perspective Shifted

I have begun reading the first account of a Christian man's testimony in the book, Tortured for Christ ... He is a Romanian man who grew up during WWI, and was a "church leader" during WWII while the Communist party in Russia overtook and enslaved all Romanians. I say "church leader" because of the positions he held that provided to be looked upon with favor from communist authorities ... while Lord was using him in these positions to secretly minister to and evangelize among Russia soldiers (who were completely brainwashed by their communist superiors) as well as the enslaved Romanian people.

I am only a quarter of the way through this man's testimony ... and I am already laid low and staggering at the lack of passion, fervor, and zeal among the free Church in America. We are a lazy example of Christ to a lost and dying world, to lost and dying souls, bound for hell!!! (And believe you me, I am including myself in that statement, so very unfortunately.)

Not to excuse our cold-hearted, nearly dead zeal for evangelizing the lost and dying, hurting and lonely to the glory of God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, but history does declare that persecution awakens the Church, ignites a flame of fierceness for the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen as Lord of all, as well as a boldness and unrelenting determination to see the lost saved.

Maybe what we need here in the great US-of-A, is a wave of persecution to redirect our hearts, affections, and glories unto Christ Jesus, rather than soft, warm and cuddly sermons of God's intentions to bless us ... because THAT IS NOT, HAS NEVER BEEN NOR EVER WILL BE, HIS INTENTION ... GOD'S GREATEST GOAL IS HIS GLORY!!!

I pray for myself and our American Christian church that we will be awakened to the great deal of apathy and deception amongst us. I say deception because we have believed false gospels, gospel-lite (taking something away from the sufficiency of Christ's work), or gospel-plus messages (those that say you must believe in Christ and do x, y, z for salvation), and because we have robbed God of his due glory by believing that everything is about us, rather than He.

Oh, to boast in Christ Jesus, and in Him alone; to have all my affections and love captured in His radiance and glory!!!

Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord

h o p e

hope.

oh what a blessing ... to be able to hope in something concrete and real, firm and eternal, pure and just!

my hope is in Jesus, my Savior. He is doing a new work in my heart, a work in my being that I need desperately, because I am so full of sin, so wretched and bastardly toward the Lord ... but in the sweet and most delightful name of Jesus the Christ, the risen and reigning Son of the Most High God, I have a hope that cannot be shaken or taken from me ... ever. I am saved in Christ Jesus, and He has made me is, that I may lay hold of that for which He has laid hold of me ... ie - HIS GLORY!

today I was so encouraged to know that people, I consider mentors of the faith to me, struggle as i do ... thats not to say I am rejoicing in others' struggles ... but that the Lord would grant it for both my friend and I to confess to one another very current issues in our lives, that are affecting us in numerous ways ... and the hope that brothers' struggling together can both hide under the shelter of the cross and approach boldly, yet humbly the throne, and know we will be welcomed in ... b/c the certificate of death against me, has been nailed to the cross ... and that certificate was the perfectly holy Jesus ... now resurrected and reigning!

I love Jesus, and He is my only hope and my rock ... 

"... Our name is our virtue ... "

I was thinking about this line, from Jason Mraz' song, I'm Yours. I like this line. I like it 'cause made me think, "Whats he means, 'Our name is our virtue.'?"

I thought about family trees, and how some people find it so important to maintain a knowledgeable respect for their far removed ancestors. Are our ancestors our virtue? I don't think so. But maybe the case can be made for this if you consider that some grandfathers and fathers who may have had a dying request to their son or daughter, and that child, later becoming a father or mother and passes that same "virtue" on to their children. I don't know. Its not so true for me. I do however hold family to be very important, and necessary for a successful up bringing.

What else could he mean? Name = Virtue?

I have managed to listen to this song many times today. One simply because I love it. It makes me really happy, and it makes me think of the beach. Two, because I wanted to hear the line again. This has helped me to think and mull over the line.

One thing I called to mind while thinking of this was the verse, "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called." (Eph 4:1) Also another similar verse is, "Only conduct yourself in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ" (Phil 1:27) ... I am not sure which one I thought of, maybe I combined them. But the point is ... these verses talk a lot about virtue! The name here is that of Jesus Christ - and all that is virtuous is summed up in this high and holy name!

First is "Jesus" - "Yahweh is salvation" - that is the meaning of Joshua, the Hebrew translation of Jesus.
Second is "Christ" - "Anointed" - that is the meaning of Messiah, the Hebrew translation of Christ

So that's the name, for Christians, that designates our virtue; that is a standard or level of moral excellence, goodness, or righteousness (as defined by dictionary.com). if by our names we are defining our own virtue, I do not want to be known as Adam Sleeper. Rather, as belonging to Christ. I am called to the gospel of Christ in the name of Jesus, and therefore, I am called by Jesus. Just to be sure, He died for me! ... and whats even better, is that He rose for me!!!

I guess I just got to thinking that if by our name, my virtues are defined; I wanted to be sure that my virtues then matched my name. And as it turns out, they don't. My virtues and moral excellence looks as though they belong to Adam Sleeper, not to Jesus Christ. I am a very moral person, but just because one has strong morals, doesn't mean he or she is moral in their actions. That's how I am. I mean, I don't want to be miss speaking, cause I am not having sex, doing drugs, getting drunk, or looking at pornography (to name 4 "big" issues that face people my age), but I am prideful, easy angered, impatient with some things, let my tongue go when I shouldn't (which I guess is never) I also complain and gripe, I worry and fret, and also I am selfish and typically motivated with the wrongs motives. To say the least these characteristics do not look like virtues to me.

I guess, this is somewhere between repentance and confession, and a charge or a exhortation! I want to change. I desire so desperately to look and be identified with Christ. I want people to look at me, and as they did with Peter, ask, "Hey weren't you with Him?" And I want to be able to say, "YES, Yes I am with Jesus! And will be forever!!!"

I repent, I am a hypocrite and quite often so. I repent, I love Adam a lot more of the time than I love others more than myself.

I am charged and exhorted by Paul, "Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of CHRIST!" and "Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called ... with all humility (not pride) and gentleness (not anger or wrath), with patience (not impatience), tolerance for for one another in love (not love for self) being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." (Eph 4:1-4)