Tag: God

Trees of Righteousness

Trees of Righteousness

When i have writers block…sitting at my computer just staring at the blinking curser, growing ever more frustrated as nothing comes to mind (i know that most of you can understand somewhat of what i am trying to express) anyway, at the point of absolute frustration i put on music. It is usually my favorite album of all time, David Crowders Neon Steeple Deluxe Edition, and grab my “magic” Bible and just flip it open and begin reading.
Today i opened to one of my favorite passages in Isaiah. In chapter 61:1-3 is says this: (NKJ)

61 “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
3 To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” 

This passage really speaks for itself but it also speaks for me and my heart, where i am on my journey. So, i wanted to share it with you. Read this passage yourself a few times, asking Jesus to show you through His Holy Spirit insight into your own walk with Him. Where are you in it, are you being called? Are you brokenhearted, mourning, bound? Hear the passage…Hear the Spirit…Listen!  Leave a comment or share a prayer request.

You are loved,

cj

#LifeIsMoreThanJustAHashtag

#LifeIsMoreThanJustAHashtag

i enjoy social media, probably too much. i like to scroll down and read stories, look at pictures, watch funny and thought provoking videos…oh and post some too.  i like Facebook for its functionality in seeing what my friends are up to…sometimes the posts break my heart, not always because a tragedy had taken place but because poor choices are being made. Twitter is another place i enjoy visiting. It is quick reads, with occasional links to longer stories. Snap shots into ones thoughts or experiences or views on life, love and laughter.

i can get so wrapped up in it that i spend time thinking of hashtags, you may know them as pound signs or the number symbol. Which ever way you remember them the hashtag is a line or words run together that makes a point and links your point to others making the same point.  For instance a popular hashtag is #MondayMotivation so if i were to write something like, “Monday’s are hard without my #coffee #MondayMotivation” i would be linking my tweet or FaceBook post with others talking about coffee or Monday Motivation. i say all that as if those reading this have no idea what a hashtag is having just woken from an 11 year coma.

Colossians 1:15-20 reads;

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God,
the one who is first over all creation,

16 Because all things were created by him:
both in the heavens and on the earth,
the things that are visible and the things that are invisible.
Whether they are thrones or powers,
or rulers or authorities,
all things were created through him and for him.

17 He existed before all things,
and all things are held together in him.

18 He is the head of the body, the church,
who is the beginning,
the one who is firstborn from among the dead
so that he might occupy the first place in everything.

19 Because all the fullness of God was pleased to live in him,
20         and he reconciled all things to himself through him—
whether things on earth or in the heavens.
He brought peace through the blood of his cross.

Let me put this into present day terms we might better understand, Jesus is our hashtag. When we live our lives in Christ, we live them linked together with Him and those that are linked with Him are also linked together by #Jesus. It is both and, not either or…we are linked if you are in Christ. Which means we are living each others lives, living the experiences, challenges, hopes, fears, triumphs, AND failures together. Our life joining hashtag is Jesus and with HIM comes community. The world says FaceBook or Twitter or by a half dozen other social networks we can share with others but the Word says, Jesus, and together, we are one, experiencing life together.  Let me close with this, life, is more than a hashtag, Jesus is more than a hashtag but if the language you speak is hashtag then #Jesus because #lifeismorethanjustahashtag.

You are loved,

cj

Nose Plugs

Nose Plugs

i want us to chew on this verse for a few days: Colossians 1:9-10

“9 Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we haven’t stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. 10 We’re praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way: by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God”

Let me add this from last week. i have been learning to breath with a snorkel. This has been a chore. By instinct, because i have been doing it my whole life, i try to breath through my nose. This is not a good idea when you are underwater! i have had to receive this new information and inform my brain…it hasn’t been easy. i sought help, received some advice, and bought a nose plug. That simple little purchase has changed my ability to breath through the snorkel. i am becoming more accustomed to breathing through the snorkel.

In much the same way, grace is new, we don’t always understand it and it is hard sometimes to rely on Jesus when for so long we have relied on ourselves. You might need a “nose plug” to help train your brain to rely on Jesus in everything. This is the prayer that Paul had for the people in Colossae. That they would grow in the knowledge of God’s will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Learning to lean on Jesus more and more in everything. It’s about growing, about becoming productive, and about getting nearer to God.

Here are a few “nose plugs” that you can use to help you along the way, training yourself to lean on Jesus:
1. Read the Word
2. Youth Group
3. Life Group
4. Sunday Edition
5. Coffee with Jesus
6. Hang our with others that follow Jesus
7. Have a mentor or someone you can talk to about tough things or choices you have to make
8. An accountability partner…someone who asks you tough questions about choices you are making or about to make
9. Pray
10. Be an active part of the Body, the Church

You are loved,

cj

are you available?

are you available?

Have you availed yourself to the means of grace this week? This is the question that has stirred my heart and mind for the past several weeks, in fact i cannot let go of it.  It continues to be the focus of thought for me.  In so much as i am unable to set it aside i have decided to embrace it and make it a part of who i am.  The questions origin is from John Wesley who asked it of his house church leaders and congregants of those groups started by Wesley on his missionary journey’s.

i have broken it down like this; Have you made yourself available to God’s grace this week?  In the hurry of life even if we find time to go to a gathering of the church as in Sunday or a small group, it doesn’t mean that we have made ourselves available to God.  i do believe that at times in our lives there are stages or seasons in which we “go through the motions”.  It can become a habit and one not easily broken, if we don’t slow down and take time to ask the question, “Have you made yourself available to God’s grace this week?”

Have you allowed yourself to enter into worship freely?  Have you read the Word?  Have you prayed?  Have you gathered on purpose with the Body of Christ?  Have you partaken in the Lord’s Supper?  Have you given yourself to be baptized?  Have you made yourself available to Christian Charity or Hospitality?  These are not works, these are ways in which we make ourselves available to God’s grace for us…it flows freely from the thrown of grace, freely receive it, by making yourself available.

Let me encourage you, if you find yourself going through the motions in which you haven’t made yourself available to God’s grace this week, with this from Colossians 1:9-14. i will let this read us out.

9 Because of this, since the day we heard about you, we haven’t stopped praying for you and asking for you to be filled with the knowledge of God’s will, with all wisdom and spiritual understanding. 10 We’re praying this so that you can live lives that are worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him in every way: by producing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God; 11 by being strengthened through his glorious might so that you endure everything and have patience;12 and by giving thanks with joy to the Father. He made it so you could take part in the inheritance, in light granted to God’s holy people. 13 He rescued us from the control of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. 14 He set us free through the Son and forgave our sins.

You are Loved,

cj

Go Deeper

Go Deeper

Tomorrow i have the privilege of speaking at family camp at the morning teen service.  i am so excited to be able to speak into the lives of the teens on our district.  The theme this year is “Go Deeper” which fits really well with where i am on my own personal journey with Jesus.  i was preparing for Sunday Edition a few weeks back and stumbled upon this quote from Wesley, “Have you availed yourself to the means of grace this week?”

In thinking about this it really does draw one to a deeper thought, making one “go deeper” into who Jesus is…which is where we are with Coffee with Jesus; “Who do you say Jesus is?” Based on Jesus’ own question to His disciples in Mark 8:29.  The idea of understanding who Jesus is to us, how He is revealing Himself to us or stirring in our hearts helps us to draw nearer to Him.  Of course in turn Jesus draws nearer to us, which brings us to the camp verse, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you…” James 4:8a

Although i must say that i am not one for partial verse extractions like this…so here it is in its contexts; James 4:7-10 (NLT).

“7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.9 Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”

In its context we read there is a lot involved in drawing near to God…but it really does boil down to Wesley’s question, “Have you availed (made yourself available) to the means of grace (God’s grace, freely given) this week?” Have you drawn near to God? Well, have you?

You are loved,

cj

For We Are All One

For We Are All One

Today, as i sat in the building in which a small portion of the Church gathers, i listened to our pastor’s impassioned plea for unity.  It hit me, as i heard his words and saw a glimpse of his heart that this is the same conversation i have been having with Rachel our Axiom manager. Just a regular woman, who just happens to be dark complected, a person of color, black, to be PC, African~American.  i can’t pretend to know how it feels to be a person of color, any color other than white, in America.

We could spend lots of time arguing i am sure, all points and sides, from “Black Lives Matter” to “All Lives Matter”.  Simultaneously arguing the same points but blind because neither side can truly understand the other completely.

So, as i sat in the building with the Church i was reminded of this passage in Galatians Chapter 3…beginning with verse 26;

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. 

The CHURCH must rise up above the racial tension in America. It must begin to show unity in tangible ways to those around us. This isn’t a political issue, although it has been made into one…it is rather a social one.  The Church for all of its flaws, has an opportunity to show Christ. To live out this principle in Galatians. To live out the mandate of Scripture to love, show mercy, have compassion, and live in a place of grace and forgiveness…it is for us, the Church, to walk humbly.

i am thankful that we took 30 teens to camp last week and we were the most diverse group there. i am proud of that fact and felt even better when one of the counselors was talking to me and pointed out the fact.  To be honest, i hadn’t thought about it.  i like to think that i don’t see color, that i live out Galatians everyday.  Not that i am already perfected, but forgetting what is behind, i press on toward the goal of Christ Jesus.

Rejoicing always, i attempt to let my gentleness be an outward expression of who lives within me.  i try not to be anxious but in everything though prayer i am thankfully hopeful. i am paraphrasing parts of Philippians, but let me close with this quote from the same 4:8,9

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

You are loved,

cj

Live, Move, Exist

Live, Move, Exist

“For in Him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” Acts 17:28

On Tuesday we looked at this verse a bit out of the ESV, it uses “being” instead of exist…“For in Him we live and move and have our being.” Everything we have comes from God. James 1:17 says, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” 

If God, is the giver of all things, and if as the poets of old have said, “We are his offspring.” Then what Paul says next in verse 29 of Chapter 17 is also true. “Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.”

Therefore, we should live as if in Him, we live, we move, that we even exist.

You are Loved,

cj

Happy Resurrection Day

Happy Resurrection Day

Tonight, i watched a Christmas show. It’s not Christmas, if you were wondering. It is however, the Jewish Feast of Passover. To put it into perspective, if Jesus were fulfilling the Messianic prophecies in 2016, we would be looking for His resurrection tomorrow. i know what you are thinking, we celebrated “easter” already. You are right…but…i hate easter!

WHAT!? No, really, i hate “easter”. Wait, let me clarify for the record, its the term or label, “easter” that i hate, and yes, i do “hate” it. i struggle with it every year about this time…until it has passed and then i struggle with other things. i have enough struggles to keep me occupied all year. Now, since we find ourselves in the Spring of the year and with it the season of “easter” i only found it fitting to write about it here.

i have friends on either side of this discussion, (mostly in favor of the term…ok all of them really and) all of which are far more intelligent than i and yet i still struggle. Why, you ask? i know not, except that it burns with in me each and every time someone refers to the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus, as “easter”. First however, my copout, i mean my disclaimer; this is my struggle, it is not intended to be your struggle but i write to find some release.

Somewhere around two thousand years ago an event occurred, of such great magnitude that it has shaped history ever since. It’s scope and grandeur are of epic proportions, yet its origins were simple. A young couple, poor and weary, find themselves in a place more fit for beast than man. A meager beginning, finds a baby, wrapped in rags lying in a manger. A moment, witnessed by shepherds, heralded by angels and later visited by Magi; it was the beginning of things told of generations before.  (Read some Awesome Scriptures here)

The reason for this child’s birth, death. Not just any death, a sacrificial death. Innocent yet guilty as He bore our sins all the way to the grave. His motive, Love. Redemptive love. The “Passion of the Christ” is more than a Mel Gibson film. It is a love story that is still unfolding today. You see what the world saw as an end, death, and burial. We know as triumph, “it is finished,”  wasn’t a gasp of giving up, but rather a shout of victory. “Up from the grave He arose…” On the third day the stone that was placed over the tomb was found rolled away and the tomb lay empty.

What sort of language is there, a word that can describe such an event? Well the feast that this week of Passion fulfills is known as “Pesach” or “Passover”. It was after all what Jesus and His disciples were celebrating in the upper room that fateful night of His betrayal. We as Christians should remember Passover, when we remember His death and Resurrection as the two are really un-separable. Part of the Sedar Meal was looking ahead at the coming of the Messiah, the Deliverer, the King. Jesus was that fulfillment right down to the broken bread and spilt wine. That is where we get the Christian tradition of the “Lord’s Supper” or “Communion”. And of this tradition we are told to remember, “do this in remembrance of Me.” Luke 22:19

Yet in light of this we choose to celebrate “Easter”, often times apart from the passover, as they don’t always aline. i don’t mind that so much as we celebrate it as it happened for the most part given the Jewish leaders cries to have it finished before the Sabbath day, Saturday. And Passover follows a lunar calendar and varies in when it is celebrated not always aligning each year as was the case this year, as you pointed out already, we already celebrated “easter”. However, the Passover Feast on the Jewish calendar is this week.  i believe we should try to keep the two close and always remember the Passover regardless of where it lands. But the term Easter, has some questionable origins. If they are true, and again there are far smarter, more learned folks than i on this, yet my struggle continues; why would we choose the term Easter for our most Holy Week? What is the origin that i question, well, it is said, that Easter gets its name from “Astarte” (there is a lengthy description of this you can read online by looking up that name or Estre, Estara, Eastre, Ostara…etc.) i recently read an article put out by “Answers in Genesis” in favor or just not opposed to the term Easter, you can read it here.

 1 Peter 1:13-16 “So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that’s coming when Jesus arrives. Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”

Let’s say, for arguments sake, that the origins i fear are true and accurate. That Easter does derive from Astarte and she was the goddess of fertility. How would one celebrate fertility? Maybe with eggs? But probably not a bunny…although you know what they say about bunnies!? i just think that we as a Church should be different than the world instead of conforming to it. i am not a fan of easter egg hunts, i have come to the point in my struggle that i no longer participate in them. As a pastor i did not ban them but i was as little help in that department as possible. Again, this struggle is ongoing, i did share my opinions but i also understand the heart of the idea. “We don’t use easter eggs, we have Resurrection Eggs.” So, they’re empty? Usually not.

But i digress. my point is simply this, why use a term, “Easter” to describe something so amazing as Victory over the Grave through the “Resurrection of our Lord Jesus”? Isn’t “Resurrection Sunday” or “Resurrection Day” a more fitting term? Why do we not put more emphasis on the Passover? Although we do, for the most part highlight “Good Friday”, i just think we need to get back to basics. Back to a simple understanding with simple terms that are not easily misinterpreted or lost in translation. We don’t need anymore confusion in the minds of our Children…so this “Easter Season” i mean Passover, share the good news of the Resurrection, the empty tomb, the Passion of the Christ, the Love of the Messiah, in that, through His blood…we will be passed over, in a good way, by the angel of death.

Happy Resurrection Day my friends,
You are Loved,

cj

Meditate on God

Meditate on God

Matthew 6:33,34 MSG
“…Steep your life in God-Reality, God-Initiative, God-Provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t don’t get worked up about what may or many not happen…”

To steep, to soak in, to meditate on God and His reality, His plan, and His provision. Society would have you focus on what you don’t have, but can have for the right price. A newer shinier expensive thing that everyone else wants and no one really needs. If you don’t you are missing out! Here is the reality, the God-Realtiy, He is all we ever need and if we steep ourselves in Him, He is all we will ever truly want because He will give us the desires of our heart.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now…..”

You are Loved,

cj

Forgiveness

Forgiveness

We are wrapping up the awesome book of Philippians during Coffee with Jesus. It is such a good book, full of great things. This morning as we met we had a great discussion about life, and forgiveness. The difficulties of forgiving others and the parallel that we can draw from the life of Jesus. The discussion happened prior to our reading of the text. Which in and of itself did not reference forgiveness directly however we definitely were able to draw from it.

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” 

It is said, that we forgive not for the other person but for ourselves. There is Scripture to back that up but let me say this, scientifically it has been proven beneficial as well. The stress release that comes when we let go of bitterness, anger, hate, malice, strife, jealousy etc. is unmeasurably hhuuuugge. When we pray to forgive someone, or maybe the first step, for the strength or the resolve to do so…we can rest assured that that prayer will be answered.

When we begin to pray a prayer of thanksgiving for all God has done as the passage declares, peace comes. Additionally, that peace will surpass anything we could ever understand. It will also guard our hearts and minds. It is finding the essence of the heart of God. It will set our minds at ease and prepare our hearts for praise. Let me conclude with this from Philippians 4:8-9. NLT

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think aboutthings that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me-everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” 

You are Loved,

cj