Mud Man

He must have seen the glory beaming out of the one named Adam. He had to see the sunrise and sunset, creativity and passion, strength and love in the muddy mixture. He must have seen the majesty of untold greatness and the beauty of wholeness in this unfamiliar work of creation. Lucifer, in all his anger, resentment and bitterness must have seen Adam as a reflection of Almighty God. He must have shook in fear as he watched the Creator from a distance form, mold and shape the mud into man. Questions and worry must have invaded his mind as God etched away all imperfections to create His self-portrait. The fallen angels must have been uneasy as they observed the great Artist do His finest work. They must have anxiously paced and murmured amongst themselves. They had to wonder with great apprehension: “What is God up to now?” The scene, I’m sure, was like an audience in a theater entrenched in a movie leading up to the climax of the film. Nothing is more important than knowing what is next.

Then it happens. God, the Father, draws near to the hand crafted form of dirt. He looks deep into the eyes of the lifeless creation. As the fallen one’s silence them-selves in utter anticipation, God breathes deep, as do the fallen also. He releases His breath into His art form. Life giving breath. Not just any life, everlasting Life from the Father of all that is.

The climax has reached its summit. The fallen have reached a point of clamor and riotousness within its camp. Who knows what’s next with God’s making? They sense the atmosphere altering. And in God’s perfect timing, as if He was waiting for the cells, blood, nerve endings and all the infinite details that keep man physically alive, the eyes of His image abruptly open. The body violently gasps its first breath and moments later, softly says, “Abba”.

With a hostile piercing roar, the fallen cry out, “God has released His most glorious composition! More glorious than all that He has created. The music, songs and worship from this mud man will be superior to our Lucifer.”

Psalm 139:13-16(AMP)

¹³For You did form my inward parts; You did knit me together in my mother’s womb. ¹⁴ I will confess and praise You for You are fearful and wonderful and for the awful wonder of my birth! Wonderful are Your works, and that my inner self knows right well. ¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from You when I was being formed in secret [and] intricately and curiously wrought [as if embroidered with various colors] in the depths of the earth [a region of darkness and mystery].

If we could grasp, take hold and capture our depth of significance in our God, dramatic shifts in our thought, words and actions would take place. The creation of man and you is not to be looked at moderately, with restraint or with minor importance. You and I were created with the upmost thought and care. We were created with hands of a loving Father, the passion of Jesus and the strength of the Spirit.

Take this seriously.

You are supremely significant to God.

Today, start to read all the good the bible has to say about you and ask the Spirit to ingrain it into you so you can express it in your daily life.

Andy

Insecure God…Not!

God may be a jealous God,

But God is not insecure.

He wants no idols before you

because He’s jealous for you.

He knows the price you pay for that idol.

He knows you’re short changing yourself

with other idols.

He knows the idols make you idle in life.

He knows the idols are a covering for pain

or a symptom of addiction.

God may be a jealous God,

But God is not insecure.

He’s jealous for you.

Death in the Garden

Jesus crucifixion started in the garden. The Father gave Him a vision. (Luke 22:41) Jesus died to His own will. (v42) Jesus accepted, visualized and internalized the Father’s plan. (v44) This sequence of steps was a defining moment for Jesus and for us. No, it was much more than that. It was the beginning of the final great battle that led Jesus to the victory that had been foretold for thousands of years. This was the established point in time for Jesus. The same point in time God gives to all of us. He gave His only begotten Son, our only chance, a vital, critical and crucial choice in the matter at hand. Make no mistake, the vision and the weight of it was clear. (v44) He chose to die.

I know I often choose to carry my cross. I do have to ask myself why. It could be of pure motives wanting to be more like the Lord. It could be I may get some sort of gratification out of it. It’s the “woe is me” syndrome that could get it the way of my sincerity. I could carry my cross all my life and never have to die. This way I can still partially have my way in any given situation in my life and not die. As long as I don’t die to a situation, I still have a bit of control in my life…so I think.

Today I’m not going to name any situations. I believe you are already thinking about them.

I’ve become tired of carrying my cross without the end game of death. I’ve had to die to what I’ve wanted in this life and cry for Him to give me the desires of His heart so I could live again.

I thought I would share this from my heart.

Andy

The Blame Stops Here!

I’ve heard it for years. The “Blame Game”. Family, friends and co-workers blame, blame, blame. I did it for many years.  But what good does it do? Does it somehow solve problems? Does it strengthen relationships? Does it insure a strong future for you or others? Of course not.

So why do we blame?

v Blame can give us a false sense of self-confidence.                                

      

   +  If we fail at a project or relationship, blaming someone else 

       could make us feel as if we gave it our best shot.

v It can shift negative attention off us and cast else where.                                            

   +  We might say, I can’t lose weight because of the way my 

       parents treated me.

v It can give us a sense of self-righteousness.                                                                

   +  We may hear from someone, I’m divorced because she is 

       immature.

Blaming others is never justified. Read the story of Adam and Eve. After they ate of the forbidden fruit, God called out to Adam and asked, “Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Adam responded saying, “The woman whom You gave to be with me--she gave me [fruit] from the tree, and I ate.” Adam blamed Eve. Then God asked Eve, “What have you done?” She replied, “The serpent seduced me, and I ate." It all sounds like blame to me. Think about this a moment. What did they really think they would accomplish by blaming others?

I think the act of disobedience changed their level of faith in God’s love for them. For them to blame others for their disobedience, they must have lost the belief that God fully loved them and would redeem them. The blame they put on others was a spiritual fig leaf, to try to cover their sin. They were trying to tell God that they were still good people. When we blame others for our sin, mistakes or shortcomings, we are simply saying we don’t truly believe God can forgive us, restore us and change us. When Christians blame, it is denying the redeeming power of Jesus the Christ. Blaming is trying to justify ourselves. It is an act of trying to show others our righteousness. Instead of admitting our lack of character or integrity, we blame.

So what is the answer to this hypocrisy. We must fully submit to living under the grace of God. When we do, He then can shape us and mold us into His image.

Next level thinking requires us to take full responsibility for our mistakes. Then and only then can we fully rely on our Redeemer to make us who we ought to be.

Here is a question to ponder.

Day to day, how do you blame others for the part of your life you do not like?

Andy

Picking Scabs

As a boy, I had several cuts, scratches and bruises just like most boys do. I remember one particular incident when I had a good sized scrape on my knee from a bike accident. After few weeks I had a full scab and was on my way to complete healing. Unfortunately for me, we had a friend of the family visit us. Somehow this “friend” convinced my parents to pour peroxide on my scab. In a panic I tried to talk my way out of the forced treatment but it was to no avail. As my parents held me down, I cried through the torture. I’m not sure what it was to accomplish. The only thing that happened was I felt pain, I was angry and the peroxide removed the scab. The scab had to grow again before I healed.

I’ve had to deal with some deep pains lately. What I’ve come to understand in my life concerning emotional healing is this. I couldn’t deeply believe God the Father completely and absolutely loved me. My experiences, since I was child, left me believing I was unlovable. Even though I received Christ as my Savior at sixteen years old, I was so emotionally injured I couldn’t grow in His love and grace. Even though the chains of my addictions and issues were broken through Christ I continued to destroy my life. I would accept criticism from others and would listen to the condemnation that was screaming at me in my head.

Here is the picture in many Christians lives. Before accepting the invitation to follow Christ, we were fettered. After Christ, the fetters were broken and we were set free from sin and death. Unfortunately the fetters left deep cuts on our wrist. Through our walk with Christ our cuts begin to heal and scab. The scab in the natural is protection until the wound heals. The scab in the spiritual represents Gods grace as we grow in Christ. In the natural we are constantly tempted to scratch and pick at the scab because it has a nagging itch. We tend to do the same in the spiritual. Because we do not fully believe God’s love for us is full and complete, we keep pulling His grace off of our lives. We keep going back to the past pain and sin disbelieving in full redemption through Christ. In this place of unbelief we cannot believe the Father absolutely loves us. This starts the cycle of self criticism and condemnation and keeps us from deep inner healing. This unbelief of total redemption corrupts, misrepresents and twists our perception of God and how He sees us. It doesn’t allow us to live beyond our past. Instead of healing, our damaged past becomes a logical and acceptable part of our daily lives. There are a couple of problems with this scenario. God is not logical and Jesus came to heal the broken hearted.

If this describes you, here are some steps you can take to help stop the cycle of self criticism and condemnation.

1.     Stop picking at the scabs.

Learn to filter what the media (including Christian media), family and you say about yourself. Filter the truth from the lies. Resist accepting and repeating the lies. This can be difficult at first but keep doing it and it starts to become easier to deflect the deceit of the past.

Give yourself time to heal.

We always seem to be in a hurry. Remember renewing the mind takes time. In addition, it’s not all about healing. It’s also about building a relationship with Christ. When you have a relationship with Him, your negative opinions of yourself and others opinions matter less and less. Relationship building takes time. But the closer you get to Christ, the more emotional healing takes place organically.

Use ointment.

Spend quit time reflecting on all the good the Word say’s about you. Also remember, since your salvation, you have done good deeds. Reflect on those actions or deeds for a moment and ask the Spirit to help you to enjoy this life by finding other ways of doing good deeds. There is something about serving others that helps bring healing. These actions are like a healing ointment for the soul.

Are you ready to break the cycle? Are you ready to heal? Start using these steps today to move forward in the life Jesus came to give you. Start believing in total redemption because God doesn’t do anything half-hearted.

What are other ways in which we can break unbelief in total redemption?

Andy

Indulging in Fruit

John 5:6-7 When Jesus noticed him lying there [helpless], knowing that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, Do you want to become well? [Are you really in earnest about getting well?] 

The invalid answered, Sir, I have nobody when the water is moving to put me into the pool; but while I am trying to come [into it] myself, somebody else steps down ahead of me. 

Think about this man’s response to Jesus. His statement gives us a very revealing look at his spiritual state.

To better understand this, we must clarify the meaning of the word “invalid”. This word has two pronunciations. 1) in-va-lid 2) in-val-id. Definition #2 means: an intended point or claim is not valid, is null or void. Definition #1, in which I will focus on, means: a person made weak or disabled by illness or injury.

Here’s the point. This man’s response revealed that he was not only physically disabled but also spiritually disabled. His first words to Jesus, who asked him a yes or no question, was a negative statement that had nothing to do with the question. He helped make him-self weak and disabled by the words that he spoke. Proverbs 18:21 states: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they who indulge in it shall eat the fruit of it [for death or life]. If his first response to Jesus was negative, he had a mental stronghold of negativity. Negativity mastered him. He had been thinking negatively for so long that he couldn’t tell Jesus he wanted to be healed. The man was weakness, failure and self-pity and his tongue followed. He achieved what he thought and spoke every time.

 Unfortunately, this man’s life reveals a part of mankind and our nature of negativity. So what can we do differently? Proverbs 8:6-8 says: Hear, for I will speak excellent and princely things; and the opening of my lips shall be for right things. For my mouth shall utter truth, and wrongdoing is detestable and loathsome to my lips. All the words of my mouth are righteous (upright and in right standing with God); there is nothing contrary to truth or crooked in them. When we read the Word regularly and pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance, we can stop our tongues before they repeat the negative. We will have scripture to replace the negative thoughts. Then we can speak the truth of God’s Word, in faith, and see it come to pass.

“Next Level Thinking” requires us to search out our negative thoughts and words and align them with the Word of God.

Ask yourself today what fruit am I indulging in? Death or life? 

Invisible Chains

The chains of your past may have cut deep into your soul. If you still feel the pain of the chains, it's not the chains, it's the cut. 

You are free from the chains but the Lord needs to heal the cut. 
Let Him go there.