It’s Mother’s Day today!

It’s Mother’s Day today! God Isn’t both genders but He made both genders male and female because the characteristics of Him fulfill both of the strengths and qualities of male and female. He is strong, He is powerful, He is loving, He is gentle and He is Just. We see all around us His kindness and gentleness. He, the Holy One, powerful God created a flower. He sophisticatedly designed it’s dimensions. And then He made gigantic mountains, terrifying storms and frightening lions as they roar! He is all. He made gorgeous beauty in a sunset, and the beauty of love between humans. He designed the loving tender heart of a woman to accomplish the task of mothering her young (whether they be human or animal), of which we all need. Who doesn’t need a mother? We all need to be set , in the beginning of our lives, with a firm knowledge that we’re loved. We need that to grow up with the security of who we are. When we know who we are, we have confidence for the days we face in life. Without a firm knowledge that we’re loved we basically self-destruct. We easily fall for other things to fill this basic need in us. I’m not saying we can’t ever learn this need for love, I’m just saying that it helps establish us for life. A mother is God ordained to show their children love, and beyond only her children to help bond the family. Thanks mom!

-Matthew

Finally!

     Finally, after a long long string of kings in Israel, one (king Elah) reigns. ¹ He follows the Lord. ²He finally tears down the “high places” for other gods. He tore down those lies that kept bringing Israel to its knees.  It’s always that one little blemish that makes us dirty. If you have a pure white shirt and it gets a black or dirt spot on it, one that you can’t seem to get clean isn’t the entire shirt considered dirty? We are all working to get closer to God. If you aren’t or don't want to know Him better, if I were you, I’d question my faith. We all have blemishes, I’m not personally the exception! These little gods in our lives (the sins that we still hold on too) are what hold us from Him. If you wonder why you don’t seem to grow closer to God no matter how much you try, examine yourself.

      If you keep reading in the chapter it says, “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherah….and the Lord was with him wherever he went, he prospered.”

       When we choose to cut down the asherad poles and destroy the high places in our lives (destroy the sins we hang on too), God can come and bless us! Don’t get this confused with “prosperity gospel.” God doesn’t work like that. He is a being, we can’t “control.” God's like that. God has a plan and makes choices for His ultimate plan. However destroying the high places in our lives does allow God to come into your life, it allows Him to at least give you peace, be used by Him and to allow you to prosper. His promise is that He will always provide for us when we hold on to Him. Holding on to Him, without saying, is following His commands and living by His standards. If we don’t deal with the sins, that doesn’t allow Him to work in our lives, we stand apart from Him. We would have made the choice to not be in Him. That is a dangerous place to be.

     To begin to break down those “high places” in our lives (those sins that we hold on to), we need to admit the truth, we are weak, only He can make us strong. Only He is sustainment, joy and our peace.

Matthew Kelly

Break Chains (2 Kings 8)

    This entire section is really interesting to me in a strange way. In verse 7-15, King Ben-hadad tells his servant Hazael to go talk to Elisha to see if he’ll recover. Elisha tells Hazael that the king will get better but he would die. 

    What does that mean? That is interesting to me because Elisha basically predicts the kings murder. Then Elisha starts to cry. Hazael asks, “what’s wrong?” Elisha says “I’m crying because, “God has shown me the evil you will do when you succeed the king.” Hazael goes back to the king and tells him, “ you will surely get better,” Hazael finds some opportunity to be the king and Hazael kills Ben-hadad.

    This entire section is amazingly fascinating to me. Hazael knows what will happen and still does it. There is just something wrong about that. There is something really raw and genuine too. Hazael apparently didn’t believe it however God saw the evil in his heart.

      We follow our hearts desires no matter if we know the bad it will produce or not. Seriously ask yourself, do you actually eat that cake even if you know for a fact that you’ve already indulged yourself on enough fat foods for the day? You do it for the instant rewards right? You aren’t looking down the line. I can’t tell you how many times I knew the wrong actions in my head wouldn’t produce a good thing and I still did them. I did them because I wanted to do it! I did it because it would bring something that was an instant gratification. I knew I would need to make-up with God. Why would I do it? Because I am a selfish man. I am trapped in this body.

     Only Jesus Christ is our hope. Only He can break the chains of evil against myself and against Him.... Thank You Jesus my Lord! You are our only hope. You are our rescuer. Jesus, I love You! I worship You with all my heart, soul, strength, mind and life. You hold me from the evil in my heart.

-Matthew

Real Love

Surely he has borne our griefs

    and carried our sorrows;

yet we esteemed him stricken,

    smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.  

-Isaiah 53:4-5

      I’ve read this many times. If we didn’t know this was written about 500 years before Jesus, it sounds like it’s describing something that just happened. It names no one but we know that someone is dying for us, “upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” He gives us peace. He is our true source. Without Him everything is chaos. When your world is going up in flames, you/ we all need something else to focus on. Christ can be your peace. It's not just wishful thinking. When I was younger, I've always heard those promises in my life to "trust in the Lord." I've been through some pretty tough stuff for my age. For example, when I went to "Basic Training" in the Army, I remembered that promise so I bought a little pocket bible to take with on the field in my uniform. Anytime I was bored (hurry up and wait), or stressed, I'd rip that out and focus on a verse or two. I know that God was with me there. When everyone else was stressed, tired, or sick of the drill Sergeant yelling, I'd usually be able to be content. I was at ease, not that everything was "easier" just more manageable when I focused on His truth. He always has me, will always be with me, He won't fail, and He loves me.
          I love this story. It's one of the premier examples in the bible. The disciples wanted to cross over to the other side of the cove. Jesus stayed back to pray. When Jesus was done, He decided to go and see them so Jesus walked on the water. The disciples saw Him and thought it was a ghost. Jesus said it was Him so Peter said, "Lord if that's you call me to walk out to You." Jesus said, "come." Peter stepped out and walked on water to Him. He didn’t even think, “hey that’s water, and not solid ground!” until he looked around at the wind, waves and water! He was just looking at Jesus. When he looked at everything all around him, that’s when he started to sink. He brought peace with the assault on sin by paying the price. That’s why we celebrate Easter! We’re celebrating God conquering our sin.

       Have you ever really thought about Easter? Yes, God became man and died for our sins, that is an awesome thing that our true Father did for us but ever thought about what it means? When God Himself decided to create humanity with a freewill to choose Him or not, God knew we would sin. He wasn’t surprised at us when we chose to disobey Him. He knew that His ultimate plan was a long long journey and this was only the beginning. Creating humanity meant that He would need to die for us. He knew this before He even created the universe. That is an amazing kind of love that is very hard to comprehend.

     Father, Your love is beyond everything I’ve ever thought to be good. Thank You Jesus, You are everything to me.

“real love is not afraid to bleed”

-Rend Collective

-Matthew

Learning Contentment Elijah’s Way (1 Kings 17)

    Sometimes we might wonder what God’s doing? I was reading in 1 Kings 17 and realized ,Elijah is an awesome man of God. By the word of the Lord, Elijah said there would be a drought. God then told Elijah to live for a bit over at the brook Cherith east of the Jordan. God told the birds to feed him there. He’d get bread the in the morning, meat at night and he got water from the brook.

    I’d love to be a fly on the wall to see that. I’m amazed by Elijah. He just went to this deserted place living by the brook having faith in God’s provision and He commanded birds to feed him? If I was just told to go there I’d start asking God, “ God is this where you want me now?” When God places you anywhere, we just start to wonder. Maybe I’m just impatient. We live in this nation where we get everything instantly when we want it, even when God is providing, and we’re not feeling the urge to move/go anywhere. We (I) just need to be content with what we have. God’s not going to spoil us. He doesn’t want too.

       What would happen if God spoiled me? I’d probably get more lazy and be even more hesitant to go and do anything for Him. I can just be content right now. He’s given us food, water and a way to pay the rent. I can just be content with my daily bread, meat and water. I’m not dying. My family and I are fine. Everything is in His hands.

Love & Laws

    There are confusing spots in the bible. This is one of those spots. I’m not going to say that I have perfect clarity but I thought I’d just write down my thoughts on what Paul was saying. Paul has such a passionate heart for His calling that it just hurts. I wish I had the same passion. You can’t just push yourself to be like someone else, but you can just push yourself with your propeller of a personal love for the incredible Father, Savior and Lover who made the world.
     One thing I’d like to point out. God knows everything right? His clarity and the depth of His mind is sooo deep that we can’t even comprehend it so He knew that creating this world would amount into so much incredible pain. Try to think of this. An all knowing God made this world knew what pain creating the world could potentially amount too. How amazing is His incredible, amazing, mind melting gift that He has waiting for those who are trusting on Him? His benefits of His gift would need to out weight the pain.

“16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
-Ephesians 3:16-19

….That my friends is an amazing verse….

Now, to Romans 7:15-25, 8:1-2.....

vs. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

    This really is the battle that we all have with our sin nature. We all battle our own desires, what we “want” to do for ourselves. It’s actually very selfish. In the context of humanity, isn’t everything that He (God) doesn’t want us to do, going against God’s desires for our own good?

 vs. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.  So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

     His (Paul’s) body is flesh. Certain parts of the body desire certain things. Like, if your arm has an itch, doesn’t your body signal to your brain that, that part of your body to be scratched? Some things that your body has an “itching” for aren’t always beneficial. Some things our bodies instincts want aren’t always good for us. Candy isn’t something we need to eat for every meal. Our body doesn’t think like our minds. We’d be very unhealthy if that’s all we ate. That’s why it would be sin against our body.

Vs. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.

   Paul is saying  that his desires battle with his mind. He even have the strength to fight anymore!

Vs 19-20 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it but the sin who dwells in me.

     First, one thing should be clarified, he separates the “evil” living inside himself because those evil desires are more instinctual. If you’re hungry and wandering in the desert, what if you spot a nice piece of food? Your body wants it but your brain, your higher brain functions tell you, “no way, that has to have been sitting out there for a while, there’s no way that it’s beneficial for human consumption!” Paul is saying, he desires what is evil but he knows that fulfilling his animal instincts can kill him spiritually and eventually physically. His communication with God will also be broken. His communication with God could be severed too!

Vs. 21-23 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.

     Paul knows what is right morally with his head, he knows it! However this human instinct in his body still wants different things and is fighting against what he knows to be God’s way. We all know this battle.

Vs. 24-25 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?! Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Paul is at the breaking point, like we all come too. We need to face the truth, WE CAN NOT DO IT ALONE!

Ch. 8, vs. 1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.

     When we hold fast to Christ our Lord, no one can blame us. We’re free, He’ll take the blunt of it if we let Him and cling to Him. He is our savior! He is our rescuer from this rotting world and bodies that constantly turn from our true life in Him. He is our strength. He makes us strong when we feel like laying down and giving up.  We must recognize the truth, we can’t do this, but He can. When we are weak and choose to lean on His Spirit, we are stronger than we were before.

   I love You Jesus! You are the savior of my life and eternal soul! I can boldly face the darkness because You are with me.

Don’t be fooled (1 Kings 1)

      David is old and “advanced in age.” That’s not so bad. The bad thing is when you're weak, people have a tendency to try and take advantage of you if you have something that they want. In this chapter of 1 Kings, Adonijah is described as a handsome dude who made some friends in high places. He decided to call himself the ruler. He really wasn't that much of a threat though; he only had power that was skin deep. David used his remaining power to foil Adonijah’s plan. David simply had the chief prophet anoint Solomon as king and gave orders for it to be announced. Adonijah’s followers sheepishly walked away when they heard the news (vs. 46).

         It’s fairly easy to be fooled by glamour, style, and charm. We need to learn what God does. God’s insight and wisdom is really amazing. (Of course, He’s God. You need to have the best way of doing things or how can you be God?). In 1 Samuel 16:7, God sends out his prophet Samuel to find David, His new king for Israel. God says,

     “Do not look on his appearance or on his height of his statue, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

     That verse right there has always been interesting to me. How can we look more at the heart instead of focus on the appearance of things and people? Can we really learn to see people for who they are? I see our society: it’s really really easy to look at the lights and the glamour. Have we actually taught ourselves to only see things that are obvious? Have we become so lazy to just give up digging and accept what’s right in front of us, no questions asked? If you haven’t, good for you - but it’s so so easy to just take what we see on the surface as truth.

          I believe there are ways to see the heart without God’s power to see the heart, mind and thoughts. The first thing we need to do is to learn to obtain wisdom and discernment. We can not do this all ourselves. We need to humble ourselves and ask God for those attributes. The second step is to be humble in your observation of others. For example, let’s start simple. If a person wants to move an arm or a leg or any part of the body, they must first think about the action. You know for a fact that the person you're observing thought, “hey, I’m going to move my hand!” That principle can be compared to seeing thoughts, because thoughts equal actions. Let’s apply this rudimentary principle to seeing the heart or mind of an individual. If someone steals on a regular basis, you can directly discern that the person is dishonest. If they just stole once or twice, it is possible that there is a deeper reason, like necessity. It’s “possible,” but still leans on the side of being dishonest.

        Be careful, seeking God’s wisdom and opinion should always be applied before any personal judgment can be made. This is tricky. I highly suggest this method not be taken lightly or alone. Don’t be prideful enough to just take on this process without a lot of thought and listening to the Holy Spirit. We are only human; God is the only one who can hear our thoughts and who knows our hearts. Humility is key. Humility is just the truth. On our own, we aren't that cool, but God alone deems us cool enough to die for us. 

Wow….His love is good.

Lord, You are everything for us.

-Matthew