Christ usurped

It's very easy for something to usurp Christ in one's heart. 

When one gets saved, the heart encounters Him. The journey of discovery, the singing of the worship songs, the reading of the scriptures, the unveiling of truths, the adventure in prayer....He becomes your everything. It's terrific. He's terrific. He truly does become your everything, your heart beat. Ask any Christian.

Then time goes by. The period is different for everyone. But after some time and many church meetings and cell groups and youth rallies and conferences and cd preaching and Christian television shows and and and...our Christianity can begin to revolve around something, anything, other than Him. It looks like Him. It points to Him. It extols Him. It's about Him. But...it's not Him. Ask Matt Redman about the time when "the singing about Jesus" usurped the person of Jesus. Worship had slowly turned to performance. Ask the guy who found more satisfaction in uncovering truths in the written Word in study than he did in encountering the living Word in intimacy. 

Something usurps the preeminence of Jesus in the heart. And it happens subtley too, not on purpose. I heard a preacher say the other day that a day came when he realized the he actually got to a point when he started to worship the worship more than he did worship the Lord. The actual music, the action, the time of singing to Him became of more importance and satisfaction to his soul that God himself. 

It takes humility to admit it. It takes an open heart to see it. 

"I'm coming back to the heart of worship, it's all about you, it's all about you JESUS." - Matt Redman, Heart of Worship (song)

Has a "Jesus" something usurped Jesus in your heart?

Motive: Surpise Surprise!

Motive is a powerful thing. It reveals the heart. It reveals intention.
 

As a young Christian, I was hungry to be used by the Lord to minister to people. And so I was encouraged to “seek His face”. The preacher would teach us that being with the Lord in prayer and spending time in His presence was the key to flowing in signs and wonders. The scripture encourages us to be “as bold as a lion” as we “walk by faith”, trusting the Holy Spirit to move as we believe. Praying for someone’s sprained ankle while in the queue at the store or praying for a blind person’s eye to be opened while they pass by in the mall; it’s no problem if you know it’s going to happen. So how do we make sure it happens? “Seek His face!” and  “Press into the supernatural by spending time in His presence” was what we were taught. 
 

Matt Redman wrote a song in the 1990’s called “Heart of Worship” and it’s a glimpse into the journey of him working out the motives of his own heart. In it he sings “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, its all about you, its all about you, Jesus.” For a time, Matt, who is an extraordinary musician and anointed in leading believers into the Presence, began to use worship as a means to an end. What was once times of intimacy and adoration, turned into something else. His goals changed over some time and so he then began using times of worshipping the Lord to become more skilled, more anointed and to (in his eyes) garner more favour from the Lord so that God would use him. A time came where Holy Spirit revealed his heart and showed him the folly of it. "Heart of Worship" became his song of repentance and constant reminder of what worship was to be all about.
 

 

Spending time with The Lord as a means to an end is the wrong motive. Is it wrong to desire to serve people with the gifts? No. Is it wrong to desire to be used by Him? Certainly not. Those are God-given ambitions. May all in the Church have these desires to be used to touch a lost and dying world! But they are secondary to your love relationship with Him. Intimacy with the King is priority number one. We spend time with Him because we love Him. No other reason. No other agenda attached. Him alone.  
 

 

So ask yourself: Do you spend time in prayer because you enjoy being with Him? Do you spend time in worship because you love to adore Him?
 

Or do you spend time in prayer and worship SO THAT you can be empowered to live a supernatural life or SO THAT you can be a better preacher or SO THAT                                (you fill in the blank)?
 

 

I admit it. Some time ago I fell into the same trap as Matt. I was reading my Bible, spending time in prayer and soaking in times of worship as a means to an end; until the Lord graciously showed me my motives.
 

 

Won’t you join me and let our hearts return to Heaven’s motive: “I’m coming back to a heart of worship. It’s all about you. It’s all about you, Jesus.”

Real Freedom

I write this as a Christian man and on behalf of Christian men. I write this as a Christian man who is tired of doing church. I've had enough of meetings. And I suspect, you have too. Other guys who've been saved as long as I have, echo these sentiments. We desire the real. We want to see God's real power displayed. We want to experience real freedom. We want to bless the world with real demonstration. We have grown tired of hearing what happened in so and so's church in Texas and in India and in Ghana. We want to experience it for ourselves! 

I'm tired of having to put up with theologies that explain why God isn't doing. But I'm also tired of defending my theology of why God should be doing. I'm tired of discussions and debates. When Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, he said he hadn't come to them with wise words or eloquent speech. He had come to preach Christ crucified and demonstrate the power of the Kingdom. Please God, can we get back to preaching the simplicity of the Gospel and demonstrating the real power of God to and amongst it's hearers. 

One of the pressing issues on my heart at the moment is Christian men's struggle with their lust for pornography. I desire to see men, who dearly love Jesus and who long to serve Him with everything they have, be totally and utterly freed of this sin. Will we forever be caught in Romans 7:15 or can the promise of Galatians 5:1 become a reality?

Please follow with me, and keep in mind the context of addiction to pornography:

"How God anointed Jesus of Nazereth with the Holy Spirit and power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, because God was with him." - Acts 10:38

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." - James 5:16

The word "healing" (Acts 10:38) and "healed" (James 5:16) are the same Greek word. Both mean physical healing. The same word is used throughout the gospels describing the healing miracles JESUS performed. The point is this: Healing is a reality that scripture says we can walk in; here and now. Pornography is an oppression by the enemy, like sickness, and it can be healed! The brain can be rewired. The soul can be made whole. The pain that porn is being used to mask over can also be healed. Freedom IS possible. Healing IS possible! 

Men who are controlled by pornography and feel they are the only ones battling the way they are, are hugely mistaken. Did you know that 25% of all Google searches are porn related? It's an epidemic!! It's not just you my cuzzie. The problem is that with pornography comes the shameful and embarrassing stigma and men are wary about admitting what they do in secret, lest it comes out into the open. So men have been fighting it. For years. Alone. Is there freedom? If they are at all honest with themselves, they'll tell you, no. 

One of the keys that I've experienced to being free from porn is the decision to confess it. Having a pastor or a friend in whom you can get real with, is priceless. Confession of sin is bringing it out from the darkness and into the light. Sin doesn't have power in the light. It's exposed. It becomes unappealing and the mystery of it disappears. 

I believe that James understood this when he spoke about confession of sin. Healing, REAL healing (actual freedom, actual deliverance...the real deal) comes when we confess and are prayed for. The freedom that is available to the kids of the Kingdom is something we can experience and walk in. It's not just some pie in the sky that we will hopefully come into once we get to Heaven! No, sir. It's Heaven's reality that is available to us here on earth. Jesus was not lying when He said we can experience abundant life. That abundant life includes abundance of the soul. Freedom from pornography and the control of its lusts and evil desires. In my journey, a continued walk of confession and vulnerability with my Christian friend is important. Freedom from addiction doesn't equal never-sin-again. The flesh will always have its lustful appetites, but the confession of it in the light disarms it's appeal.

Yes my friend, with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible!

I'm challenging my fellow Christian men: Find a Christian friend you can trust with your heart. Open up to him. Confess your struggle with pornography. Pray together. Put James 5:16 into practice and believe God for the healing that brings freedom. We have an obligation to our sons and fellow men in our generation, to stand up against this epidemic that's destroying souls, ending marriages and polluting minds. May it begin with us. May it begin with us receiving and walking in the real demonstration of freedom so that we can be ministers of freedom to others.

Will the real men please stand up?

THE OFFENSE

The Gospel is more than just a scandal. It's an offense to every culture that has come. And it will continue to be an offense for many centuries to come. But say what you must, it is incredibly good news to the person who has come to the end of themselves. 

John wrote what would arguably be the most famous verse in the Bible: John 3:16. It is so, because it captures the heart of the Author and His love letter in one easy to understand sentence. It doesn't take a professor to interpret or a scholar to unpack it's truth. It's simple. God loved. Jesus came. Men believe. Eternal life is gifted. John expresses the ease in which one is rescued from eternal condemnation: Believe in God's one and only Son.  

But that should cause one to stop and ask a question, though. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? What exactly are we to believe about Jesus that grants the gift of eternal life to the believer? Let me summarize for you:

GOD

Many don't like the idea of an all knowing, all powerful and all present God who gives life and sustains life and that without Him, nothing would exist. He is righteous and He is holy. He is perfect in every way. He exists outside of time. He sees all and knows everything about everyone. Like it or not, He is God of all. Including you boet!

MAN

We are unholy. We are unable to save ourselves; if we indeed even believe there is an actual after life. We are rebels to the core. We are lost in our sins. We are worshippers of ourselves. We live to please ourselves. We are unable to please Him or know Him. We don't desire Him on any level. We are lost. Our destination is damnation. And the truth is, it's a just sentence. 

Because of this, we are in desperate need of a savior. 

Side note: A good doctor doesn't just give a sick man medicine. A good doctor whips out the x-rays. He displays pictures of the disease. He doesn't hold back. He calls a spade a spade and gives the sick man a blunt, open and honest diagnosis of how bad he really is, to the point where the sick man is almost begging for the remedy. The reason why men don't desire God's remedy (JESUS) is because they aren't aware of how sick they really are.

REMEDY

Jesus is God's remedy to a sick and dying world. He came to seek and save the lost. Jesus paid the penalty of every lost man's sin for all of time. He died for you! He took the full brunt of God's wrath towards sin upon Himself. He reconciled God to the world on the cross. He, who knew no sin, became sin, so that through Him, many would become the righteousness of God. He is the only way to God. He is the only remedy to a lost and dying world. 

MAN'S RESPONSE

The Holy Spirit downloads this amazing truth in such incredible revelation: God is holy. I am unholy. I need saving. Jesus made it possible for me to be saved. That's the message. The invitation is simple: BELIEVE. Church attendance is not a prerequisite. Neither is obeying the commandments or praying every day. "Quit smoking! Stop using foul language! Stop watching Internet porn!" is all good advice. But it's not the good news. Jesus is the good news. He lived the life we couldn't live. He died the death we all deserved to die in order to give us a salvation we could never earn. Grace is given to those who don't deserve it. That's you my friend! And so man's response is simple: just believe. Unwrap the gift and say thanks.

The Gospel is an affront to every culture. Lost men don't like to be told they are sustained by a Creator. Lost men don't like the idea of being told that they are not good enough. Lost men don't like the idea of being told that they need help. And even those who believe in a God somewhere up there, they don't like the idea that Jesus is the only way to Him. And when they cross that bridge, the thought that we owe Him no debt or payment in any form for this eternal gift is a scandal amongst them that actually belong to Jesus' family. It's too good to be true. But it's good because it is true. 

I will never stop enjoying this truth which I believe we've only scratched the surface of understanding.

He qualifies us

I saw a picture of two athletic tracks. They looked exactly the same but they ran (excuse the pun) off two diametrically opposed operating systems. One was running on law and the other grace. 

The track that ran on law was filled with athletes running their fastest and it seemed like they had been running forever. Some were cramping and some had blisters. It was clear, they were exhausted. Then the truth hit me between the eyes: the finish line didn't exist. These ailing athletes were running a race in which the end never comes.

The other track was different. The athletes were in their starting positions, just about to launch into their run. "On your marks...get set...GO!" As soon as they leapt out of their starting blocks they crossed the finishing tape with their chests instantaneously. Done. They had finished the race. They were victors. And yet, knowing this, many continued to run. Because that's what they were born to do. Runners run.

The enemy attacks Christians with the lie that we are disqualified by what we do. The lie parades itself: "Your giving qualifies you to be blessed." "Your right living qualifies you for God to answer your prayers." "Your prayer life qualifies you for God's intervention into your daily affairs." "Your Bible reading qualifies you for God to......!" The good news of the Gospel is that JESUS qualifies Christians. Not Christians. If it was left to us, we'd be disqualified. Every time. But thank God it's not left to us. God answers our prayers, blesses us with good things, grants us favour in our vocation, heals our bodies and fellowships with us whenever we need or want Him, not because we have gotten it right today or yesterday. It's because, in CHRIST, we have been qualified. Done. 

If God had to pick someone to join His team, he'd chose you. Why? Because Jesus qualified you. He made you good enough. He made you righteous enough. He has done it all. It's a one way transaction. You bring nothing to the table, except for your trust and belief in His goodness. Your effort, your obedience or your performance have nothing to do with it! Faith in Him does. Does this mean the "living" or the "doing" doesn't matter? In terms of our qualification in God's sight, no. But in terms of working out our lives in Him...YES! Runners run. In Christ, you are His workmanship....GO BIG! But when you fluff it...and we all do...never confuse that with disqualification. Your already on the team. You've already finished the race. You've crossed the winning tape. That's done. You're in and you're His. Jesus has done the qualifying.

Being qualified is based fully upon your trust in Christ, not on your obedience and performance.

Think about it.

He qualifies us.

A Friend. My Friend.

"What a friend who has found me. Closer than a brother. I have felt His touch. More intimate than lovers." - Matt Redman

 

He swam through the roughest oceans and He climbed the highest mountains to rescue me. Me? A wretch. A loser. A lost and lonely sinner who was so self absorbed; and who only cared about his god: himself. A degenerate who'd never give Him the time of day; on any day. 

 

But He came for me. He didn't care how dirty or cynical or evil I was. He came anyway. Such is His love. Such is His compassion. And He found me wondering off. He found me in the mud of my mess. The stench of my pride filled his nostrils, but He didn't care. And into my mud, He stepped in. He smiled at me with the most enormous grin I'd ever seen as though He'd found a long lost treasure. He took me by the hand and I felt His pulsating strength. Into His arms I surrendered. And He carried me out. He then washed me. He scrubbed me. He dried me. And He gave me His own crisp clean robe to wear. And we embraced. He sang songs over me and We danced. We ate and He fed me His choicest food. And He called me His friend.

 

I love Him today. And I love Him everyday. Impossible to ignore what He gave up for me. Forever My Lord. My King. My Husband. And He's my friend. My best Friend. My Jesus.

Treating others well

Treating others as God treats us. 

How you doing with that? 

And I'm not just talking about the people you get on with or your mates...

Haha! That's difficult sometimes. And they mates!! But what about others? How you doing with that?

If you like me. You probably stink at it. But this blog isn't to tell you how bad you doing. But rather to encourage you to look at our Lord. He's amazing at treating bad people well. Or rude people. Or vulgar speaking people. He does a lot better than us.

Read the following quote.

"In the natural world, we see many examples of this type of cycle. Water falls from the sky, and returns to the heavens by the process of evaporation. The moon does not generate its own light, but reflects the light of the sun in the night sky. The image in a mirror is nothing more than a reflection of the actual object. Likewise, our love for God is a reflection of His love for us. Love begins and ends with God.

We cannot love God on our own initiative, but we can give back that which He has bestowed on us. When the Father of Lights gives us a gift that touches our heart, it does something inside of us. We end up returning to God the very thing He has given us. To love God, we must be loved by God. It’s a wonderful thing to go through our entire lives being loved by God. We are condemned to be loved by Him forever. We can’t escape it. We have no alternative but to put up with it: this is who God is.

Parents know an example of this principle: when our children were growing up, and our birthday was approaching, most of us gave them money to buy us a present. How do we know how to do this? It is in our DNA. God is the same way; His love is the currency He gives us so that we can love Him more fully." 

I've learnt a secret. "We love because we've been loved. And we are loved." In the great scheme of things. We are the bad, ugly, rude and vulgar speaking people. But JESUS loves us. He has forgiven us. He carries on loving us. When we stop trying to love. But rather bask in HIS love, something kicks in on the inside. When we know He smiles over us. When we know He calls us His kid. When we know He accepts us and enjoys us. Yes, us? And if He pours that love into us, we have the love to love others...

Knowing His love for you is the only way to share that love with others.

#fact