A Prayer from our Lord Jesus Christ

While looking through scripture to share at the upcoming Easter Celebration we will be hosting in our home this weekend I came across a beautiful prayer. I have read it once before, but today it really ministered to me and I feel led to share it here as well. This is what Jesus prayed right before he was betrayed by one of His disciples and handed over to be crucified. This is also my prayer for all believers this Easter.

John 17:6-26 (NKJV) “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word. ⁷ Now they have known that all things which You have given Me are from You. ⁸ For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.

⁹ “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. ¹⁰ And all Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine, and I am glorified in them. ¹¹ Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. ¹² While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. ¹³ But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. ¹⁴ I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. ¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. ¹⁸ As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth.

²⁰ “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; ²¹ that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. ²² And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: ²³ I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

²⁴ “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. ²⁵ O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. ²⁶ And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them.”

I pray all this in Jesus' holy name, Amen.

Wishing you all a blessed Easter.

What does 'worship' really mean? [Part 1]

I came across a podcast on this topic a few weeks ago and since I am involved in leading worship in the kids ministry at my local church, I thought I'd check it out.What I found out is that the word 'worship' has several different meanings. Here are a few that I found online...

Merriam-Webster Definition (noun):

1. chiefly British : a person of importance —used as a title for various officials (as magistrates and some mayors)

2. reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also : an act of expressing such reverence

3. a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual

4. extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem <worship of the dollar>

MW Definition of "worship" (verb):

transitive verb

1. to honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power

2. to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion


Now these definitions are acceptable from the world's perspective, but in my quest to answer the question for myself and discover what God says about worship and what it means to Him, I wanted a biblical definition. So I turned to my bible. What I discovered there, is that God's Word has quite a bit to say about what 'worship' is supposed to be.

The main truth I uncovered in the scriptures below is that God considers our obedience to Him an act of worship. We worship God by obeying Him.  We also prove we love Him by our obedience to His Word and to the Holy Spirit. 

(See Ref. 1 John)  **(See also John 14:15, 21, etc.)**

John 14:23 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him."

Romans 12:1 [NASB] "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." ~The Apostle Paul

In other words, as believers and true disciples of Christ, we are called and expected to offer up our lives in sacrifice as an act of worship to our Lord Jesus, who laid His life down for us that we might become sons & daughters of His Father, the Most High God. 

Jesus told us this very thing many times throughout his ministry here on earth.

Matthew 10:37-39 [NASB] “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it." ~ Jesus

Luke 9:23 [NASB] And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." ~Jesus

Matthew 16:25 [NASB] "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." ~Jesus

 Brace yourselves for what I'm about to say next. Some of you may not be able to grasp or accept it, but it's what my Lord has revealed to me these last few weeks and I am compelled by His Spirit to share this eye opening truth He has given me. This 'sacrificing of self' and 'devoting our lives to Christ' that Jesus spoke about and that I just mentioned above, is our sole purpose in this life and in this world my friends. It's what we were all created for by our Father in heaven.

John 4:23-24  "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Our heavenly Father desires worshipers who worship him in their spirit; from their hearts, their souls & in truth; how they live their lives. This is the same thing Jesus tried to tell the Pharisees--the religious leaders of his time.

Matthew 23:25-28 [NASB] “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." ~Jesus

We are told many times throughout the scriptures to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; Matthew 6:33 , and not to love the things of this world; 1 John 2:15-16.

Galatians 5:13-14 (TNIV) "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ~The Apostle Paul

We are not here by accident. The earth and everything in it did not just spontaneously appear out of thin air one day.  We were not put here by God to satisfy our own selfish ambitions and see how much we can 'get out of life'.  We were not created to chase after our own success and achievement and fill our lives with treasures of this world. 
  
Matthew 6:19 [NASB] "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal." ~Jesus

We were all, every single one of us, created by God to live with Him, in obedience to His Word and for Him, in order to bring about His perfect purposes for His own creation. Hear what I am saying friends!  This life isn't about us!!

2 Corinthians 5:15 (NKJV) and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

Galatians 2:20 (NIV) "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." ~The Apostle Paul

  
Romans 6:2-8 [NASB] "How shall we who died to sin still live in it?  Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him..." ~The Apostle Paul

In Acts 20:17-35 the Apostle Paul is speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus. I love how he put his life into perspective for them in versus 22-24...²² “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." (NIV) 

Do we really live like this? Sadly, from what I have observed my entire life, it seems that the majority of Americans today who claim to be Christians, do not. But we who believe should all be 'compelled by the Spirit' just as Paul was, to the point that we consider our lives 'worth nothing' except for completing the work the Lord Jesus has called us to for the glory of our Father in heaven. Only then, when we are totally & completely sold out to living for God, will we truly be able to make any difference in this world! Only then will we be able to reach the lost for Him and increase the inhabitants of HIS Kingdom in heaven!

Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV1984) "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."~The Apostle Paul

As Christ followers we must continually examine our hearts and our lives, and ask ourselves the tough questions. Questions like...

Do I live my life under God's divine direction or my own?
Do I follow the leading of His Holy Spirit daily?
Am I putting my worth in what the world says is of value or what God tells me is?

We must not only have the courage to ask these things but to really search our hearts for the answers, and, if need be, bow down to our Lord humbly in prayer and ask for help with what we struggle with. Be encouraged brothers and sisters, Jesus is waiting and ready to give you everything you need!

Hebrews 4:14-16 [NASB] Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

I know this isn't an easy thing to do. I am one of the most stubborn people I know, but I have personally seen the difference in my own life as a result of following His lead in this. My Lord revealed this truth to me a few weeks ago and I am certain that this is what He desires of us. How can we expect God to help us if we don't go to him with a surrendered heart and ask Him to? As long as we are determined to do things on our own we are not able to fully embrace the power of Christ living in us.

Romans 8:37-39 (NKJV) "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." ~The Apostle Paul

Only in our total and utter surrender to HIM are we able to embrace the freedom of life that God intended for us to have from the beginning of time. 

Are you ready to embrace the power of Christ within you? Are you truly ready to be the conqueror your heavenly Father created you to be? If so, open your heart to Him! Let Him in and surrender EVERY AREA of your life to Him-give Him ALL OF YOU, not just what you're comfortable with because He already knows every single thing there is to know about you--even what you don't want Him to know! There is NO hiding anything from our all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere at one time, holy, loving, faithful, true, and merciful God.
  
Truly worshiping God means holding nothing back!!


There is sooo much more to 'worship' than the few songs of praise we sing on Sunday morning at our local churches! That is just scratching the surface of it and I plan to go into detail on what the Lord has revealed to me about that in my next post. Until then.....

Romans 12:9-13 (NIV1984)  Love must be sincere.  Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Colossians 3:14 "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."  

Love Your Enemies.....???

"Children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth."  1 John 3:18 [NASB]

While there is no doubt the majority of what Jesus said while on earth to the religious leaders of the day--the Pharisees & scribes, etc.--were radically bold statements of truth, the Sermon on the Mount recorded in the book of Matthew is unquestionably one of the most radically profound teachings Jesus gave during his ministry on earth.  It practically shred to pieces most of the law that the Jews, His own people, held so highly, and in turn exposed all mankind to the true heart of God behind His law.


Perhaps one of the most challenging of the commands given that day by Jesus can be found in Matthew 5:44...

"But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..."

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...???

Wow, what a concept.  That is not the way we--meaning human beings, myself included--instinctively react to people who hate us or are mean to us. But that's what Jesus asks us to do.  Jesus asks us to put aside our own feelings and reach out in love toward those who persecute us, despise us and do all kinds of evil against us. 

[NASB] Matthew 5:7, 9-12 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. (9) Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." ~ Jesus 

 To try to explain the kind of love Jesus is speaking of, here is an excerpt from an online devotional written by Michael Lane of Delve Christian Ministries...
 

  "The love of which Jesus speaks is not a feeling in any sense of the word. It is a decision resulting in action. It is a choice you make that has nothing whatsoever to do with how you feel, and quite often, occurs in spite of a feeling to the contrary. This kind of love judges the needs of a person but never the person themselves, and responds according to the gravity of the need, never the character of the person.

Understand that you must absolutely restrain whatever you feel for a person and treat them with as much compassion and kindness as you would show your own mother or child. This is the kind of love that Christ demands – not a feeling, but rather a spirit of service, selflessness and humility. It is the ability to give to others with no regard to what they can do to repay you, what they feel for you or what you feel for them.

It is, in fact the greatest kind of love. It is the kind of love that God demonstrated when He saved us while we were His enemies."

[TNIV] Romans 5:8  "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

This kind of love, this decision to take action and reach out in love to those who hate us or hurt us or break our hearts, is far from the effortless acts of love we demonstrate toward our spouses and families.  It is a much more difficult and deliberate act of love.  One I know for a fact is impossible for us humans without the love of Christ in our own hearts.  Only once we have come to realize & begin to understand just how much our Father in heaven loves us are we capable of having and practicing that same kind of love toward our enemies.

I say this boldly because I personally know this to be true from my own life experiences.  For the past 4 years I have had to deal with someone I once considered my enemy on practically a daily basis.  My days hardly went by without an interruption or intrusion from this person which I thought, and was on occasion, absolutely unnecessary and a total nuisance.  My "BC Jami heart" had grown cold and my mind was filled w/evil thoughts of this person which reminded me just how much I could NOT stand them every time they did something I thought wasn't right.  I had even tried many times to explain my position to them, to no avail, which only led to fierce fighting between us. Neither one of us would listen to the other.

Even after I became a Christ Follower my heart did not immediately look at this person from a different point of view.  Only after having a conversation over lunch with a long time friend, who also lives in a similar situation, did I see where I was in the wrong.  I believe my Lord used this friend of mine, one who is not even a fellow sister in Christ yet, strategically to show me that I was not acting like the child of God I had become in this particular relationship.

On the way home from lunch with my friend I was replaying everything she had said, everything we had talked about in my mind when suddenly it dawned on me.  I could no longer treat this person who I had considered my enemy for years as if I hated them.  The Holy Spirit convicted me right then and there of my horribly unloving, selfish, prideful and sinful behavior towards this person in my life.  I prayed that day that the Spirit would bring me peace about this relationship and help guide me and teach me how I was supposed to treat this person regardless of how they treated me.  I surrendered my own will on the issue to the will of my Lord Jesus Christ and begged Him to help me to treat this person the way He would no matter what they did or said.

[NASB] Philippians 4:6-7  "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

A genuine prayer is a powerful thing my friends. Since that day I have not felt hatred or contempt or even mild dislike towards this person that I once considered my enemy. My Lord has given me His Perfect Peace in this relationship and in doing so He has made me able to feel compassion for this person and their struggles. Because of my Lord and His love for me, I am now able to see when this person has a need that I can help them meet and I am compelled to respond by the Spirit within me! I am now able to practice the principle of loving my enemy by reaching out with the love of Christ and offering my help to them when they need it. Because of all this I now have a healthy relationship with the mother of my step-son and things that I never thought would be possible, like all of us going to J's birthday parties and sitting with her at his soccer games, and having her over to our home for a holiday, etc., have become a reality! Praise the LORD!!!!!

Now nobody misunderstand me, please. We by no means have a perfect relationship. Our situation is far from ideal and more complex than I would like...but you cannot love someone unless you are able to accept them for who they are, faults and baggage included, and before I met my husband this woman had his son. There is nothing I can do to change that. The only thing I can do is choose to accept that she will be a part of my life as long as he is a part of my life, or not. I knew that before I married my husband, and still I chose to walk down the aisle.

Choosing to love my husband meant loving his son as well--which I do more than I ever thought possible--but it also meant learning to treat the mother of his son with love and respect.  As a Christ follower I also had to learn how to treat her in a way that honors my Lord and Savior who went to the cross and sacrificed His perfect and blameless life for mine and everyone else's who was God, His Father's enemy.

"This kind of love can be hard and uncomfortable, but it is the most important love of all, for it is by this kind of love that others will know that Christ lives in you." ~Michael Lane, Delve Christian Ministries

 

Only the One who gave us the example of what love is, is qualified to teach us how to love our enemies.  I will forever be grateful that He knew how to love those who persecuted and despised Him, who treated Him with contempt and disregarded Him and said all kinds of evil against Him.

[NASB] Luke 6:27-36  “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your coat, do not withhold your shirt from him either. Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. Treat others the same way you want them to treat you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful." ~ Jesus

 

 

Cross references:

1. 1 John 3:18 : 1 John 2:1; 3:7
2. 1 John 3:18 : 2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:

Songs Speak

So, as I'm driving home from my Weight Watcher's meeting earlier today, a song came on one of the local Christian radio stations that I haven't heard before. All I could do was smile as I listened to the words of Francesca Battistelli's 'Motion of Mercy' for the first time. If I could put my testimony to music, this is what it would be...enjoy! <3  : ]

Motion of Mercy

I was poor, I was weak.
I was the definition of the

spiritually bankrupt condition.
So in need of help...

I was unsatisfied,
hungry and thirsty
when You rushed
to my side, so unworthy,
still You gave yourself away…

[Chorus]
That’s the motion of mercy
changing the way and the why we are.
That’s the motion of mercy
moving my heart.

Now I’m filled by a love
that calls me to action.
I was empty before,

now I’m drawn to compassion,
and to give myself away...

[Chorus]
That’s the motion of mercy
changing the way and the why we are.
That’s the motion of mercy
moving my heart.

Living for the lost .
Loving ‘til it hurts,
no matter what the cost
like You loved me first.
That’s the motion of mercy.

God give me strength to give something for nothing ,
I wanna be a glimpse of the Kingdom that’s coming soon...

[Chorus]
That’s the motion of mercy
changing the way and the why we are.
That’s the motion of mercy
moving my heart.

Living for the lost.
Loving ‘til it hurts,
no matter what the cost
like You loved me first.
That’s the motion of mercy

moving my heart!

To give yourself away...

To give it all away...

That's the motion of mercy.

Until my next post...

Psalm 5: 7-8 &11 (NIV) "But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple. Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness, because of my enemies—make straight your way before me. But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you."

My Life BC - Before Christ

Up until now, most of what I've shared here has been Christ in me. The spiritual truths that I've come to realize through my relationship with Jesus, and the wisdom I've received from the Holy Spirit through my study of God's word. Not that I have become an authority on spiritual matters, and not because I am holy by any measure, for the only holiness in me comes from Christ and I still have a long road ahead of me in my walk with the Lord. But the things I have shared have been the things I have been led by the Spirit to share. That along with sharing how my life has been changed since I accepted the incredible gift of God's grace is the purpose of this forum for me.

Today though, I want to share a little of what I was like before Christ. Those of you who are close to me already know, but I want those of you who don't know me as well, to be able to see just how awesome a work the Lord has done and is doing in my life.

At the time that I accepted Christ, I was 28, divorced and had a live-in boyfriend. I was pretty much a sinner's sinner. I had lived my life on my own terms from the age of 18. I left home shortly after graduating high school and was married by 19. Pretty early on I thought I had life figured out. I was in love. What I thought was love anyway. The only thing I knew as love, I guess, so I got married. I was old enough to make my own decisions, so I did.

Six years later I'm back at my parents home, separated from my husband. I'm emotionally crushed, disappointed in myself, ashamed, and trying to pick up the pieces. It's difficult for me to even think about my life back then, not because I can't remember, but because I remember all of it. I remember every shameful, awful, degrading detail. I didn't have a whole lot of respect for myself at that point in my life, and I ended up living in a very dark place for about a year and a half. I did whatever I could to numb the pain. I sought comfort anywhere I could find it, and that usually meant any guy's arms who would give me the time of day.

I'm not proud of the way I lived back then, so please don't mistake what I'm about to say. In those days, the days that I lived BC, (before I knew Christ), I did what made Me feel good. I lived for myself and sought out what I thought would make Me happy. Back then, I didn't think there was anything wrong with what I was doing. I thought what I was doing was how you got over heart-break. Only now, that I know my Savior and His love for me, do I see how ignorant and foolish I was back then.

Those of you who really know me know that the 'BC Jami' would never, ever admit the things that I've just admitted. Not even to herself, much less here in such a public way where the whole world-wide-web can see! That fact alone is proof of the incredible transforming work Christ is doing in my life!!


2 Corinthians 3:17-18 "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 

As a new believer, it took me a little while to understand what the above verse meant. But even though I didn't understand it at first, the Lord still spoke to me through His Spirit about certain areas of my life. Now when I say that the Lord "spoke to me" I don't mean I actually heard Him whisper things in my ear. The Holy Spirit that lives inside all believers has a way of teaching us about the things of God.

The best way I can describe what my encounters w/the Holy Spirit have been like would be to compare it with what people identify as one's conscience. Thoughts will come to me, sometimes out of the blue, and sometimes when I am seeking the Lord's wisdom and guidance on a particular issue. But how I know they are not my own, or even of my own mind, is that they aren't usually things I would think of on my own. At least at first they weren't. As I grow in my faith my mind is becoming more and more like the mind of Christ, (See 1 Corinthians 2), so when the Spirit speaks to me now it doesn't seem as strange as when I was a new believer. 

2 Corinthians 4:1-2 and 5-6 "Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,^" made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ." (NIV)

The first area of my life where the Holy Spirit "shined the light of the knowledge of God" on was my relationship w/my boyfriend. As I mentioned earlier, I was living w/my now husband, then boyfriend, at the time of my salvation. Sin was and had been a pretty big part of my life. It always had been, but 'BC Jami' never really thought of it like that. Before I came to the Truth I never really understood what sin meant. I'd heard others say "we are all sinners", but I honestly had no idea what it was that made us 'all sinners'.

I honestly didn't have any comprehension of what sin was, just of what I thought was right and wrong. What I didn't know back then, in my BC life, was that there are things that are right, and there are things that are wrong, but it's not up to us to determine such things. We were not created to decide for ourselves right from wrong. Things are either right or wrong, and because they are, God says so.

 (NIV) Genesis 2:15-17 "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will certainly die.”

The Lord God didn't command Adam not to eat from the tree to scare him into doing what He said. God told Adam not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good & evil because He wanted Adam to choose HIM to be his teacher of what is good and what is evil. God wanted Adam to choose Him, as his creator, to be the source he came to to learn about such things. God wanted Adam, who He created in His own image, to depend on HIM to be the sustainer of his life. God knew before he even created Adam, what Adam would do, and still he wanted Adam to choose to put HIM before himself. But it had to be Adam's choice...

(NASB) Genesis 3:4-5 "The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So one day, a few weeks after I accepted Christ and the gift of salvation, I'm doing a load of laundry when a thought occurs to me. "Paul and I really need to abstain from having sex until we're married."

'What? Where did that come from?' I thought to myself..."You know Jami." came the reply from somewhere inside me, "You know that this is right." I stopped what I was doing for a moment and thought about what had just happened.

I reflected upon my life prior to becoming a believer, and I came to the realization that 'BC Jami' would never have thought twice about sleeping with her boyfriend. She wouldn't have thought there was anything wrong with it. After all, the two of us had spoken about marriage and even decided we would marry one day. I knew I didn't want to be with anyone else and neither did he. But for me to have the thought that it was wrong for me to be sleeping with the man I was living with, who I had decided I would one day marry, that had to be coming from someone other than me. I didn't know much about being a new believer, but I knew that the Jami I knew, the Jami I had been my entire life, would not have had that kind of thought on her own.

(NIV) 2 Corinthians 5:17-19 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them."

When I surrendered my life to God and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, the Jami that I was, 'BC Jami', was replaced with a brand 'New Jami'. The scripture above states that is what happens to those who are "in Christ", and that it's from God himself who "reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation".


(NIV) John 1:29 "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"

2 Corinthians 5:21 "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." (NIV)

It was only through Jesus and his work on the cross that God could reconcile the world to himself. Only by providing a perfect sacrifice without spot or blemish could he "take away the sins of the world", like John says. In doing so, God made a way for all of us who believe not only to be forgiven and our sin removed, but also to become "the righteousness of God."

2 Corinthians 5:15 "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again." (NIV)

Our Heavenly Father desires for us to live for something greater than ourselves-He desires for us to live for HIM!

I like how Mark Hall, (lead singer of Casting Crowns), put it in his book, The Well.....

"Our human nature makes us see him-[Jesus]-as useful to us instead of Lord over us. We see him as the fixer and the sprinkler of blessings. We want him to come join us and bless what we're doing when what He longs to do is transform our hearts and minds." [pg. 25]

"Jesus is not going to come join our lives. Jesus wants to become our lives. He is going to say, "I want to be Lord of it all. I want to run this thing. But if you insist, I'll step out of the way & let you run it." [pg. 103]

"You have never slipped God's mind. Even if you haven't thought of him since the last time you walked through a church door, he has been walking with you, watching you, talking to you. God has been trying his best to catch your eye because He pursues YOU." [pgs. 60-61]


"God made us in his image. He gave us a mind, will, and emotions. He gave us the freedom to make decisions and choose whether to obey him or betray him. He wants us to desire him, pursue him, love him. He does not want robots. He had to make us alive when we were spiritually dead, but now that we're alive, He wants our allegiance, our trust, and our love." [pg. 120]

John 14:23-24 (NKJV) Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me."

Like Adam, we all have a choice to make. We get to decide what kind of relationship we're going to have with God, if any. We get to decide if we're going to accept who Jesus was and what he did for all of us, or not. We get to decide.

I've come to realize that much of a believer's walk is an act of will. We can have faith, but true faith demands action. Our faith is only made complete when we step out and follow Jesus' lead. We have to decide to take action when He speaks to us. We have to decide to obey. When we decide to obey and follow Jesus' lead in our lives, we find out just how true our faith is.

So later that same night I told Paul what I had experienced while doing the laundry. I told him I thought it would be best if we waited to be intimate with one another until after we were married. I told him I wanted to do this in response to what I felt the Lord telling me was the right thing for us to do. He was more understanding and supportive of this decision than I expected and seemed genuinely pleased that I was choosing to follow the lead of my Lord as I felt directed to. This was in May of 2010.

At the end of June he proposed to me in front of my family and about half a dozen of our closest friends, at a surprise birthday dinner that he had planned for me. I was incredibly touched by the effort he put forth to make my birthday so special. It was the most thoughtful, romantic thing anyone had ever done for me. I accepted of course, and we were married in November 2010.

If I had it to do all over again I wouldn't change a thing. Our first night as husband and wife was totally worth the wait! ; ]

(NKJV) Song of Solomon 6:3 "I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine." 

Until my next post...


(NASB) Psalm 9:1-2 "I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High."

My King

The first time I realized how awesome a savior my King was, I was reading a book, and no, it wasn't the bible!  It was shortly after I accepted Christ. I remember thinking, 'Wow, Jesus is all these things & more and he still wants a relationship w/me?' I felt so unworthy. But then I thought, 'Who am I to question God's love?'. God's love just is...and what's even more amazing about God's love is that it's the same for all of us--for every single solitary person on the planet! He loves us all exactly the same no matter who we are, or what we've done, or how much we don't deserve it.

What person do you know that you can honestly say that about?!?!? Do you know anyone who would give up their one & only Son because of the love they have for someone else? I don't. People don't naturally love like that, only God does. The bible tells us that as believers, we are to love one another.

1 John 4:7-8...Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (NIV)

1 John 4:10-11...This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (NIV)

  But do we honestly make a habit of loving others as our Lord Jesus Christ did? I know I haven't. Not always anyway, but I'm learning to. You see, the most incredible thing about Christ living in you, is that as your faith grows you start to uncover just who He is & what He is all about. You discover that one day when you weren't even aware of it, He placed compassion in your heart where before there was none. He deposits empathy where once you were full of apathy. Where unforgiveness used to reign over you keeping you in bondage, he breaks the chains with His perfect absolution and mercy.

How do I know these things? How can I claim this about Him? I tell you these things because this is what my Lord has done for me. He has been transforming me from the inside out, to become more and more like Him from the moment I surrendered my life to God and accepted His awesome grace in Christ Jesus. Sounds impossible you say...? Well, with man it is. There's no way any counseling or self-help book could do for me what my Savior has done, that's for sure!

(NKJV) Matthew 19:26...But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

There was a time in my life when I never thought I'd be able to forgive...anyone.....ever. Being sexually abused as an adolescence by someone I loved, who was supposed to love me kinda poisoned me as far as the whole trusting others thing went. Once I did let someone in though, the moment you betrayed my trust, that was it. We were through. No second chances, no making up. I'd burn that bridge so fast believing that there was NO way that person would ever be able to hurt me again. Little did I know that unforgiveness  works to turn your heart bitter toward others.

As I have learned from my Pastor at church..."Unforgiveness in any relationship will effect every relationship."--P. Troy Gramling of Potential Church. You see, there was no way anything I could do would be able to cure my broken heart, only Christ can! He is capable of everything I have mentioned tonight and MORE! I wonder, do you know Him?




I personally believe that if all of us who claim to be Christians would seek to live out our lives as Jesus lived His, the world would be blinded by the light and love of our Savior King and so many more who are lost would come to the Truth and be saved from the web of lies that the world has spun around them!


Until my next post...

(NIV) Ephesians 3:16-19...I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Religion vs. Relationship

I touched briefly on this topic in my last post, but ever since then I've been feeling the Spirit in me nudging me to delve deeper into "religion vs. relationship", to fully explain the truths He has shared with me and that have been revealed to me through the seeking of God's Word and studying the scriptures. 

In order to see the difference between the two, lets define them. Here's the definition of 'Religion' according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary...

"Religion: (1a) the service and worship of God or the supernatural; (b) commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance. (2) a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices; a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith."

Here's what Wikipedia had to say about Religion...

"Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values.^[1] Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to explain the origin of life or the universe. They tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws or a preferred lifestyle from their ideas about the cosmos and human nature."

From the definitions above, 'Religion' is defined as something we humans practice in order to please God; to try to gain his favor or approval in our lives. There's a problem with that though. God cannot approve of the spiritually dead. God only accepts what is holy, and there is only one of us who ever lived a perfectly holy and blameless life, His Son, Jesus Christ.

(NIV) Romans 3:10- "As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;"

(NIV) Romans 3:23- "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,"  


If you are not in Christ, you are in Adam and are spiritually dead. As I pointed out in my last post, we are all born into the world spiritually dead because of Adam & Eve and their betrayal  in the Garden of Eden.

Bob George explains it this way in his book Classic Christianity. "From God's point of view there are only two kind of people in this world: those who are in Adam, and those who are in Christ. To be "in" somebody might sound strange, but put simply, it means that they are your family head. The two family heads in this world are Adam & Jesus Christ." 


When we are in Christ, God sees us as totally acceptable and righteous in His sight-not because of what we do, because of what Christ has done for us. Without Christ none of us can be counted as holy or blameless in God's sight, and nothing we do, including serving a religion, can change that fact.

Now let's define relationship. The Merriam-Webster online dictionary says...

Relationship- (1) the state of being related or interrelated; (2) the relation connecting or binding participants in a relationship; Kinship. (3) a romantic or passionate attachment.

Dictionary.com says...

Relationship- 1. a connection, association, or involvement. 2. connection between persons by blood or marriage. 3. an emotional or other connection between people.

From these short definitions, a relationship sounds like much more than a religion. It is defined as a deeper, more personal connection between persons. You see, God longs to have a real connection with us. That was His plan from the creation of the world!

I like what Mark Hall, (lead singer of Casting Crowns), wrote in his book The Well..."Have you ever sensed God trying to break through, saying 'I am NOT a book. I am a Person who wants to know YOU!' ?"
 

God didn't just send Jesus to us to help get us out of hell, he also sent him to get Himself out of heaven & into US! The real goal of the Christian life is to get to KNOW CHRIST, and the motivation for such is the love & grace of God shown to us by him sending his Son to die on the cross for us. It is our Heavenly Father's desire for us as believers, to "express our faith through love".

Jesus told us so in John 13:35-- "All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another".

As believers, and beloved children of God, we are called to live according to the same pattern as our Lord Jesus Christ. When "we receive God's love & become channels of that love to others, we can walk in the assurance that we are fulfilling the highest purpose of God in our daily lives."--Bob George Classic Christianity.

The sad thing is, many Christians today seem to miss the fact that a relationship w/Christ is more than just accepting him & receiving salvation. Once we come to know the Truth, we are called to a way of life where God sits above all and works through us to accomplish his perfect will on earth.

"As Christians, the God who created this universe lives in us & wants to use our bodies every day of our lives to show His love and grace to the world around us! God lives in you and wants to produce fruit through you that will endure for eternity!"--Bob George Classic Christianity

That is so much more than a religion! Yet many of us in the faith treat our relationship w/Christ as such, completely missing out on what God intended for us to experience as his children & heirs of the promise. Wake up brothers and sisters of faith, life is too short to miss the REAL thing!

We know that religion cannot deliver what it promises, for if it could Christ died for nothing. I don't know about you, but I don't believe for one second that God would send his One & Only Son, whom He loves above all else, to die on the cross in vain. Religion cannot deliver what it promises. Religion will never get you a relationship with the one true God, because there is never enough that we can do on our own to "earn" God's favor.

The only one who has God's favor is Christ, and the only way we can be made acceptable in God's sight is by accepting Him. It was God's plan all along, from before Satan defied Him, to make a way for the world to be reconciled to Him and restore the lives of men. Religion, with all its traditions, rituals, customs, well-meaning beliefs & moral ethics, cannot do that for you friends--only Christ can.

(NKJV) John 14:6-- Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."

"God has not called us to change our lives, but to experience the 'exchanged life'. We give Christ all that we are-spiritually dead, guilty sinners--and Christ gives us all that He is--resurrected life, forgiveness, righteousness, love & acceptance." Bob George Classic Christianity

A New Creation

(NKJV) 2 Corinthians 5:17~ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a New creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

If I really think back to the night I said yes to God, and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior, there's one verse of scripture in particular that stood out in my mind over all the others. It's the verse I typed above, 2 Corinthians 5:17. I'd always thought this was a powerful verse, even before I became a Christ follower. Before I even had any idea just what it meant. That night as these words sunk into my mind I was grateful for following my heart and not listening to my stubborn pride for once. I didn't have any idea how Christ could make 'old things pass away' or make 'all things new', but I sure couldn't wait to find out!

I think Bob George said it well when he wrote, "The Word of God is alive & active. It gives substance to our lives and transforms our hearts. The Word of God points us to Jesus Christ and it is in Him & Him alone that we find life & discover the truth that will set us free." (from the book Classic Christianity by Bob George)

I want to take a moment to break this statement down & share with you the insight and truth I have discovered in it. Mr. George first says 'The Word of God is alive & active.'  Now this statement, to me, sounds like the Word of God would be a living, breathing, moving, thing. Well, maybe not breathing, but definitely living and moving, lol! Guess what, it is! Hebrews Chapter 4 tells us so...

(NIV) Hebrews 4:12--"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

This verse says that the word of God penetrates us as far as 'dividing soul and spirit', and that it 'judges the thoughts & attitudes of the heart'. That sounds like a pretty active description of the Word of God, does it not? By this verse we see that the Word of God isn't just printed text in a book. The Word of God takes action. It moves us and changes us as we grow as believers & walk in faith with our Savior King. You see, God didn't just send Jesus into the world to introduce a new religion or to perform random miracles of healing. God sent Jesus to us so He could reconcile the world to Himself and restore our lives!

(NKJV) John 10:10b "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." ~ Jesus

(NKJV) Matthew 4:4  Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ "

(NKJV) John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent."

(NKJV) John 3:16-17  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."

(NKJV) John 5:24  “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life." ~ Jesus

I've come to realize that from God's point of view, salvation is about more than the forgiveness of sins. To God, salvation is a LIFE & DEATH issue! It's not just that we are all sinners in need of forgiveness, which we are, but we are all born spiritually DEAD and in need of LIFE! That is why God sent His one & only Son into the world and that's how Jesus is able to make 'old things pass away' in us and create 'all things new'! 

(NKJV) Galatians 2:20  "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." ~ The Apostle Paul 

When we accept who Jesus is and believe what God's Word says about Him--which we know to be true, John 17:17 "Sanctify them by Your truth.Your Word is truth." (Jesus praying for his disciples)--and what he did for all mankind, we cross over from death to life!

What religion do you know that can truly deliver that?!? You see, God's Word reveals that his intention was never to make a way to Himself by religion. God's original plan was for us to live in fellowship with him.

(NKJV) Genesis 3:8 "And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..."

It was always God's plan for us to have a relationship with Him. Adam & Eve screwed that up in the beginning. Because of their disobedient act, all of mankind was made to suffer and died to God. Jesus was sent to bring us all back to life and restore the relationship between man & God. That's what he did when he went to the cross for us. That's what was so important to God, that He sent His beloved Son to be the sin offering for the entire world. THAT IS HOW MUCH GOD LOVES YOU! 

(NIV) Romans 5:8 "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 

Through my hunger to know Jesus I have stumbled across some radical truths. I've already shared a couple of them with you, but I want to make this next one crystal clear. I'm not a religious fanatic. To be quite honest, I cannot stand narrow-minded religious types who give Christ followers a bad name because of their sheer ignorance in their own inheritance in Christ. So many Christians today have an incomplete understanding of what Christianity is supposed to be and therefore never quite grasp what God truly has in store for those who believe in Him.

Christianity is NOT a religion. It is a way of LIFE that God the Father designed for us. It is defined by a relationship with Jesus Christ in which we as believers are transformed by the incomparable love & mercy of our Heavenly Father. Having a relationship with Christ however, does NOT end with accepting Him and receiving salvation, it BEGINS there!

The gospel of Jesus Christ is God's message of love, acceptance and LIFE! It is available for everyone, but not just so we can go to heaven when we die. It is also the POWER of God for LIVING our lives here & now! Jesus Christ laid down His life to set US free from the bondage of sin & death. He was raised from the dead so that we could have NEW LIFE! If you are in Christ, you have been adopted into the family of God. You have been made a child of God according to the scriptures...

(NIV) Romans 8:9-11 "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you."

(NIV) Romans 8:14 "...those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God..."

(NIV) Romans 8:16-17 "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ..."

As Christ followers, we are beloved, accepted children of God who have been called to experience the LIFE of Christ living in and through us every day. Abundant life IS real, and it is ours for the taking! Why would you settle for anything less???