Thursday, January 21, 2010

I never knew you!!


The title of this message brings an immense emotional response to rise up within me..Matthew 7:21-23 speaks of this "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands]"


The parable of the Sower speaks of what might cause us to fall into this category of people who will try to claim Christ as Lord but will instead be told "Depart from me I never knew you"..(chills again)


Matthew 13:22 "As for what was sown among thorns, this is he who hears the Word, but the cares of the world and the pleasure and delight and glamour and deceitfulness of riches choke and suffocate the Word, and it yields no fruit."


The part that stands out in this verse is "the cares of the world"...Those are the thorn's that choke out our ability to bear fruit..The kind of fruit that Christ expects of those who love Him and desire to follow His commands..


I believe there are largely three areas that need to be addressed when looking at this topic..


1. Time - Where is your time spent. Do we get caught up in the cares of the world that we cant find time to intake the Word of God..? I believe our technology driven society is an ever increasing problem in the life of a believer..We are unable to devote time to hearing, reading, memorizing and meditating on God's word..because we are way to busy with cell phones, social networking sites, kids, errands, jobs, chores around the house, etc, etc, etc..This list is not at all exhaustive..but the point is clear..Technology has allowed us to do things more efficiently but has also kept us constantly in a state of stimuli that slowing down long enough to get quiet and alone and spend time with our Creator has become secondary..What could matter more? We find that time is an acceptable excuse in our society so when we reflect on our days, we say I was just so busy, I just did not have time to do _____________(you fill in the blank)..If we truly took an honest look at our days and allowed ourselves to be honest, we would find time is not at all the problem...Priorities are the culprit..Everyone has the same amount of time to work with..We are allowed to choose for the most part how to spend that time..and so we choose to place God on the back burner in lieu of missing that favorite ballgame, sitcom, exercise regimen., etc..This stings me at the core of who I am because I am painfully aware of this misaligned priority in my very own life..So I challenge you to take that excuse out of the Rolodex and realign your priorities to include making God first..Give Him time and spend time with Him and He will make your way straight..He will lengthen the days, He will provide avenues and ways for us to get done what needs to be done..but try as you may without Him and chaos will rule your life..


2. Heart - Where is our loyalty? Does our heart yearn to know God deeper and more intimately or is our heart caught up in our children, our spouses, our jobs, our extra curricular activities..From the heart is where the well spring of life flows..Wherever you heart goes, there you will be also..The cares of this world are all to often competing for our heart...and our flesh is determined to keep our heart from seeking God...but rather pleasing self.. Our heart is not ruled by emotions...as many would say..I submit to you that our Heart is ruled by what fills it..If we fill it with the cares of this world, we are left empty at the end of the day..but if we fill it with the immeasurable love of God and what His desires are for us, our loyalty is clear to those around us and our life will bear fruit and the thorn's will not have the chance to choke us out..We cultivate the field of our heart and constantly open it up to the overflowing grace that God desires to offer us and replace all the self reliance, self-centeredness that normally dwells there.. We must understand that we can not serve two masters..It is either US or GOD..It is NOT US and GOD or GOD and US..It is US OR God..So I ask you, where is your loyalty..


3. Energy - The last of the three areas I wanted to address.. So where to focus our energy..This is closely related to our time and our loyalty..If those two areas are out of whack, then this area has no choice but to be out of whack..We spend our energy on the things that matter most to us..We spend very little energy on things that have no effect on us or we think have no effect on us..If you want to get in shape..you must expend some of that energy to go to the gym, lace up the running shoes, stack on the weights..So when you expend that type of energy, you will find that you begin to gain more energy as a result..yes for the first few weeks, you will feel tired after working out but if you will stick with it you will find that exercise provides you with more in return than you ever spent...Your energy levels get higher and you begin to feed off the extra energy exercise provides you..SO why say all this..Because spending the necessary energy getting to KNOW God has the exact same effect on you..mentally, spiritually and I would also argue physically..Yes it is hard work and it requires an enormous amount of our energy to take in God's word and live out His commands for us..but just as exercise brings more energy, so will the investment we make in spending some of our energy on God.. Spending time in God's word will not return void..It will only increase your reserves, increase your desires and increase your loyalty to Him and that is a NET positive result for those around you in your inner circles but also for those who you come in contact with who no nothing or very little about God..God will provide you everything you need if you will earnestly seek him and devote your energy to Him each and every day..


This is what most Christians want from God...... " God please help me now so I can live my life my way". We don't want God to come in and rearrange our already comfortable schedules, to do lists and priorities because we like it how we have it..We just need You to help me do what I already do.....I say NO..When we call on our Creator , The Holy One, to come into our life, that means we lay our lives down and surrender to Him all that is His..Our Time, Our Heart and our Energy and when we do that, He, El Shaddai, will remake you in His image and begin to sanctify you for His good works and fruit will sprout from you like a tree planted by the waters as Jeremiah says in chapter 17 verse 8..and so when the Heat (the world) comes, it will have no effect and you will not cease yielding fruit for the One who called you to Himself.. The words "I never knew you" will be a distant memory. Your life will take on new meaning..


How is your current TIME, HEART (Loyalty) and ENERGY affecting your Intake, Digestion and Application of God's word..? You can fool me but God knows your intentions, your thoughts and your desires..


EB

Thursday, January 14, 2010

"Authenticity" - The Key to Unlocking True LIFE


What does it really mean to be authentic.. Why is so difficult for us to let others see the "real you". I have been pondering this subject for a while now and ran across some teaching from the radio that inspired me to dig a little deeper into who I am..and does that match what people know me to be..


I know for many years of my life, this was an easy question to answer...I mean I was duplicitous..I lived a duel life..I had many secrets tucked away that no one knew about, and I projected the image I wanted everyone to have of me..As I think back on this season of life, I am horrified by the standard to which I lived..Heck there was no standard...I simply was a fake..A big ol "Pretender"..I was Ok with the idea of having everyone around me believe I was something I wasn't..and I became very skilled at hiding this other side of me..I was articulate enough to argue a position I did not live out or believe because I knew it sounded good..and more importantly it was what others wanted to hear..I was a master in the art of deflecting..turning any negative argument against me on to that person who was pointing the finger..and forcing them to look at themselves and not me..and that secured my hidden side from others..even those closest to me..


As I think about the kind of life this left me with, I found I was simply hiding my sin away from those who desired to shine the light on it and the better I got at deflecting and projecting, the more I believed my own lie..I lived by the adage that "what they don't know want hurt them"..Here is what Struck me..Who is THEY..? Who was I hiding it from..? or better yet..who was I NOT hiding it from..? Yes that would be God..as I reflect back on this time in my life, I can see how utterly blind I was and how shallow and cold of a man I had become..I was lacking authenticity.. I was trying to manipulate everyone including God Almighty..How foolish is that..but in those moments, I honestly believed I was getting away with it..and God allowed me to sink deeper into this pit until I reached bottom..and for those of you who know what bottom is...let me just say it brings shivers and chills to my entire body to think about the desolation and loneliness and anxiety and stress that enveloped my life..Just an awful state of being..and then as Psalms 40:1-4 states..(which is my life verse). God heard my cry's and pulled me out of the desolate pits, out of the miry clay and placed my feet up on a new secure foundation in Jesus Christ and he put a new song in my mouth a hymn and a praise to God..


See what God did was he broke me down and forced me to shed this double life, this duplicitous state of living and He allowed me to choose..It was either my way or His way..My way was killing me and His way offered me a way out..but that meant I had to slay myself and my sin and destroy my pride and self sufficiency and allow God to rule and reign and to be Authentic with Him.. His path for me was as clear as a bright blue sky...I had to stop pretending to be and BE..I was no longer allowed the option to tuck away sin..I had to root it all out and start anew..To get on solid footing with Him and that meant opening up myself in every area and allowing His Grace to replace my wickedness..I could no longer project who I was..What God did was he showed me just how sick and twisted I was and then He revealed His way..I was able to see how a life lived for God was what I had yearned for all along..What I saw was this open honest relationship with Christ where I could express my deepest fears and worries and challenges and He would take care of them for me..As long as I was Honest with Him..As long as I agreed not to pretend I had it all figured out and that I desperately needed Him..I cant begin to explain the transformation that took place in my life when I was truly authentic with Christ and that spilled out in my life to those who were close to me.. The humility God gave me to be who I was instead of who I pretended to be gave me a chance to know who God is..To experience a relationship so fulfilling and so sufficient I suddenly realized that I no longer needed to pretend...I know longer cared about what others thought of me..whether they approved or disapproved..I was much more concerned about what God thought of me and He kept telling me over and over..Son I love you..Cant you see.. I know what is best for you if you will just get out of the way and allow Me to have My way. I have plans for you and a work to perfect in you!! I want to be LORD of your life, not just your Savior..and all this time I blocked this with my phony life, my pretending, my lack of authenticity..God was so eager to reveal Himself to me but I had severed the lines of communication with my pride and sin that I was unwilling to let go of.. God opened my eyes to a whole new way and my Heart had been transplanted with a new one..just as He promised..I just don't see things as I once did and my heart is open to an overflowing conduit of grace and mercy being poured out by God..and my challenge now is to be as Authentic as I can..To share everything with Him, even all my struggles with the flesh..and realize He knows my struggles..He knows my weaknesses and He has an answer for ALL of it..He is the bread of life, to which we are to not just eat of but to feast on.. I am constantly checking my motives and my desires to be sure I am in line with God and His will for me.. The question to myself is this..Do those who know me or see me "know me"..Do they get to see and experience the real Eddie Bailey..Am I ok with exposing my weakness to others..am I OK with exposing my utter dependence on Jesus Christ..AM I afraid of what others might think.? My desire is to be and to live exactly what I am and who I am and to be genuine..My relationship with Christ has taught me many things over the last few years but most importantly, it has taught me that Christ is enough, His death was enough and He is sufficient for me and I don't need anything else but Him..and if that is true of my life then those around me who depend on me or need me will get everything they need from me because it is not me, But He who lives in me...


If you are not experiencing the true Joy and Peace that God can provide you with...Check to see if you may be pretending..projecting an image unlike who you really are..If you are missing something or have this huge void in your life..Maybe it is because you have yet been unwilling to slay yourself so God can reveal Himself to you in all His splendor..Get Authentic with God and leave no secret hidden...and an amazing thing will happen to you that mere words simply cant articulate..If a camera could watch you 24/7...in your darkest and deepest moments..would it be OK for the whole world to see? If one was able to read you mind, would you allow them repeat everything you thought..? If one could measure your heart, would you allow them to reveal what they found..? Just know that GOD can do all these and until you are willing to confess your true self to Him and stop pretending He doesn't know..You will never experience EL Shaddai..Why on earth would you cut yourself off from the giver of life..the one who knows you better than any..and who only desires the absolute very best for you..Open up your heart and soul and mind and let God clear the blockage so His Grace and Mercy can be experienced the way I can attest to..You will not be disappointed...There is nothing on this earth like it..


EB

Thursday, January 7, 2010

" To KNOW HIM "


From each sermon at church, my private study of Colossians, my preparation for leading the Spiritual Disciplines Class, my reading of "My Utmost for His Highest", to listening to pastors on the radio...ALL of them are pointing me to this one key concept - TO KNOW HIM.. Now I can understand how that doesn't sound either profound or unique..however might I suggest that very few of us actually comprehend this to the level to which we are capable..Let me explain a little further..
*Our pastor Jeff Long was preaching on the Trinity this past Sunday and made the comment that God the Father, Christ the Son and The Holy Spirit were full of JOY before we ever we created..and that He (God) did not create us to make Him more happy or feel better..So Why then? SO that we could know Him..
*Spiritual Discipline Study I am preparing for right now is about the different disciplines in which to become more Christ like..to attain godliness..Each of the disciplines such as Bible Intake, Prayer, Service, Fasting, etc are all for us to be able to Know God more..Not to earn God's favor or to be a better Christian..But to be more Christ like is to know Him
*My Utmost for His Highest" says on Feb 16th devotion "The inspiration of Spiritual Initiative" and he quotes Ephesians 5:14 " Arise from the dead"..We all have a number of visions and ideals when we are young, but sooner or later we find we have no power to make them real. We can not do the things we long to do and we are apt to settle down and count them as dead..and God has to come and say "Arise from the dead". When the inspiration of God does come, it comes with such miraculous power that we are able to arise from the dead and do the impossible thing. God does not give us overcoming life...He gives us life as we overcome..!!
* In my study of Colossians chapter 1 verse 11 says " strengthened with all might according to His glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with JOY". God will give you everything you need to deal with whatever you are facing..It is promised here and in other places throughout Scripture..2 Peter 1:2-4, John 10:10, Matt 11:28-30 are just a few

So after reading, hearing and meditating on all this recently revealed information... it became clear like the stars on a cool summer night..I felt the Holy Spirit move in me to bring it all home..To complete the particular work of wisdom that He desired for me to fully comprehend..and it culminates in this part of Scripture John 14:19-24...The indwelling of the Father and the Son..and there are two verses in particular that were just illuminated beyond all others for me..Verse 21 " The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him." . Don't miss this!!!!!!!!!..I also will love him and REVEAL MYSELF to Him...God wants for us to know Him and He desires to reveal Himself..but there is a key concept that many a Christian today totally miss.. The one who has My commands and KEEPS them..Folks this is not new but is certainly profound for our Western viewpoint of Christianity..We think it OK to attend Church, participate in bible study, tithe and maybe a some service...but intertwine that with an occasional trip to the club, an occasional gossip about a fellow brother or sister, a swipe at another church or past church, moving in with the girlfriend or boyfriend, committing adultery in the heart when we lust after another, etc etc etc..Now I am not saying we have to be perfect...in fact that has nothing to do with what I am getting at..What I am saying is this...GOD wants for us to surrender to Him..Totally and completely..Not 90%, or 95%..and when we do offer ourselves up as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) then God will reveal Himself to you and Life will take on a totally new meaning...The desire to follow God begins to rule and reign in your heart so that any ungodliness in our lives convicts us to such a degree that it is ceased immediately....See what most of us do (including myself) is we merely nibble on what God has to offer..We are not willing to go all out for God for various reasons... Time, priority, embarrassment, whatever..and when we hold back on God. He cant allow Himself to be fully revealed...because we are not keeping His commands..What we are doing is age old in America..We say (and mainly to ourselves not to other people)..I am mostly good..I do way more good that right..and we find people to compare ourselves against to help make us feel better about the life we are living..when our only comparison should be against Jesus Christ..The only model we should follow..and when we truly see how we stack up against Christ, we begin to see our total depravity and need of His Grace and Mercy..If we compare ourselves against another person, we will find someone who we know we are better than and then we justify our behavior in that manner..losing our sense of depravity and our total dependence on Christ and the Mercy and Grace we absolutely need..and we carry on about life thinking none the more about truly KNOWING GOD..We would rather place God on this high mantel and call on Him and pray to Him..but truly Knowing Him is just for those really religious people if He can be truly known at all..
Then the other verse of that John 14:19-24 is verse 23..I love how The Message captures this verse..it says
"If anyone loves me, he will carefully keep my word and my Father will love him—we'll move right into the neighborhood!". Can we imagine for a second what it would mean to have God in our neighborhood..What this is saying..to me at least is ....God will be as real to you as if he were your next door neighbor whom you wave at on a regular basis..He will no longer be this distant deity who only governs the cosmos..but rather a close friend, companion, confidant..Someone who can calm the most ferocious of storms and lift you up out of the most desolate pits..The actual Scripture reads(ESV) "23Jesus answered 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.".

Here is where the Spirit unlocked my understanding..This all comes with a catch..The catch is we must KEEP HIS WORD..We must abide in Him only. Not this world or not what this world says or deems acceptable..We have a very special book to filter everything through..and it is sufficient and capable of bringing clarity to any and all circumstances and situations..No one is afforded the "right" to step outside of Scripture to suit themselves...if you do, you will never know what it means to KNOW God..

We we all wonder why things don't go as we want or the peace that we are after is just not there or why the world is SO debased..Those who truly LOVE God will not compromise....They will abide in Him and they will experience a JOY so astonishing that nothing, and I mean NOTHING in this world can compare to..There will be no need to try and please the flesh any longer because it is so far from pleasing when compared to the TRUE JOY of Christ dwelling inside you..

One last point..You will not Fool God nor manipulate Him..You will not be able to just say I love Christ and want to follow Him and still act like the world and do things you know are against His commands..He will not be fooled into revealing himself..ONLY to those who keep His commands..and He will test your outward appearance..to see if what you say is what you truly believe..Gen 22..Abraham was asked to take His most precious of things to sacrifice before GOD..to see where Abraham's loyalty and Faith was truly placed..and Abraham believed so much that he took Issac up on the mountain and took his knife and stretched out his hand to slay his son...WHY? because He had total Faith in God and felt if he did kill his son, God would raise him from the dead..He placed nothing before God Almighty not even his own son.. What do we put before God..Our job, our kids, our freedom, our vices, our time, our spouses..NOTHING belongs ahead of GOD..He wants and desires to reveal Himself to us and for us to get to know the JOY and LOVE that is God himself ...for that is why He created us..Don't count on this world to provide joy and love..It cant..It never could..It never will..You will always come up wanting when placing your desires before God..Give God everything and watch what happens to your life..Unspeakable Joy, uncompromising Peace, Unending Love and forever a changed person..Don't believe me?..Then try it yourself..Please don't take my word for it..Give God your all and see what happens..God doesn't break promises..Get to Know Him personally and when God truly reveals Himself to you..There will be no doubt as evidenced by your life..It will change you from the inside out..If you are not experiencing this then you are holding back..If there is no fruit in your life, then you have yet to experience the God of the Bible...because when you come into direct contact with El Shaddai..He will forever change who you are, what your priorities are and what direction your life takes on..You will have no other desires except for those that bring Glory to Him..

EB