Hanging on

More often than not it seems that we hold onto the chains that tie us down, things we need to let go of, but it seems we'd rather not.

What does it say to the world when we are free, and yet choose to stay in bondage?

We have eternal life and freedom. We need to realize that eternity does not start when we die. Eternity is now. We have life now. We have freedom now, joy everlasting now, salvation now.

We hold onto the past, but we can't change it.

We hold onto the future, but there is no promise of it.

We hold onto our sin, but it has been forgiven.

Let go, and hold onto GOD. HE will lift you up, not tie you down. Let go.

Pray this prayer....

And you shall be saved.

Sounds nice doesn't it? And it's usually a very nicely worded prayer too. Probably written by someone with good intentions, well educated in grammar and spelling. Possible a Christian themselves.

And boy am I sick of seeing them.

Let me spell this out for you, THERE ARE NO WORDS IN THE HUMAN LANGUAGE THAT WILL GET YOU SAVED. Binary, or Maritain, or Klingon either.

Then why do you pray?

Here's a little picture of someone whose about to get saved.

Broken.

If your lucky to force together a cohesive sentence at all, it still doesn't matter. Your heart is crying out to GOD in an incomprehensible language, and some people find they haven't said a word at all, and they're saved. Just like that.

It's your heart, and GOD. You give up, and GOD does it all. No fancy shmancy prayer needed. Just whatever comes out. And if that happens to be fancy, or stutteringly simple, or nothing at all, it doesn't matter.

Conformity

We are supposed to be set apart from this world, something different. But what do we do? We invite the world in, we set ourselves up to look like the world so that the world will join us. But what are they joining if it's not different??

They've made a Bible that is a magazine. Filled with gossip and pictures of celebrities. Why did they make it? Because Christians are to afraid to put out a Bible on their coffee tables, or out in their waiting rooms. So we conform to the world to put our minds at ease, and so that someone might possibly mistake it for some junky gossip magazine, and read it.

What is wrong with us? Why are we conforming, when the Bible that they disgraced clearly says not too? WAKE UP! We are in a Spiritual crisis and it is not going to get better when we are making merchandise to make people feel better, instead of getting out there and winning souls from an eternal pit of fire. That's right. People are going to hell, right now, and we're so concerned about offending others, we're just going to ignore that aren't we? Well, when they get to hell, and know that you didn't help them, they might be a little offended.

Somebody, that you know, right now, is on their way to hell. Are you gonna help them? Or are you scared of offending them? Perhaps you should make it seems nice and cheery, worldly even. Why, everyone else is doing it. Why can't you?

Get your facts straight people. When sinners die, they go to hell to be tormented forever.
Christian life is not all miracles and blessing, growing hurts, but GOD is great and Merciful, and Gracious, and will never break you.
We are different, and we need to start acting like it. Appealing to the world is not one of those requirements, they should look at us and see that something is different, and wonder what it is.
Our life is not our own, our fears and apprehensions no longer matter. GOD says go, we go. End of story.
Stop conforming to this vile temporary world we live in. Don't you know our home is above?

Signs

Everybody's trying to figure out what they want to be when they grow up, which path to choice, which career choices to make.

We ask slightly different questions. What's GOD's plan for my life? Where's HIS direction?

Luckily All we really have to do is follow. Now we can try and sycoanyalize how and where and why and even who, but all that will do is overanalyize. It's very simple, we do not need a sign every ten feet, if there was a sign ten miles back that your on the right road but there's a turn you need to make, you need to make the turn and not get in a frenzy because there's twenty miles until your exit and you haven't seen the next sign yet.

We will never be assured that we are headed in the right direction if we don't read the Bible, but if we need to constantly be reassured, we have a trust issue and need to fix it fast or we're gonna have a head on collision and crash.

GOD is our Father. HE is not going to hurt us beyond repair, for no reason, or leave us. HE is always right there, and if HE said it once, why does HE have to say it a million times? Just go.

Nothing to believe in.

Why is it, that all these singers put everything into this one song that means absolutely nothing? They pour everything into singing this one song, and then they do it again and again and again, untill it's a whole album of nothing. Then a whole career that they've poured themselves into, and they're left with nothing they can believe in, and a whole lot of people believing in them.

I don't get it. How can you put so much of yourself into nothing, and say that it's fulfilling?

On the other hand, Becoming nothing, and being poured out to GOD while GOD is poured into you, THAT is fulfilling. That is worth doing. That is something to believe in.

When GOD says go.

When GOD says to do something, HE already planned how it would be accomplished, how it would come together, and the end result of it all. When GOD says go, everything is already in place for it to happen, all we have to do is go.

When GOD says go, and we say no, all we are doing is hurting the kingdom of GOD, and furthering ourselves from HIM. We have to remember that's it YAWEH's, not mine.

When GOD says go, we have no right to say no. HE rescused us from the pits of eternal hell, paid the ultimate price for our souls, and loves us inspite of who we are. It is our duty to do as GOD commands, and we should expect nothing in return because we have been given freely in the kingdom of GOD.

When GOD says go, we go. There is no other understanding.

When GOD says go, HE picked you for a reason. You are the one HE chose to further the kingdom, and HE will not abandon you in HIS will. You are HIS, and HE will not leave you to destruction by the hands of the enemy. HE loves you. Isn't that enough? Shouldn't we want to share HIS love with the rest of the world? What does it say when we won't? GOD has a purpose and a plan, HIS will is greater than ours. Let's do that.

What have we to fear?

Most people on this planet have at least one fear. Heights, the dark, bugs, death.

What about Christians? What about the redeemed? We know that we have a place in heaven, so we don't need to fear death. It's rather something to look forward to. (Not in a morbid way or anything, but we're going to be with our Savior and GOD for all eternity, I think that's something to look forward to, don't you?)

So, if we don't fear death, what else is there to be afraid of? I mean really, if it kills us, we go to heaven for all of eternity to live with our LORD and Savior. If it maims us, we wait out our short lives and go to heaven to spend all of eternity with our LORD and Savior. If it's not going to do any phisical harm to us, we live out a normal life and then go to heaven to spend all of eternity with our LORD and Savior.

Our GOD has every detail of our lives already planned out, and HE knows what HE's doing. HE's not going to inflict anything on us for no reason. HE has all power, and dominion, and HE is our strength.

Think about, we have the strength of the one who created the entire universe and all that is within, and holds it together in HIS hand. So, tell me, what do we have to fear?

And why do I need a reason?

A reason to praise GOD. Really now.

We're talking about the GOD that created the universe and all that is in it, who loved us so much when we were unworthy, and sent HIS only Son to die in our place. HE saved us from an eternal separtion from HIM and now we need a reason to praise HIM? Have we lost our minds?

Look outside your window, see that tree, or yard full of grass? GOD made that. He knows every cell and every atom, and subatomic paricle that we can't even see.

Look in the mirror. GOD made that too. HE knows you inside and out, not one hair on your head gos uncounted.

Look in your memories, see those sins you did? Know that wrong that you commited? GOD forgave that. HE forgave you in the most painful way ever, HE died. And then HE took the sins, and put them behind HIMSELF. Behind GOD. That doesn't even exsist, so niether do they.

So when you have to go and ask GOD to prove HIMSELF, that HE exsists, and the HE loves you, and why you should praise HIM, maybe you should just open your eyes. All the proof is right there.

Still need a reason to praise GOD? HE is. That's the only reason we need.

We are SAINTS.

If you are a Christian, a true born again believer of Christ, you are a saint.

I don't like it when people say, "well, I'm just a sinner saved by grace, so I'm going to mess up."

WE ARE NOT MADE TO MESS UP!!!!

Get this, we are completely new in Christ, the old man has passed away and all that. We are to be like Christ, being saved gives us no excuses for messing up. It's still wrong. We should be doing everything in our power to NOT mess up, because it's NOT ok.

We are NOT just sinners saved by grace, and although that might be a very nice song to sing on Sunday's and whatnot, it's not something to take to heart. It's not an excuse, because we are different. We are supposed to be set apart form the rest of the world, but when we say it's ok to keep messing up and not do anything about it, how is that different from the rest of the world??

We are supposed to be holy, as GOD is holy, and making the same mistakes over and over is not part of those quailifications. We are human, and we will fail, but we can avoid repeated failures. We can learn from our own mistakes, and the mistakes of others. Just because someone makes a mistake, doesn't mean you have to make the same one. We don't have enough time to make all the mistakes for ourselves. We shouldn't want to.

We should be striving to be like Christ, and do the things that GOD wants us to do. If we would just listen to what GOD is trying to tell us, so many things wouldn't be happening. Christian homes wouldn't be falling apart at the seams. If we would listen and do, instead of just trying to figure it all out ourselves, how much more we could do in this temparary place.

We are saints. We are different, and set apart. We need to start acting like it.

The things we do.

When GOD calls us to do the things HE has planned, we often look at the things that make us unquailified. To short, to tall, to big, to dumb, to weak, to ugly.

What if other things said that?

What if a leaf said that it didn't belong, and just fell off. That tree would not be the way it was made to be. Well, one leaf may not seem to make that much of a different, but what about ten? Fifty? One hundred? What if half of those leaves on the tree said I'm not good enough and just refused to be there anymore? It wouldn't be a very good tree now would it. It might even be cut down because it seemed to be dying.

What if a thread in an ornate rug said I'm just to ugly to be here, and popped off and left. The whole rug might come unraveled. A whole rug can become worthless because one thread refused to do it's job.

What if a telephone pole just desides that it's to weak to hold up those wires all day long and flops over on the ground? A whole neighborhood could be with power for weeks or more until a replacement is found.

When GOD calls you, HE knows what HE's doing. There's no reason to say no, because GOD is our strength. We cannot see the beauty and purpose for what we are called to do, because we cannot see the whole picture. One thread cannot see the whole rug, and one leaf cannot see the whole tree as it sways in the light of the sun.
We cannot see all the things GOD is doing through us as we sway through the glory of HIS Son.

It's not always easy, and it's sometimes the very last thing we want to do. But that is why GOD is our strength. We can't do it alone, and we don't have to. GOD is with us, and HE promised never to leave us. Even if you can't feel HIM there, HE is. So take heart, and go.