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Posts Tagged ‘Being Fully Alive’

Something’s Missing – The Fear of the Lord

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , on April 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »

What is wrong with us Christian folk?  Why are we being tripped over and over by the same old things?  Why is there no growth in our lives?  Why is there no committment to holiness?  Why is there no increase in holiness?  Why aren’t we going from glory to glory, and from victory to victory?

Something is stirring in my spirit.  I believe it is important.  We are missing something. I believe we are neglecting the complete character of God.  Maybe we have no knowledge of the complete character of God.  Perhaps we have heard about the love of God and our knowledge of the Father has stopped there.

But there are other sides to our Lord.  Our Lord, He is Awesome and He is Mighty, He is Fearsome and He is Just and He hates sin.  As we come up to this time of Easter consider this, our sin caused His Son to die on that cross and if the Father hated sin before His Son was nailed and crucified on a cross how do you think He feels about sin now.  You see, our sin killed His Son.  The Lord hates sin and He hates it when we sin! 

Oh Lord, we have such a feeble understanding of your Majesty and your Power and your Might and your Magnificance, else we wouldn’t carry on the way that we do, give us new understanding of your full character, powerfully give us new revelation of your Awesomeness!  Oh Lord, if only we could get a glimse of His Might and Majesty, our self centred, self feeding lives would be stripped bare.

If only we would fear Him!

Yes reverently fear Him!

You see, if we ‘only’ see a loving God the cross does not make a whole lot of sense.  It’s like the cross is just an added extra to the Christian faith.  The cross is the centre of the Christian faith! The fearsomeness of God and the wrath of God, was poured out upon His Son so that the unrighteous might become righteous, so that we might LIVE!  Hell makes no sense if we just have a loving God.  The end times in Revelation makes no sense if we ‘just’ have a loving God.

But how do we balance, on the one hand, a God that loves us deeply and we are His children and He is our Abba, Father, and we (can) have His Spirit within us (and the intimacy that brings) and on the other hand, a fearful reverence for a Holy and Awesome God?

Let us have a look at some misconceptions about the fear of the Lord…

Misconception No 1:
The fear of the Lord is not for the New Testament Church

Acts 9:31
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord. (NIV)

Jer 31:33-34, 32:39-40
33 “This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (NIV)
32:39-40
39 I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me for their own good and the good of their children after them.
40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them, and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. (NIV)

Misconception No. 2:
Jesus never had the fear of the Lord

Heb 5:7-8
7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. (NKJV)

Isa 11:1-3
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. (NIV)

Misconception No.3:
3) Jesus never preached about the fear of the Lord

Luke 12:4-5
“I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” (NIV)

Misconception No.4:
4) There is no fear of the Lord in Heaven

Rev 14:6-7
Then I saw another angel flying in mid-air, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth — to every nation, tribe, language and people. He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water.” (NIV)

Rev 15:2-4
…They held harps given them by God and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvellous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.  Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” (NIV)

Rev 19:1-8
After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven shouting: “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has avenged on her the blood of his servants.” And again they shouted: “Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever.” The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshipped God, who was seated on the throne. And they cried: “Amen, Hallelujah!”
Then a voice came from the throne, saying: “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, both small and great!”
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (NIV)

Lord, may we love you and may we also fear you.  Do whatever is necessary to instill in us a reverent fear of you, in Jesus name, Amen

To be continued…

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Party, Party, Party! – Living from One Buzz to the Next

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 27, 2009| Leave a Comment »

What is your drug of choice?

A Christian blog seems, kind of, not the place to be talking about such things – doesn’t it?  Let me put this another way, how do you medicate your soul?  What do you do to sooth the pain of your loneliness, rejection, disconnectedness, inadequacy, inner longing for love, anxiety, suffering?

It seems, especially younger people, try to go from one temporary high to the next.  Whether your drug or choice is illegal, or whether it is alcohol or sex, or continuous partying, or spending, or however else you get your hit, it is a focussing on yourself to make you feel better.

The Bible is very wise about such things.  First off, it says we all have a knowledge of God built into our hearts it’s just that some of us choose to ignore that knowledge because we are in rebellion against Him – God cramps our style.

Secondly, the Bible says that we will never truly be happy unless we die to ourselves.  That is, we take the focus off ourselves and we serve God and serve others.

Thirdly, God can give us what is missing in our lives.  This world cannot ever satisfy the inner longings of our beings.  Only God can make us whole.  Only God can fill us with an inexpressible joy and completeness in our souls.

The invitation is always there.  God is a very gracious God.  He does not force us to come to Him.  He has made a way for us to come to Him and that is through His son Jesus.  Jesus bore the wrath and judgement of God for our sins on the cross.  If you are willing, God can open your eyes, right now, to this truth.

Repent, turn away from your sins, accept Jesus into your heart, be born again, and start living for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Your soul will never be thirsty again.

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The Day the King Came to Visit

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , on February 7, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Once upon a time there was a great King who ruled the land with justice and mercy. One day the King come to stay with the Lipona family (the Lipona’s lived in a region of the land called Religionville).  Here is the story of when the King came to visit the Lipona’s.

There was a loud knock at the door.  Mr Lipona headed for the front door.  “Who is it darling” asked Mrs Lipona.  Mr Lipona opened the door, “It’s only the King” he replied.  Mr Lipona ushered the King into the lounge room.  “Wait here” he said to the King, “You have come at a most inconvenient time.  We are in the middle of a baked dinner.  Wait here in the lounge room til we finish our dinner, and don’t touch anything OK!”  instructed Mr Lipona as he left the room.

Quite a while later Mr Lipona came back into the lounge room and said to the King “What are you doing here?”  “I have come to stay a while” said the King.  “Stay!  Stay!” exclaimed Mr Lipona, “We have no where for you to stay!”  “Haven’t you got anywhere for me to stay?” asked the King.  Mr Lipona thought intently “We have the doghouse outside, I guess Disona our dog won’t mind you sleeping in his doghouse for a day or two” he said.  “I’m a little hungry” said the King.  “You just can’t drop into people’s places around dinner time and expect to get fed can you?” replied Mr Lipona, “It’s time for you to go out to the doghouse, we are all going out to the movies tonight”.  “Maybe Disona will share with you some of his biscuits.”

The King disappointingly headed outside to sleep in the doghouse as the Lipona’s left for the movies.  The Lipona’s arrived home very late that night and they completely forgot all about the King outside in the doghouse.

The next morning, as the Lipona’s were eating their bacon and eggs at the breakfast table there was a knock at the back door.  “I wonder who that could be?” said Mr Lipona as he headed for the door.  “Oh, it’s the King” he exclaimed as he opened the door.  “Don’t come in” he said to the King, “We are already late for church.  What do you want anyway?”  “I’m a little hungry” replied the King.  Mr Lipona laughed “Didn’t you hear what I said?  We are already late for church.  There is no time to get you anything.  Look!  By the time we get home from church today we want you off this property, OK! said Mr Lipona sharply.  “OK” said the King.

You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:  “‘These people honour me with their lips,but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.'”

– Matt 15:7-9(NIV)

Friends, we need to stop fooling ourselves and start honouring God in all areas of our lives.  We cannot fool God.  He knows when we honour Him and He knows when we dishonour Him.

Holy Spirit, bring back the fear of the Lord into each one of our hearts so that we reverently honour the Father in all that we do, in Jesus name, Amen

“This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”

– Isa 66:2 (NIV)

“I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.  Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.  Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

– Amos 5:21-24 (NIV)

You lie on beds inlaid with ivory and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves.
You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments.
You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.

– Amos 6:4-6 (NIV)

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

– James 1:27(NIV)

Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say he is.
Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

– Amos 5:14-15(NIV)

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’

– Zech 7:9-10 (NIV)

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practised the latter, without neglecting the former.

– Matt 23:23(NIV)

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The Dog That Ate Too Much

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , on February 5, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Once upon a time there was a dog named Nofrute.  Nofrute was an extemely fat and lazy dog.  Oh, he occassionally used to get his Master’s slippers, but that was not without a lot of grumblings and protests.  Nofrute lived with his Master in a large house near a place called Redemption City.

One evening, Nofrute’s Master had an important meeting to attend so he had left Nofrute all alone, inside the house, for a few hours.   As soon as his Master left, Nofrute headed straight for the refrigerator (Nofrute was highly controlled by the cravings of his stomach).    Nofrute pried open the refrigerator door and started devouring a large bar of chocolate.  Then he ate a  4 litre tub of ice cream, 24 scones with whipped cream, 4 packets of chocolate biscuits, 10 large bags of chips (that he found in a cupboard) and finally 8 litres of soft drink to wash it all down.  Nofrute started feeling very sick.  He laid in the middle of the lounge room with his legs in the air.  Nofrute was in great pain and was having difficulty breathing.

An hour or so later Nofrute’s Master come home and saw Nofrute lying in the middle of the lounge room with his legs in the air.  He raced over only to find Nofrute had died.  The Master wept and wept and wept.

John 4:31-34
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. (NIV)

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Confidence (Part II)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , , on September 30, 2008| 1 Comment »

Confidence

I would like to explore ‘confidence’ a little more and its place in the Christian life.  Why am I choosing to talk about confidence rather than choosing faith or hope or trust?  Well, it’s quite simple, ‘confidence’ is what the Lord has been speaking to me about lately.  Actually, He has been speaking to me about four ‘words’.  These ‘words’ are LIFE, GLORY, COURAGE and CONFIDENCE.  LIFE AND GLORY, in my present thinking, have tended to group together and, it seems, COURAGE AND CONFIDENCE are tending to group together as well.  I’ve covered (in my blog) LIFE and GLORY and COURAGE a little so I would like to get a ‘bit more of a handle’ on CONFIDENCE.

In this world, when we lack confidence or we loose confidence, it seems that we can sometimes regain confidence by doing things to sow into our self confidence.  Therefore, we might join a group to be around those who are more self confident than ourselves or we might start reading self help books or watching motivational DVDs etc to gain a positive and confident mind set.  We can deliberately feed ourselves with self motivational material to bolster self esteem, self confidence and ego.

Now I am asking myself, is it wrong to build up our self confidence?  From the world’s perspective, that would be a definite no.   My observation is the more self confident we are, the more successful we are likely to be.  Conversely the more we lack confidence, the less likely we are to be successful.  In fact, if we lack confidence, it is unlikely that we will ever achieve everything we are capable of.  So self confidence is a good thing?  Right? (note question mark) Feeding our self confidence can be a tool to maximise our potential in this world else our visions and dreams and potential aren’t met and, a kind of, self fulfilling prophecy associated with a lack of confidence and not reaching beyond ourselves keeps us small and insignificant and trapped in a cocoon of fears and doubts.

So, you can see, there is a pretty good argument for us to develop our self confidence so that each of us can attain our dreams and visions and potential.  A question comes to mind, can we take our self confidence and fit this into our Christian faith somehow?  It seems to be a healthy thing to be self confident.  Surely we could be ‘a hell of a lot’ more useful to God and his Kingdom if we are self confident.  (I think I am being a little sarcastic)

Can you see through this nonsense I am going on with?  Perhaps the SELF in self confidence gave it away.  There should have been warning bells going off in your head.  If not, then perhaps you have been sucked into thinking that walking with God and self confidence are compatible.  I understand there is some clever marketing going on that mixes self confidence, self esteem, Christianity and using our friends to sell product to.  Woops I digress.

‘Self confidence’ or ‘confidence in self’ by it’s very nature and definition stands opposed to confidence and faith in our Lord

Let’s look at the example of King David.  I believe King David had confidence, but it wasn’t self confidence that he was relying on.  His confidence wasn’t in his own abilities.  His confidence was firmly and securely placed in the Lord. He chose, in his spirit and in his heart, to place his confidence in the Lord. This is in vast contrast to what the world teaches, that is, a confidence in self.

When we consider the account of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel Chapter 17 it isn’t just a faith moment for King David.  There is a walking in the confidence of God.  God is in David and David is in God.  The two were one.  You know, this might sound funny, but I believe even if David didn’t defeat Goliath, the Lord would have still been well pleased with him.  Anyhow, David’s confidence is firmly and securely placed in the Lord.  Consider David’s words…

his Holy discontent…

“Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” [v26] NIV

“Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God” [v36] NIV

his concern for Saul and his army…

“Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” [v32] NIV

as he confidently prophesied over Goliath…

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” [v45-47] NIV

Opposition before the Battle

Even when those around him misunderstood him, doubted him and intimidated him this did not shake David’s confidence in the Lord. Let us consider some of King David’s opposition to his confidence in the Lord even before his battle with Goliath.  This might be helpful when people and circumstances attempt to rattle our confidence in the Lord.

When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.” [v28] NIV

This was the first attack on David’s confidence.  It was a misjudgment of David’s heart and motives. Notice it came from someone close to him, his oldest brother.  Let’s consider David’s brother for a moment and where these words are coming from.  He is part of Saul’s army.  The army was dismayed and terrified v11.  Personally, his brother would have been feeling defeated and powerless and ashamed. Thus out spews an attack from his heart that tries to cut his younger brother down.  This is Satan at work here, working through the words of his oldest brother, trying to tear down David’s confidence in the Lord and it was coming through someone that David would have respected and looked up to.

Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth.” [v33] NIV

Here is the second attack on David’s confidence and it’s a double whammy.  Don’t dismiss this one.  Satan is speaking through Saul now.  These are mind changing words.  “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him” is a powerfully suggestive statement to anyone who has a weak mind and weak resolve.   “You are only a boy” – Saul is suggesting that David is inadequate for the task and thus again his confidence in the Lord is questioned and attacked.

He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!“ [v43-44] NIV

This is the third attack on David’s confidence.  If you look at verses 4-7 you can see that Goliath looks terribly intimidating.  Now, with his words, Goliath is blatantly intimidating and cursing David but David’s confidence in the Lord will not be put off and he gives this response to Goliath…

“You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” [v45-47] NIV

So How Do We Get This Type of Confidence in the Lord?

But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. [v34-36]

David came into the battle not with self confidence but with God confidence because he KNEW God.  He knew and had PROVEN the Lord’s goodness and faithfulness in previous battles.  David’s life was in his Heavenly Father’s and his Heavenly Father’s life was in him.  David’s life was a life of EXERCISED faith and trust in his Heavenly Father thus his complete and unshakable confidence was in the Lord for the battle with Goliath.

“For you have been my hope, O Sovereign LORD, my confidence since my youth. From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother’s womb. I will ever praise you.” [Psalm 71:5-6] NIV

King David’s hope and confidence extended beyond the lion and the bear.  From David’s youth his hope and confidence was in the Lord.  Can you imagine David lying on the side of a hill, tending the sheep and singing and praising his Lord.  Or perhaps praying to his Heavenly Father under the stars at night. In this fast paced, crazy world where are we to get the time to develop our relationship with the Lord?

Even from birth, David says he relied on the Lord.  How can he say this?  Could it be that we all have a measure of confidence when we are born.  It is just that we loose that confidence or are robbed of that confidence through the journey of life – I’m not sure.  Is David’s life an example of a life that hasn’t been robbed?  I think so.  David is walking in the confidence of God.

Remember, we have an enemy who wants to steal, kill and destroy.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy ; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” [Jn 10:10] NIV

One of the best ways for Satan to make us ineffective is to rob us of our courage and confidence. These are essential ingredients for LIFE and essential ingredients for advancing the Kingdom of God.  Can we truly LIVE without courage and confidence? Will we ever be victorious overcomers in our lives and in this world without courage and confidence in our Lord Jesus?

Here is the challenge!

Are we able to begin to allow courage and confidence in our Lord Jesus grow in our lives?  As God moves our lives from our safe, cocooned environments where we are controlled by our fears and our insecurities, our procrastinations and our indifference, our avoidance and our laziness, our slothfulness and our sinfulness we will begin to truly glorify the Lord in each and every victory we have in our lives.  All glory and praise to the Lord as each one of us becomes fully alive in Him and we gloriously display the victories available through Him – Amen

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Lord of the Rings – Works of Service Clip

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , on September 26, 2008| 1 Comment »

Scene from ‘The Lord of the Rings’ with voiceover about serving (part of a talk)

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. [Eph 4:11-13] NIV

Blessings

Steve

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We were Meant to Live for SO much more…

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , on September 26, 2008| Leave a Comment »

I couldn’t find exactly what I was after so I put subtitles on this ‘Meant to Live’ acoustic by Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman

Part of talk I am doing – enjoy

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The Virtue of Confidence

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , , , on September 25, 2008| Leave a Comment »

The Virtue of Confidence

There are times in our lives when our confidence in God can be incredibly rocked and challenged.  The writer of Hebrews encourages those that were suffering great persecution and trial to: “not throw away their confidence” and to “hold firmly til the end the confidence they had at first”.

The complete text says:

“Do not throw away your confidence (that is our holy courage and boldness); it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”   But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.” [Heb 10:35-39] NIV

And in [Heb 3:14] it says“We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first“ and in the following verses the writer warns not to harden their hearts and therefore receive in themselves a rebellious and unbelieving heart towards the Lord.

King David, when challenged with enemies that would completely destroy him handled it this way…

“The LORD is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident.
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock. Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the LORD.
Hear my voice when I call, O LORD; be merciful to me and answer me. My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior. Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me. Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me,breathing out violence.
I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.“ [Psalms 27:1-14] NIV

There is no doubt that our enemy wants to destroy our confidence (if we allow him).  He knows how glorious we can become when we put our complete confidence in the Lord.  He knows the potential that is within each one of us to glorify  our creator and (with great vigor) he attacks our courage and confidence in our Heavenly Father.

The Bible says that “the Lord will be our confidence“[Prov 3:26] and  that “the effect (or outworking) of our righteousness (in Christ) will be (an inner) quietness and confidence forever“[Is 32:17].

And finally,

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes;its leaves are always green.It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” [Jer 17:7-8] NIV

Final Encouragement:
Continue to have great confidence in the Lord “being confident of this,  that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” [Phil 1:6] NIV

Blessings,

Steve

Confidence Part II

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Musical Interlude

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , on August 23, 2008| 2 Comments »

I’m so blessed by these Switchfoot acoustics…

Dare You to Move

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone’s here
Everyone’s here
Everybody’s watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next?
What happens next?

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before

…..

Meant to Live

Fumbling his confidence
And wondering why the world has passed him by
Hoping that he’s bent for more than arguments
And failed attempts to fly, fly

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside

Dreaming about Providence
And whether mice or men have second tries
Maybe we’ve been livin with our eyes half open
Maybe we’re bent and broken, broken

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside
Somewhere we live inside
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
Somewhere we live inside

We want more than this world’s got to offer
We want more than this world’s got to offer
We want more than the wars of our fathers
And everything inside screams for second life yeah

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves?
We were meant to live
We were meant to live

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Being Fully Alive! (Part 2)

Posted in Christian, Christianity, tagged , , , , , , on July 21, 2008| Leave a Comment »

Saint Irenaeus

The authentic and complete text of Saint Irenaeus:

“The glory of God is man fully alive, and the life of man is the vision of God. If the revelation of God through creation already brings life to all living beings on the earth, how much more will the manifestation of the Father by the Word bring life to those who see God”

(AH IV, 20, 7)

AH = Adversus Haereses (Against the Heresies) – Saint Irenaeus.

Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor about the year 125. He was still a young man when he met Polycarp of Smyrna, who represented a generation which had known the Apostles chosen by Christ, especially Saint John.

After the persecution of 177, it was necessary to rebuild the Church of God which was at Lyon. Irenaeus succeeded Pothinus and thus became the second bishop of Lyon-Vienne. Not only did he assure the presence of Christ the preacher and shepherd at the crossroads of the Three Gauls, but at the same time he carried out the composition of his masterpiece which is cited today under the title of Adversus Haereses (Against the Heresies). The actual title expresses more clearly the double movement of Irenaeus’ theology and *polemic. It is called Detection and Refutation of the False Gnosis.

Source:

http://www.ewtn.com/library/Theology/IRENAEUS.HTM

(a good read if you can get through it)

* Polemics, is the practice of disputing or controverting religious, philosophical, or political matters. As such, a polemic text on a topic is often written specifically to dispute or refute a position or theory that is widely viewed to be beyond reproach.

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