Sunday, August 18, 2013

His Authority

I have been thinking about the authority of Christ.
Frankly, it's kind of impossible to wrap my head around all the power He possesses.  Yet, He still desires my attention.  It's pretty mind-blowing.
What is also mind-blowing is that if we were to let this understanding of whom Christ really is seep in, we would never worry or fear.  He has authority in every space of the universe, the known and the unknown, the seen and the unseen, the constant and the transient, the gargantuan and the minuscule, the    significant and insignificant.  He has authority over amoebas and over super-novas.  He has authority over us and over any potential extra-terrestrials.  He has authority over my next breath and yours.  He has authority over the past, present, and future.  He has always more than proven His authority.  He has also always proven that He is the greatest and most wonderful King.

I fail continually at being ever-conscious of the true identity of Christ.  However, while riding down the road from Chattanooga a couple days ago, I had some interesting thoughts spring up.  These thoughts were spurred from some talks I had heard (and needed to hear) at a small (very small) conference at ChattHOP (Chattanooga House of Prayer) called Immersion.  I was blessed to attend this.

((Fun fact: When I prayed about going, I prayed and said, "God if I need to go to this, let it cost no money but the gas to drive down there." (I figured this was relatively impossible. I would need to eat.)  However, I received an e-mail from my friend who had invited me that had information about immersion on it.  Guess what.... it was completely free....They even fed us.))

Anyway, I heard some great talks on finding your identity in how God views you and on missions. 
The one on missions started the thought of Christ sending us out under His authority.
He sends us out equipped to spread His word and disciple others.  (Disciple, not convert....discipling requires a little more dedication...but another topic for another day.)

In scripture, Jesus tells His disciples to ask whatever in His name and He will do it.  (John 14) We are His disciples and are able to receive the Spirit (advocate, Spirit of truth, Holy Spirit) at any time because Jesus has now ascended into Heaven; The Spirit of God dwells in us!!  The Trinity is a mystery, but we do know that Christ and God and The Holy Spirit are God in three beings made one.  (I know, mind-blowing.)
With all this wonderful knowledge in our heads, we still have the audacity to fear. Do not let fear hold us back brothers and sisters! Let our head knowledge penetrate our heart! Let The Lord's magnificence and love and power wash over you like waves. We were made for His glory; now let's go glorify Him daily with our actions!!

Monday, August 12, 2013

Habakkuk 3:17-19

I just want to love God because He is God, Almighty, Jehovah, YHWH, I AM, Creator, and so much more. I want to learn to love God so much that, like Habakkuk, I can be totally bereft of earthly material blessing and still glorify The Name of The Lord. 

Fill me up, God

This is something I have felt convicted of recently......

Sometimes, we Christians, myself included, ask God for a lot of stuff. A lot of times, this stuff isn't even bad. We ask for more of God, courage, boldness, wisdom, energy, etc. I believe God is happy to give us these things! He enjoys giving good gifts to his children. However, I believe that a lot of times, we waste these precious gifts. We should not ask for these things frivolously and expect no responsibility to come along with them.

Many times, we receive these gifts, experience a spiritual high for a few days, maybe even a few weeks, but then we forget; our joy gets choked out by our worldly worries. I ask and encourage you brothers and sisters that we, myself included, try not to do this.

A song I love to sing is "Fill Me Up." It says "fill me up God" over and over; God does and He will continue to fill us with His Spirit. He fills us with living water. This water is alive and dynamic! It is not stagnant. It is meant to gush forth from us in the form of love and service towards others.
God fills us and equips us to do His work; I pray we all strive to boldly and joyfully proclaim the greatest news we could ever receive, the news of the astounding love of Christ!
 Put your faith into action this week! (: