God In A Box

I don’t know about you, but so many times I try and make God fit into my box. God has been showing me over and over that there is no box that can contain Him. So why do I keep trying to make God fit in my box?

As you look through the Bible you will see that God/Jesus will not fit into any box. The people that met Jesus used words like; marveled, amazed and astounded. What words do we use to describe Jesus?

John 20:30-31 says; The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

In Him was life and that life was the light of men. The people that knew Jesus said it was like being plugged into life itself.

Jesus didn’t call people to be religious. He wasn’t against religion. He went to the synagogue until they kicked him out. He went to the temple and cleared it out and went back the next day to teach.

He called people to be holy, to be fully alive in Him. He called people to Himself.

He’s the kind of Messiah that gets you through when your best friend dies.

He’s the kind of Messiah that gets you through when you lose your job.

He’s the kind of Messiah that makes since out of your confusion when your business is failing.

He’s the kind of Messiah that meets your needs when it looks like there’s no way.

He’s the kind of Messiah that’s there when your relationships are in the tank.

He’s the kind of Messiah that will be there when life is falling apart.

He’s the kind of Messiah that’s there when everything is going great.

He’s the kind of Messiah that loved us enough to give His life for us.

He’s the kind of Messiah that doesn’t mind getting messy.

So no matter what kind of mess you’re going through He’s there for you.

The people that Jesus got angry with were not the sinners, but the religious people that thought they had Him all figured out, the ones that had God in their box.

I pray that we can get Jesus our of our boxes, so when people see us they see the Jesus that is in us.

Follow Your Burden

For the past few weeks I have been studying the book of Nehemiah. Here is an ordinary guy that God put a huge burden on his heart. Nehemiah got some bad news from his brother about his homeland and it broke his heart. When he heard the news he sat down to cry, he knelt down to pray then he stood up to act.

There have been times in my life when I believed that God wanted me to do something, times when I had a major burden. The problem was everywhere I turned people said, No! When you have a burden from God, don’t let anyone take it away from you.

Like Nehemiah, take time to pray and then move to action. And remember, God specializes in using ordinary people to His work.

Christmas

As we enter this Christmas season I pray that we’ll keep our eyes on the true meaning of Christmas. It is so easy to get sidetracked and lose focus on what is most important. As you go through this season, remember that God came from heaven to earth in the form of man.

Philippians 2: 6-11  Although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

The God of the Universe came to earth from heaven through His Son Jesus. For so many the only thing they know about God's name is that you shouldn't use it in vain. But there's so much more to know including the fact that He has many different names.  Here are only fore of His names, what they mean, and how they can be a personal introduction to a more intimate understanding of God's heart and character.

• Jehovah Rohi: “The Lord my Shepherd” - Portrays the Lord as the Shepherd who cares for His people as a shepherd cares for the sheep of his pasture (Ps. 23:1)

• Jehovah Tsidkenu: “The Lord our righteousness” - Portrays the Lord as the means of our righteousness (Jer. 23:6).

• Jehovah Nissi: “The Lord our Banner” - Stresses that God is our rallying point and our means of victory; the one who fights for His people (Ex. 17:15).

• Immanuel: “God with us” – Stresses that God is always with us. (Isaiah 7:14).

Who We Are In Christ

I was talking to someone the other day that said that they were a Christian, but didn’t understand what that truly meant. They said, I’ve been a Christian for a long time but who am I in Christ?

When we know who we are, we’ll know what to do.

Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

In Christ we are a new creation, and we have a new purposes. It also says in
2 Corinthians 5:20, We are therefore Christ's Ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal

 through us.

So, we are a new creation, and an ambassador for Christ. An Ambassador, is the highest ranking diplomat sent as a representative from one country to another. As a Christian, we have been sent by God, as His Ambassador to this earth. We represent the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. When we know who we are, then we'll know what to do.

You are somebody in Christ!

Thailand Mission Trip June 1-15, 2011

Join us on our Thailand mission trip June 1-15, 2011

Conceal or Confess

From time to time we all live in a “Masquerade.” Like Adam and Eve hiding in the garden after they sinned or deceiving ourselves thinking that they were something that they were not or trying to hide our sin. Every day we have to decide to be real before God and our friends, or ware a mask.

When we sin we try and conceal our sin. We try to cover them up because we feel bad about them. We see this over and over again, in the first few stories in the Bible, Adam & Eve, Cain & Abel and Joseph and his brothers. When they sinned, each time there was a cover up. God does not want us to try and cover-up our sin, He wants us to confess our sins to Him. We can conceal them or we can confess them. The Bible says; He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them (his sin) finds mercy. Proverbs 28:13

So today, remove the mask, confess your sin and walk in forgiveness.

Drop The Mask

How many times do we try and play hide and seek with God? It’s like, we ware a mask, so people want see us, for who we really are. Unlike Halloween, where kids wear their mask for a few hours, we adults have been trained, conditioned, or tricked into wearing masks almost every day of our lives. We think, if I’m real people want like me, so we play the game. It’s time to stop playing the game. Drop the mask and be real.

A lot of times we wear mask trying to fill an inward emptiness. That emptiness can only be filled Christ alone.

God wants us to have the courage to be authentic. He already know where we are, He wants us to admit to ourselves where we are.

But no matter where we are, God love us, God forgive us, but we can’t go through life faking it! God wants us to drop the mask. None of us can do all that God wants us to do wearing a mask!

Just be real.