"Knock knock...who's there?"

This week I lay in bed for 8 hours sleeping peacefully with no worries about the day ahead of me. I awoke and went about my normal routine of preparing for the day when I there was a knock on my door. I looked through the window and saw a familiar face of a gentleman I had seen before and talked to briefly. As a matter of fact I saw him yesterday on two separate occasions. The first time I saw him I was taking out the trash and he was arguing with his wife outside, I couldn't understand what they were saying but I could tell that they were both displeased with each other's actions. I saw them later on that day when I was heading to a men's bible study but this time it appeared they had reconciled and were laughing with each other. So I was curious about why he was standing outside my door at 6:30 am. 

I slightly opened the door because I was still in pajamas and said, "Hello". He looked in me the eyes and asked, "Are you the pastor?" I did not know how to respond because I am not technically a pastor so I said "Yes, can I help you?" He said he really needed to talk to me so I told him we could talk but just give me a moment to get some clothes on.

I slapped some jeans on and went outside to talk the young man. He said, "My name is Sonny I know you helped my brother and did a bible study with him. I really need some help, for the past three hours I have stood outside wondering what to do with my life. I was in rehab yesterday with my wife but we both just got up and left. I don't want to live like this anymore. I don't want to fight anymore or do the devil's deeds, I just want it all to end. I asked God to give me this woman (Valerie) as my wife and if He did I would live for Him. But I haven't lived for Him and all. I am still living the way I want to live and I believe God has cursed me. I was contemplating killing myself this morning because I am so sick of the way I am living."

I reassured Him that God is not in the cursing business but took him to John 3:16-21. And told Sonny that Jesus came to save us not to curse us or condemn us. However if we reject Christ we have effectively condemned ourselves. And the reason people choose not accept Christ is because Christ exposes the sins we are unwilling to give up. Sonny already knew he needed Jesus but he was unwilling to give up his sinful lifestyle. But he agreed that enough was enough and he was ready to change.

By this time Sonny's wife Valerie came over because she was listening from a distance. I could tell how much she had abused drugs because she could barely stand still. She said, "We could do it but we won't get any support. People (ie, family, friends, customers) are going to make fun of us and try to tempt us to keep using and selling drugs. All my life all I have known is Meth. I grew up in a Meth House and it's all I have ever known since."

I looked at her and took them both to Romans 3. I showed how the Bible makes it very clear in Romans 3:9-20 that we all are dirty and filthy. We all have sinned tremendously and are worthy of eternal death. But how Romans 3:21-31 shows us how God makes us clean in His sight. That the sacrifice of Christ has taken away the punishment of sin and made us new. So it does not matter what others think of us, who we were, where we have come from, what we used to do, and how long we did it. All that matters is we accept the grace of God, His forgiveness, and now live a life that brings Him glory, honor, and praise.

I asked them, "Do you all understand what I am saying." They both said yes. We talked about how rehab was wonderful but it is vital that we detox their souls through the power of Christ. They both said, "That's what we want, we want to change and live for Jesus." We knelt in the grass and prayed together. They accepted Christ as their Savior and committed to live for Him as their Lord. As we prayed I could hear Sonny weeping uncontrollably and feel Valerie fidgeting from years of meth abuse. We stood up and talked about what's next. For Sonny it was rehab for an undisclosed amount of time. For Valerie it was possible jail time because she had a court date the same day and would be forced into rehab.

As they walked away I made sure they had my number and I told them to call me with the news of what happened in court and if they made it to rehab (if they were allowed to make a phone call). They waited 3 hours contemplating suicide outside my house with a bible clutched in their grip but by the grace of God, He preserved their life and they accepted Christ. They did not seek how to name wealth and obtain it. They were not looking for a special prayer cloth or holy water from Jerusalem so they could feel blessed. They were not looking for a special prophetic Word from the Lord that I would supply them if they gave me a $100 love offering. They were sheep without a shepherd, they were looking for Christ.

God always provides an opportunity to use His people if they are willing. My wealth, health, status, and/or popularity did not lead them to my door. It was the Holy Spirit who brought them there. It was not my great words, degree, or title that enabled me to share the Gospel, it was God giving me the words to say and reminding of the scriptures I had studied. The harvest is plentiful in God's Kingdom but we need workers who are not out to make profit, trying to become popular, or even preach their own gospel. We need workers who only want to serve the King and do His bidding. We need faithful people. Are you that person? Stay focused you can do this!

Matthew 9:35-38

"In His JOY!"

Read the Word, Share the Gospel, Be accountable.

http://consumedbyjoy.blogspot.com/

Think of Me

We people think of your Christian lifestyle they should be reminded of 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and Romans 12:1-2. They should not be reminded of a lifestyle filled with wickedness' and hypocrisy.

"In His JOY!"

Read the Word, Share the Gospel, Be accountable. 

http://consumedbyjoy.blogspot.com/

Introducing Noah and The Arks

The epic movie "Noah" contains countless biblical errors that we all can pick up on and point out to everyone. The director took artistic license to express what his interpretation and view on "Noah", he was not going for literal meaning. This has lead to the church crying foul and bashing the movie. But if we took they way we live our lives and projected it on the movie screen would it line up with the Bible? Would the church boycott it and call it heresy on flim? And would our explanation be "Well I have taken artistic license on how the Bible says I should live my life. I know God is the author but I did not like His take on what being a Christian looks like. My interpretation of scripture is fine, I do not believe God was being literal in scripture." This is not me supporting "Noah" or bashing anyone, this is simply to say let us all continually examine how we live for Christ daily and cease from putting our own spin on how God commands us to live.
1 Timothy 4:16, John 14:15

"In His JOY!"

Read the Word, Share the Gospel, Be Accountable

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Build Me Up Butter Cup

The same amount of time it takes to leave a mean comment on someone's social media account is the same amount of time it takes to give them a word of encouragement.
Ephesians 4:29
"In His JOY!"

Read the Word, Share the Gospel, Be Accountable

consumedbyjoy.blogspot.com

Mockery of Grace

If call ourselves Christians and continue to freely enjoy a life of sin, then we turn the sacrifice of Christ into a mockery of grace.
1 John 3:6-10

"In His JOY!"

Read the Word, Share the Gospel, Be accountable.

http://consumedbyjoy.blogspot.com/

"My haters are my motivators...what scripture is that from?"

If we focus on how much someone hates us we will never see how much God loves them. If we use to the scripture to tear our "haters" down how can we expect to build them up in God's love. If we stay focused on what people are saying about us we will never hear what God has already decreed about us. When people use God's Word to lift themselves up and push their "haters" down it shows spiritual immaturity and lack of confidence in God. Your "haters" are not your motivators, that is just a mask used to cover up the sting of rejection and/or critique. Christ is your motivation not hate. If we all took the time to listens to our "haters" we might actually see that most of them are holding us accountable and trying to help us grow but we become ultra sensitive and refuse to listen. Grow up Christians (yes I am talking to you) The Word of God is not a weapon for a holy war against one another. It doesn't matter what that famous preacher said about "haters", it's still wrong and they only said it so you could by their book or give them free advertising by re-posting their status update (c'mon son, high five!!). This is not meant to harm anyone nor it is it a personal attack but stop posting scripture to lift up yourself and tear someone else down, that is what unbelievers do and we are not them, we are children of God so let us "post" like it. Stay focused, you can do this. Ephesians 4:1-3,15-24,29 "In His JOY!" Read the Word, Share the Gospel, Be accountable. http://consumedbyjoy.blogspot.com/

"Racism and the Church"

Racism is probably one of the most ugly things that any of us can use to differentiate between one another. It separates us and discounts what we have to offer to one another. Essentially we are declaring openly that the pigmentation of our skin determines our destiny, intellect, and worth not only in the eyes of men but also in the eyes of God.  Friends this is not so nor can it every be a truth that any of us believe.

The Bible declares in Galatians 3:26-28 " for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." For those who accept Christ we find our value, worth, and destiny in Christ and Christ alone. And we take this Gospel to the streets and tell others that they can their value and worth in Christ. Because as Christians we do not look to or even listen to others who would try to determine who we are based off their own personal beliefs. This means that we can never claim Christ while we berate and belittle others who do not look like us or assimilate to our culture. Because racism promotes hate and hate is not a character trait the Lord promotes (see 1 John 4:20-21). And our love for another is motivated by the love Christ has poured into us when we accepted Him (1 John 4:19). So no Christian can promote racism if the Love of Christ is inside of Him.

In saying that I applaud the Miami Heat and the L.A. Clippers for their silent protest but my heart aches because although we are all rallying around and proclaiming injustice there is still much work to be done. The are professional sports teams like the Cleveland Indians and Washington Redskins that have images and names that are offensive and outright wrong, yet we tend to give them a pass on their logos and names.  We are so wrapped up in the history of the names and the legacy that would be altered if we changed the name. The problem I find we encounter is when we will only fight for those who look like us and talk like us.  We will blog it, boycott it, and tweet all day long if the comments are directed to people who look like us or someone we love but when they differ from us or we do not care for them there the human tendency to remain quiet.

But dear Christian please understand they do look like us. One, we were created in the image of God whether others believe it or not (Genesis 1:27). Two, if they are in Christ then they look like Christ (Colossians 3:11).  Three, Colossians 3:8-10 says, "But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." So we do not slander one another anymore but we speak to each other in the purity of Christ. We build each other up as opposed to tearing each other down with words or images for that matter that depict a poor representation of how God views His beautiful creation that is fearfully and wonderfully made (Ephesians 4:29).

The sum of all things they do look like us we all may vary in shade but we should just as unwilling to stand by and watch anyone be racial bias towards anyone, it is the voice of the Christian that needs to be heard in this matter because we speak for the Lord in the hope that all men will realize that there is more to them  that others may see. It is us who need to let the world know that they have worth, value, and purpose. It is dependent upon us to let the who world know that Christ makes us whole and new. It is in Christ the racist man or woman can experience the life altering Love of Jesus and watch how He can transforms their views and beliefs.  It is up to us to let the world know that if they have fallen victim to racism they are victorious in Christ.  It is imperative that but parties come to know that race does not limit us and Christ propels us to do His Will and Good Pleasure (Philippians 2:13).

So are you willing Christian to speak up for the Lord and share His Truth or will you stand by and watch the situation worsen. Don't discount your voice, it's the smallest ripple that ends up having the biggest effect. Stay focused, you can do this!

"In His JOY!"

Read the Word, Share the Gospel, Be Accountable

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