Damage of the Day

 Damage of the day

As time goes on I have the tendency to look at things differently. I believe the Holy Spirit is transforming my thoughts and ideas as he reveals God’s truth to me. As we read, study and obey the words of God there is a transfer of knowledge that takes place from the head to the heart. It is my deepest desire that this is the process taking place in me over the past few years.

 We all have a favorite TV show. Tonight Janice and I enjoyed watching our favorite one together. In the show there was a scene where a lady walked into a police station to complain about her husband hitting her, the lady was drunk and apparently had an on going drinking problem. Her visit wasn’t the first. Not a hard scenario to figure out.

The longer I watched the story unfold I found my thoughts drifting to an incident that took place when I was about five years old. All the sudden I felt an overwhelming sense of heaviness.  My dad was what I call “a hitter” with a drinking problem. Mom was usually the unfortunate recipient on the wrong side of dad’s exercise after being out with his buddies at the bar. I remember the fear and feeling of wanting to hide when dad came home late from work because we never knew if he would be drunk or not. One Friday night dad came home late, mom had a friend at the house and things turned bad pretty fast. Mom’s friend took us to her house to spend the night. The next day we found ourselves at the hospital visiting mom. For the next few months my brother and I would fix her soup for dinner that she would drink through a straw because dad broke her jaw and one of her hands. I remember the damage of the day changed the way we looked at everything and everyone. Life shifted and the three of us became the suspicious survivors from that Friday night. The actions of my dad were the result of a man who was caught up not so much in his dependency of alcohol but in the pain buried in the darkness of what led him to medicate what he was trying to escape. Even if for a short period of time, my dad created for himself an environment of control and numbness as an escape from his pain and fears. That numbness affected the lives of my mom, my brother and me, for the rest of our lives.

 Now as an adult I sat with my wife watching this show on TV where an actress went to the police looking for protection from her abuser, the memory of the abuse my dad inflicted on my mom that night was as vivid as the night it happened, a night I'll never forget. Instead of being filled with fear and anger, now I was filled with compassion. My thoughts and feelings were ones of burden for my dad and for all of us who haven’t found freedom from our days of damage. Pain that creates the need for protection. Unfortunately that protection comes in the form of transferring our pain and insecurity onto other people. Damaged people continue to damage people. 

 The reality is that dad; mom, my brother and me were captive in a dark place dark separated from God’s truth, freedom and hope. We all try to compensate as we search to escape from the misunderstanding of damage sin creates. In the darkness it is natural for humanity to grasp for anything that might comfort us, even temporarily, regardless of the damage created in the path of escape and the uncertainty of our future.

 The fall of mankind is real and it has caused immeasurable damage and the destruction of countless lives in its wake. The evil habits and appetites formed in us are from our separation from God and his perfect design for our fullness. We hunger and strive for wholeness found only when we are connected in relationship with God himself.

  My thankfulness for God’s invasion into my darkness can never be stated adequately because I can’t express the gratefulness I feel toward Him, He rescued my me! The depths of salvation are more than I can understand, the healing from the damage caused by my past choices is very real and has created abundance for my life today. The tangible way I give thanks to God is by actively looking for ways to please him.

  I couldn’t see the results of my life separated from Christ because I was in the dark unable to see what I was doing, not concerning myself with the damage I was causing others around me. Not until I was drawn out of that darkness and I began the journey of relinquishing the control I thought I had to Him. I created a lot of pain trying to protect myself because of the damage and the feelings of abandonment in my life. I had to make the choice to stop resisting God’s love and allow him to teach me the difference between demanding control of my life and learning how to find my escape by giving control of my life to Him. The thing I didn’t understand is that God’s love for me is greater than my pain and his plan was to put me in a place of peace and joy that I desperately wanted but had no clue of how to find it.

 The damage of the day hasn’t been removed from my memory but it has become part of my story, not the pain or fear but the rescue; release and the understanding of how the damage actually started in Eden with Adam and Eve, and how it was transferred to me and every person throughout human history as part of our DNA.

 Transformation, healing and release through the work of the Holy Spirit continues to take place in my life. The fantastic thing is that the same path of transformation and release is available for anyone who will accept it from God on his terms. Even after we believe.

 The most important part of my story and the story of every person is that our future can be changed because of the promise God provided for us through the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ.

Stop The Pain

Several years ago a friend said to me “hurt people, hurt people.”

 A simple but profound statement that describes the perpetual pain we inflict on one another because we carry the pain infected on us from someone else. This type of pain that is passed from one person to the next can only be removed through the healing touch of the Holy Spirit.

 There is a story in the Bible recorded in the 8^th chapter of Mark about some guys who brought their blind friend to Jesus asking him to heal him. Jesus took the man out of town away from the faithless hearts of those around him in order to heal the guy. Jesus is a peculiar person, most likely because he always does things that don’t make sense to us. He spit on the mans eyes, rubbed them, then asked him what do you see?” Really? I’m thinking I’d have to ask “what do you think you are you doing?” But I'm not blind. The guy says “I see people walking around who look like trees.” So Jesus goes back in and rubs his eyes a second time, then the man sees clearly.

 Why did Jesus need to touch him a second time? Did he lack the power to heal or was his faith weak? No. Jesus is God; he doesn’t lack power or faith. He’s the embodiment of power and faith. Colossians 2:9 says “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.” So why was there a second touch before the man was healed? I believe Jesus wanted to teach his disciples and us an important lesson.

Mark chapter eight opens with Jesus feeding 4000 people with 7 loaves of bread. Sound familiar? That’s because He also fed 5000 people in somewhat the same manner.

 Here as he feeds the 4000 then the disciples collect 7 basketful's of left overs after everyone ate until full. They leave the area and some Pharisees find him, testing him they ask for a sign from Heaven. He says, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? No I won’t give a sign.” Jesus and the 12 get back into the boat to return to the Galilean area. While in the boat Jesus warns them, “Be careful, watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Herod.” They thought He was talking about them not bringing any bread with them.

 Ok here’s why Jesus double clutched when healing the blind man. Ready? Jesus said to them: “really guys?” did you actually think I was taking about your lack of planning? Don’t you get it? Are you so dull and your hearts so hard that you don’t understand? Don’t you remember? When I broke 5 loaves and fed 5000, how many basketful's of pieces did you pick up? “12” they said. And when I broke the 7 loaves how many basketful's did you pick up? “7” they answered. He looks at them and asks, “SOOOOO? Don’t you get it?”  Then He heals the blind man and makes the choice to touch him twice before the healing is complete.

When the 12 were with him they understood very little of what he did and taught, Not until after he was crucified, had risen then ascended to the Father did they begin to understand fully what he was doing and teaching, because the Holy Spirit began to teach them and reveal the words Jesus to them.

 They knew Jesus and experienced his teachings and the things he did first hand but didn’t understand them fully. The Holy Spirit was given as a gift to them and us to illuminate the words Jesus taught and they understood. Colossians 2:9 says for in Christ all the fullness of Deity lives in bodily form.” He was all God in every aspect in human form. In John 14:6 Jesus promised them “I will ask and the Father will send another advocate to help you and he will be with you forever.” The word “another” used here is Greek New Testament meaning word meaning “one exactly alike.”

Jesus touched the blind man the second time because he couldn’t see clearly the first time. The 12 didn’t fully understand his teachings until the Holy Spirit enlightened their minds revealing the  words of Jesus to them with a more intimate touch that involved their hearts.

Our application involves the phrase my friend told me: “hurt people hurt people.”

 I’ve experienced the painful situation of being pushed out of a group. It came from 2 separate people in the same gathering, at first not understanding until I made the choice to not be offended but asking the Lord why. People who have been pushed out of what I will call a tribe then being accepted, those same people have a tendency to inflict the same pain of rejection they received onto other people who are on the outside, but not people who already belonged to an existing tribe then come into the new tribe as if making a tribe change. This pain of rejection even after being accepted is inflicted on other rejected people, as if to say I paid my dues, now its your turn before you get into our tribe.

Wow how is the connection made between Mark 8 and my friend’s phrase? I’m Glad you asked. We like the 12 we spend time with Jesus but often don’t fully understand everything he is saying to us until we actually allow his words to probe the deep areas inside our hearts, the ones we protect , that no other person is allowed to see. When we honestly, willfully expose the painful things inflicted on us, trusting him and dropping our guard, he will heal us, but it can’t stop there. We have to make the choice to also reject the feelings of empowerment from our new freedom and make the conscious choice to humbly continue to make him Lord over everything, even freedom from rejection or freedom from any other pain. We have not actually experienced freedom only escape from our experiences that caused us pain if we continue to inflict pain and rejection on other hurting people. There is a difference and that difference is how we treat others who suffer in the pain we lived in, especially when no one else is looking.

 Jesus double clutches more times than not because he wants us to be made whole not just for the pain to stop. He will continue to return until he has completed what he has started in us.

Fear Not

All of God’s creation is amazing. So much of what we learn and observe from his artistic hand of wisdom is awe inspiring and draws us to him. I love to watch people, to hear their laughter and interaction with one another. It fascinates me to experience the unique reactions of people who experience the same event. When my journey connects with others I consider my life gifted and enriched, an investment if you will. Some people greatly enhance my life while others challenge me, but I am never the same because each life that touches my life changes who I am.

 I’m also in love with the ever changing process of life. When we are young our lives are shaped and molded by our parents, family members; teachers and guardians. When we become adults we live according to the training from those who have influenced us. Opinions and life styles are formed by our experiences and choices we make. When we get older we become frail, our manageable world is reduced with similarities of when we were children. We become dependent on family members and guardians to make provision for the things we can’t do for ourselves any longer.

 Here is the best part of the journey we all share. The steadfast anchor for everyone of us. The only choice that never changes for every person is the eternal Father heart of God and the opportunity for us to know his love through his son. His heart toward us never changes regardless of our age, its our understanding of his love that changes.

 In the darkness of our room at 5 years old, the uncertainty of youthful relationships at 18, the call from the doctor with the life changing diagnosis at 55 or the devastating loss of death of a lifelong partner at 65. The words “Fear Not” from the Father heart of God are always placed strategically and become the only words that can calm the confusion and pain. Because they are from the living heart of God who knows the deepest part of who we are.

He sees us as the apple of his eye.

Nothing can take that from our relationship with him.

At any age.

The Purple Veil

We've all seen or have heard of the story of

 “The Wizard of OZ”

 In the story Dorthy's crew found their way to the Wizard in the land of Oz. They found their way in to the parlor of the Wizard of Oz, where a larger than life image of the Great Oz would speak to them from behind a veil with a large thundering voice along with flashing lights and billows of smoke.

  The idea was to create an ominous presence creating fear in those who dare enter the presence of the “Great and Mighty Wizard of OZ.” 
 Toto wasn't quite as paralyzed by the fear inflicted by the theatrics of the Wizard. Finding his way behind the bravado, Toto exposed the activity behind the veil, ultimately exposing the Wizard as a fraud. He was just a man just  like any other man!

 Let me tell you about another veil that was very serious and very real. This veil was located in the Temple in Jerusalem, The temple of God. It was used to separate the two rooms inside the temple: the sanctuary where the priests offered daily sacrifices for the sins of the people of God where animals were sacrificed on the alter of God, separated from the Holy of Holies…the most holy of rooms, the place where God lived. The high priest would enter into the  presence of God, into this most holy place, once a year to make atonement for the sins of God's people.

 This veil that separated God from every human was somewhere near 60 feet high and four inches thick. It was said that it would be impossible for horses tied to each side to pull the veil apart. It was made from blue, purple and scarlet material and fine twisted linen, this veil was a beautiful work of chosen artisans. The veil created a separation between God and man. The Hebrew work for veil means screen, divider or a separator that hides.

What was this curtain separating? It kept mankind from God because our sinful life style makes it impossible to connect with God. God’s eyes are too pure to look on evil. According to Habakkuk 1:13 The holiness of God will not tolerate sin in his presence. The veil was a barrier to make sure that man could not carelessly and irreverently enter into God’s awesome presence.

 Jesus sacrificial death on the cross changed all that. When He died the curtain in the Temple was torn in half, from top to bottom exposing the Holy of Holies! God's presence was made available to all of us! Jesus died to make atonement for our sins and make us in right standing with God. The torn veil illustrated Jesus's body broken for us, opening the way for us to come close to God. When Jesus cried "IT IS FINISHED" before he died, it was a yell of victory that God's plan for redemption was complete. No more animal sacrifices were necessary to cover over the sins we commit. The ultimate offering had been given. See Hebrews 6:19-20.


Through Jesus and his blood we have been given direct access into the throne room of God. We are justified because he who had no sin became sin for us.

Thanks You Jesus. We owe you our lives Lord.

18 Inches

 Billy Grahams daughter Annie Graham wrote a book called "Expecting to see Jesus." In her book she speaks about Tom Landry who became the first coach of the Dallas Cowboys football team. His career lasted 29 seasons from 1960 - 1988. Coach Landry said in his career he came across many good athletes but few great ones. The difference He said between a good athlete and a great one was only about 18 inches. The distance from the head to the heart. Coach Landry said a good athlete knows the game thoroughly and has a phenomenal physical ability but a great athlete loves the game. He is passionate about the game. He is different because he is willing to invest his entire heart and all his effort into what he loves. The player who is willing to put in the long hours of practice and the necessary conditioning even in the off season because it's what he loves and he wants it more than everyone else.

 The Apostle Paul taught us about this kind of passion in Romans 12 instructing us not to be conformed to the ways of the world's influence around us chasing the desires of the life we came from. He says instead live passionately chasing after everything God has to offer us. Abundance is found in loving the things of God more than loving the things from the world we live in.        
 There is a shift that takes place, let's call it a transformation that takes place in the human heart. We get saved and become a new creation but then it becomes the work of the Holy Spirit as he partners with us together to continue the on going change that leads us past the cross. Into the deeper things that God has called us to.

 The same 18 inches that makes a great football player also makes committed men of God. Romans 12:1-2 teaches about that 18 inch transformation from our head to our heart, it can take a lifetime to reach such a short distance if we continue to resist the Lordship of Jesus over our lives. 

Passionate love for God is what makes the difference when we don't feel like life in Christ is worth the effort. Living past the cross, it moves us from just allowing God to become a part of our lives to being consumed with everything about Him. We begin to embrace the fellowship of his suffering instead of running from the choice to deny our lusts and picking up our cross and following after Him. We will never know what depths of his love or the adventure of walking in the Spirit we can experience until the 18 inch transfer takes place and we begin to live with unbridled passion for the King of the Universe.             
 Most Christians never learn the difference between knowing about God and knowing God through the experience that comes through connecting daily about with him in our every day lives. 
 We will never be more saved, never have more of the Holy Spirit or become more righteous in the sight of God. God will never love us more or less because the sacrifice of his most precious son completed everything for us. We are fully forgiven, fully justified and made completely righteous by the blood Jesus shed on the cross for us. 2 Corinthians 21:5 tells us we are actually the righteousness of God! We are transformed in mind resulting in our actions when we allow the Holy Spirit to move God's word 18 inches from our thoughts to our hearts.

 Experience the fullness of life in Christ, lets live with the same passion for him that he has for us. 

Start Acting Like A Kid

Yesterday we celebrated my mother in laws 93^rd birthday. We hosted a party for about 35 family members. 

 Today I looked out into the back yard and saw what looked like a small jacket on the bench under the trees. As I grabbed it I started to look around and found some small rocks and concrete blocks arranged into little houses and forms in the dirt. I laughed as I thought about the kids playing outside, obviously they were engaged in a world we adults had no idea existed yesterday. I immediately started to imagine the things that ran through their creative minds. The innocence and uninterrupted use of imagination of super heroes and princesses. Who knows what battles were fought and damsels rescued yesterday!

 Jesus rebuked his disciples one day when they tried to keep some children from bothering him as they came running to him. I believe Jesus loved the very things about children that are lost when we become adults. 

 Jesus used the example of children again in Matthew 18. The disciples were engaged in a dispute of who would be greater in the Kingdom of God. Jesus called a little child to stand in the center of the group, he began to teach the truths of the Kingdom to his adult disciples saying “unless you become converted and become like a child you cannot enter the Kingdom of God."

 We rarely understand the things of God because so often we try to figure them out in our understanding not His. The key here is humility. When we are humble we relinquish all prideful ambition and self-exaltation to promote the the Lordship of Jesus; his will of and his purpose, instead of creating a lifestyle that promotes our appetites and lusts for pleasing ourselves.

 The kingdom of God belongs to those who are willing to die to self, focusing instead on the promotion of God’s glory, agenda and purposes in all we do.

His desire is to transform us making us ready us for eternity. That's right, school is in session and life is our classroom.

 If we actually want the the Holy Spirit to be alive and powerfully active in us, the world will be turned upside down; the sick will be healed, sight will be given to the blind because the Good News we proclaim is the wholeness of Gods Kingdom. God wants our story to be his story via first hand experience, thats real Christianity.

 There is no other way. Jesus words not mine - "You must be converted to a humble lifestyle to enter the kingdom of God." This is the point where it becomes our choice. Are we willing to glorify God above all things?

 This is how Jesus teaches the Kingdom brass tacks of abundant life we all want. There is a real cost involved, it’s labeled "Pick up your cross daily and follow after him" regardless of what he asks of us. 

I'm convinced the benefits will far outweigh any personal loss.
 I choose to remain in His classroom of life. 

Like Peter said, 
"Lord where will we go? 
You have the words to eternal life."

Start Acting Like A Kid

Yesterday we celebrated my mother in laws 93^rd birthday. We hosted a party for about 35 family members. 
 Today I looked out into the back yard and saw what looked like a small jacket on the bench under the trees. As I grabbed it I started to look around and found some small rocks and concrete blocks arranged into little houses and forms in the dirt. I laughed as I thought about the kids playing outside, obviously they were engaged in a world we adults had no idea existed yesterday. I immediately started to imagine the things that ran through their creative minds. The innocence and uninterrupted use of imagination of super heroes and princesses. Who knows what battles were fought and damsels rescued yesterday!

 Jesus rebuked his disciples one day when they tried to keep some children from bothering him as they came running to him. I believe Jesus loved the very things about children that are lost when we become adults. 
 Jesus used the example of children again in Matthew 18. The disciples were engaged in a dispute of who would be greater in the Kingdom of God. Jesus called a little child to stand in the center of the group, he began to teach the truths of the Kingdom to his adult disciples saying “unless you become converted and become like a child you cannot enter the Kingdom of God."

 We rarely understand the things of God because so often we try to figure them out in our understanding not His. The key here is humility. When we are humble we relinquish all prideful ambition and self-exaltation to promote the the Lordship of Jesus; his will of and his purpose, instead of creating a lifestyle that promotes our appetites and lusts for pleasing ourselves.

 The kingdom of God belongs to those who are willing to die to self, focusing instead on the promotion of God’s glory, agenda and purposes in all we do.

 Unless we become like we once were, children, humble in mind, we are unwilling to enter into the sovereignty, authority and glory of God’s Kingdom. 

His desire is to transform us making us ready us for eternity. That's right, school is in and life is our classroom.

 If we actually want the the Holy Spirit to be alive and powerfully active in us, the world will be turned upside down; the sick will be healed, sight will be given to the blind because the Good News we proclaim is the wholeness of Gods Kingdom. God wants our story to be his story from a first hand experience, thats real Christianity. There is no other way. Jesus words not mine - "You must be converted to a humble lifestyle to enter the kingdom of God." This is the point where it becomes our choice. Are we willing to glorify God above all things?

 This is how Jesus teaches the Kingdom brass tacks of abundant life we all want. There is a cost, it’s labeled "Pick up your cross daily and follow after him" regardless of what he asks of us. 

I'm convinced the benefits will far outweigh any personal loss.
 I choose to remain in His classroom of life. 

Like Peter said, 
"Lord where will we go? 
You have the words to eternal life."

Backward Thinking

 Many of us look back thinking yesterday was better than tomorrow. Hope by definition is looking forward to something that pulls into the future.  The type of looking back that a lot of people engage in is more than just reflection. It is the type of looking back that creates regret causing the future to be paralyzed on past events of…why, and if I only…the should of; could of; would of thought that makes the fresh satisfying water of hope run down the drain, robing the gift of life from you. 

 As the two angels saved Lot his wife and his two daughters from God’s wrath on the evil of Sodom and Gomorrah the angels said to Lot: “flee and don’t look back!” But Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. In Luke chapter 9 there three separate accounts of three different men who were told the requirements of the Kingdom of God in this life…One man came to Jesus and said “I will follow you” Jesus said “foxes have hole and the birds of the air have nests but the son of man has no place to bury his head.” The next man called by Jesus said: “let me first go bury my father”, Jesus told him “let the dead bury their own dead, but you go proclaim the Kingdom of God.” In other words you belong to the future not the past. The third man said “I will follow you but let me say good bye to my family first.” Jesus says “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom.” His current personal concerns seemed more important than his eternal concerns. No one can do any business effectively, if he is more concerned or more involved with other things. Those involved with the things of God, have to be sold out and resolved to move forward and not look back or they will be dived in their affections and devotion, we can’t continue resourcing our life before Christ. Only the one who endures to the end will be saved.

 Jesus sets the bar high, too high for divided loyalties. The promise of abundant life is only attained by renouncing our life before we met him and complete allegiance to him and his purposes. We have to die to ourselves and pick up our cross daily to obtain all he has promised. The question we all have to ask...Is it worth it. It was when we needed salvation. Will we be like Lot's wife who looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt. 

 The desire to return to our past will crystallize our hearts making them hard to the things of God. The seed that fell among the thorns was choked out with the desire of things other than God and his purposes.

The purpose of Your Christian life is worth so much more than anything this world has to offer, so much greater than anything that has its talons in you, drawing you back to the life you left.

 Colossians 1:26-27 says: “The mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of the mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of Glory.”

God made the choice to bring life and ease of suffering of others through you! You have purpose and that purpose is great! Everything you have been through is not meant to hamstring you but to make your life a story that will bring freedom to other people and bring them to life.

Don’t check out, don’t stop…press in and find the abundance of getting involved with God’s plan that he formed from the time Adam and Eve sinned. You are vital to the entire church. So much so that Christ came from heaven to die for you and make you into a precious child in God’s family.

 It’s never too late because God’s gifts and calling are without repentance, in other words he doesn’t refuse you and keeps his promises.