Guilt, shame, and fear of judgment can and will lead a person to self-destruction and possibly their own demise if not dealt with properly. Guilt tells me “oh you messed up now.” Shame tells me to run and hide, work to cover it up and keep it covered because of the fear of what’s to come if found out. Fear of judgement. But running from it is tiring, and pretending it didn’t happen doesn’t change the fact that it happened. And at the end of the day, if nobody else knows, we know. And let me just say that we are own worst judge. We show no mercy towards ourselves at times. I’ve seen it happen in my own life, first in the spiritual realm and then nearly in the physical. I’ve invited evil into my life because of my actions and nearly let it lead me right to my own destruction. And I continue to see the same in the field of addiction that I work in. But it can happen to anyone. What do we do with the secrets that we continue to live with? All the things that happened in the dark, the things that we would possibly be willing to die for trying to keep them from coming to the light? This is why it is so important to have a knowledge of Jesus, who He is and what He did, so that we don’t let what we have done lead us to our grave without receiving the gift of salvation and the fulfillment of our God given purpose here on earth. So how does one deal with it effectively? Well, in order to do that we need to look at Jesus. The author and finisher of our faith. God’s word says that a godly guilt produces repentance but a worldly produces death.  It’s not the fact that if we are guilty or not, all of us our guilty, its what we do with the guilt that matters. We take it to the One who who took it for us. Jesus who went to trial for our crimes, plead guilty on our behalf, so that His blood could make us innocent. Now let’s look at shame. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, they noticed their nakedness, and because of their shame they ran and attempted to cover it up in their own strength, which was to no avail, and then eventually behind a tree to hide from God. But what did Jesus do? He hung nailed, naked and exposed on front of the tree bearing our shame, before God. So we no longer have to hide from what we did, or from God. He did it all for us. We no longer have to hide from the things we have done, and they no longer have to eat away from us on the inside. Because what’s going on on the inside will eventually show itself on the outside, just the same as what’s done in the dark will be made known in the light. So it’s on us to take the initiative, bring our darkness to His marvelous light and receive the gift that He has freely given. No more shame, no more guilt, no more fear of judgment. Just rest in a perfect love and a peace that surpasses all understanding as He continues to transform us into the new creation that we are. Thank You Lord Jesus for Your finished work on the cross. Thank You Holy Spirit for revealing this truth to us. And thank You Abba Father for loving us so much that You would send Your only Son to reconcile us back to You.

Hosea 14:5

Have you ever experienced an unexpected turn in your life? Life is a journey that doesn’t always lead down a straight path. In a perfect world, everything we would face or encounter would be straight ahead and we would be able to see and prepare accordingly. However, we do not live in a perfect world, at least not yet, and so unfortunately the unexpected turn can be a norm on the path of life’s journey and it can leave us suddenly lost in a place of confusion and indecisiveness. We often hear the saying, “things took a turn for the worse.” Well, is it just me or do we never hear that things took a turn for the best? Could it be that what may seem like a turn for the worst could end up being a turn for the best if we are able to trust the turn and continue on the journey? I knew once of a man who was working at a company. This man had moved away from home to an unknown city to make a new life for himself and he had found his place at this certain company. He excelled in what he was doing  and all signs pointed to him pursuing a career with a promotion at the company until he was unexpectedly fired for violating company policy. Now while the violation was legitimate, the way it occurred was innocent. Nevertheless, he was terminated and all hopes of his new life and career in this new city seemed to diminish. Left confused and defeated, the man thought it would be best to return home and turn back from this new journey that he had been on until he heard from the voice of the Lord with a simple, yet clear command to “stay”. To stay on the journey and trust the turn. To trust in the One who holds each life in the palm of His hands. The One whose plans for us are to give us a future and hope. The One who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we can think or imagine. The Lord says that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are much higher, and that He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. The man took heed to the voice of the Lord and stayed on the journey which led him to a new company with a better promotion and a career where he could continue to become the person God created Him to be and live out his God given purpose. In fact, the company he was once was with is now permanently closed. It’s not always for us to know the outcome of our lives, but to know the One who holds the outcome. In the midst of the unexpected turn whether it be loss, seeing our loved ones suffer, heartache with being letdown or hurt, or letting go of something or someone that can’t make the turn with you, the God who is over all of the universe, who came down to us here on earth as a man, just like us, and experienced what we would experience, so that we would not be alone in our unexpected turns. But not only that, He conquered it all, including sin and death, so that when the unexpected turn for the worse would occur, He would already have it turned for our best. His name is Jesus.

We have sorrows but no reason to be miserable. Being in the world but not of the world. Being human but knowing the one true God. I don’t think words can truly explain how important that is. When dealing with grief. When dealing with depression or sadness. When dealing with injustice. When dealing with disappointments and setbacks. We have Christ. And when we surrender our lives to Him and submit to His leadership, it enables us to follow Him through the darkness, confusion, and chaos of this world as He brings us into His marvelous light, with clarity and peace. A clarity that may seem delusional to the unbeliever. But the fruit is hard to deny. Trial after trial, storm after storm, loss after loss, they still have this peace about them and walk with this victory in their spirit. And carry a light that shines bright. Thank You Lord Jesus for enabling this heart to know You.

Detachment and Desire

The goal is to be in His presence, in the present. To be fully aware of where you are and Who is with you. It’s in His presence that we truly come alive. It’s in His presence that we come to know who we are, and Whose we are. It’s in His presence that we operate in our purest form. Lord let Your presence influence the movement of my body, the beating and overflowing of my heart, the direction in which my eyes are to look and what they see, the thought processing and imagination of my mind, the submission and stillness of my soul. I give You my body and my life Lord Jesus. Holy Spirit have Your way in me, through me, and all around me. In Jesus mighty name. Amen.

It is Finished 

  God in His abounding grace has called us to come to Him. Jesus said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" in Matthew 11:28. The verse continues, "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light". And also in Revelation 22:17 ; the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. As the foundational underlying statement of the creation of this page, to “Go to God” is our upward calling and our blessed assurance of hope. So why should I go to God when I feel at times He isn’t there or He doesn’t care? This is a question asked by even the closet of the Lord’s circle. In Mark 4:37 the scripture states ; And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” In our toughest of times emotions can cloud the presence and faithfulness of God to His children. So how faithful to us is Jesus Christ? So steadfast that God in all His glory stripped Himself in order that God came to us so that we could Go to Him. Who , being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. This was transformational truth that allowed me to see my inability to God to God by only my behavior. I always felt ashamed and fearful to run to a Holy God because I understood the wickedness of my actions and failure to live by God’s standard. An exchange of life had to be given and accepted. And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I’ve grown to comprehend that eternal life is gift given by God the Father in the precious Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.