Psalm 24:7-10 (NIV)
7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory? The Lord Almighty — He is the King of glory.
This passage speaks volumes to the responsibility we have in God’s Kingdom. Jacob witnessed something that confounded him. He saw a stairway leading from Earth to Heaven and witnessed angels ascending and descending on it. I believe Jacob missed it. He declared that place to be the place that Heaven came to Earth. I think God was trying to show him that he was the place where Heaven touched Earth.
This verse calls us to lift up our heads. We are called to keep our focus on God. Jesus said that if we have seen Him then we have seen the Father. He is the image of the invisible God. He did only what He saw the Father do. His focus was on God all the time.
We are called gates. What do gates do? They let things in and they keep things out. According to this passage we are to let the King of glory in. I can go on for days on what all this entails but simply put; we were created to release the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. Kingdom means the King’s domain. He has chosen to invade Earth through His children. Jesus was the perfect example of this. He was about His Father’s business. We are to be about our Father’s business.
You may ask why there is so much tragedy in the world and why God would allow such things. The facts are that we live in a fallen world that longs for redemption and God has created us to release His environment to change the environment around us. God wants everything that is in Heaven to be on Earth and He wants everything that is not in Heaven not to be on Earth. We are the gates that are responsible for that. If we would rise to the responsibility, shift all of our focus to the Lord, and do the things we see Jesus do then we would see the world around us transform into His world.
Pastor Justin
Friday, July 18, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
God is kind but not soft
Romans 2:4 - THE MESSAGE
Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he's not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.
I recently came across this scripture in the "Message" (a transliteration of Scripture in modern speech) and thought it would make an awesome topic to blog. God is kind but not soft.
What do you see when you close your eyes and picture God? What characteristics do you think of when you hear someone say "God"? "God is good!" followed by a response of "all the time!" is a familiar cheer among believers. What does "good" mean? Does it mean he gives you everything you think you need or want? Is He a "good Dad" who, because of His goodness, tends to spoil His children because we remind Him that He is supposed to give us the desires of our hearts.
May this Scripture remind us that He has our best interests at heart. A great example of this is when a rebellious two year old child is fighting to get away from mom as they walk through a busy parking lot. It would take the Jaws of Life to remove her hand from clasping his. Is this because she is just trying to exercise her authority over him? Any one with good sense knows it is for the child’s own good; however, consider the thoughts of the child. He is fighting her with all his might in order to go his own way. Sound familiar? He is fighting because he doesn’t think he is a baby and just needs his independence.
We would be wise to hold on tight to the hand of God because the “traffic” we are in is dangerous and only He knows the safe way through it to the destination.
I will leave you with this thought I love from this Passage.
Better think this one through from the beginning.
Just a thought,
Pastor Justin
We would be wise to hold on tight to the hand of God because the “traffic” we are in is dangerous and only He knows the safe way through it to the destination.
I will leave you with this thought I love from this Passage.
Better think this one through from the beginning.
Just a thought,
Pastor Justin
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Humility
I realize it has been several months since my last post. Needless to say, it has been a little crazy around here over the Holidays. Here are some thoughts that have been rattling around my head lately.
When we examine the heart of Christians in America we find a false sense of what true Biblical humility is. I have met so many believers who have such a small view of themselves that they fall short of the call on their lives.
The majority of the Church has attempted to shy away from pride by thinking they are worthless. By doing so, they have entered into a lie that has brought them to the very thing they are trying to avoid. That lie, that we are worthlessness, only accomplishes to turn our focus inward. When we do this we are no longer focused on God. We then begin to feel that we are not worthy of an intimate relationship with Him. This mentality separates us from fellowship with God and only puts more focus on our own existence apart from Him. We see only our abilities and more so our inabilities. Pride is simply a self-image that is apart from God.
This is extremely important in the Kingdom of God because God resists the proud. Proverbs 16:18 also teaches us that pride comes before destruction.
So what is true humility? It is not what you think!
Numbers 12:3
(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
NIV
Who wrote the book of Numbers? MOSES DID! Moses wrote, about himself, “I am the most humble man on the face of the planet.” That is amazing! If someone told you that they were the most humble person in town you would laugh at them and call them arrogant.
Look at David. When he came to the battle with Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 he was upset because no one had put this giant in his place. His oldest brother Eliab got upset with David and called him arrogant and conceited. Eliab had been rejected by God to be the King of Israel in the previous chapter. God only rejects people for the pride in their hearts. Eliab was rejected for the very thing he accused David of. David reported to King Saul that God had given him the ability to kill a lion and a bear. David let the King know that the giant would suffer the same fate. Humility is an honest assessment of who we are in Christ.
The Bible does say that our righteousness is like dirty rags and that apart from Jesus we can’t do anything but we are not apart from Him if He is the Lord of our lives.
We are the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) He paid a very high price for us to be “seated with Christ in Heavenly places.” (Ephesians 2:6) The Bible reveals to the world that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Many have understood this to mean that Jesus has this title just because He is Supreme. In part this is true; however, the greater truth is that we are all called to be kings and lords. God told Adam to rule over the earth. We have the same responsibility to rule. When we have that kind of mentality and step up to the purpose for which we were created, then Jesus truly becomes King of kings and Lord of lords.
"Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less." -Kris Vallotton
Pastor Justin
When we examine the heart of Christians in America we find a false sense of what true Biblical humility is. I have met so many believers who have such a small view of themselves that they fall short of the call on their lives.
The majority of the Church has attempted to shy away from pride by thinking they are worthless. By doing so, they have entered into a lie that has brought them to the very thing they are trying to avoid. That lie, that we are worthlessness, only accomplishes to turn our focus inward. When we do this we are no longer focused on God. We then begin to feel that we are not worthy of an intimate relationship with Him. This mentality separates us from fellowship with God and only puts more focus on our own existence apart from Him. We see only our abilities and more so our inabilities. Pride is simply a self-image that is apart from God.
This is extremely important in the Kingdom of God because God resists the proud. Proverbs 16:18 also teaches us that pride comes before destruction.
So what is true humility? It is not what you think!
Numbers 12:3
(Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)
NIV
Who wrote the book of Numbers? MOSES DID! Moses wrote, about himself, “I am the most humble man on the face of the planet.” That is amazing! If someone told you that they were the most humble person in town you would laugh at them and call them arrogant.
Look at David. When he came to the battle with Goliath in 1 Samuel 17 he was upset because no one had put this giant in his place. His oldest brother Eliab got upset with David and called him arrogant and conceited. Eliab had been rejected by God to be the King of Israel in the previous chapter. God only rejects people for the pride in their hearts. Eliab was rejected for the very thing he accused David of. David reported to King Saul that God had given him the ability to kill a lion and a bear. David let the King know that the giant would suffer the same fate. Humility is an honest assessment of who we are in Christ.
The Bible does say that our righteousness is like dirty rags and that apart from Jesus we can’t do anything but we are not apart from Him if He is the Lord of our lives.
We are the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) He paid a very high price for us to be “seated with Christ in Heavenly places.” (Ephesians 2:6) The Bible reveals to the world that Jesus is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Many have understood this to mean that Jesus has this title just because He is Supreme. In part this is true; however, the greater truth is that we are all called to be kings and lords. God told Adam to rule over the earth. We have the same responsibility to rule. When we have that kind of mentality and step up to the purpose for which we were created, then Jesus truly becomes King of kings and Lord of lords.
"Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less." -Kris Vallotton
Pastor Justin
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