Identity Ridding ourselves of the lies we believe. Unconditional Love

So, not to be verbatim, but I think its important to relay what I learn in church because its easier to process and its helpful for those at all interested in what church is all about. Some of you might be surprised. This is the second week with Mark Brett, and Last week we covered Colossians 1 & 2 When we learned that Jesus=fullness. To keep it brief, I will put the verses and the important parts of the message that I feel are relevant to mention.

John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

This says that the devil seeks to distort the truth to make things seem less blatantly a lie. 
Anything that we value could become an idol before God if we justify an action, or thing once. i.e. In my life, I feel called to do summer project. I resisted so long that when a second mushroom internship popped up, I could have said it was a sign from God that the availability of a job in my interest was the hook out of going to summer project. Instead, currently, I see it as a test. What do I value more? What is really important to me? I had told God that if the first mushroom internship didn't work out, I would look further into summer project. I couldn't deny him or myself at that point. We have to know Him (Christ) well, in order to recognize lies.

John 2:15-16

So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!”

Sometimes (OFTEN) we don't fear God as much as we should. Christ Jesus can get angry too, for good cause. When we do something that isn't necessarily wrong, but its out of context, or its not exactly right, but we can justify it, we upset God, even though through his son he has forgiven us. 

THAT verse seemed a little out of context for the message, so I may have written the verse down wrong. In which case, lets go through all the Johns that seem applicable of the Bible.

1 John 2:15-16

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

 After we become Christians and get past the lies, and past defining ourselves by the world, we have to get by the 3rd force, our selfish desires... ironic that I wrote about this yesterday seeing as we talked about it today. The problem is, even as Christians we are TEMPTED DAILY to drift away from God. Its a natural tendency to do what we feel is right and forget about God.

Colossians 3:1-4

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 

We must reorient ourselves to a new reality. The difficult part is seeing ourselves the way the Lord sees us... which is wonderfully made. Jesus has taken our sin, so that God can look down on us with love, patience, and compassion. We are eternally secure once we've accepted Christ as our savior, God's son coming down to Earth to die for our sins.
This eternal security is NOT based on:

• how many good things we do
• how we feel

We must set our minds on that reality, live life consistent with that reality. God's love is unconditional.

Colossians 3:5-11

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.
Its a continuous struggle, but we must "keep putting it to death"

• We need to be clothed in Christ.

• We must put off our old self, and put on our new self so that we can change inside out.
• Its being like minded in Christ- through letting Christ live through you, that allows changes in your behavior to occur. We can't change our own behavior on our own.

• Coming back to a part of last week's message, the good things we do don't define us. 
• Every step we make through prayer, reading our bible, relying on other Christians, etc, are all to remind us of our Lord Jesus.

Mark Brett had an excellent example of putting on our new self in Christ.

• He described a time when he was playing football with his kids, only to find out it had fallen in dog poop. He washed his hands and the ball really well, but still smelled the dog poop. He realized when he sat down at the table for dinner that it was also on his shirt.
• We can try covering up the poop smell with cologne,  
• putting a new shirt on top of it (all our sins), but we can't cover our own sin to God, it still shows. 
• We have to wash ourselves clean. We want people to notice the sin has left us and we don't want to smell like dog poop.

Colossians 3:12-14

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 

image:
http://www.radioactiveliberty.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/pino-a-mothers-love.jpg

Revelation Chapter 4- When creatures talk

 I hate to be the person to just paste the bible into my blog, but this chapter was quite detailed and self explanatory. Its also beautiful how it is written and I would hate to twist the beauty of the truth. After a day of having my internship get dropped for the summer, and hearing about my grandma's diagnosis that she had a stroke, I can't see there being any more truth to live by than this.
Check out these videos:
Video, no sound; acting: If you don't want to watch the whole thing, start at 4 minutes in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVhG9ynQCDE
Audio for Revelation Chapter 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TMIft5ydpA
After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

   “‘Holy, holy, holy

   is the Lord God Almighty,’

   who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
   to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
   and by your will they were created
   and have their being.”

Jesus, the cultural rebel

Often I feel like people think Christianity is conservative, but in Jesus's time he was a rebel. Not a rebel by today's standards of breaking the law, but rebellious in terms of cultural standards. Often in the Bible, Christ does something completely unexpected by the people. This chapter, John 20 shows how Jesus's own mother is so unbelieving in his return that she doesn't even recognize her son immediately after Jesus rose again from death on the third day.

John 20:1-29
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for? Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” ²⁷ Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

The last stand.

As I stand on my head I start to realize the blood is blocking my senses from making a wise decision about starting a blog. I have no interest in having one or maintaining one, but here I am... facebook, deviantart, and a blogspot later. Maybe when I wake up I'll take note of this fantasy I've entered and perhaps have some wisdom on some topic I am studying to share. For now I'll share a verse.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor is not in vain.

AMEN to that.