God is a God of order, a God of purpose.
He is not a God of chaos, confusion or contradiction, and so, if you are looking at religion and find yourself wondering why it’s such a hot mess of contradicting opinions and arguments the answer to that is:
None of that is God
God is…
My God! He is everything that makes sense in the world.
He is everything that is good, healing and meaningful and religion is none of those things.
We have been raised to believe that life is about us. We have been raised to believe that God is about what we think, feel or brings us comfort, but true comfort, true peace, is not circumstantial.
What I have learned in this life, especially since knowing The Lord is that, there is One True God.
There is A Creator.
There is Devine Purpose.
We were created to worship Him and to work symbiotically, with The Lord and one another. We are all just parts of a giant machine, different pieces, different sizes, different colors and shapes, different purposes but all just as important to the sharing of His message.
In these times when we are as far away from The Lord as we have ever been since, probably the Roman times, [as far as we have been told], we are really unable to comprehend that when Jesus said “I am The Way, The Truth, The Life…”
He was not being overly dramatic nor was He overstating His position.
He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the answer to all things, He is the only way, yet we read our bibles and allow ourselves concessions that God did not give us, because God has not changed, He will not change.
God doesn’t care about degrees, houses or cars. He is not looking at your bank account. God is not judging by whether or not we can work hard to pay bills, that is all very irrelevant. He told us that man judges the outward appearance but He judges the heart.
God is looking at your heart, always. He is looking for obedience. God is looking to see if we trust Him above all else, but most of us don’t even know Him so how do you trust someone you don’t know?
You don’t.
If you cannot answer the absolute questions of life, you are bound to get lost.
If you read the bible, yet believe in ‘the gospel and/or,’ type of theology, if your make concessions because ‘the times have changed’ you are bound to get lost.
I know that when it comes to God there are a lot of believes, a lot of preferences and a lot of opinions that are all predicated on what we think, what we like and what makes life most comfortable to us.
I know we like to say things like “God understands I have bills.” He does. He did not give them to you. The world did. And we neglect to recognize that only His opinions matters, His ways.
Jesus Christ is a person, that we must seek to know for who He is, not who we think He should be. God makes no mistakes, He does not lie, He does not change His mind. We have to stop using our limited human wisdom and understanding to dictate who He is. We must seek to know Him, and allow Him to teach us.
I know there are a lot of things people can’t agree on, but what I want people to understand is that, just because two people can’t/wont agree on the things of God, does not mean there is not A True God.
There is a One True God. One way. One path.
That is a Truth that most of us do not want to accept.
I know that too many don’t get up in the morning and wonder “what is the true purpose of life?” but I am going to tell you anyway, the true purpose of life is:
To Worship and obey God above all else. To walk in the fullness of our God given purpose. To seek Him to know how and why He made us.
We must choose to live for Him, not for people who want to put their own views, their own opinions, their own standards to our lives and hold us to them. Including ourselves.
My life is not my own, I surrendered it to The Lord a very long time ago, and the problem has been that I have been trying to be His child while spending my time on earth pursuing things He has not called me to. I wanted a life in His service on my terms.
When Jesus called us to surrender, He did not mean partial surrender. There is no called to compartmentalized christianity. He is not asking to be scheduled in to your calendar 2-3 days a week.
He truly wants all or nothing.
Once I understood that, everything changed. Now there is purpose in my life, now there is peace, because I know that no matter what, I am where The Lord wants me to be, even if I am uncomfortable, even if I don’t like the place or the people or whatever else, it doesn’t matter.
I don’t have to like it. Life is not about my preferences.
I learned at a very young age that I could have 100 gifts under the christmas tree and not one of them is going to make me feel whole or fulfilled.
I could have all the latest technology that none of my friends had, I could have all of the experiences that my friends did not have, traveling, restaurants, things, it did not matter. It was all empty. They lacked substance, they lacked value.
Yes, you enjoy the experience in the moment of it because it is new and exciting, but there is still that hole inside that only Jesus can fill.
There is still that missing peace in your life that is steady and present, even when you find yourself in a situation you much rather not be.
There a Peace that is not dependent upon me. That is not dependent on me knowing even what I am going to have for dinner tonight, which, by the way, I don’t know. What I do know is that by dinner time, there will be dinner, because God has never once failed me, He’s just never met my expectations, because “His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts.”
God’s plans, God’s purpose is not dependent upon man’s latest developments, it is not dependent upon the latest technology.
God does not need you to be obsessed with your health for your to be healthy.
God does not need you to be obsessed with your work for you to receive provision.
We should live for Him the way that we live for our education and careers, our interest and hobbies, but we don’t. We do not give Him the time, the energy, the place in our lives that He deserves.
We all know that if I was trying to live a life that was consumed by the goals of the world, if I was trying to live a life that was consumed by material possessions, traveling, gaining influence then I would have a whole cheering squad to support and encourage me. People would be so proud of me, like when I enlisted in the Army. When I signed my life and rights away to be at the beck and call of The US Government, I was called brave. I was told I was smart.
“The Army will take care of you” people told me. What a lie!
Now I am trying to do the exact same thing… well, not trying. I have chosen. This is my choice. This [Jesus Christ] is the hill I have decided to die on, folks.
Jesus Christ.
I decided to give Him my life, like I did the US Army.
I’ve decided to allow Him to control where I live, and when I eat, and what I eat and what I wear, but somehow that is not acceptable. Somehow, the world finds personal offense.
It’s funny to me, because there are people who claim to love me and God, and yet, they say they want “better for me.”
No, you don’t. Stop lying to yourself.
There is nothing better than God. Nothing.
You do not want better for me, you want me to do what everyone else is doing because everyone else is doing it. You cannot understand why anyone, especially someone like me, would choose to live away from the ways of the world.
You cannot understand why anyone would actively chose to step off the conveyor belt of humanity’s advancements and changes, and possessions.
If you were honest with yourselves, you would admit that some of you are only upset because our current set of circumstances hinders your ability to live comfortably at our expense.
It’s not me/us that you are worried about, but what our change in life has cost you. It’s about the things I no longer pay for you, the things I no longer do for you, because now I am no longer allowing people to manipulate me into taking care of them, and living for them, instead of for The Lord.
I get it. Some of you don’t understand. I did not understand it either, but once I did there was no going back.
Once I found peace and security, and answers. Solid answers. Answers that make sense, that are absolute and not based on the whims or circumstances of any given person’s thoughts, moods or preferences. Just answers.
I am not here to tell anyone how to live their life, I am not here to tell anyone how to worship God. I am not here to tell anyone what to prioritize in life. I’m not.
What I am here to do is tell people that there is One God.
One Truth, and we must die to ourselves to follow Him. It’s never about what you think, feel, see it or interpret it. It’s about what God said.
Religions are man made. All idols are false gods, just pageantry for the shock and awe of the masses. Pretty but empty.
Denominations within the followers of Christ are anti-biblical. They are based on people peddling their views, their opinions, their interpretation of The Word of God, when Jesus never once told us to do any of that.
Paul called us to unity, which can only be achived in The Holy Spirit, because if we allow Him to reveal The Secrets of Heaven to us, there are no disagreement, no confusion and no interpretation, just the Truth of God.
How was it that when Paul finally met some of the apostles, despite not having sat at Jesus’ table, they all had the same understanding of The Gospel and calling of Christ upon their life?
The Holy Spirit, who is still teaching, still helping, still revealing and correcting, and guiding.
Not every religion is a way into the presence of God. Sure, you are worshipping something but that does not mean you are worshipping Him.
Your favorite version of Jesus, the one you like the most, is not real.
If you cannot tell the difference between God & idols, if you feel like you have to be accomodating and accepting and respectful of someone else’s religion, denomination or believes, please seek Him, because He is the only one who can get us all to understand what is true and what is not.
“Lean not on your own understanding” was left for us for a reason.
As for me, I suggest people stop worrying about how I chose to live my life because the day I die, I will not account to any of you for what I chose not to chase, nor will you account to me. And the truth of the matter is that 40+ years, I have never been a person that cares for the opinions of others. I have never done what’s been expected of me to do, and there are reasons for that that are not the topic of today’s post.
Yes, there have been some close souls that, I thought were things they were not, and because of that I gave them loyalty that they did not deserve. I gave them the power to stab me in the back so many times, I could no longer feel the pain, and I am not mad at anyone for that, partly because I allowed it, mostly because I understand their reasons and motives better than they do, but now I found what I was always looking for.
A solid relationship.
Someone that I can count on, Someone I can trust.
Someone who shows up with solutions, not judgement.
Somebody who genuinely loves me and wants to see me grow, do better, and thrive the right way. His way.
God is so faithful.
I am not giving Him up because people don’t appreciate it, understand it or approve of it. I’m not.
I have learned so much at the feet of The Cross these last 6 years, asking God directly, for His wisdom and His understanding because I did it the world’s way and it did not work. I did it the religious way and it did not work. I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired. I did not want to sit here and continue to chase things that did not satisfy. I wanted to know what was true. I wanted to know what was real, and I was willing to make the changes, if The Lord was willing to provide the answers, and so I asked, and He answered, and I did changed, and now I am here.
Asking you to seek, to know, beyond the shadow of doubt exactly who God is. What His standards are, according to Him and not what we think or someone else told us.
I am asking you to please stop believing the lies of an enemy that knows scripture better than you ever will, and is an expert manipulator. He has been twisting God’s word since the dawn of time. An enemy that talked literal angels out of heaven, beings who knew the truth you struggle to accept. They know God is real, they do not obey Him either. And they do not wish you to.
It is not our self-proclaimed believe [that is really just acknowledgement of the existence of God] that gains us eternity in His presence. It is how we chose to live our lives in service of Him.
Jesus said “my sheep know my voice…” and that did not mean by listening to what other people say of Him.
This is not about me, or you or anyone’s favorite pastor, preacher or religious denomination. It is about the absolute truth of God and the undiluted Gospel of Jesus Christ, as it was always meant to be known and lived, not with ourselves attached to it.
Proverbs tells us to teach a child in the way he should go and he won’t depart from it, because we are creatures of habit. I did depart from it, because I realized that just because something is what we have always known does not make it true.
To find truth, we must first seek Him. He created everything and only He gets to define what is good, true, moral & proper, and how.
He once told me that of all of His creation, we [humans] are the only ones intent on choosing our own natural habitat, and that simple statement of fact once again had me course correcting my views of Him and life.
He was also the one to remind me that The Centurion is remembered for his faith because he recognized power but also, understood chain of command.
I should too, since I had served and never once did I complain about the expectations, restrictions and requirements the military placed over my life. On the contrary, I believed them to be a fair exchange for a roof, food, healthcare and the need to be anywhere they told me to go regardless of how I felt about it.
Disobedience to orders in the military leads to a prison sentence and we [society] accept that as right, fair and proper punishment to being AWOL. Getting a dishonorable discharge is looked down upon, but when it comes to ways of God, it must be different. Accountability is bad and if He holds us to consequences He is somehow the bad guy.
Why?
Are we not soldiers in His army?
Who is the Commander in Chief, you or Him?
I now know the answer to all of these questions and so many others but for you to know for certain, you have to seek to know those answers for yourself.
Question what you know. Look at who taught you, and who taught them.
Look at your spiritual teacher, friends and family and ask yourself if their relationship with God resembles what you want to have, if it is, keep listening to them.
If its not, then ask yourself why you are listening to people whose faith does not mirror what you desire to have?
My unsolicited advice to you is seek your own salvation with fear & trembling. Seek the answers to your questions from The Source of All.
He made you with a plan and a purpose and you must seek Him to discover it.
Seek to know His voice, and follow His leading & prompting.
Believe me when I tell you that if the god you serve always validates your views, preferences, feelings and sins… If he lacks consistency, and he changes with your moods and circumstances, then it is not God you serve at all, but an idol of your own creation, and that should concern you more than anything else in the world.
Many of your, like me, are parents, passing down these behaviors and lies on to your children. Teaching them its ok to behave well so that a man in the north pole will reward them with worthless material possession, but never teaching them about the eternal rewards of The Kingdom of Heaven.
As for me, I have said goodbye to my inner Martha, and embraced my inner Mary.
It is not always easy, as bad habits do die hard, and there will always be Martha’s to tell me I should be doing something else with my time, and my life, but Jesus said that there was only one thing to be concerned about, which Mary had discovered and it would not be taken away from her.
I have too discovered it, and it will not be taken from me either, nor will I give Him up.
I can’t. I won’t. I am not sorry.
Take all the time you have spend cursing my life with your words, judging what you do not know or understand, and put it to better use by seeking to know Him for yourself so that you are not mislead by the lies of the enemy and his ever-changing world.
“”Enter through the narrow gate.
For wide is the gate and easy to travel
is the path that leads the way to destruction and eternal loss,
and there are many who enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow and difficult to travel
is the path that leads the way to everlasting life,
and there are few who find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14 AMP
“Now while they were on their way, Jesus entered a village
[called Bethany], and a woman named Martha
welcomed Him into her home. [John 11:1]
She had a sister named Mary, who
seated herself at the Lord’s feet and
was continually listening to His teaching.
But Martha was very busy and distracted
with all of her serving responsibilities;
and she approached Him and said,
“Lord, is it of no concern to You that my sister has left me to
do the serving alone? Tell her to help me and do her part.”
But the Lord replied to her,
“Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered
and anxious about so many things;
but only one thing is necessary,
for Mary has chosen the good part
[that which is to her advantage],
which will not be taken away from her.””
Luke 10:38-42 AMP
