“Being filled with the fullness of God is not about what you do, but about knowing how much God loves you.” Joseph Prince
The dern truth….
What if Christians were honest about our struggles? Instead of focusing on the sins of other people, what if we focused on ourselves? The truth is, there isn’t a single Christian who doesn’t have a sin that they struggle with. If they told me differently, I wouldn’t believe them. I’m not excusing my sin or anyone else’s sin by any means. Nor am I saying that other Christians shouldn’t try to help another when they see something in their life that is harmful for them. When we accept Christ as Lord He makes us new on the inside and gives us the power to stay strong in any temptation. Without getting too deep into the flesh, soul, and spirit of a person, really because I don’t have the time right now, I will say that I flat out stink at “Walking in The Spirit” quite a bit sometimes. I believe that I am in right standing with God due to my acceptance of Christ. I believe that my sins are forgiven and that I am a new creation. I’ve taught others the same stuff. But I sure do like to listen to Dean instead of God so many times. You know what, each time I wish that I had listened to God. I’ve allowed God to work in me and bring me through many obstacles in life, and then find myself struggling with the same things years later. Why? Because I tried to do too much on my own.What blows my mind is the unconditional love and mercy of God. How He has never failed me, and how He always brings me through the hard times in life. If anyone ever said that being a Christian was a dern cakewalk, they lied. But, Christ knew we couldn’t do this without Him, so He came to us. I’m sure glad He did, because Dean Atkinson can sure act like an idiot when he doesn’t let God work through him.
How do I look?
1 Samuel 16:7 NIV
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Dern, this verse says so much! We live in a society that teaches us that appearance is a top of the list prority. Many times because of appearances, people are favored or people are rejected. I have to say, this angers me. Don’t get me wrong, I understand dressing up for a job, job interview, or even special occasions. This isn’t what I am referring to, nor am I putting down anyone’s choice to dress up or dress in a certain style. People have many different styles and that’s awesome! I want to take this topic in the direction of “Church” and what the Christian view is on this. “The Lord gave you His best, so you should give Him your best.” If you grew up in the south going to church, then I’m sure you have heard this a million dern times, referring to dressing up for church, I have! While this isn’t a scripture, I agree that God gave us His best and we should give Him ours, but that should be in reference to our hearts and lives, not in reference to a dern outfit. Do you really think that a fancy suit, dress, or any other type of clothing impresses God? I sure don’t! Look at John the Baptist, who Jesus loved and bragged about. That guy stayed out in the wilderness, wore animal fur, and ate dern locusts! What about Jesus, did He walk around trying to look “Professional,” or impressive to the eyes of man?
Isaiah 53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Clearly from this verse He did not. But, anyone who encountered Jesus knew right away, that He was someone special! The idea of dressing up for church is MAN made! If someone wants to dress up the heck yeah, go for it! Nothin’ wrong with looking spiffy! But, when that becomes some type of rule, or necessity for “Christian service” then there is a problem. I need God to work on the inside of Dean, I could care less if I have no fashion sense, and believe me, I don’t haha!
Scare the hell out of me?
When it comes to the topic of Hell as a place of eternal punishment, and seperation from God, there are many different views, and beliefs. I can only approach this topic from what I believe as a Christian. So, to any of my friends who don’t have the same beliefs that I do who read this blog, you may have no idea what I am talking about in this particular entry.
There is no way to convey everything about this topic in a blog entry. But, I would like to share some things on my heart. I grew up in the Southern Baptist denomination, in a small town in South Georgia. In my twenties I began going to Charismatic and Pentecostal churches. I don’t claim anything but Jesus as Lord now, I am not in any particular denomination. One thing that I was taught is the reality of Heaven and Hell, and the only way to Heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ. I will say that I still firmly believe this with all of my heart. What bothers me is the approach that I see so many people, churches, etc. take in sharing the Gospel(Good News) of Jesus Christ. It seems that fear is a common tool that is used in trying to convey this message. I must say that I don’t agree with this.
1 John 4:18
There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
There are plays and other productions which portray people dying and those who die who have rejected faith in Jesus are shown being thrown into Hell, and those who have accepted Jesus as Lord going to Heaven. Do I believe that this is true? Yes, I do. But, why try and make someone’s motive for following Jesus be fear of going to Hell? Why not focus on the fact that God made the way to Heaven a free gift through the death and ressurection of His only Son Jesus, and that it comes by simply by believing on Jesus and confessing Him as Lord, receiving His love for you! You can’t earn salvation, God loves us enough to simply give it to us, if we just ask Him! What about the amazing gift of being able to have a relationship with a Father who loves you unconditionally, and one that will never let you down, nor leave you or forsake you? God is made out to be some kind of mean guy waiting to punish you if you get out of line. Nothing could be further from the truth. Every bit of God’s wrath and punishment for sin was put on Jesus at the cross, so that no person would ever have to be under His wrath again. All God requires is that we accept this and give Him our heart. So the bottom line, is that I am sick and tired of people trying to “Scare the hell” out of people. I want everyone to know that God loves you unconditionally and has given His very life for you so that you would never have to be afraid of Him, of Hell, or anything else. God is so much more than He is made out to be by religion. So forget the stupid, cheesy church signs, the t-shirts, the snobby country club church who let’s the deacon board run things, and the places that think dressing up nice really means anything in the Kingdom of God, and let’s focus on the God who loves us.
