MIND OF TRUTH

Palm Sunday is a wonderful event to remember and celebrate. I wish we had a better understanding of what these events mean. I wish we could feel and experience them in person. One day in eternity, I hope I can go back and live these moments in time. To see the triumphant entry, to see the empty tomb, to hear Mary proclaim that he is risen, what wonderful moments in the history of humanity. Even to kneel at the foot of the cross and worship proclaiming "Blessed is the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world!" True worship and adoration are due only to the one who is worthy and blameless and completely selfless. Jesus could not take one thing for himself, not one thought or action that was not fully selfless as he poured out his life for us all. He gave himself fully for the restoration of creation and humanity. It is only this full selflessness that is worthy of praise and worship. Jesus is the only one worthy to ride into that city on that donkey and be praised and a...

I've always loved this scene in the movie, The Son of God. The kind of love Jesus demonstrates toward Matthew, the tax collector is overwhelming and moving. This is the love of God that is poured out to all of us. Love must come first, not piety and judgment. In this scene, Matthew feels the distain and judgement of the crowd and in particular the scorn of those who profess to know God. In this one encounter with Jesus, his shame turns to brokenness and a plea for forgiveness. At that moment, it doesn't matter what he has done or who he is or what others think of him. All that matters is the call to come, believe, and follow Jesus. There is forgiveness there for all the past sins. There is healing and acceptance waiting for him when he steps out toward Jesus. Love must always be first!

John 10:10 (ESV) "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." This is one of my favorite verses. So profound and foundational for our spiritual wellbeing. Don't let the enemy steal from you. He tries many times every day to take from us and hinder the good things in our lives. Be aware of this. Fight this!  You need to know the voice of God's Spirit. Learn to recognize the feeling you get when something is not right. Recognize when your thoughts, decisions, moods, and responses to things start to shift away from the place where you are walking in step with the Spirit. Fight relentlessly to protect that circle of peace around your life. Stay in the place of refuge and never surrender the good things in your life.

Be careful when you feel like putting your burdens on others. It's good to have someone you trust to talk to about the things weighing you down. It's great when they understand the value of selflessness and come to help you carry that burden. But be careful... We like to deflect our burdens onto others rather than dealing with our own self. We like to blame others rather than stopping to examine our own life. We make excuses attempting to make ourselves feel better, but that feeling is fleeting. We will never grow if we go through life saying it's not our fault. Instead, stop and think about your situation before deflecting it on others. Take a breath and ask the Holy Spirit for help. Live open and willing to examine your own life. This process is not always corrective. Most of the time, we just need some adjustment, or we need more learning and awareness to move forward in a healthy way.  Self never wants to be examined. Deflecting our issues on others is selfish. The self...

Everyone knows the Nike slogan "Just do it." Are there things in your life that you want to do, or you know you should do? Yeah. Me too! There is no reason why we can't get that stuff done. I'm tired of thinking about it, or wishing it was done. I'm tired of wasting time living in that just thinking about it space. I'm ready to just get it done! Are you? There are no good excuses. Don't focus on the stuff you can't do, just do what's right in front of you. Get stuff done and then keep going.

What's that wall around your life? If you're like most people I encounter, you have no idea there is a wall up around your life. It's human nature, but people like to live their life their way. We all resist being told we've made some wrong choices along the way or maybe built our life on an unstable foundation. We put a wall up and pretend everything is fine. Except the wall is often transparent and everyone can see our flaws. It doesn't matter to us though because selfishness is at the root of that and that is hard to overcome. Why not take down the wall and be open receive from others? Openness is selflessness. Oh, you will get some bad advice. Thats because those people are trying to validate their own life by giving you selfish advice that benefits them. That doesn't mean you put the wall back up.  If you know the voice of the Holy Spirit, you can walk by faith and live with the walls down. I've been blessed at times to hear the worst advice ever. I...

The life of Christ flows through connection. His connection with the Father, our connection with Christ, our connection with the body, our connection with others. The life flows wherever we make a way for it to do so. What needs to be done to ensure these connections? Selflessness. This is the key to life in the kingdom. There is no reception of life and connection with God or others without the simple act of selflessness. It's that daily dying to self that Jesus spoke about so many times. Any act of self-ness will disconnect us. We may not notice the effect at first. We can pull a plant up out of the soil, and it looks the same, but after a while it will begin to wither and die. Does your life and relationship with God and others feel withered, tired, strained, or dying in some way? Start thinking about how you can restore those connections and let new life flow to them.  You are the key. Start making selfless decisions and you will see a difference. Plant yourself back in good so...

The spiritual life comes with battles. Its part of life when you swim up stream. It just happens when your mission in life is to tear down and build up over and over again.  You may not expect it, but you will face many battles within the church. People love religion, they like to be comfortable and protect an identity that affirms self more that Christ. They will defend that and put up the shield wall when you come with a word from the Lord. When you listen to the Holy  Spirit, you have to hold everything at a distance. Don't just grab what feels good or looks good. Wait on the Spirit to release those things to you, to give those things to you. Be ready to tear down anything you built in self to make room for more of what comes from him. If the Holy Spirit tells you to fight, then pick up that sword and shield and stand you ground. If he is telling you something else, then do that, and let others do what they do.

When it comes to spiritual right or wrong or knowing God's will, Christians don't usually trust their instincts or act on feelings. Maybe we should be more open to those feelings. I don't trust my own self instincts as far as I can throw myself, but I have learned to trust the Holy Spirit. Self is always fighting for control, and we need to always be vigilant and guarded there. Self is a gift to be sacrificed, not a voice to be followed.  I trust the feeling of my relationship with the Holy Spirit. I trust that small voice in my spirit telling me that something about what I hear or see is incomplete or not quite right. This is an instinct that will grow with the relationship. The more I open myself to connect with God's Spirit, the more he is able to lead me and speak to me. That warning or prompting or feeling is a signal to stop and pay attention. It's an indicator that we need to dig in and find the truth that may be hidden. It's often incomplete in a sense b...

I can be easy to lose our way. There are too many distractions these days, too much ease and comfort that lulls us into complacency. It can be like getting lost and not really caring if you get back, like forgetting who you are and where you are headed. It's like deciding to stop for a rest along the journey and then and not wanting to get going again. We settle there and forget what it felt like to be out on that road moving forward. That voice and inner passion that calls to us grows quiet. We need leaders. We all need people to come along and remind us of what awaits us. We need to feel the longing once again. We need help to re-kindle the fire in us. The apostle Paul reminds Timothy to fan into flame the gifts of God (2 Tim 1:6-7). We need others to come and invite us to step back on the road and join them in the journey. In church world, we've built a city sized idol out of leadership. It really doesn't take much to lead in God's kingdom. Just get out there on the ...

Piano teachers always tell you - If you make a mistake, just keep going. If you fall down, just get up and start moving forward again. My goal to blog every day in 2024 failed although I did add 218 posts to the blog. I'd still like to find a way to get in the habit of posting every day. I'm not committing to that this year, but I will do more posting. Sorry, I know that's not a measurable goal, but it is what it is for now.

What is the biblical idea of headship? What does it mean to be the head of a household? I've been discussing this with Seth recently and we're working on a developing definition. Headship is the opportunity for the head of a household to make a space for the Holy Spirit to work. God has always been making dwelling spaces where God and man can come together. Places like Earth, Eden, the ark, the tabernacle, the temple, the inner man, the new Heaven and new Earth, and many more that I'm discovering all the time. When the head of the household yields to the responsibility of headship, they will have the opportunity for deeper discernment and intercession for those in their house. The Holy Spirit does not lay a mantle of responsibility on someone without giving them the tools needed to do the job. That requires submission and openness to the Holy Spirit from the head. Many see submission to headship as devaluing a person or their place in the household. Actually, this space is ...

Our spiritual enemy, the great deceiver, the accuser of the brethren, likes to make us think the wrong way is the right way. His oldest and probably most effective trick is to use our pride against us. I've noticed so many people in our culture who do not want to be offended or have their rights, and their way challenged. If they refuse to be emptied, they can never be filled. They stand in front of God with their meager treasures and ideas clinched tightly in their fists while Jesus spreads his arms wide offering them eternal rewards far beyond our comprehension and without end. Yeah, that's deception alright!

I am so far behind on blogging. I'm back dating these posts. I got busy and missed a few weeks. Not sure if I can finish the year now with 365 posts as I planned, but I'm going to try. I don't want to give up on my goal. I've found it is very easy to get lost on the way to accomplishing your goals. It's part of life. For me the key is to just not give up. We all get lost along the way. It's important to re-evaluate, make adjustments, and take a break when needed, but at some point, you just need to do the work and find your way back.

Talking about moving forward in our spiritual life can be a little scary. We like staying in the past or present that we know rather than moving forward into the unknown. The thing is that the future is not unknown when we have a relationship with God. We can have confidence that he is there and has gone before us. The Holy Spirit reminds us of what God has done in the past and we know he will be there again. Then we feel his peace and move forward with hope in our hearts.

Where does a healthy spiritual life begin? It begins with Jesus command to love God and love others. That sounds like a big impossible task, but it's easy to start small.  Selfless is the key. Make one small choice for God rather than yourself. Do one small thing for someone else. Do that and your on your way to better spiritual health.

I was listening to a podcast yesterday and a woman was talking about how she has tried to avoid Christianity because it comes with too much baggage. Maybe she is right in some respects. She went on to say that one of the most meaningful things in her life has been opportunities to share love with people in need. She talked about the importance of and strength of community in her life. Those things sound Christian to me. Thats because the way of the kingdom works. We know that love and kindness work in this world. But we are just scratching the surface if we do these things without answering the invitation to follow Christ. Without that relationship at the core of our human experience, life ultimately misses the point.

I'll be honest, it's hard to form good habits. I've succeeded in some areas and not in others. Blogging every day in 2024 was one habit I hoped to build into my life. It's been difficult to carve out the time every day. Not that I don't have the time. There is always time. It's just what you chose or not chose to do with your time. Now I'm almost a month behind. I'm backdating these posts in the hopes that I'll catch up before 12/31/2024. Making an effort to form good habits can be overwhelming. It's good to just focus on one thing you can accomplish, one habit you can add to your life that is doable, measurable, and reasonable. Of course, that one thing for me right now is my blog. I was thinking today about doing something different for that one thing, but that is just deflection. We like to deflect and jump from one unsuccessful attempt to another and another. This will effectively redefine trying and failing as success. Our minds are good at ...

Erwin McManus encourages us to " Always give more that you take. " It seems counterintuitive, but that how God designed the world to work. That's how the gospel works. As I've said before, "It's not just the thing to do that's right, it's the thing to do that works." This is something you can test. Find someone to give to. It's not always money. It's also your time, your knowledge, and your abilities. It's a willingness and give what you have received with joy. Give kindness, forgiveness, grace, and above all - love.