One Life, One Lifetime
reminds me of my purpose and the short time God has given me to fulfill it.
22The LORD'S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. 23They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Hope is bought through the love and sacrifice of Christ and wave after wave of his mercies never end. What is the worst mistake you ever made? I can think of a few, but even the little ones the short fuse or misplaced word still stings in my soul when I know I’ve missed God’s best for me. But His mercies are fresh daily. The sun rises and as the new day dawn so does your opportunity to live a fresh and live for him. Too many of my friends and fellow followers are hung up on a sin in the past or a mistake or a failure. Jesus didn’t die so that your failures would bind you but to free you from those chains so that you could live for Him. So, get up and start living. But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. O LORD my God, in You I have taken refuge; save me from all those who pursue me, and deliver me…” Warrior Poet, Acts 26:19 “So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision…” Warrior Poet, Warrior Poet, Stewardship is never about a certain percentage, it is about your entire life. None of it belongs to a steward he is entrusted to manage. Don’t be lulled into thinking you give God 10% and live off the rest. 100% is His and we are to invest, manage and spend wisely in order to expand his plan, purpose and agenda in the world. Yes, we have to have provisions to live on; yes, it requires a lot in this world, but never buy into the world’s perspective that it’s yours or into the Christian deception that 90% is yours to live on. It’s all His and he wants it in circulation to expand His Kingdom. Walk in integrity no matter where it leads. You may fight a good fight or find yourself imprisoned; you may lose relationships or meet with financial ruin, but walk in integrity and let your foot rest on level ground. The Lord will redeem you and he will restore you and you will stand. 5And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them " And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness. 1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Warrior Poet,
Luke 24:37
Warrior Poet,
“What are we afraid of and what are we staring at?” Too often we are incapacitated by scandal of resurrection and yet it is the bedrock of what is most true and what our hopes rest upon. Jesus is risen, he is alive and he has the power to conquer sin and death. It is our faith in the person of that power that breathes life into us. To live in resurrection power is to die to the previous life and be raised to life of power in the Spirit. What are you afraid of? It is the life you were intended to live. Take up your cross daily and follow.
Psalms 7:1
There are so many places of refuge in this life and yet only one that truly offers sanctuary. Oftentimes we find ourselves taking refuge in food or material possessions, even family, sex or television. We pursue these and they offer temporary comfort and then like all temporary pursuits we have to increase the volume in order to get the same results and then we find ourselves addicted to something that no longer provides satisfying comfort. You must learn that only Christ satisfies and He alone can provide satisfying comfort to your soul. All other pursuits will leave you achingly empty. Seek refuge in Him alone.
We are transfixed by the vision of Christ in our lives and we give ourselves to Him, but it is easy to become a religious zealot and be busy about the maintenance of conformity and lose sight of the call upon our lives to share his love and his life. We spend our lives more like Paul before the Damascus road than after--caught up in the spiritual maintenance rather than pursuing the vision. Most Christ followers will never lead someone else to faith in Christ, most will never even try. Soon we become religious and we don’t know any lost/unsaved people, and we have become pre-Damascus followers of religious conformity. Don’t lose sight of the vision. Go and find the opportunity to share the hope that is within you.
Psalm 26:11
But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; redeem me, and be gracious to me.
Warrior Poet,
Warrior Poet,
If I could teach you one thing, it would be that what seems like discipline is life. You must lean into the work of devotion and study and solitude though you resist. Though it seems unnatural, the life of fullness is found in the early hours of devotion and the meditation of the Word. These seem like work and tedious ritual but the fruit is a sustained flow of spiritual sap that cannot be manufactured in other ways. If I could teach you one thing, it would be that what seems like discipline is life.
Genesis 15:5-6
Warrior Poet,
The promise of the Lord is far beyond what we can fathom or imagine. Its beauty is staggering and depth immeasurable—but our pragmatic, cynicism quickly responds in doubt. As you walk out into the nighttime sky and the still small voice speaks about His promise for your life, will you believe? What if we lived our lives as though God had a plan for us and that the momentary light obstacles we face are for our strengthening but He remains faithful and will fulfill His work in us. Do not give up on the nighttime sky vision that He has shown you…believe, trust and live as though He has a promise to fulfill in you!
Hebrews 12:1-2
Warrior Poet,
Purity begins in your mind and extends to your body. The enemy slings fiery darts in sound bites and snapshots in order to fixate your mind upon a road that leads to ruin. The mind becomes the pot in which the stew of discontent and desire are mixed together to drag your heart away, spilling over into sin. You must guard your heart and mind by fixing your eyes on Christ, the finisher and perfecter. The only way to cast off the restraint that slows you is to willingly cast it off and press on toward a mind fixed on His will and His way. Whatever you cultivate in your mind your body will bear the fruit of.
Acts 15:40-41
40But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. 41And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Warrior Poet,
There are times when the circumstances of life divide us. Yet we follow on and God’s work in us and through us continues on. We may not always agree but we must recognize that God is doing even greater things that our eyes can see and we must assume that each time he divides he is multiplying the work in different ways. There will be dark days when alliances and friendships seemed to rend and fade and yet the work of the Lord continues and he allows, causes and uses each of these points of friction to refine us and to move us onward. Looking back, Paul would be grateful for John Mark. Looking back he would affirm Barnabas’ mentoring of him into a mature follower and the ministry flourished with Silas as his partner. But in the moment only the pain of relationship and the sting of what must have felt, like rejection or betrayal, but looking back God worked in it and through it. So press on, all is not lost in relational divisions. God is afoot follow and press on with the calling.