One Thing is Needed

Chances are extremely high that your religious activity and dogged understanding of Jesus are keeping you from Him.

Luke 10:38-42

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

“To develop a broader vision we must be willing to forsake, to kill, our narrower vision. In the short run it is more comfortable not to do this – to stay where we are, to keep using the same microcosmic map, to avoid suffering the death of cherished notions. The road of spiritual growth, however, lies in the opposite direction. We begin by distrusting what we already believe, by actively seeking the threatening and unfamiliar, by deliberately challenging the validity of what we have previously been taught and hold dear. The path to holiness lies through questioning everything.” -M. Scott Peck

“The treatment of Jesus at the hands of the authorities and the official paranoia over every radical dissenter in history demonstrates the deep fear of the principalities and powers when the legitimacy of their authority is challenged and a confrontation with the truth exposes the idolatrous nature of their power.” – Jim Wallis, Agenda for Biblical People, p.106

“There is an age when one teaches what one knows.
But there follows another when one teaches what one does not know…
It comes, maybe now, the age of another experience: that of unlearning…” -Roland Barthes

You’re an Honest to God Miracle!

I recently heard that the chances of you existing are one in 400 trillion. Statistics being what they are I had to look into it and sure enough there’s some pretty good data that backs this up. I also came across a formula that had the odds at one in 700 trillion and another that put the likelihood at 1 in 10 to the 2,685,000^th power. Just for comparison, scientists approximate the number of atoms known to exist at 10 to the 80^th power. You are a miracle!

If you’re reading this it means you’ve won the Mega Bagillions Lottery! The only question now is how are you going to spend it? Seriously, what are you settling for because you’re not aware of how amazing you are? What insecurities do you live with because you can’t catch a break? What small change could you make today in the light of knowing how astonishing you are that will not only change your life but also those with the honor of interacting with you?

The A Words

Accountability, Apostle, authority and anointed. If you find yourself in a religious environment that uses these words frequently I encourage you to make a change. These words are very often used to wield power and control, something Jesus never wanted for Himself and certainly not for others to have over us. That’s not who He is or what He wants in fact what He wants is nothing more than to love us as the individuals He made us to be, to be loved in return and to literally walk through each and every day with us, good times and bad. Jesus is calling us into fellowship not forcing us to followship.

You Can Change

We all have crap in our lives that we wish was gone. Insecurities that inhibit our relationships, past wounds that keep us from moving forward or even habits that are difficult to kick can have a devastating effect on our life. Don’t be discouraged, change is absolutely possible and if we’ll trust the Lord, inevitable.

Too often we’re taught that once we believe in Jesus change should be instantaneous. Scriptures like “2Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” can cause us to lose hope. Change is an everyday process not a onetime thing so maybe a better way to read this scripture would be; Therefore, those in Christ are a new creation; the old will pass away and all things are to become new.

Knowing Jesus, seeing the things in you that are not like Him and then trusting Him with them is the key to change. It really is that simple to understand but in no way does that make it easy to do. Change can be scary but God’s love for us can overcome our fear.

Way off in the distance

It may seem like the solution, the resolution, peace or even God Himself is way off in the distance. Heck it might even feel like there’s no hope at all. Don’t give up! He hasn’t gone anywhere and He’s for certain at work in your life. As you’re struggling include Him, cry out or even just cry. You are loved, prayed for and at some point in the hopefully near future you’ll be able to see how this time was used to make change for the better.

Freedom

The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You trade in your sense for an act. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask. There can’t be any large-scale revolution until there’s a personal revolution, on an individual level. It’s got to happen inside first.” – Jim Morrison

Yes, really, Jim Morrison.

Why do we so often believe it’s easier to change the world around us than it is to let God change us from within? Freedom will never be found in trying to control the world around us, only from knowing the One who is in control.

Fear or Trust

What’s it going to be?

Every decision, every action even every thought has its roots in either fear or trust. We can choose right now, in the days ahead and in this wonderful New Year to operate out of trust. We can learn to recognize when fear is having its way in our lives and increase our ability to break free.

What’s Ahead?

I sure don’t know, but I’m pretty excited to see it unfold. There’s great potential for major change in the coming year, let’s not miss what God is up to by insisting things stay the same in our lives. There is always more of Him to be had.

Timeline

How long does it take before God’s work is complete in us?

Transformation

Transformation is a lifelong process. Being skeptical is natural, trusting is supernatural.