2010..the last 10 years
I can’t believe how fast time flies! I started to ponder on the last 10 years of my life. It’s crazy how a sovereign God can redeem someone like me. I thought back the past 10 years of who i was and how much has changed since 2000. I am almost 31 years old and thankful for the work God has done in my heart.
Who was I?
- I was a man who was full of anger and hatred. (ESV Mark 7:21-23)
- I was a man who was caught up in drugs and violence.
- I was a man who didn’t care. (ESV Psalm 10:4)
- I was a man who was prideful.( ESV Psalm 10:4)
- I was a man who didn’t mind causing pain in someone’s life.
- I was a man who was good at making people feel fear.
- I was a man who had a lot of hurts from the past and held unforgiveness tightly in my heart. (ESV John 20:23)
- I was a man given over to my desires and flesh. (ESV Eph. 2:3, ESV Rom 1:24)
- I am totally depraved and couldn’t save myself.
Then something happened and God showed His glory to me. For some reason God wanted to save me from myself. I still wondered why. Why God, would you want to save me? Why would you want to redeem a person like me, that deserves nothing? Why would you choose me and pick me out of the crowd to be redeemed?
The only response I got was “I love you!”
Why God would you love me?? I felt everyone else walked out on me-why would you stay? Again I heard, “I love you!”
It was that point, on July 13, 2007, that my heart changed. It was that point that I wanted to live differently. It was that point I wanted to be different from the world!!
Who I am!
- I am a son! Adopted into the family of God. (ESV Gal. 4, ESV Rom. 1:1-4)
- I am redeemed by the blood of the Lamb! (ESV Gal. 3:13, Gal. 3:26-28)
- I am a saint! (ESV Col. 1:12, ESV 1 Cor. 1:2)
- I am made righteous and holy because of Him (ESV Eph. 4:24)
- I am sanctified by Him (ESV Heb. 10:10,14)
In other words…..
I couldn’t save myself! I couldn’t do anything to free myself from the bondages of sin! I didn’t do anything of my own will!
It’s all about Him.
My life does not belong to me.
My life belongs to Him.
My life is about Him.
My God is first in all things.
He is the Redeemer, Restorer, Sanctifier, only One, that can fix all things.
I love my God with all my heart! Lord search my heart out! (ESV Psalm 139:23-24)
May 2010 be devoted to you Lord!
Christ is All,
~Michael
Who am I in Christ?
How many of us walk in the past? What do I mean by that? I mean how many of us still hold on to things that happened in the past? I struggled with this alot and really just got alot of freedom in this area. How did I do it? I simply found out what it means to be in Christ. See God already did all the work with us. He forgave us, reconciled us, and redeemed us. We just need to take a step and strip off the clothes of the past and put on the clothes of Jesus! ESV Gal. 3:26-27
List below is all about who we are in Christ. Hope this will bring some freedom!
I am a/the…………….
- salt of the earth (Matt. 5:13)
- light of the world (Matt 5:14)
- child of God (John 1:12)
- part of the vine (John 15:1,5)
- slave of righteousness (Rom. 6:18)
- a saint (Eph. 1:1, 1 Cor. 1:2, Phil. 1:1, Col. 1:2)
- God’s workmanship (Eph. 2:10)
- a fellow citizen with all of the Lord’s family (Eph. 2:19)
- prisoner to Christ, slave to Him (Eph 3:1, 4:1)
- made righteous and holy because of Him (Eph. 4:24)
- hidden with Lord ( Col. 3:3)
- chosen by the Lord ( Col. 3:12, 1 Thess. 1:4)
- son of light (1 Thess. 5:5)
- partaker of His calling (Heb. 3:1)
- a marked man and enemy of Satan (1 Pet. 2:11)
- child of the Most High (1 John 3:1-2)
- joint heir w/Christ (Rom. 8:17)
- temple of the Lord’s (1 Cor. 6:17)
- one with Him (1 Cor. 6:17)
- a new creation in Him (2 Cor. 5:17)
- son of God (Gal. 3:26,28)
- reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:18-19)
- member of Christ’s body (1 Cor. 12:27, Eph. 5:30)
We are a pretty big deal to God. He call us friend and sons. ESV Gal. 4:1-10 speaks of sonship. I believe the Lord really wants us to get how much we mean to Him. We listen to the world and the enemy too much. I’m tired of walking down that road—aren’t you???
How i feel!
This video sums up my belief in Jesus Christ! I will always stand for you, no matter the cost!
Interview with an Atheist
This video was sent to me by a friend and fellow co-worker. I decided to watch this last night–I was really intrigued by what he said. I at one point couldn’t really believe he was an atheist. He sounds like he knows more about the bible than most Christians! Does this hit home with you?
Contend and Contextualize by Hunter Beaumont
Quote:
“But in postmodernity, the cultural scorn has shifted. The supernatural is plausible again, but exclusivity and assertiveness are now taboo. The quickest way to ruffle skirts in our pluralist world is to come off rigid or narrow. So the new breed of preachers is tempted to lop off anything that sounds too exclusive—the Bible as universal truth, Jesus as the one mediator between God and man, and God’s judgment, along with its remedy, penal substitutionary atonement. This is where our generation must contend or perish.“
Contend and Contextualize (And, Part 2) by Hunter Beaumont © 2009 TheResurgence.com
Romans 5: The Journey
So now, you have this faith in the work of Jesus Christ. Now what? Jesus Christ sends the Holy Spirit into your heart whereas Holy Spirit, brings a lunchpail, some leather work gloves and begins to go to work on your heart and begins to transform your life from the inside out.
Notes PDF [pdf link]
Subscribe in iTunes [rss link]
What Is The Gospel
I am obsessed with the gospel. Christ is the reason why. Driscoll was used by God to light a fire under my butt.
Atheist’s Case for Christian Evangelism
Mark 16:14-16 (ESV) Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Please Pray….
A few evenings ago, my wife and I decided to have a prayer night. We wanted to approach the Lord’s throne with some of our specific questions and concerns, as well as seek His vision for us. But God had another idea. What we heard that night was not what we expected. As we prayed, God led our prayers to focus on a specific country, which God had recently laid on my wife’s heart.
The country: Tajikistan. Ever heard of that one before? Well, their government is trying to close all doors to Christianity—and make it very hard to have religious freedom. In fact, if their president decides to pass a particular law this month, the government will be even harsher in enforcing strict punishment on those caught holding church meetings in their homes, or telling anyone about Jesus.
Next to Tajikistan, is a country called Kazakhstan, whose Christians are also facing persecution. In December 2008 they proposed a law that anyone caught worshiping, teaching about God, praying, doing charitable work, etc. would be charged a fine fifty times their month salary. Fifty times!!! I don’t know about you, but I know I couldn’t afford that.
As we were praying, my heart started to break. All I could see, in my heart, was a call for: hope, strength, life, faith, and love.
In America, we should consider ourselves fortunate to be able to freely worship, praise, and spread the news about our Lord.
So why don’t we use our freedom more often? Why do we have so much trouble talking about Jesus Christ in America? Are we afraid that something is going to happen?
I sit and wrestle over, chew on, fight with, and cry about the fact that I get scared to share the gospel sometimes. For what!! Why am I scared? Why do I care what people think about me anyway?
I pray I have the courage to stand up and be brave like these persecuted Christians. I want to be a “Jesus Freak”—Sold out to no one but Jesus Christ Himself.
I want to leave you with some things for your spirit to feast on. Below I have included a sermon by John Piper. Please listen to it and let it soak in.
Also, take a look at the links that are included. There is some amazing information about what other Christians are facing around the world and what you can do to help. Most importantly, remember to pray for your persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ.
Blessings
Get Involved - Christian Solidarity Worldwide
It’s Christmas Time
I wrote this letter to my Bible Study group and I wanted to share it with you guys in the Internets. - Ed.
I truly hope that this week is a week that is good for you all. Spend time with family, eat good food, drink good drink, celebrate and give your time, energy and money away to those we love and should love.
I know you are going to be constantly reminded by every single pastor but just remember what we are celebrating.
We are not celebrating that some mere heroic, kick butt, awesome, epic warrior that would rile up a bunch of soldiers and go overthrow the oppressive reign of whomever ruled the little world some 2000 years ago. This is a Divine Being, whom existed before time began and all things were made through Him. He decided, in that moment, that now was the time to begin the true kingdom. The one kingdom that transcended boundaries, walls, rulers, kings, political offices, wars, treaties and weapons. The only kingdom that was ruled by a King, that would rule forever and thus, this kingdom would last forever!
That King is the same as our Lord and is the same as our Saviour and He was to be called Emmanuel, which declared “God is with us” and the man, God in the flesh– was named Jesus Christ. In order for his kingdom to begin, He had to overthrow Death and Hell so that we might live. In order to do that, He had to die, descend into hell, take the power away from Death and Satan and ascend back to the Father.
For this to happen, He must first be born like a human. He started the entire process of making everything right standing with Himself by being just a little bitty baby, born to a virgin teenage girl for a mom and a holy man of God for a stepdad. He then, had to live like a human. Learning how to walk, talk, eat, toilet train, speak, write, read just like any other child that grows into an adult.
We celebrate Christmas because God made good on His promises. We celebrate because the kingdom of God is now and we are so blessed to live in it.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
