Hello family,
Here was my heart this morning as I prayed:
I confess that I am barely hanging on to Jesus with a shred of hope. I'm beaten down.
I feel like giving up but I know that's not what I want. I need a fresh start.
Lord, I need a fresh start.
I confess I'm arrogant about school. I feel like I know it all now. That my opinions are gold and my perspective is most unflawed.
I confess I'm just trying to look good on paper now- losing the substance of my learning. Help.
--
Then God reminded me of the most basic truth to live by every single day:
Repay others according to what Christ has given you.
“In this, love is perfected with us ...for we are as He is in this world.”
1 John 4:17
Walking with God, knowing Him more, being with Him happens most in the way we love and repay others, especially those who we feel don't deserve to be treated with our love.
The other day I felt injustice rise inside of me because of a schoolmate who was rude to me that God wanted me to serve! I was like why would I serve someone who doesn't deserve it? I was like "No God, I can't do that, it's not fair and it's not right...I can't lay down my time, my money, and my effort for someone who treats me like nothing." That's when God gently reminded me of keeping my eyes on Jesus not on what I see in the world.
“Love consists in this:
not that we loved God,
but that He loved us
and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Dear friends,
if God loved us in this way,
we also must love one another.”
1 John 4:10-11
It was hard at first because what I see and what I feel so strongly screams "this ain't right!" But when I focus my heart and mind on Jesus I see a different scale of justice. I'm suddenly the servant in the parable who has just been set free from 10,000 years worth of debt...looking at someone who owes me 1 month's worth.
If I only look at this person then justice demands I don't give them anything and that they owe me instead! But when I remember where I just came from, having been canceled a much larger debt...and being told by the King to do the same for others...I see why Jesus says that His one command is for us to love others the way He loved us.
To repay others according to what Christ gave us.
Because we will forget who we are because of Christ if we fail to practice living and loving as He did everyday.
Keep your eyes on Jesus.
“He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world."
(Jesus died for everyone's sins so that not only are you free but the person who hurts you is free by that same freedom! So to demand justice from them is to remove Jesus.)
"This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands.
Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.
(The more we love the world the less we experience the love of the Father in our hearts)
For everything that belongs to the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle — is not from the Father, but is from the world.
And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever.
So now, little children,
remain in Him,
so that when He appears we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
1 John 2:2-3, 15-17, 28
Repay others not according to what they deserve, but according to what Christ deserves. Please be humbled that He is always with us to lead us into this truth.
“For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another,”
1 John 3:11
“This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers.”
1 John 3:16
God Almighty wants to spend quality time with you! And He does it through you loving others that don't deserve it because that's how He loved you. We don't see God, but we experience His love most when we love others.
“No one has ever seen God.
If we love one another,
God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.”
1 John 4:12
So all this time my heart was focused on me, my grades, my time, my future, ....but I needed the reminder that God is in control man.
All He asks of us in the process of living is to love whoever comes across our day today.
Everything else is a distraction to steal, kill, and destroy you. This is basic gospel truth 101. Let's pray for each other to live in the light of truth.
We are going to make a ton of mistakes, and Jesus took care of that. Our lives are not in fear of messing up anymore, because we have Jesus. Our lives are now about sharing the good news of Jesus. I once heard a quote that said something like people won't remember what you did, and they won't remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel.
When you experience the love of the Father how does it make you feel? That is our calling in life. To give others what God has given us....the saving presence and love of Jesus.
Love you guys.
The joys and frustrations of knowing and understanding an invisible God
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Don't do today alone
Good morning forever and ever family,
Let's acknowledge the realness of being people with limits in need of a limitless power.
My prayer for you and for me is that we seek to be filled with such power from the Holy Spirit through our asking God for it. Because without it we have our limits.
“For, in fact,
in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel,
assembled together against Your holy Servant
Jesus,
whom You anointed,
to do whatever Your hand
and Your plan
had predestined to take place.
And now, Lord, consider their threats,
and grant that Your slaves
may speak Your message
with complete boldness,
When they had prayed,
the place where they were assembled
was shaken,
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak God’s message
with boldness.”
Acts 4:27-29, 31
I love re-reading about God's control and genius throughout it all when they point out that even the rejection, insults, and wounds experienced by Jesus had "to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place."
The apostles needed to remember this because they were experiencing similar situations, but instead of needing the threats to stop, they knew they just needed to remember WHO they worked for so they could have even MORE boldness in representing!
We might interpret our bad, boring or painful circumstances as God being against us or as God being cruel or not fun because Satan is ready to use your feelings and your pride to tempt you to choose to believe a lie. He uses people, feelings, unexpected situations and failures to make us believe a lie about God. Because it is our beliefs and attitudes, that come from our thoughts, that will lead us either to follow God or to follow Satan. We are constantly in a war and there is no middle ground.
Be aware of your circumstances and trust that this is God in action FOR YOU, then pray for the Holy Spirit to make every thought captive to what Jesus revealed about God..."destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Are you battling the devil by yourself? You will always always always lose. Because Satan is stronger, smarter and more tactful than you. This is about the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the battle inside, where the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us, that we battle the father of lies.
That's why we pray to filled like the apostles did.
It is a hugely humble reminder that without the Spirit's power you will be defeated. Pray until your heart has acknowledged that truth, that you cannot do today on your own.
Here's a link about how to make every thought captive to Christ: http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-take-my-thoughts-captive
Love you guys,
Jmegrey
Let's acknowledge the realness of being people with limits in need of a limitless power.
My prayer for you and for me is that we seek to be filled with such power from the Holy Spirit through our asking God for it. Because without it we have our limits.
“For, in fact,
in this city both Herod and Pontius Pilate,
with the Gentiles and the people of Israel,
assembled together against Your holy Servant
Jesus,
whom You anointed,
to do whatever Your hand
and Your plan
had predestined to take place.
And now, Lord, consider their threats,
and grant that Your slaves
may speak Your message
with complete boldness,
When they had prayed,
the place where they were assembled
was shaken,
and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit
and began to speak God’s message
with boldness.”
Acts 4:27-29, 31
I love re-reading about God's control and genius throughout it all when they point out that even the rejection, insults, and wounds experienced by Jesus had "to do whatever Your hand and Your plan had predestined to take place."
The apostles needed to remember this because they were experiencing similar situations, but instead of needing the threats to stop, they knew they just needed to remember WHO they worked for so they could have even MORE boldness in representing!
We might interpret our bad, boring or painful circumstances as God being against us or as God being cruel or not fun because Satan is ready to use your feelings and your pride to tempt you to choose to believe a lie. He uses people, feelings, unexpected situations and failures to make us believe a lie about God. Because it is our beliefs and attitudes, that come from our thoughts, that will lead us either to follow God or to follow Satan. We are constantly in a war and there is no middle ground.
Be aware of your circumstances and trust that this is God in action FOR YOU, then pray for the Holy Spirit to make every thought captive to what Jesus revealed about God..."destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Are you battling the devil by yourself? You will always always always lose. Because Satan is stronger, smarter and more tactful than you. This is about the power of the Holy Spirit. It's the battle inside, where the Holy Spirit of God dwells in us, that we battle the father of lies.
That's why we pray to filled like the apostles did.
It is a hugely humble reminder that without the Spirit's power you will be defeated. Pray until your heart has acknowledged that truth, that you cannot do today on your own.
Here's a link about how to make every thought captive to Christ: http://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/how-do-i-take-my-thoughts-captive
Love you guys,
Jmegrey
Monday, March 20, 2017
Put on Christ
You know when you can't seem to find something to wear that you'd feel good in? You look at what you put on and it's just whatever (compared to days when you feel great about your outfit of the day).
But alas, you need wear SOMETHING.
What if everyday you put on the best clothes because you could? Would you?
"for you are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:26
“For as many of you as have been baptized
into Christ
have put on Christ like a garment.”
Galatians 3:27
Are you wearing clothes today?
Paul gives this analogy of "putting on Christ like a piece of clothing" because our identity is now Christ. Not that we are another "god," but that we are in Christ who is God so that we have everything Christ was given when He was on earth. So what did Christ have that is ours too when we put Him on like a shirt? The receiving of Christ is like putting on a shirt (pretty simple and easy), but the result of putting Christ on as opposed to a shirt is that Christ is more than fabric, He's alive and powerful! The result of putting on a shirt is that you are now clothed in a shirt. That's about as far as a shirt can work for you.
The result of putting on Christ results in:
Relationship. Being able to relate to God as His child. Having a filial relationship with God that Christ had with God. Not SIMILAR TO the one they had, but the EXACT SAME one. Father & Son. That as Christ was the Son of God, we are now sons and daughters of God.
Perfection. Jesus had no sin in Him. He was perfect. So when He swallowed all our sins on the cross in His perfect self, He removed our sins (all of them) and gave us what He had: His sinless perfection. The exchange was completely and fully made finished.
The Holy Spirit (aka: God). Jesus always had the Spirit of God with Him. Leading Him, protecting Him, providing for Him, empowering Him, and Communing (or talking and hanging out) with Him. They were inseparable--the Father's love was never away from Jesus, but through the presence of the Holy Spirit that love was always in action for Jesus.
Future glory. Though the life of Christ on earth is not exactly something defined as awesome, it is looking at the final result that matters more than the process. Jesus lived pretty minimally on earth. He didn't have nice clothes, a big house, or even a good reputation with the people who did have good reputations. Through years of serving others (which included working as a carpenter) and suffering the disapproval by the very people he was serving--He gave it all He had...literally until His very last breath. And God raised Him up after 3 days after His last breath and for the rest of eternity gave Him EVERYTHING: glory, joy, riches, comfort, love, power, you name it ...it now all belongs to Jesus.
So then,
when we put on Christ today...recognize who you have put on and what that means.
Live as you truly are: a child of God. Through faith.
Otherwise you'll have access to the very best without even taking hold of it!
When we put on Christ we put on Christ!
He represents in every way!
All four of those results above are always at work in our hearts against the lies of the enemy. When we put on Christ we put on the identity of a child of God. There is no fear of anything or anyone but of God when we wear Christ like a garment. It might sound too good to be true, but allow for God's love and grace to sink deep into your objections and be free for what Christ died to set you free from! Don't make the death of Christ for nothing in your life, but live into what He has made available to those who will take hold of it! Just like putting on a shirt, we take hold of the gospel by putting on Christ today.
Relationship, perfection, the Holy Spirit, and future glory are all ours in Christ, have you decided to put Him on today and all throughout the day? Walk by faith and not by sight.
Love you guys.
From one always in need of Christ,
Jmegrey
But alas, you need wear SOMETHING.
What if everyday you put on the best clothes because you could? Would you?
"for you are all sons of God
through faith in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:26
“For as many of you as have been baptized
into Christ
have put on Christ like a garment.”
Galatians 3:27
Are you wearing clothes today?
Paul gives this analogy of "putting on Christ like a piece of clothing" because our identity is now Christ. Not that we are another "god," but that we are in Christ who is God so that we have everything Christ was given when He was on earth. So what did Christ have that is ours too when we put Him on like a shirt? The receiving of Christ is like putting on a shirt (pretty simple and easy), but the result of putting Christ on as opposed to a shirt is that Christ is more than fabric, He's alive and powerful! The result of putting on a shirt is that you are now clothed in a shirt. That's about as far as a shirt can work for you.
The result of putting on Christ results in:
Relationship. Being able to relate to God as His child. Having a filial relationship with God that Christ had with God. Not SIMILAR TO the one they had, but the EXACT SAME one. Father & Son. That as Christ was the Son of God, we are now sons and daughters of God.
Perfection. Jesus had no sin in Him. He was perfect. So when He swallowed all our sins on the cross in His perfect self, He removed our sins (all of them) and gave us what He had: His sinless perfection. The exchange was completely and fully made finished.
The Holy Spirit (aka: God). Jesus always had the Spirit of God with Him. Leading Him, protecting Him, providing for Him, empowering Him, and Communing (or talking and hanging out) with Him. They were inseparable--the Father's love was never away from Jesus, but through the presence of the Holy Spirit that love was always in action for Jesus.
Future glory. Though the life of Christ on earth is not exactly something defined as awesome, it is looking at the final result that matters more than the process. Jesus lived pretty minimally on earth. He didn't have nice clothes, a big house, or even a good reputation with the people who did have good reputations. Through years of serving others (which included working as a carpenter) and suffering the disapproval by the very people he was serving--He gave it all He had...literally until His very last breath. And God raised Him up after 3 days after His last breath and for the rest of eternity gave Him EVERYTHING: glory, joy, riches, comfort, love, power, you name it ...it now all belongs to Jesus.
So then,
when we put on Christ today...recognize who you have put on and what that means.
Live as you truly are: a child of God. Through faith.
Otherwise you'll have access to the very best without even taking hold of it!
When we put on Christ we put on Christ!
He represents in every way!
All four of those results above are always at work in our hearts against the lies of the enemy. When we put on Christ we put on the identity of a child of God. There is no fear of anything or anyone but of God when we wear Christ like a garment. It might sound too good to be true, but allow for God's love and grace to sink deep into your objections and be free for what Christ died to set you free from! Don't make the death of Christ for nothing in your life, but live into what He has made available to those who will take hold of it! Just like putting on a shirt, we take hold of the gospel by putting on Christ today.
Relationship, perfection, the Holy Spirit, and future glory are all ours in Christ, have you decided to put Him on today and all throughout the day? Walk by faith and not by sight.
Love you guys.
From one always in need of Christ,
Jmegrey
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Slow down...observe.
Good morning family,
If you haven't taken time to spend with God I hope you can prayerfully and intentional read through this and be with God for however long it takes you to finish reading it.
Remember this truth today, that our Father in Heaven, who is Almighty God, acts for those who wait for Him.
In other words,
He will not delay according to His perfect timing and your perfection.
He is a God who acts for those who wait for Him.
Slow down.
Take time.
If you think you don't have time, then you're gravely mistaken. Time is the same for everyone. Every minute you go through, is the same minute everyone else goes through. But it's in how we use our time that is different from person to person. Time is a gift from God that we are called to steward for His purposes. And He says to wait for Him, meaning take Him into your time until you really believe He is with you. Personally, this usually takes me an hour if I'm really trying to focus on Him for that hour.
You can have a good day WITH God, or He will have a good day WITHOUT you. Better to join in the One who created joy and pleasures forever!
Stand in the Presence of God.
"No eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him”
(Isaiah 64:4).
A REMINDER about our goal and vision today:
“Not that I have already reached the goal
or am already fully mature,
BUT! I make every effort to take hold of it
because
I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
(A way to experience the transforming power of Christ is to begin living a transformed life even if you don't reach your goal in your timing. When your heart begins the effort, God WILL complete it.)
Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
(Drop all the unnecessary thoughts about what happened in the past that makes you a failure or a liar, drop the past and go today! Part of walking in your calling is also receiving grace everyday which means full pardon and full blessings ahead!)
Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.
(Meaning, don't worry how much or little the other person knows or is doing, you just do your part because it is God who will reveal what you need to know step-by-step. You have all the knowledge you need in this moment to follow God, but all the knowledge you have is not all the knowledge there is...so be humble/thankful in the amount you have! God has given this to you, and He will give you more as He sees fit.)
In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.
(What you know now is enough, so live by it until God reveals more.)
Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.
(Who can you observe as an example of Christ? Are they like the apostle Paul in some ways, more or less?
If someone observed you, would they find attributes of Paul in you too.
Paul was an example of a sinner following Christ, and the New Testament is full of his letters so you can get to know him pretty well.
It's helpful to observe how much of Paul's example we see in other believers as well as in ourselves, since he's probably the closest thing to what we should expect as we follow Christ.
Don't just choose anyone as an example of what a Christian is! That's unwise. Choose Paul, and anyone who looks like Paul in your life, because he said it in God's Word. Paul was not perfect, but get to know him more and you will find a more accurate standard for how you should expect your own walk to be like.)
Philippians 3:12-19
Breathe in truth as you steward your time, your thoughts, your priorities, and your money for the One to whom it all belongs to.
Love you guys.
If you haven't taken time to spend with God I hope you can prayerfully and intentional read through this and be with God for however long it takes you to finish reading it.
Remember this truth today, that our Father in Heaven, who is Almighty God, acts for those who wait for Him.
In other words,
He will not delay according to His perfect timing and your perfection.
He is a God who acts for those who wait for Him.
Slow down.
Take time.
If you think you don't have time, then you're gravely mistaken. Time is the same for everyone. Every minute you go through, is the same minute everyone else goes through. But it's in how we use our time that is different from person to person. Time is a gift from God that we are called to steward for His purposes. And He says to wait for Him, meaning take Him into your time until you really believe He is with you. Personally, this usually takes me an hour if I'm really trying to focus on Him for that hour.
You can have a good day WITH God, or He will have a good day WITHOUT you. Better to join in the One who created joy and pleasures forever!
Stand in the Presence of God.
"No eye has seen a God besides you,
who acts for those who wait for him”
(Isaiah 64:4).
A REMINDER about our goal and vision today:
“Not that I have already reached the goal
or am already fully mature,
BUT! I make every effort to take hold of it
because
I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.
(A way to experience the transforming power of Christ is to begin living a transformed life even if you don't reach your goal in your timing. When your heart begins the effort, God WILL complete it.)
Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it.
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
(Drop all the unnecessary thoughts about what happened in the past that makes you a failure or a liar, drop the past and go today! Part of walking in your calling is also receiving grace everyday which means full pardon and full blessings ahead!)
Therefore, all who are mature should think this way. And if you think differently about anything, God will reveal this also to you.
(Meaning, don't worry how much or little the other person knows or is doing, you just do your part because it is God who will reveal what you need to know step-by-step. You have all the knowledge you need in this moment to follow God, but all the knowledge you have is not all the knowledge there is...so be humble/thankful in the amount you have! God has given this to you, and He will give you more as He sees fit.)
In any case, we should live up to whatever truth we have attained.
(What you know now is enough, so live by it until God reveals more.)
Join in imitating me, brothers, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us.
(Who can you observe as an example of Christ? Are they like the apostle Paul in some ways, more or less?
If someone observed you, would they find attributes of Paul in you too.
Paul was an example of a sinner following Christ, and the New Testament is full of his letters so you can get to know him pretty well.
It's helpful to observe how much of Paul's example we see in other believers as well as in ourselves, since he's probably the closest thing to what we should expect as we follow Christ.
Don't just choose anyone as an example of what a Christian is! That's unwise. Choose Paul, and anyone who looks like Paul in your life, because he said it in God's Word. Paul was not perfect, but get to know him more and you will find a more accurate standard for how you should expect your own walk to be like.)
Philippians 3:12-19
Breathe in truth as you steward your time, your thoughts, your priorities, and your money for the One to whom it all belongs to.
Love you guys.
Saturday, March 4, 2017
The second slap
Slap me once and I'm mad,
Slap me twice and I'm glad.
Sounds irrational.
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer.
On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”
Matthew 5:38-39
Why?
Why should we do this weird thing of giving people something they certainly don't deserve?
If someone says something to hurt my pride or me in any way, I want to hide or cover myself in defense or fight back with equal (or more) vigor! So why would Jesus say to let them continue to hurt you even more instead?
Because allowing people to hurt you is where the battle for faith can begin to be exposed. Our battle is not against flesh and blood--meaning the person who hurt you is not the enemy. It is the forces of evil that we do not see (but certainly feel) that are waging a war on your soul. When we hurt back we are battling flesh and blood, and that's precisely what Satan wants us to do. But Jesus said to open yourself to being hurt because that's where the real war is taking place. When we lay down our defenses against the person, it doesn't feel good inside, but something in our hearts begins to take place.
Real war. If you go into battle blindfolded then you're sure to lose. If you go in with eyes open and God as Your commander then you will surely win.
Getting even with someone is not war, that's living blind in Satan's delusion and giving him delight. Because he gets to win. And he loves winning.
Real war is what's inside the heart.
When we lay down our weapons agains flesh and blood, we see the battle inside our hearts. Faith is forced to kick into high gear reminding us that Christ has chosen us before the foundation of the world to be God's adopted children, redeemed, forgiven, and given an inheritance in Him, and His Holy Spirit present in us.
When you remember you have everything you no longer need anything.
Sometimes the reminder comes by that second slap.
Praise God for the second slap!
Love you guys.
Jmegrey
Slap me twice and I'm glad.
Sounds irrational.
“You have heard that it was said,
An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer.
On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.”
Matthew 5:38-39
Why?
Why should we do this weird thing of giving people something they certainly don't deserve?
If someone says something to hurt my pride or me in any way, I want to hide or cover myself in defense or fight back with equal (or more) vigor! So why would Jesus say to let them continue to hurt you even more instead?
Because allowing people to hurt you is where the battle for faith can begin to be exposed. Our battle is not against flesh and blood--meaning the person who hurt you is not the enemy. It is the forces of evil that we do not see (but certainly feel) that are waging a war on your soul. When we hurt back we are battling flesh and blood, and that's precisely what Satan wants us to do. But Jesus said to open yourself to being hurt because that's where the real war is taking place. When we lay down our defenses against the person, it doesn't feel good inside, but something in our hearts begins to take place.
Real war. If you go into battle blindfolded then you're sure to lose. If you go in with eyes open and God as Your commander then you will surely win.
Getting even with someone is not war, that's living blind in Satan's delusion and giving him delight. Because he gets to win. And he loves winning.
Real war is what's inside the heart.
When we lay down our weapons agains flesh and blood, we see the battle inside our hearts. Faith is forced to kick into high gear reminding us that Christ has chosen us before the foundation of the world to be God's adopted children, redeemed, forgiven, and given an inheritance in Him, and His Holy Spirit present in us.
When you remember you have everything you no longer need anything.
Sometimes the reminder comes by that second slap.
Praise God for the second slap!
Love you guys.
Jmegrey
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