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If there is one thing I know about my God, it is that He is sovereign over all.

I could not say it better than David did in 2 Samuel 7:22.

Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

(2 Samuel 7:22 ESV)

Last night, I was overwhelmed by the greatness of the Lord at my church. No, nothing crazy really happened. Nothing bizarre and unusual really happened. I was just simply overwhelmed by the sovereignty of the Lord last night. At one point during church last night, I could do nothing else but lift my hands and sing “I love you”, over and over and over and over again.

This morning, I am overwhelmed with the same greatness as I think about who I am today, and who I was years ago. I look back and I see that His sovereignty does not mean that He is an obnoxious dictator who wants to tell me what to do. I realize this morning that His sovereignty is more than that. I realize that He is a good Father, a loving King, who wants the best for me.

His idea of power is His glory. His idea of glory, is His goodness. His idea of goodness, is His love.

After all these years of being a Christian, I have discovered something incredible.

This is more than a religion. This is more than a weekly activity that happens to be pleasant. This is more than a popular thing to be part of. This is way more than that bracelet, t-shirt, ring, or fish on your car. This is more than the music that you listen to. There is more. There is something deeper.

We need more LOVERS of Jesus. We do not need anymore FANS of Jesus. I say this because God is not running in a popularity contest. 

Christ does not claim prominence, but he does claim preeminence. Need some reference?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Christ is the Lord of Creation. He created all things. All things were created through Him and by Him, and for Him. He holds everything together. I do not know about you, but I’m glad to know my King has it all under control. These verses are a display of his power and dominion and authority.

And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

(Colossians 1:18-20 ESV)

He is the head of the body. He not only leads, but creates sustenance for it. The fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Him. The glory of God dwells in Him. The blood that He shed brought redemption for us all, but not just redemption. His blood MADE peace. He did use His power to dictate us, but to redeem us.

And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

(Colossians 1:21-23 ESV)

Christ’s death brought us reconciliation. Surely, we deserved death due to our sin, but by His death, we are presented holy and blameless to the Father. This is the result of our redemption and reconciliation.

So check it.

Realize that when God decides to act, it is an act of the Kingdom. Do you realize how huge it is that with all the power and authority He has, He chose to love us and die for us and redeem us and reconcile us? 

This was not meant so you can live your life the way you want to. The cross was not a grant for you to become God of your life. The cross was to a gift for us to walk in the fullness of His grace, freedom, and love. Because if we thought about it, if WE ran our own lives, we would all be wrecks. He wants ALL of your heart and ALL of your life. 

Just because we have not given Him his rightful place in our heart does not change the fact that He is sovereign, great, and preeminent. 

So holds the preeminence of your life? What holds authority over you? Who sits at the throne of your heart? Who or what has the HIGHEST place in your life?

There’s a throne in your heart that no one and nothing else can fit in but Christ. 

dis·tort // 

to twist out of the true meaning or proportion

My heart is burdened for you. Yes, you who for some reason clicked on this link and decided to take the time out of your day to read this. 

I know. You do not need to tell me. I already know what is going on. 

You have been trampled by the storms of life.
You are weak. 
You do not know if you can stand. 
You think I’m somehow better than you, when I’m not.
You are confused as to why someone like you would be going through this. 
You do not know what else to do but isolate your heart and mind from everything around you. 
You think you are dirty and impure.
You think you are not of any worth.
You thought your plans would work out perfectly, but they are not.
You thought you had it all together, but you messed up again just like every other day.
You are not loved.  

STOP. STOP. STOP. STOP.

I beg of you to close your ear to the enemy and open your ear to the Lord. Let’s take your experiences of the past. Let’s take your heartache. Let’s take every scar in your heart. Let’s take whatever weighs your heart down and throw it away. 

Lift your eyes up to God. Open your ears toward HIS voice. Stretch your hand out toward HIS. He desires to show you a world you wouldn’t even imagine. He longs to save you. He desires for you to know TRUTH. 

This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

(1 Timothy 2:3-6 ESV)

No matter what you think about yourself. No matter what you have done. No matter where you are in life. Do not let the truth slip away. 

“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”

 -Winston Churchill

You are worthy. You are clean. You are pure. You are holy. You are righteous. You can stand strong. You can get through this situation. YOU ARE LOVED. The Lord wants you to dive into His heart. He wants you to see the depths. He wants to take you deeper than ever. No. I’m not talking about following some doctrine or religion. I’m talking discovering the truth through His word, His heart. Relationship.

“The city in your heart is now a ghost town. No one walks the roads anymore.
Every part of you is open. Every part of you is empty. Every part of you hurting. 
But filling your heart with emptiness doesn’t cure the vacancy. 
Our vision of love is severed, distorted by our pasts.
But we can make a way. We can find a way back home. We can find a way back to love. “

-“Love is Our Home” by Frederick Castro

Dive into His heart. You won’t regret it.

There is no doubt that many things in life are difficult. For some of you, that issue that has been in your life for years probably shoots across your mind rapidly. For some of you, there may be something that you feel like you are called into, but have no idea how you are going to afford it. And for the rest of you, there may be some other life-changing decision you need to make. 

The past year, I have witnessed a huge number of my friends making these huge decisions. Some stepping into a deeper level of their relationships. Some taking time off of school to go into a long-term mission trip. Whatever the case, these have been huge decisions that drastically changed their lives. 

I have found that many times, these things that arrive in our lives seem to draw in at least a certain degree of fear. Just so there is no confusion, the fear I will be speaking of would be the trusty Merriam-Webster online dictionary definition:

an unpleasant often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger

Trust me, I believe that fear is something that often rises up in all of our lives, even mine. 

I have learned something amazing the past 2 weeks of my life. I have learned of the huge and amazing things that can happen when you step into every moment in life with FAITH. Not FEAR. 

Now, remember the fear we are talking about. The fear that rises up when you are called into the mission field and have no idea what you are going to do to raise the money. The fear that comes when that supposedly special guy says that the relationship is over. The fear that comes when God is calling you to share your faith. The fear of not being able to pay next month’s bills. The fear that causes you to hide.

Beloved, please be aware of the danger in this fear. The danger is holding on to it. My concern for all of you is your response to this fear. Are you going to hold on to it and let it dictate your life? What speaks louder? Is it your fear in your current situation? Or is it the promises of God that stand firm in EVERY situation? 

Don’t be deceived! Holding on to fear is dangerous my precious friends! Holding on to fear brings nothing but more fear! It leaves no room for God to speak. It leaves no room for the love of God. Holding on to fear quenches the Holy Spirit. 

“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.”

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 ESV)

Some of you have a hole in your heart that longs to be filled with love. But you are holding on to so much fear, that you have no ability to obtain it. You have so much fear because of your past experience with so called “love”, that is it holding you back from experiencing the fullness and the reality of the love of God. 

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

(1 John 4:18 ESV)

My challenge to you is this: LET GO OF YOUR FEAR. God did not give us a spirit of fear. 

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

(2 Timothy 1:6-7 ESV)

Beloved, God is ready to move. God is ready to show you what you can experience when you just simply let go. The reason why you are not seeing anything new in life is being you are still holding on to the past. He wants to show you the beauty in life. He wants to show you what happens when you respond to fear with faith. Fear is a dangerous stand-in for faith.

I’ll let the word of God do the rest of the talking:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures.

(James 1:2-18 ESV)

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“The wise man in the storm prays God, not for safety from danger, but for deliverance from fear.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

So after an interesting weekend, you would think I could be frustrated, sad, mad, or whatever. With my own computer crashing, realizing I didn’t back up my research paper I were almost done with, catching a cold or something over the weekend, and sitting here on a Monday morning sick and about to RESTART a research paper, you would think that I would be mad, frustrated, and kind of down. However, that is not the case.

Ladies. Gents. Listen up. Please, if you have time, read this.

The first four verses of 1 John in the bible is sort of a prologue to John’s first letter. I found something interesting thinking about this weekend and these four verses. 

1 John 1:1-4

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 

John first speaks about his experience of the reality of Jesus. The cool thing is, this wasn’t some grand idea or some crazy vision, the life and ministry of Jesus was real and tangible. What is seen in this prologue is what happens today. When people experience the reality of Christ, they cannot help but to proclaim to others what they have witnessed. 

However, the purpose of this proclamation is not just a simplified evangelism—driven for just the forgiveness of sins. It is far deeper than that. The purpose of this proclamation is to drive others into fellowship. Not just a human interaction or fellowship, but fellowship with the Father through the mediation of the Son (John 14:6). This fellowship is not some surface-level deal. It is a personal/intimate communion with the Father. 

The last thing that is seen is in verse 4: 

And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

The purpose of John writing is to promote joy. Not happiness, but JOY. 

With all of that said, this is why I am writing to ALL OF YOU who read this.

Over the past few years, I have been blessed to see God work in miraculous ways. I have seen the Lord heal people (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually). I have seen the Lord take people’s lives and turn them upside down (for the good—Romans 8:28). I have seen prodigal sons/daughters run back to their Heavenly Father. I have seen incredible transformation in my friends/family. 

My heart has been healed of many wounds. I have been freed of so many chains. I have been captivated by the love of God. I know who I am through Christ Jesus:

Holy. Righteous. Prince. Son of God. Pure. Loved. Not Alone. Worthy. Strong. Seated In A Heavenly Place. And so much more. 

I am not the same. I’m a new creation. Nothing can separate me from His love.

Which brings me to my point. To proclaim the things that God has done. To proclaim that I have witnessed and experienced the manifestation of life. To proclaim my fellowship with the Father—hoping and praying that YOU too may experience these things. To promote the joy that can only be found in this fellowship with the Father through His Son. 

Beloved, there is a reason why I am here today living in complete joy. There is a reason why the situations/circumstances in life no longer shake me. 

Hebrews 12:28-29 says,  “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” 

If I know that I have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken, why should I fear? 

Isaiah 41: 13-14

For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.” Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.