High All The Time ...

Bill Maher is an idiot.  And I say that with the kindest affection.  Bill espouses the joy of smoking pot while refusing another drug that is SO much more effective, longer lasting, and has absolutely no ill side effects.  I understand you can make an argument for the legalization of marijuana.  I get how a state like California might consider that the tax benefits from legalization might offset the budget deficit at least in the short run (or at least until the adverse health effects start weighing in on the budget).  But I do not get the hypocrisy of standing behind one natural substance with known medical complications while ignoring another with none.

The essential problem with Marijuana, or for that matter alcohol, is the mechanism by which the feeling of Euphoria is produced – killing brain cells.  In essence you have to dumb down, in order to get “happy”.  I guess Solomon’s old adage that “with wisdom comes sorrow” proves to be true.  Perhaps it is because Bill appears to be so smart, and thinks of himself in this way, that his brain requires stupification in order to achieve any measure of relief.  Bill is smart enough to discern the problems, but unable to find the solutions perhaps.  Whatever the motive, maybe just due to the chemically addictive nature of any drug, Bill continues to choose to espouse the virtues of this mind numbing process to the exclusion of a much better one.

I see this as a case of simple ignorance.  If I could show you a method for getting high that worked in an entirely different manner would you be game?  What’s the matter, think that is just not possible?  Consider for a minute the euphoria that accompanies sexual orgasm.  Granted there may a lessening of blood in the brain at that moment in time, which would reduce oxygen content a bit, but no brain cells die in the process.  It can be an earth shattering event in terms of the magnitude of the feeling at the moment, but the longevity, at least for men, is highly reduced.  Several seconds later, life as we know it resumes.  Anticipation can be pleasurable, and can even help heighten the actual experience, but can do little to lengthen the state of intense euphoria.  But my point here is that there does exist at least one method of “getting high” that is less damaging to the brain than marijuana.

And there is another way.  Athletes can attest to the exhilaration the body experiences when massive amounts of endorphins are released.  Again there is less blood in the brain during this process, which again means less oxygen, but again like sex, brain cells are not destroyed to achieve it.  In fact muscles feel renewed, the energy level of the body goes up, senses are heightened.  This would appear to be the opposite of dumbing-down, it is more sensory overload.  Increasing the oxygen content in the blood can have similar effects but is also a fairly risky proposition, too much and permanent damage can result.  The endorphin release process albeit lasts longer than sexual orgasm, and is far better for the body than any form of chemical drug like marijuana.

But there is yet another way.  This one requires using you head for more than a hat rack.  It is said that humans only use somewhere between 6 and 10% of their brains (depending on which study you adhere to).  The point is that most of our brain power has been left largely untapped.  Despite this limitation there are those among us who have perfect photographic memories with long term recall.  How is this possible?  It is because your brain records every stimuli that enters it on these brain cells we seem so bent on destroying to achieve euphoria.  Those of us who can remember everything have only figured out HOW to recall the information on demand, we all record it using the same methods. 

Then there are the autistics among us who are able to focus brain power in specific areas like “Rainman” who is able to count cards or perform complex math in seconds.  There are the musically inclined able to hear a complex piano piece of music only once and then sit down and replay it perfectly without the benefit of written music.  How are these folks able to perform these complex tasks but unable to carry on normal conversations?  The truth is we don’t know right now.  Scientists are studying the chemical compositions that facilitate and deter autism, as well as brain functions of many kinds.  But the pursuit of this knowledge has already taken years, and may take years to come.

But back to being high all the time, think it is still a myth of future lore.  I submit it need not be.  Let’s face it the reasons we seek escape in the first place, is often to defer the pain in our lives.  Truth be told, most of that pain is self inflicted.  Ironically our self interest motivates us to act selfishly, ultimately leading us to even more isolation, and more sadness in a never ending cycle.  Religion up till now, seems to have provided little if any relief to this process.  Yes, there may be a mild benefit of forgiveness and the feelings that accompany it, but you would have to balance these feelings against the guilt that leads to forgiveness in the first place.  And let’s face it again, there is nothing like Religion to point out our guilt right? 

Therefore a purely logical comparison of the “religious” individual and the “non-religious” individual shows little emotional differences, little lifestyle differences, and therefore no compelling reason to be either one.  But what if there was?  Forget religion for a minute and just think purely in your own long-term true self interest.  If Christ designed the entire plan of salvation to save you from evil, then what would your life be like without evil in it?  The process is simple (but largely ignored by “religious” people, even supposed “Christians”).  You accept the gift Christ offers.  You allow Him to change who you are, change what you want, change how you think as He sees fit.  You give up the “control” you never really had, and you gain a life with less and less self inflicted pain in it. 

This is what REAL Christians are supposed to be doing, but they are not.  I can say that because it is self evident.  In general there still appears to be no differences in the lives of Christians and the lives of others, short forgiveness.  This is NOT the essence or goals Christ intended for any of us.  The goal was a NEW life.  The goal was the removal of evil from us, i.e. saving us from evil.  The only one who could ever accomplish this goal was Christ, we could not, and so He offered it to us as a gift.  Christians who still refuse to allow Christ to run their lives are truly no different than those who still have not heard the name of Christ.  The illusion of control blinds them both.

But for those who have experienced what being saved from evil really means, it is an entirely different story.  It is getting high and staying that way, all the time.  Forget being mesmerized by worship music, or flailing around speaking in gibberish nobody understands, I am talking about having your brain operate in a way you could not have dreamed of.  It is a heightening of every sensory organ.  It is like massive endorphin rush focused on your brain.  You are able to see things you COULD NOT see before.  No, I am not talking about seeing dead people, or details on Jupiter with the naked eye.  I am talking about seeing truth.  I am talking about discerning the error in the argument.  I am talking about a complete reset of your perceptions on life as a whole.

You do not know, what you do not know.  Only a mind activated and liberated by the process of salvation can begin to know what it is like to feel this feeling.  And like sexual orgasm, the feeling is heightened when not dulled by chemicals dumbing-down our brain cells, killing enough to achieve artificial euphoria.  It is heightened more like having higher levels of oxygen in the blood, endorphins in the system, and adrenaline in the heart.  Unlike the effects of chemicals, sex, or even extreme exercise – these feelings can last for hours at a time.  It feels like your brain has additional electricity powering areas you just have not used before.  It is a sense of liberation and indescribable joy.

There is no financial cost for any of it.  There is no risk of impaired judgment compounding the misery of your existence.  There are no adverse medical effects.  There is no danger you will put another at risk to feel this way.  There is no danger your life will suffer in order to achieve this feeling.  There is nothing but upside.  There is nothing but the liberation of the soul as evil is finally vanquished by the only being capable of killing it.  There is nothing but the death of self-interest and the rebirth of love, and selfless service to others.  There are no limits to it.  There are no restrictions on acquiring it, save those you put on yourself.  How can marijuana or any other chemical ever compete with this?  I say it is a simple case of ignorance, I can’t imagine Bill Maher is really that dedicated an idiot …

Robes of Victory ...

How about if you put on the white Robes of Righteousness for me?  What’s that, you don’t have them readily available in your closet yet?  No worries, I know exactly what the problem is.  Simply speaking they don’t belong to you yet; you can’t make them, you can’t buy them, you have to have them given to you by the singular maker of these Robes.  The only Being worthy of creating the Robes of Righteousness, is the only one who can make you ready to wear them.

Just like everything else in the entire plan of Salvation God enacted, even our final set of clothing will be a gift from Him.  The last set of clothes we will ever wear will be literal Robes made of light (Yes, I’m sure most people think “white” robes, but light includes a great many more colors than just that.  I may prefer polka dots for example).  I am certain these final coverings will be functional as well as practical.  And best of all, like any other clothing we wear, they represent something.  They represent VICTORY.  Not ours, but His.

This is the reason why you can’t explain HOW the sin leaves you when it does.  It is because you are NOT doing the work of removal, Christ is.  He knows, because He does it.  He does it FOR you.  He does not need your help in this process, He needs your permission.  And likewise with the Robes He intends to give you that symbolize victory, the victories will all be His, though you may well be the main benefactor of each one.  As each sin is removed from your life, you experience an ever rising sensation of freedom, liberation, and joy.  It is Christ doing the work of removal, but you enjoying what He has done FOR you.  His victory - For you.

Notice scripture never asks you to make the Robes.  Scripture never puts a price on them that you can pay.  Christ paid it in blood.  You can’t steal them, or fake wearing them.  No counterfeit knockoffs here, only original designer models made as uniquely as snowflakes, retinal scans, DNA, or fingerprints.  No two are alike, and yet each one has meaning.  Just like the rest of His creations – no two are alike and each one has a special and unique purpose.  Our final Robes will come with a few accessories, like a new unique name, a ring, a crown, and even a harp we will somehow know how to play.  Sorry no mention of halo’s I can find anywhere, nor of clouds from what I can see.

The city itself is described as being about 360 miles square, or should I say cubed, as it is as high as it is wide.  I imagine, God the Father sits on His throne at the city’s pinnacle, though I wonder how often He sits there and how often He is personally engaged elsewhere.  The 12 pearl gates to the city bare 12 different names, and the foundation is layered on 12 different gemstones.  The streets are made of Gold, and perhaps as U2 puts it, have no names.  As we walk these streets of gold, we realize that Heaven sees our most sought after jewelry, as mere concrete.  Worth no more than the gravel that accompanies our earthly streets of today, or the mud along the trails of yesteryear.  But Heaven sure puts a premium on its citizens.

In addition to our clothing and accessories, we are each to have a mansion.  Given our 21^st century understanding of architecture in large cities, I would aptly rename this … a penthouse apartment.  More than enough for any single individual while taking advantage of the height dimensions of the city as well.  My guess is that we will store whatever belongings we acquire or build in Heaven in our homes there.  But I would also guess the number of those belongings will be sparse, as the real interest in eternity will be in the people who surround us.  Each one will have a unique story about how Jesus saved them from the evil in their lives.  While unfallen angels have the advantage of never having had the cancer of evil, they also cannot understand the feeling of having been cured of it either.  In this scripture states even the angels will bend their wings in awe of the love of our Creator.

It is poignant that while we wear Robes of His Righteousness the wounds in His hands, side, and feet will remain with Him for eternity.  It is why we so often cast down our crowns at His feet as He alone is worthy.  We know we wear only His gifts – nothing have we earned.  We reap the benefits of His love, not of our efforts.  Love alone redeemed us.  Love alone saved us.  And it is Love we will study throughout eternity ever mindful of the scars He carries that mark our freedom. 

There will be no competition in Heaven regarding the style, originality, fabric, rareness, or uniqueness of our clothing.  Each one will have what is perfectly suited to them, perfectly created by our Lord, for each individual.  And I imagine like all human beings share certain characteristics with no two exactly alike, our clothing will be much the same.  It will share commonality and practicality but still allow for the uniqueness of each person, each individual.  And yet once there, I doubt we ever give it a second thought.

How often here on earth we put value in things that have no real value.  How often do women lament over having just the right thing to wear to that special occasion.  They want to look just right, and they are hoping their clothing will help them accomplish this goal.  Net result: an entire fashion industry that fosters pride, and competition, and a hunger that simply cannot be satisfied on this earth.  How much time, money, and expense have gone into trying to make women look their best here on planet earth.  While in heaven our bodies are regenerated into the perfection God intended, removing the effects that evil left us scarred with.  Perfect skin, perfect hair, perfect nails, perfect weight, perfect health, and perfect clothing.  I suppose having achieved perfection it will be quite easy not to ever give it a second thought again, though I recon the death of pride may have more to do with that, than simply achieving the goals of perfection.

It is funny that Love is also much like humanity.  It shares broad characteristics, but is uniquely applied.  I believe that while we will all love everyone we encounter in the new world, there will still be a place for unique applications of love.  I believe we will still honor the relationships we have with our parents, our siblings, our children, our spouses (post adjustments made by God), and our friends.  Having a special love does not negate other types of love.  Nor is it impossible to have more than one kind of special love.  For instance, we love all of our children equally (in terms of volume), but differently because of the personalities of each one.  I do not believe that relationships and models we have here will simply become null and void in heaven.  Love is universal, yet love is unique, just like each of us.

I hope to one day wear the Robes my Lord has prepared for me.  It will be my honor, to take on clothing that marks His victories on my behalf.  I pray only that He conquers ALL the carnal nature in me, perfectly submits my will to His own, and in so doing, saves me completely both from evil and from me.  I know there is no other way I can ever wear those Robes …

Living Beyond The Rules ...

When self interest can be killed, the necessity of the entire justice system can perish along with it.  It is not the ability of greed to hold each other in check that is required to maintain society, rather a society based on self-less service with no thought of compensation will one-day define the world to come.  Greed, pride, self-reliance and promotion will someday be replaced by contentment, benevolent service, and a complete understanding of our entire dependence upon our God.

There are those who argue without law society would decay or crumble.  In our world, and our reality, this is true.  But the reason for it is our innate self-interest.  We seek fairness in a world that is not fair.  We seek justice and equality from people who are not inclined to share these with us.  And in truth we are not inclined to share it ourselves.  Naked self-interest lies behind every evil action taken or perpetrated in our world today.  Someone decides to enrich themselves at the expense of another.  Whether it is the degenerate criminal who decides to take his momentary ‘pleasure’ in the abuse over a weaker victim; or simply the co-worker who maneuvers behind the scenes to steal the promotion that might have gone another way; self-interest defines the motives and the nature of both and the reason why we need laws and a formal punitive justice system.

Though it may be hard to envision, imagine for a moment what a world would be like where no-one was motivated by self-interest even in the least of ways.  Utopia or Nirvana to some, Heaven to others; there are many names for it, but only one defining characteristic – the entire lack of self.  There would exist no theft in a place where you could build anything you wanted, or more often receive it as a gift from anyone you encountered.  In this environment the “things” that have value today because they are “rare”, “exclusive”, or “ornate” become commonplace and too easy to access, revealing their real value to be what it truly was all along - of no effect.  When “things” lose their perceived value, there is no reason to steal anymore.

Imagine again what the complete lack of self-interest would do to romantic relationships.  If your entire purpose in life was to make your partner happy, to bring them joy, peace, contentment, and fulfillment – could you not achieve this goal.  And what if the process of pleasing your partner became the very thing that brings you your own joy, contentment, fulfillment, and peace?  What if you discovered that is was only in “the giving” where the source of joy was found?  How strong would marriages be?  It makes arguing about things that have no real value, a historical footnote, not a current distraction.  In fact conflict disappears entirely when first and foremost and to the exclusion of all other concerns is the making of your spouse happy.  Devotion becomes automatic.  And if both were similarly engaged, perhaps only a contest of service might be the thing that emerges between them.  Happiness unlimited and eternal in nature becomes the day to day lifestyle.

You do not need to be told “not to steal” when there is no reason to steal.  You do not need to be told “to be faithful to your spouse” when your spouse is the singular love of your life who you could not imagine living without for even a second.  When you derive your own joy from the effort to please another, self-interest can be placed in its coffin for good.  It does not mean the rules cease to exist, it means the reason for the rules ceases to be relevant.  We will all one day live beyond the rules, when it is our hearts and motives that conform to the government of heaven itself, and align again with the character and nature of our Creator God.

Evil brought with it the structure of rules, punishment, and even death.  These characteristics are the hallmarks of evil and effects it leaves on anything it encounters.  Our current justice system is our feeble attempt at arriving at equality when every motive in the game wars against it.  The concept that “greed is good” because the conflicts between your greed and my greed may somehow achieve balance – ignores the reality that whoever has more greed between us may find alternative ways of overcoming the balance and achieving the self-minded goals no matter what the cost to the other party.  Survival of the fittest perhaps – yes – until only one remains for where self-interest is king – there can be only one.

So what will it take to achieve the ability to live beyond the rules?  I believe it begins with recognizing the truth about the nature of evil.  We too often buy into the concept that evil needs to be preserved, maintained and protected in our lives and characters.  We act as if losing something of evil origins would be a severe detriment to our ability to conduct day to day living.  So we cling to evil.  We cling to momentary pleasures.  Even when we sense that it is leading us nowhere, leaving us unfulfilled or empty, we cling to the lies that evil must still be maintained.  Maybe it will get better if we get enough right?  No.  Evil is the source of our pain, not a symptom of it.  Evil is the genesis of our demise, the author of death and pain, not a result of it.  It is evil that must be extinguished within us if we are to really achieve living.

And after we see evil for what it is we begin to recognize our absolute inability to self-cleanse from it.  Despite our best efforts to remove it from us, we fail and falter over and over and over again.  The simple truth is that humanity has not the capacity to remove evil from itself.  This is why the plan of Redemption or Salvation was first created by our God before we even came into existence.  Once our original free-will choice in the Garden of Eden went badly, our species was doomed to slavery and subservience to evil forevermore unless our God did something to change it for us.  We would no longer be able to alter our condition for ourselves.  But God could still do it for us, if we chose to let Him.

And so His plan to answer the Satanic demands for justice and redeem the hearts of man from the evil he was enslaved to was enacted.  Christ while perfectly innocent of any wrong doing, having lived His life in complete submission to the will of His Father, took on our punishment, our burdens, and our death and separation from God.  Then He rose again, and enabled hope within us to end the condition of evil in our lives.  Still not in our own strength as our capacity to end evil in our lives remains dysfunctional; but by submitting our will, our decisions, our wants and needs to Christ – He would remove the evil from us.  In our submission, and our reliance on Him, we find His strength removing from us what we could not do.  And in Him alone we can find peace.

The rules that define evil and measure equality are not required when all that remains of self-interest lies in a tomb.  Look for a minute at the example of Christ teaching his followers about their responses to theft.  A disciple complains about someone stealing his coat.  Christ says to offer the thief his shirt as well, in effect to give even more to the thief than he stole from you.  Christ does not condone theft in this; He never says it was “OK” to steal.  Instead He focuses on the reaction and thoughts of the victim, steering the victim to the work of redeeming the thief.

By offering a gift of even more things to the thief, Christ is encouraging love for your enemies in practical terms.  Christ knows the thief will be amazed by this gesture.  Instead of demands for justice and equality, He is given a reward his actions do not warrant.  The victim of theft, is reminded by giving even more of his own belongings, that NOTHING he owns is really his.  The victim of theft is taught that ALL things are of NO real value, and asked to trust in God for his current and future needs.  The victim of theft, is given a lesson that the relationship he will establish with the thief is MORE important that any of his own things.  And the victim of the theft, in offering love to the thief, may just melt the heart of thief and result in leading the thief to the redemption offered by Christ.  Christ in His mercy can then begin the work of removing the desire to steal from the heart of the thief.  And in this BOTH are saved, without thoughts of justice or equality – only mercy and forgiveness and love.  In this process enemies are restored to brothers in Christ, a family made whole again, despite the attempts of evil to separate them.

It is NOT natural to return love to someone who offers us only hate.  It is not natural in this world, and will not be required in the next one.  But in the next world to come, offering love unconditionally is natural, it is only the audience that will change, not the offering of love to each other.  In this world when we offer love unconditionally it falls on the mean, nasty, and self-interested as well as those who return love to us.  In the next world, the power of love will have converted the hearts of all who submitted their lives to Christ, and we will find only love returned there.  To live beyond the rules required by evil, this is the goal, this is the hope, and one day this will be our reality …

Really Good Days ...

Facts remain the same, but perception colors the soul.  The same weakness that can tune out selective truths about ourselves that we would rather ignore; can be employed as a strength to turn dark days into golden ones.  But before we enter the nether-world of mental fuzziness, it helps to know you are facing in the right direction, and moving along on the right path.  To accomplish this, it always begins the same, with the surrender of your will to His divine purposes.  Once this is set in motion everything changes.

In our world we are surrounded by a series of negative facts, and doomsday truths that could easily consume the mind of one trying too hard to control their own fate.  Luckily for believers, we need not concern ourselves with these trivialities as our Lord is ultimately in control of our fates anyway.  Part of the freedom to love, is the freedom that comes from trusting the One we put in charge of our will, and our desires.  The surrounding facts do not change, but somehow in the new ways of rebirth, we do not see them as so all-important anymore.  The former matters of life and death importance now seem pale, and of far less concern, even if no less true.  The difference is the freedom brought by serving a loving God.

But it is not just the ability to downplay the world around us that this freedom brings.  It is far more than that.  When our desires begin to be molded by His hands, we begin to want what He wants, and find joy in what He finds joy in.  This transformation is not trivial at all, but breathtaking and profound.  How does one describe the breath of fresh air for the soul?  Just the relief to know that what you are beginning to take joy in is no longer the very thing designed to kill you would be good enough.  But it does not stop there.  You realize you are free to invest in the happiness that comes from wanting the right things.

Amazingly, the simple things, the most mundane routines, become precious moments committed to memory because they are spent with another you love.  There can be great joy found in the most simple activities, because of the focus on companionship, friendship, and romantic loves.  Time spent with the best of friends becomes more memorable.  Time spent with a spouse, child, or parent becomes golden seconds you would be unwilling to trade for all the money the world could muster.  That is after all the normal competition for our time; it is our need of, or perhaps more accurately our desire for, money. 

Pursuit of wealth is the number one competitor for time with loved ones.  Most succumb to its lure of far away leisure time and close up needs for survival.  Both are myths.  We survive now like we do when we are old, because of His grace and blessings to us (including our jobs).  Leisure time expected after a long career is somehow always just around the corner, never here, never now.  But the present remains devoid of time for family, instead focused on career preservation and upward mobility.  And thus life and golden moments are squandered.

Service is thought of as hard work.  But how hard is it to simply begin to think of ways to please someone other than yourself?  Pouring someone a drink when you see they are thirsty, or running low at the dinner table.  Doing the dishes for the family without being asked or thanked, just because it was needed.  Driving someone to work, or the mall, or wherever they need.  There are many small acts of random kindness you can perform that can radically improve the day of those that take notice.  But while improving the lives of others may be the intrinsic goal, there is a greater metamorphosis taking place inside of you.  These repeated benevolent small acts of kindness change your focus from self to service.

This is the goal of Salvation itself, to free you from yourself, and your self-interests.  Taking your eyes away from the mirror and on to the very real needs of others is the beginning of emulating the behavior of God.  There are those who ask, can’t a non-believer be a charitable, giving, person?  And if so, isn’t this enough to win the favor or approval of God?  The answer is yes, and no.  A person who claims no belief in God can do nice things for others, but without exception these acts are only a part of their curriculum of life, not the entirety of it.  Non-believers tend to put stock in balance in their lives, and equating not hurting anyone else, as a limited way of doing good to others.  The moral standards they employ to examine themselves are subjective, and therefore heavily biased.  It is easy to be judged as doing good, when you sit in the judge’s seat.

The secondary part of this query is more difficult.  Can a person by doing good for others win the approval of God, even if they are a non believer?  The answer is no.  But it is deeper than that.  Believers cannot win approval by their actions either.  It is faith and surrender that win approval, not the deeds one does, or even the motives one carries.  Cain, the son of Adam and Eve, back in the garden used his considerable skills as a farmer to prepare a bountiful sacrifice for his God.  He offered the best of his harvest prepared with love, sweat, and hard work.  And his sacrifice was rejected.  He did not follow God’s instructions, and more importantly, he did not humble himself to serve, instead his pride reasoned there was an alternative to doing things God way.  His way might be just as good.  But it was not.  Then pride seeded to jealousy, jealousy to hatred, hatred to murder, and murder to the first “cover up”.

This has long been the problem with disobedient sentient beings, their pride.  We, just like Lucifer before his fall, reason that our wisdom is just as good as God’s.  We put our faith in the facts of science (itself an experimental process), or in the facts of history (which is distorted completely by the perceptions of the teller), or in the purity of math (though no scholar can prove or deny the existence of God through mathematics alone).  We trust institutions of higher learning, when they pronounce religion as mere superstition, or only moral guidelines.  We flatter ourselves into believing that eons of evolution have produced the best of us, instead of recognizing that rather than evolving towards perfection, we as a species are declining towards extinction.  But pride, and the focus on self, are effective ways of denying one the larger more meaningful life they could live, if surrendered to the Lord of all Love.

The times can be hard.  The money can be little, or largely insufficient.  These facts remain.  But despite them, the freedom that comes from a life built on intimacy with God, can bring joy to the mind and body when facts dictate a different response.  Giving it all to God, giving up on doing the work of reform, and taking assurance that He will do it for you, perhaps in spite of you, brings freedom.  An entire series of really good days can begin this way.  When the fog of sin, evil, and self interest is swept away; the eyes are finally able to see the clarity of happiness found in the service of all you come into contact with.  You trade insatiable quests for pleasing self with miserable results, for complete fulfillment and peace and joy that can be found alone in the surrender to Christ.

No matter the times, no matter the struggles you face; peace is at your doorstep.  A way through your trials and travails has already been established, it was completed long before your need presented itself.  This is the care your Father takes in your life.  Surrender your obstinate will, let go your stubborn pride, and become the little child who trusts implicitly, plays incessantly, and lives fulfilled and contented beyond the understanding of the world.  This life is beyond the science of our day, and above the IQ’s of any genius who dared to reason with it, it is the life of peace that surrender alone can bring and sustain.  It is the beginning of the Kingdom of heaven, and it is here today for you …

Free To Love ...

The natural result of liberation is the exhilaration that accompanies freedom.  Seems fairly obvious, but Christians who have been trapped for so many years in a failure-forgiveness-failure cycle have no idea what it feels like to experience the exhilaration of real freedom from sin.  The freedom that comes from the victories of Christ in your own personal experience is a joy that words can hardly describe.  It is quite literally heaven on earth.  The surrender of self, and the death of my stubborn will, leads to the unexplainable victories over self inflicted pain by Jesus on my behalf.  Freedom is so new, so real, so weight lifting of the burden on the soul, it is pure exhilaration.  But the near immediate thought becomes … now what?

Caught in a daze of ecstasy the mind is finally freed of constantly focusing on failure.  The mind has literally been freed of this, but then, freed for what.  The answer quite simply is free to love.  People believe they experience love throughout their lives, most in a few different contexts.  The loving relationships of parent and child, friend to friend, and the romantic interest with a significant other, are all representations of love.  But even within all these various contexts the love in the relationships suffers from human weakness.  The biggest culprit in ruining relationships and lessening the true joy of pure love is the same root of all evil, self. 

Self interest is the reason why people say a marriage is a 50 / 50 proposition.  But this is fallacy as it simply does not work.  Making the decision to give, but only to a self-described pre-defined limit, is a virtual surety for disappointment.  Whether by intent, or by omission, partners disappoint each other – particularly when focused on their own self interests.  The only recipe for a truly successful marriage is 100 / 100.  The difference is not just numeric, it is substantive.  It means both partners will give 100% of themselves, ALL the time, no matter what, no matter when, no matter how – and perhaps most importantly – no matter what their partner does with this gift.  Doing this is nearing the character of Christ, and being successful at it, requires the knowledge we have uncovered of surrender to His will.

Applying the 100 / 100 rule to dating tends to lead back to marriage again.  Although in all honesty the energy this takes is quite difficult to pull off in a multiple partner scenario; which is why the context of marriage makes the idea of giving 100% of yourself to your partner more palatable.  It takes intimacy to do this.  It takes trust to do this.  It is not so much about what you get out of the relationship from your partner, but what you get out of it from SERVING your partner.  The service is the reward.  This concept is a constant in all types of loving relationships.

Parents love their children instinctually, but this does not eliminate human weakness in the parents.  Quite frankly parents get tired.  In fact, not just tired, fricking exhausted.  They just want sleep.  If they cannot get that, then just some quiet moments might be a welcome relief.  Does this diminish the love they feel for the noisy child?  No.  But it does explain some the hair-brained ideas that leak out of a parents mouth when at wits end dealing with an energetic self willed child.  Some of these sentiments do not make sense.  Some defy physics.  But it is human weakness that exerts itself when the bumps in the road occur.  The truth is that parents give to their children on a level that children do not understand or appreciate.  The giving is more automatic, and less appreciated.  The difference between children and adults, are that adults understand and appreciate how much sacrifice has been done on their account – children remain blind to this concept.

The idea of giving 100% of yourself seems inconsistent with your history and ability levels.  It is because this idea is not achievable within human limits or human strength.  Over time, even the most patient, most giving person, wears out, wears thin, and exerts signs of human frailty.  Christians understand human weakness as they have been immersed in it.  So forgiveness provides the glue to repair the cracks, breaks, and fractures human frailty causes.  But living in a world of true surrender, means living in a world where the normal limits are not applicable anymore.  It is not you, but Him.  It is not your strength, but His strength.  It is not your body’s limits that will provide the gateway, it is your body subordinated to the superhuman abilities of God Himself.

Unburdened by self inflicted pain, and armed with the exhilaration of freedom from self inflicted evil, the mind and body are renewed in an energy that does not diminish.  The entire intent of liberation is to make you free from what would have previously bound you.  Freedom from fear for example; imagine yourself free from the fear that interrupts or impedes your abilities to love another.  You need not fear rejection any longer, as you KNOW you are loved beyond measure by the source of all love.  God’s love for you is deeply personal as you have already begun to experience.  His love and His will, will guide you to the proper desire of your heart.  Subordinating your will to His will, and allowing your desires to be molded to the desires He would have for you – frees you.  It frees you from fear of rejection, fear of betrayal, fear of being ridiculed.  These responses come from those who have not had the intimacy that you are experiencing with God.

Imagine what Mary’s life must have been like with a child like Jesus to raise.  Jesus was and is the source of all Love.  He was ALWAYS willing to serve, to be useful, to do for others – his mother would have been no exception, rather, as the closest member of his contacts, he would have been serving her perhaps most of all, just due to proximity.  Jesus gave of himself 100% every day.  He subordinated His will to that of His Father.  And what is our God like?  They are one in service to others, in Their particular case, in service to Their own creation.  Self interest does not enter the equation.  Jesus was burdened with the same human infirmities as we all have, yet through constant submission to His Father, He served.  So can we.  So should we.

Free to love.  Ever wondered what it would be like to have the time to do what you want to do.  Time management like everything else in our lives before surrender is prioritized by our self interest.  But surrender brings a new outlook on what we have time to do.  Specifically the time we would have previously spent on serving self is now free to serve another.  It comes packaged with the strength and energy we need, and is activated by the faith in motion of stepping forward despite the outlook.  We move knowing that what we need will be there when we need it.  Whether that be funds, time, energy, or even mental ability.  Nothing is restricted from those who surrender their own wills, to the will of our Father.  The exhilaration of liberation knows no bounds.

The most fundamental change that comes from real surrender is the source of happiness moves from the transient insatiable focus on self to the fulfilling and lasting service to others.  Happiness deepens.  Contentment reaches a level you did not think possible.  It all comes from the surrender of your will to His.  It all comes from accepting the entire gift He offers, not just a part of it.  As the core of you changes, you become more like Christ.  You begin to take joy in what He takes joy in.  And conversely you begin to experience pain in what He finds pain in.  But the change is so complete, so wonderful, and so enlightening – it will be the reason that world wants to know why you are so different.  If they are not asking yet, don’t worry, keep surrendering, and they will.

Time to join God in the pursuit of His existence – to love others.  Welcome to the freedom he offers to make this possible.  The text that all things are possible with Him, has never been more true, more real, or more attainable.  Surrender and find out what it is I am talking about …

Nothing But Upside ...

Have you rediscovered your childhood yet?  Most adults of a certain age, have a hard time imagining themselves as children once again – young, innocent, protected, provided for, and loved unconditionally.  Adults who are parents aspire to make these conditions a reality for their own children, but even parents have a hard time thinking of themselves as mere children.  Yet our Savior said … “of such (referring to little children) is the Kingdom of Heaven.”  He then went on to stress the importance of receiving the Kingdom of Heaven like little children.  So I ask again, have you gotten back in touch with your inner-child?

One of the biggest shortcomings of today’s Christian believer is how similar they are to the world around them.  Both believers and unbelievers suffer the same set of conditions in the world, some good, and some not.  But today’s Christian is hardly distinguishable from the non-believer in terms of their responses to the situations life presents.  The core of the reason for this problem is the interjection of “self” into the Christian religion.  Christians focus on “self” to find the will to resist temptation, overcome their own sins, and share the gospel with others – pointing out to them all the faults the Bible helps plainly identify.  They assume this to be their Christian duty.  It is not.  Neither is the gospel, the Gospel, when self lies at its core.

The entire concept of Christians gaining control over their own impulses, or over their periodic temptations is an illusion inspired by focusing on self as the means to the end – rather than on Christ who alone can achieve these goals.  “Control” is itself a fantasy.  The only being that could possibly exert control is God, and then only when we get out of the way and allow Him to do so.  But denying God control over our lives does not mean we take it back.  It means we default control to another being who remains our sworn enemy.  But the humans who most easily understand their lack of control, and do not seem to mind at all, are children.

Children have no need of control, as everything in their world is taken care of for them … nothing but upside really.  When we relinquish our perceived control over to God for Him to implement His will in our lives, we are freed from all the stress, anguish, and exhaustion that comes from trying so hard to be the good parent, the responsible adult, the failing prodigal.  God becomes our parent.  It is He who takes care to make sure we eat.  It is He who takes care to make sure we have cloths to wear, shelter from the elements, and protection from the enemy.  Who better to provide for every one of our needs than our own Father God? 

Do children stress out over these very real and very present needs?  No.  Generally, they are too busy playing and having fun.  Children are free to laugh, play, and enjoy the friendship of the Lord.  Children find joy in discovery.  Children find joy in sharing with their playmates, inventing games, talking with each other, hanging out.  Children don’t stress about unemployment, recessions, homelessness, or starvation – at least the children who are being provided for.  And with the Lord as your parent, can you not be the child who becomes free from all these worries as well?

Think about it – you do NOT control your career.  You can send out 10 thousand resumes and never get a hit.  You can interview hundreds of time and rejected every single time.  You can be demoted.  You can be fired.  You can lose your benefits, your pay, your insurance – at the drop of a hat.  Your company can go out of business, through no fault of your own.  All these things can happen to you without any control on your part.  So do you blame God for them when they do?  I wonder, when the converse happens, do you believe you are any more in control than when catastrophe strikes?  When you get a raise, a promotion, a new job at a new firm – do you take the credit for your outstanding work efforts, your skills, prowess, political ability, or task performance?  Why?  It is no more you in control when the good things happen, than you in control when trouble comes your way.

But children do not concern themselves with these things.  So why should you?  Be free from it all.  Trust in your Father, that He will provide you with what you need to survive.  He will cause a job to come your way.  He will guide you on the job.  He will insure your success, and your downfalls, according to the larger needs of your life – according to what is truly important, beyond mere financial success, to spiritual success.  But start by learning to let it all go, like a child, and trust your Dad, your Heavenly based Dad.

Once you work, you eat, you tend to find shelter and clothing.  The discipline of work keeps your hands busy and your mind from becoming idle.  But children do not live to work.  Neither do they live to play.  They live to love.  And they are much more able than their adult counterparts to remember that love means more than work, play, or even eating.  Children sacrifice themselves for love.  They will give their food to a hungry pet because they love them.  They will give away their favorite toys, for love.  They hold nothing back, because nothing is held from them.

This is what your Father in Heaven died literally to give to you.  He wants to take care of your every need, your every desire, and shield you from every pain.  This is the continued good news of Salvation, it is the gift basis it comes in.  It requires nothing of you.  Your “self” can safely die and in its place can be born a servant’s heart.  Instead of trying so hard to master your own destiny, experience the freedom of becoming a child whose destiny lies in the loving hands of a Heavenly parent who is fully capable of insuring we reach it.  It is not up to us what we become, it is up to God.  All we need to do, is get out of the way, and allow Him to lead us there.

There is nothing but upside when God is allowed the control over our wills.  This is a daily surrender with phenomenal results.  And change is not only possible like this, it is IMPOSSIBLE to resist.  It is real, current, and happens.  You will become a new person.  And in so doing you will look less and less like your counterparts in the world around you.  You may experience the same situations they encounter, but your responses will be completely different.  Your attitudes completely stress free.  The difference is that God has become REAL to you.  Not just a collection of stories in a Bible you read about other people’s relationships with Him – No – He becomes REAL to you.  It is the birth of a personal salvation you are experiencing. 

An end to the sin you have struggled so hard and so long to overcome; now it simply melts away from you; unburdening your heart from the stress, guilt, and painful cycles you have been bound to.  It simply goes away.  Your desires begin to become purified.  Your thoughts begin to be lifted from the mire and dirt of this world to the sublime peace of the next one.  Your love begins to intensify in a way you could otherwise not have ever experienced.  These are the differences the world longs to know.  These are the true reasons the gospel spread all over the world, not be an albatross around the necks of the guilty – but to be the key that unlocks the chains of sin that have so long bound the world to its pain.  This is the gospel in its simplicity and its power.

I have found the freedom of letting it all go to the Lord.  I am far from perfect, and would class myself as chief among sinners, but now I see more than a hope for the end of sin, I am experiencing the reality of it.  Though not yet fully employed again, I am not stressing out over it at all.  I have embraced the peace of trusting to God’s greater will, my employment will come from Him, where and when and for who He decides.  I will have no credit in it, as I have no control over it.  It is humbling to be completely dependent on God, but more so it is completely liberating.  I serve no abstract God.  My God is real.  And I pray my life will be a testimony to the reality of His goodness.  For now I go back to playing till Dad calls me up again …

Even More Gifts ...

Imagine yourself on a Christmas morning and after you and your family finish opening presents to each other.  A Semi-tractor-trailer pulls up in front of your house completely filled with yet more presents for you and your loved ones.  Astonished, you and your family set about opening up these hundreds of new and unexpected things.  You can hardly imagine where you are going to put everything, when a train whistle blows and a messenger informs you, that an entire train load of gifts is destined to your home.  What do you do?

Most of us cannot imagine ourselves in this kind of situation.  We know all about the presents we buy for each other around birthdays and holidays like Christmas.  We know how much we spent, on who, and more or less have an idea what they will think of our gifts.  But a semi-truck full of stuff we love but never expected?  How could this be?  Who would be spending so extravagantly on us?  Followed by an entire train-load of even more things?  It is too much.  It is way more than we … expected, deserved, have room for, perhaps … more than we can even appreciate.

You might begin to think about sharing your new found fortune with others in your more extended circle of family and friends.  If the bounty is even too much for them (picture an entire train cargo car filled with Playstation 3 gear), you may even share some bounty with your neighbors.  People would wonder at your new found fortune.  It might even make the local news story, how for some reason you are so richly blessed.  This would be uncommon.  This would look like a real miracle to most.

This entire concept of giving itself is so central to our gospel.  There are those less happy Christians who believe all they have been given is a second chance.  Still others who believe heaven is a gift, but so uncertain about how freedom from sin will ever occur.  Then there are those believers who begin to understand the magnitude of the gift we have been offered by our God.  Freedom from sinful behavior would have been far more than we deserved, but the gift is nowhere near finished with just restricting our actions.  No, so much more is offered; freedom from sinful tendencies; from sinful thoughts; from sinful desires.  Our minds are made free by the gift of salvation.  Our bodies follow.

But the gift is not done yet.  The freedom from the pain of self inflicted misery leads to a life of joy, a life of service that brings contentment and fulfillment that the world cannot touch, but only envy.  Since the world at large is so focused on self, it cannot understand or appreciate the simple joy of giving with no expectation.  Yet this truth is revealed in shining glory to those whose minds have been set free from accepting the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Mental clarity; bound neither to tradition or genetic influence; clearness and presence of mind to realize even more how much this gift keeps on giving.

It is impossible to experience this kind of freedom and joy and not want to share it with those you love.  When you love someone you want them to be happy, you want what is in their best interest.  So it is plain and obvious that upon experiencing this kind of life altering event you would want to share it with those you care about.  You cannot help yourself.  You cannot contain it.  And the sharing is so simple and easy.  It is merely pointing out what made the changes within you, the source of all love, all freedom, all joy – Jesus Christ and His gift of salvation to man.  That’s all there is to it.  You don’t need to point out the sin in others, God will do that; just as surely as He will fix it within them.  It does not matter how they live now, what they do now, what they want now – all those things will be changed by God in His time when they simply accept the gift.  God will save them, that is not your job either; which makes the sharing of this gift simple, easy, and burden free.

This is the fulfillment of the text of our brother James wrote that “Faith without works is dead”.  When you accept the gift of God, and allow Him to transform your life, He takes away ALL of your pain, and gives you peace.  You can face any adversity, bare any circumstances, tolerate any cruelty the world and the devil send your way – for the Lord is with you.  And the peace that leaps from your heart is like a light the whole world marvels at.  It is impossible to contain it.  As our brother James states, you would have to be dead, not to share what you have found, once you find it.

The biggest problem with Christian “witnessing” today is that people have no idea “what” it is they are supposed to be sharing.  This is because they have NOT personally experienced it.  They know no victory over sin from the unexplainable power of God.  They know no infinite joy from the freedom over even the tendency to do evil, as they focus on self all the time and evil that lives within it.  Christians call themselves by a name, but have no idea what the gospel really is.  They sing worship songs, and listen to the relationship stories of others, instead of having one of their own.  They try to share with others the need to repent of sins they themselves have every desire to commit.  They condemn others for their lack of faith and interest in God, while offering no real reason to inquire about the differences He has made in their lives – as there are none.  These poor Christians must learn to let go of self, and allow God to create a new them.

The joy of sharing the gift with someone else, and watching God work in their lives like He works in your own is almost unfathomable.  But the gift is not done giving there either.  You barely have unpacked the semi truck of gifts from God, when the message comes that entire TRAIN is waiting for you.  But that is correct.  The third part of our Creator Godhead, named the Holy Spirit has an additional set of gifts only He can bestow on the newly changed hearts.  Just when you thought it would be impossible to have room for more joy, here comes a trainload.

The text outlining them is found beginning in 1 Corinthians 12:8; they consist of … the word of Wisdom; the word of Knowledge; Faith; gifts of Healing; working of Miracles; Prophesy; Discerning of spirits; Speaking in multiple languages; and the Interpretation of languages.  And along with the various abilities the Holy Spirit can bestow there are also a number of profiles that believers may find themselves gifted with as well, they are ordered as follows … Apostles; Prophets; Teachers; Miracle workers; Healers; Helpers; Administrators; and Communicators.  Not everyone is given every gift, or can do every function.

But who decides who gets what gifts – as stated earlier God (in the form of the Holy Spirit).  These are His gifts to give and He makes the decisions regarding who gets what.  And herein is the trainload of even more joy.  Every believer is given from this offering.  Upon discovering the joy of altering your entire life, comes the heretofore unknowable joy of interacting with the divine on a level only a person of faith could begin to appreciate.  Experiencing the Power of our God in these ways on a personal level tends to make one bold in the face of evil.  As you begin to understand the infinite power of our God, and the extents He has gone to save you – you are at the same time humbled to prostrate yourself on your face before our God – but also emboldened to stand and face any evil the devil may throw at you with no fear at all – for it is not your power but God’s he must face. 

This is how the Apostles could stand in front of the Sanhedrin or in the courts of earthly kings and preach with the passion of our God.  It is not that they were well educated, articulate, well read, well spoken leaders born of generations of Ivy-League privilege.  They were merely simply fisherman, sinners, who bowed their heads in shame before their Lord.  But as these gifts of the Spirit were given them, they became something more than common, more than meager fishermen, they became orators such as the world has never known.  The convicting power of the Holy Spirit moved through those assemblies reaching out to every hardened heart trying so desperately to love them back to reconciliation with their estranged God.  But most would have none of it.  They stiffened their opposition, burying selfish motives in moral platitudes thinking they did the work of God, when in fact though they were the established church to that point in time, they did the work of Satan himself.

So if God gives us salvation, and then continues to give us these gifts, what else does that mean for believers.  Perhaps it means we should honor our God, by accepting His gifts and His servants into the roles He intends for them to perform.  Christians were given the Holy Spirit upon accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not after studying for years and years and years about it.  It was immediate, and real.  And it can be again.  But we must not harden our hearts and refuse to take counsel or advice from someone because they are too old, too young, too new at being a Christian, a female, a sinner, perhaps even a homosexual.  To whom God bestows His gifts, we should not dare to second guess, or impede His plans for us, or for our brothers in faith.  And just when you think the gift might be done in the giving … there is so so much more …