To Bind and Loose....

Rest is the balance to work.... and we seem to place value on what we are producing.

I've taken some time to rest and I understand the importance more and more. I get to the point sometimes where the value of rest is very low on the "totem pole".

Work Hard, Rest Religiously, and Find God in Both.

There are disciplines that the Bible lays out for you. Not just because, but because they are essential to the balance.

Look up disciplines that the Bible states. (spiritual, self, etc.)

You are not a sociologist or an anthropologist, are you?

..... Human behavior/interactions/reactions/needs/responsibilities have common threads and the Bible speaks to these.

Don't think that the Bible is dated one minute. You are Saul, Nicodemus, Pilate, David, Abel, Judas, Peter, etc.

Rest because....

- you need it

- you have more to give if you do

- it heals

- you are commanded to

- if nothing else.....do it because God does.

r

1 Cor. 9:25-27

There are 2 types of pain in life.

Trials - these are the pains that are afflicted to you from the outside.

....cancer

....losing a job

....parents divorce

....someone breaks your heart

....someone close dies

....etc. (I could make a long list)

Discipline - these are the pains that you bring to yourself by denying your desires

.....Fasting/Dieting

.....Give away our $$$, our time, our energy, etc.

.....Not watching TV

.....Not judging even if you know your right

.....Praying

.....Reading the Bible instead of Twilight

.....Helping others

What's real is trials and discipline bring you closer to God and make you spiritual mature.

Trials you don't necessarily control, Discipline you do.

We live in a ME society. iPhone, iPod, iPad, My Playlist, My Diet, My Shows, My Style,......Me Monsters is what we are. We rarely suppress ourselves.

So when the church tries to tell you to subject yourself to Christ and to other people, there is crickets. Nobody whats to serve, because you serve yourself in every other aspect of life (myself included).

I will say this... we are good at serving with our mouths, but that isn't Biblically sound at all.

Heck... We live in a culture where leaders of churches make more than the congregation. The people called to serve, teach, and live as Christ did show us that subjection doesn't apply to ever aspect of their live (especially the wallet).

We need Discipline. We need to tell the "Me Monster" ....No.

Find something that you want/desire. Tell it "No".

Once you tell it "No" long enough, that desire dies. Then you move on to the next and it's not a discipline anymore.....It who you've been transformed into (Romans 12)

....please insert Psalm 19:7-12

Do you ever find yourself in a rut or a place where things never seem to work out?

Maybe your happyness isn't something you to need to go out and get.

God's Word

-restores your soul

-makes you wise

-brings joy to your heart

Today, find happyness in the Word. God will meet you wherever you stand. Wisdom brings understanding and understanding brings peace.

Find a verse and share how it speaks to you.

(i know i spelled happyness wrong... it was intentional)

Luke 24:35-49 (emphasis on verse 49)

Jesus reappears to His disciples and instructs them on the task at hand. He explains that he has fulfilled His part and tells them what is next.

He tells them...

Not to fear.

Be reassured.

To feed Him.

Remember what you've been taught.

Go out and share this.

But before they act they should "stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven."

Matt. 15:8-9 (Jesus quoting Isaiah 29:13)

This verse brings curiosity to the front of my mind. I spend a lot of time with people inside the church and I feel that this verse needs to be read and mediated on more and more often.

The first part (verse 8) reveals that to me that people love to "save face" when it comes to church and community of people within it. People love to say what they would want to believe but don't actually believe it. You can tell want a person actually believes by what they do.

Yes... they may say forgiveness is the most important thing, but if they hold grudges or they are constantly judging/criticizing...do they believe in forgiveness?

I think our culture consists of keeping your true beliefs silent if they don't line up (or at least keep the fact that you live a life that is in opposition of what you say is right... a secret)

I've often wondered if this keeps people out of church, because they may see more honesty outside these walls.

Second part (verse 9) speaks on the teachings within a church.

...

Do we live by the doctrines/structures of man or that of God?

We (all churches) have rules, rules, and rules.

And there are rules on how to follow the rules.

And rules on how to deal with rule-breakers.

And rules on how to reward those who are rule-followers.

And rules about making new rules.

Understanding that this is a bold statement

....but there is 1 rule.

Love God.... the end..... fin...... al final.

We spend energies in so many ways and have a tendency to forget "why" we are doing what we are doing... and we end up "worship(ing) me in vain"

When you are at church, do you focus on loving/worshiping God?

What else do you do at church? (follow rules, structure, make sure people are doing their job, criticize, sleep, etc)

Quote:

"The word 'getting' is, I think, the problem with contemporary Christianity. God is the audience of worship. What you get is, quite frankly, irrelevant as a starting point."

-James Gilmore (economist talking about the church experience and people's attitude towards worship.

Jer. 29:11

This is just one of many verses that are misused in the bible. This is a big one in the prosperity Christianity movement, but I'm not going to write out the problems with prosperity Christianity.

The purpose of this post is that I heard 4 different examples of people misusing scriptures this week. They didn't misquote them, but they we're using them in a prideful sense of proving others wrong. Scripture isn't put into place for you to use as ammunition. People have a tendency to use particular verses to fulfill there own beliefs. This is okay if you read the whole bible, understood the entire bible, and had an understanding on the intent of the verse.

This doesn't happen....

Instead you have people using them to create an illusion of their god that supports their ideas and agendas.

Verses have been used to justify genocide, rape, women oppression, slavery, forbidding dancing or alcohol, racism, war, etc, etc, etc....

I write this as a warning because we all have the tendency to speak on God's behave about social issues. God is more concerned with your soul and your heart, and the soul and heart of those you're trying to coerce, convince, or persuade.

Love God constantly.

Love Your Neighbor at all costs.

Worry about how you can do these things and not how "right" you are.

Salvation isn't a win-loss outcome.

2 Cor 9:6-15

It's not always easy to give our money away. We work hard to earn it, and we need it to buy necessities (and maybe some fun things as well).

But in this passage, Paul reminds us why it can be easy: God is the great Provider, God owns everything, and God is always able to provide for you as you provide for others.

You can't outgive God.

So do you trust God? If so check to see where your money goes.

Qu?

-Why is it so hard to give sometimes?

Ask God for faith to trust him in the areas of your life in which you're still holding on to your money.

Think about some ways that God is providing for you already.

Psalm 118:24

Today is pretty simple. Thank you God for what I have.

Today, some of us are fasting to help us raise money and also awareness.

This is my 5th fast of the year (all about 36 hrs) and all are different. I think this one is more powerful because I know that others are doing it as well. My brother's church is doing 30 Hour Famine at the same time, and I think that connects us as well.

I could write for days on the importance of fasting or quote numerous scriptures to drive in why it was important back then.

I'd rather, just be thankful that I have the opportunity to feel something natural, something that help me empathize with others, and something that keeps me focused on God.

So Thanks.

Qu?

-What is something that you can thank God for today?

Tell Him.