Be authentic, credible, genuine and true.

Titus 2:1 “But as for you, teach what is fitting and becoming to sound wholesome doctrine, possessing the character and right living which identifies true believers.”

Paul instructed Titus to teach good sound doctrine and to teach people to live right, according to God’s Word, that they might be identified as true believers in Christ. One of the greatest needs of the church today is credibility. We, as believers, are most often known by the world more for what we are against than what we are for. i went downtown and did a small survey among young people and was shocked to find that many perceived the church of today as sidewinders, swindlers, liars, manipulators, adulterers, etc, etc.. Yes, those are the words many used. Are we doing “the law” or are we living “on earth as it is in Heaven”? We must each choose an excellent lifestyle that displays the character and attributes of Jesus Christ.

When we put a Christian bumper sticker on our car, wear jewelry with a cross on it, or t-shirts with scriptures, we can rest assured people are watching … they are looking for authenticity.  We need to “be the people” of God, not just “look like” the people of God, we need to reflect Jesus Christ, and BE the people the world wishes so badly that we were.  Let us live a life which makes beautiful the doctrine of the faith.  Maybe we should study to learn what the attributes of God are, then plot a course to make adjustments in our lives which reflect that radiant goodness of God. Let us realize it may take a while of being authentic and transparent before others begin to believe our claim of faith, taking us seriously. It’s not enough to just walk around quoting scripture, the world wants to see results which match our claims.

A beautiful picture in scripture is given in Titus 2:1, where i believe one view of the passage is a picture of a garland around the neck of each believer in Christ Jesus. That garland can represent many things, but for this discussion, let’s call it sound doctrine. The idea of a garland is a wreath, or crown, but is also one of “a beautiful decoration around a window with a view”. Each believer is like a window with a view, and the fruit of the spirit, holiness, and godliness decorate that window, like a garland of grace.  That garland is for every believer, and there is no sideline bench for the incompetent players. Everybody is on the playing field, even if you don’t think you are, listen to the Lord….you are. What does your garland look like?

What good does it do to have a “Jesus Loves You” sticker on your car and practice road rage, or to be foul mouthed with a bad attitude toward people in front of your co-workers, or even when you’re out of sight, around a corner? Our attitudes are contagious, so it would seem to me a couple good questions we should ask ourselves is… what do other people catch from us, and who’s life are we reflecting when we display those sorts of attitudes? The Bible is our bottom line concerning our Conduct, Character, and Conversation. 1 Tim 3:15 “… I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” How we are IN the house is how we should be OUTSIDE the house. It is a gross misunderstanding of the Love of God when we “go to Heaven on Sunday”, then “live like hell” the rest of the week. In your mind, what does it look like if you were to be the sort of person who is holy and godly in your conduct? Do you see yourself walking around with a glowing hallow, wearing long robes, acting all pious and always looking up? Or maybe just a regular sort of human being who practices > simply being honest and authentic? The Hebrew word used for “holiness” strongly implies being “set apart”, or fitted for a peculiar purpose. Let us not be untrue to God’s design.

i encourage us all to examine our lives and make sure the way we live, as best we can, represents the Lord, and what we say we believe. Be authentic.

Thanks for joining me, i’m Social Porter with Living In His Name Ministries.

Psalm 24:8, “Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle.”  Psalm 68:4, “Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name Yah!”   Who is this King?  Isaiah 12:2 said, “I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For YAH, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.”

Who is Jesus to you? What say you?

In Matthew 16:15, Jesus said, “But who do you say that I am?”  By evidence of all which is made, He is The Lord, He is God, the ultimate reality, The Life who is not the result of another, does not rely on another, nor is determined by another; He is the form and foundation of all manifestations of virtue; the essential nature who makes grass green, the sun to shine, clouds to move, and rain to fall. He is the salve who heals our wounds and rescues us from the chains of chaos which bind us in darkness. He is all-wise, all wisdom, and all-knowing, the fountain and foundation of righteous understanding. Who is this King? Who is this person who is everywhere at once, in the past, the present, and the future, whose eye sees the actions and intentions of every heart and soul?

1 John 1:5, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.”  More than just a light, He is THE light, meaning He is the source and origin. The Lord is The Light Being… Divinity, the one and only who supersedes and eclipses the speed of light, originating and surpassing the theory of relativity, able to be in all places at once without breaking a sweat. He can do anything and everything we can do in righteousness, and anything and everything we cannot. He is everything holy and good and lives forever. The Lord is so big He can hold the speck of eternity in His hand, drop it in His eye and never blink!

He is God who gave us His Son, Jesus, the Christ of God, the everlasting Savior, the Lamb who took the full wrath of God upon Himself on our behalf; God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit and these three are one. He is The One King and Ever Lord who has put all things under His feet and God who has made all things in Psalm8. In Matthew He is the King, the promised Savior, in Mark He is the servant and powerful Savior, in Luke He is the perfect Savior, and Son of Man, and in John He is personal Savior, and Son of God.

Paul declares Jesus as “from Him, of Him, through Him and to Him are all things”. Who is this King the world asks? God is Love,  not love “what”, but love “who” bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

God is self-evident, self-revelational, self-inspirational, self-sustaining, self-disclosing; He is ever-living and ever-lasting, infinite in that He has no left – right, front – back, nor top and bottom; He is the only person who is self-aware, totally self-assertive, and totally moral, The One who causes everything to be – because He Is, and He calls Himself “I AM.”

The list of who God is, is only limited by our imagination as we try to give identity to the Lord of Hosts who loves us, died for us, and lives forever that we who believe may have life more abundantly… He is our God, an Amazing God who is infinite and walks the paths of infinity, who stands on the horizon of destiny and creates a place for us in eternity. By the Blood of Jesus, He bridged the gap between the finite and infinite; God The King, The One and Only who exists outside the world and the entire celestial cosmos yet is present throughout the universe as Lord, Captain, and King.

Who do you say He is? Do you know about Him or do you know Him? Do you give Him “mental ascent” or is He “Jesus who is always on your mind”, every moment, every hour, every day, even when you sleep? Who do you say He is? Who is this King? What say you?

I’ve asked myself the question, “If I could relay one thing to people, what would I tell them?” I have considered this a good while now, I have walked far, met a lot of people, and witnessed many things, and I think God has finally settled a statement in my heart. The one thing I would tell them is –

There Is Hope

“There” is Hope

There “Is” Hope

There Is “Hope”

For those who despair that their lives are without

meaning and without purpose;

For those who dwell in a loneliness so terrible that

It has withered their hearts and bowed them to

The ground;

For those who hate because they have no recognition

Of the destiny available to all humanity;

For those who would squander their lives in self-pity,

And self-destruction because they have worn the

Disguise of this world so long they have become their disguise;

For those who don’t have a reason enough to comb their

Hair and can’t look themselves in the eye in the mirror;

“There” is Hope

There “Is” Hope

There Is “Hope”

Today –

I bring tidings of comfort and joy!

There Is Hope!

With my finger which aims, i point towards Jesus, saying “there”, meaning in Christ alone is hope and that He alone is the personification of hope. “Is” … always present tense, used in the sense that there is one and only one. It has a certain amount of direction to it, implying something or someone exists. Jesus IS. “Is” as in a statement of fact. Hope, the anticipation of becoming and overcoming, as in everyone everywhere anticipates that something is going to happen which will change their situation for the better. Christ alone is the true source and power of becoming and overcoming.

In Psalm13, David paints us a picture of the pain he was in. We all endure pain of one sort or another. i’ve never met someone who was NOT in pain, whether it is a prognosis of illness, a crashed relationship, or the loss of something or someone from their lives… these conditions easily cause us to feel lost and alone. In the moment, God can appear to be very distant.

As an example to us from Psalm 13, David calls out to God, saying, “Turn and answer me, O Lord my God!” He prays out of desperation, knowing that only the Lord can “restore the sparkle to [his] eyes” and hope to his heart. David points out the source of all hope. Somehow, mysteriously, talking to God plants a seed of hope, and we all know, these days people really, really need hope. Though it isn’t evident David’s circumstances have changed, in the midst of it all he calls to God and trusts who the Lord says He is. Somehow, mysteriously, the psalmists heart is lifted and his lips find praise and singing to break out of his downward spiral. God sent Moses repetitively before Pharaoh to do the impossible that Egypt and the world would know that the Lord is God and He is who He says He is, and sometimes i think maybe that is the basic problem of humanity… we don’t really believe God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He’ll do.

Today, many stand at a tipping point. We can walk the downward road of despair, or we can go the upper road to the high places by turning to God. He is there, there is hope.

If you have survived but you’ve left your self-esteem behind you

And you have lost the road map back to where you should be;

If you feel frayed and torn, wounded and beaten, waylaid and destroyed by the intrusion of vicious circumstances;

If the twin sisters Mourning and Depression have come to visit at your house and now they won’t leave…

There Is Hope!

“If I could relay one thing to people, what would I tell them?” Yes… that’s what I would say. There Is Hope!

What to do on a sinking ship?

Here is wisdom: If you can’t get out of the storm with Jesus, then be in the storm with Jesus.

Mark 4:35 “On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.”

i’m sure the disciples were excited to see what would happen on “the other side.”  What they probably did not expect was a raging storm!  When they were in the middle, i sincerely doubt the disciples were nearly as excited about “the other side” as they were at the beginning. The closer they got to their destination, the more foreboding the wind and waves became.

God often calls us to launch out to a new destination, and He rarely gives us a laid out plan of the entire trip.  We leave the security of where we are and start out for “the other side” … most of us don’t have a vision of where we’re going, neither do most of us enjoy where we are on the way to where we’re going.  It is often in the middle where we encounter our storms… the testing place, the proving grounds.

The storm the disciples encountered in Mark 4:37 was no spring storm, it was of hurricane proportions!  It’s important also to know these were fishermen, they spent their life on the water and were not easily shaken by a storm.  But this was not any normal storm! The wind absolutely howled, and the water was filling the boat.  Amazingly, with the storm going full force … Jesus was asleep in the stern (Mark 4:38).   Do you ever feel like that?  Your life feels to be in the middle of terrible circumstances, you’re sure your boat is sinking, and it appears God is asleep … you might even yell at Him and even want to pick a fight, saying, “Don’t you even care that I’m dying here?!”  You spent time with Him trying to feel His presence… and nothing.  You prayed and fasted, threw yourself on the floor screaming and crying, using up an entire box of tissue… and nothing.  You searched for an answer, but no matter how hard you struggled against the wind and waves, the storm raged on and you didn’t know what to do.  Some call it the “dark night of the soul”.

At times like these, when it looks like the boat is sinking and we’re stuck in the middle, it is time for faith.  Easy to say, you say, but carefully consider, what are your options at that point?  Is He God or not?   And when He said, “Let’s go to the other side”, we must employ faith… God expects us to believe Him that if He said it, it will happen. If you spend your hours weeping and lashing out, the storm is the same. If you sit and do nothing, the storm is the same. Even if you did backflips up and down the street while declaring amazing things, it is highly likely the storm would be the same.

Jesus did calm the storm… but He also rebuked the disciples saying “How is it that you have no faith?”  Do you think He didn’t know, or was He asking the question in hopes they would question themselves? Of course, He knew, but they didn’t. It is vital to our future that we grow in faith, and growing in faith doesn’t happen because all things are always well with us.  We must learn to conquer our fear and press on to the other side.  It’s easy to enjoy our present situation when all things are rosey, but we’ve got to learn to enjoy where we are on the way to where we will be, possessing joy and peace in the midst of the storm as well as after it has passed on.

If you can’t get out of the storm with Jesus, then be in the storm with Jesus, and “let her ride” (Acts 27:15)!  Lean into the wind and trust God. Jesus will not forsake us, not now, or later. Let faith do it’s work.

          Nahum 1: “Look! Striding across the mountains— a messenger bringing the latest good news: peace! Celebrate, worship and recommit to God! No more worries about this enemy. This one is history. Close the books.”

Psalms 35: “But let me run loose and free, celebrating God’s great work,  Every bone in my body laughing, singing, “God, there’s no one like you. You put the down-and-out on their feet and protect the unprotected from bullies!”

Psalms 37: “The spacious, free life is from God, it’s also protected and safe. God-strengthened, we’re delivered from evil— when we run to him, He saves us.”

Psalms 124: “… we’ll discover we’ve flown free from their fangs, free of their traps, free as a bird. Their grip is broken; God’s strong name is our help, the same God who made heaven and earth.”

Nahum 1: “The Lord says, I’ve afflicted you, Judah, true, but I won’t afflict you again. From now on I’m taking the yoke from your neck and splitting it up for kindling. I’m cutting you free from the ropes of your bondage.”

Are you free? You say you are, but what is your evidence? i believe we confuse agreement with commitment. People agree that God is right and true, but there is often not much of a commitment to actually DO it. Just because we agree doesn’t mean we intend or commit to DO anything.

Jesus said, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36

So if Jesus Christ, the Son of God, says we are free, and we agree with Him that we are free, as He said, why are we willing to wear even a small yoke of the enemy? Many seem willing to continue bearing the burdens of their own past, unwilling to truly lay them down, even though the Lord says He has cast our sins as far as east is from west. Sometimes we’re even willing to bear the burdens of someone else’s past, whether they are biological relatives or not.         Why are we so willing to blame our problems on someone in our history, when we are the ones, through our own choosing and poor decision making, we are the ones who have generated vicious circumstances and cruel, self-imposed rules? It wasn’t them, it was us.

Why do we have such a hard time letting God be good to us? Listen to the question here: Why do we have such a hard time letting God be good to us? He said we are free, so how free is free enough for you? Can you imagine being free, and what does that look like to you? Are you willing to be “pretty much free”, or “mostly free”? How free is free enough?

We take God’s ultimate words of Freedom, and reduce the weight of what He said to align with unworthiness in our own eyes. We try and re-create the yoke of bondage for people who Jesus has set free, telling them that even though Jesus set them free from sin and ALL their history, there is still a curse  which hangs over them as a result of their great-grand father, or mother, or someone in their history who is long dead? Those people have nothing to do with us, they are no longer among the living, so i’m wondering, how did some curse survive the washing of the Blood of Christ? By us telling them they are still under a curse after accepting Christ is like saying the Blood of Jesus wasn’t sufficient to cleanse us from all sin.

(BREATH) Are you, who do deliverance telling people they have generational curses, are you saying the Blood of Jesus isn’t quite effective enough to really do the job, that you, yes you, being the only one who knows of this extra-special condition which was somehow beyond the vision of Almighty God, are you saying only you can bring relief to the poor undelivered soul, which even God Himself was not able to do?

For what reason do you bring into bondage again those whom have accepted Christ as Savior? Having confessed their sins, and asked for His forgiveness for any and all transgressions, why do you offer for them to come back into bondage by trying to influence them into believing they are still under some curse? Is that the work of the cross of Christ? Who’s burden have you decided they should carry after Jesus set them free from the burdens and weights of sin and darkness?

Proverbs 26:2 “Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow, So a curse without cause shall not alight.” Have you ever read that? Think about it. If there’s not a cause for the curse to come, then it doesn’t stick, and i don’t care who the spell caster was that made it… it doesn’t stick. If we are under the blood of Jesus, then how does a curse stick?

The word used for “unleavened” is Greek ad’-zoo-mos, metaphorically meaning free from the “leaven of iniquity”. You are not responsible for the leaven of my iniquity, nor anyone else’s either. i am not by brother’s keeper, i am my brother’s brother. It’s not my job to make sure my brother gets life right and keeps the rules in order to be OK. God never asked any of us to play Holy Ghost Jr, policing people’s lives. i didn’t say don’t care, i said my problems are not your cross to bear. You have your own burden and don’t need mine too. i am my brothers’ brother, not my brother’s keeper. It is not my responsibility to make sure, looking over your shoulder, always measuring you, to make sure you “get it right”.

Those who do deliverance, do you hammer on sin until the person admits they are guilty? If they don’t see it, then all that hammering may actually cause them to comply, but probably, nothing of the heart has changed. i do believe that’s called “gas lighting”. It is manipulating someone into confessing to something which may not have actually occurred. When i was a new Christian i was told i was and always would be a terrible sinner so i’d just better get used to it. In my desperation, i confessed to the Lord every problem i could think of, and even sins i’d never been guilty of… constantly confessing day and night. i was desperately trying TO BE free as opposed to believing God who said i AM free. By the blood of Christ, we ARE free. The Lord is telling the truth, we – are – free. We don’t have to get saved and constantly repent to become free, we ARE free in Christ. Oh yes we are! God said it, so it MUST be true.

What do you think?

“Always”, and “Never” are, what i call, ultimate words. There are very few things in this life we live which are “always”, and “never”, but yet in the Bible there are ultimate words used, and i believe the Lord wants us to be involved with His ultimate intent and purpose, thus He uses ultimate words for us to ultimately trust Him and ultimately believe Him. Ultimate – to the utter most.

“Always” – at all times; “Never” – at no time. Another ultimate word is “Every”, meaning all individuals and parts without exception. Do we take these words seriously? We say we do, and we read the scripture and agree enthusiastically, but often we live it out differently. i question myself over how often i say God always has my back, but when things get tough, how often to i flip over backwards wondering where the Lord is in my life? When i use the words “always”, “every” and “never” i may not really mean them to their fullest, But, when God uses those words, He means what He says and He means not just to the edge of the universe, He means beyond the vanishing point, past when time stops, past the edges of understanding, with not even a thin shadow of a chance He will do anything other than what He has promised.

In Matt 28:20 Jesus said, “I am with you always,”, meaning, for believers, He is always with us and there is never a time He is not. In 2Cor2:14, Paul says God always leads us in triumph in Christ. Always. At all times, and there is not a time in Christ, which God does not lead us in triumph. 1Cor13:8, “Love never fails”, at no time does Love ever fail. Ever. Heb13:5, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Hmmm…. “I will Never leave you,” and “I will always be with you.” Always and Never. Ultimate words. Should we take God seriously? Of course, but do we?

i believe many of us have a Perception of Disconnection. Here of late i have been asking God that i would somehow spend more time with Him, and that i want to talk to Him more often than i do because i’ve realized i don’t talk to Him as often as i think i do. i have a vision of a long, straight line and on it are blips of how often i speak to the Lord. To my disappointment, there are long sections of flat line. So i’ve become acutely aware of how much i talk to God and, in the summary of things, i am pretty dissatisfied with how little i actually do. Additionally, while becoming aware of how little i talk to the Lord, i’ve also become decidedly aware of how thankful i am that Jesus incessantly intercedes for us, Rom8:34. He is   always communicating with me even when i don’t consciously communicate with Him.

We so often have opportunity to interact with God, but yet many times we tend to sit and stare. Why? Why do we so often sit and stare, not talking, not thinking… just staring instead of speaking to the Lord, or worshiping? And in those moments, many of us, more often than not, perceive a disconnection from God when it seems nothing is going on … no events, no conversations, no emails. When we are aware nothing is happening in our head or heart, we have a perception of disconnection and it is not true. Suddenly, we decide God must not be there.

We are not disconnected. According to the finished work of the cross, for those who believe on Christ, we are always connected, never disconnected. Jesus said so with His ultimate words of “always with you”, and “never forsake you”.

How is it God uses ultimate words like “always” and “never” in reference to His relationship with us, but we selectively hear Him? We read the scriptures, give a big amen, but then we want to get selective about how much is “every thought” which should be taken captive, and how often is “always”, or how seldom is “never”. Measuring, like how wrong is too wrong, and how right is right enough. When the Lord said take “every thought captive”, He meant not just the bad ones, but the good ones too, but we decide to be selective and re-decide the word of the Lord from “every thought” to be “pretty much select thoughts”. God said “I am with you always”, but yet we perceive a disconnection, re-deciding how often is “always”. The Lord said, “I will never leave you”, but yet we re-decide His words, measuring how seldom is never, as if one time out of 1000 is close enough to call it never. i think God meant exactly what He said when He uses the words, “Always”, “Never” and “Every”.

He said those ultimate words because He meant them. He did not approximate, He did not say “for the most part”, or “pretty much rarely”. He did not say “take most thoughts captive” … that’s not what God said. Again, He meant what He said.

We are connected to God through the blood of the Son, whether we perceive it, feel it or not. By faith, my connection with God is as consistent as the Son, and Jesus never fails. Ever. Jesus is with us and will never leave us or forsake us to the ends of the earth, and we can bank on that with our lives. God expects us to believe Him, always.