HEART MATTERS

“Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.  Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.”    Hebrews 13:12-13

Have you ever felt outside the camp? Have you ever felt the reproach of being rejected, ostracized, or ignored as though you were invisible to your peers?  It stings doesn’t it?  If we’re honest we can admit that those experiences are some of the most hurtful moments of our lives. I’m willing to bet you can quickly recall and instance when this has happened to you without any hesitation.  It hurt us whether we we’re the kid who came to school on a Monday morning only to discover everyone was still reeling over a classmates’ weekend party of which we knew nothing about because we were never invited.  And today, even as adults, it still hurts us to find out we’ve been purposefully left out of some get together or event by those we thought we were close to.  It’s a universal principle-everyone has a desire to be loved, to feel welcomed, and to be embraced-especially by those we love, admire, and care about.  Non-believers and believers alike all want to be accepted inside the camp. It’s true! No one wants to be left out or forced to go outside of the camp.

However, according to the scripture above, as believer’s, not only are we to be okay when we’re not accepted inside the camp, we should be moving of our own volition away from the camp-to the place where Christ is.  Jesus is outside the camp!  If you’re a Christian, your place is with Him!  As you move and have your being established by Him, the camp will more and more become unaccepting and at times even a hostile environment. The moment you became a Christian, spiritually speaking your eviction notice was activated. For it was at that very moment when you believed that Jesus is The Christ, when you became a new creation in Him (2nd Corinth 5:17), that you were relocated and the world ceased to be your true home.  At that moment your identity changed, your eternal destination changed, and all things became new!  At that moment, whether you realized it or not, there were some things, some behaviors, and some people in your present, who in the future would be destined to become a part of your past.  As you begin to “put on Christ daily,” quickly changing in some areas and slowly transforming in others, the most comfortable and familiar places will begin to shift and rearrange. The more you unabashedly proclaim your newfound faith and begin living in accordance with the Word of God, the more you’ll experience a pulling away of certain family members and friends. The more you take a stand on your convictions, the more you’ll see that some of your peeps have decided they no longer wish to keep company with you. The sanctification process is real! But take heart, you’re in good company. Jesus knows what it’s like to be outside the camp!

Continue reading Outside The Camp →

HEART MATTERS

“All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful.  All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”  1st Corinthians 6:12

Wow!  Did you get that?!  Have you ever been with a group of believers, chose to abstain from something, and immediately someone judged you for it?  They perceived your decision not to partake as a “holier than thou” act of self-righteousness or some sort of manifestation of legalism.  Your decision to go against the grain can cause them to regard you as being “ridiculous”, “uptight”, a “party-pooper”, or a down right “kill joy.”  It’s those areas for us, the ones which are not the known black and white outright sins, which can trip us up and lead to resentment, judgement, and division.  It’s those complex grey areas in which some believers have liberty and freedom but others need to opt out of, refrain from, and restrict themselves, which can complicate our relationships. Whether you chose to forgo attending a rated R movie or something as simple as refusing to partake in having desert, when we’re socializing it can be hard to stick to our boundaries and convictions. It can be difficult to escape being misunderstood. When others enter the picture the lines the Lord’s drawn exclusively for us can be off-putting and confusing.  Unfortunately at times we believers are prone to jumping to the conclusion that the things one believer chooses to abstain from are same things they also believe all other believers in Christ should be abstaining from as well.  When a Christian publicly takes a stand in the grey areas of life among other believers, even if it’s in a relatively small social gathering or fellowship, we automatically assume they’re implying we all should be embracing the same standard for our own lives.  As a result we respond by either feeling judged or by becoming judgmental. We react as if either they’re being foolish or as though it’s being suggested we’re being failures.  So we become either defiant or defensive or both.

I’m not sure why it is we forget as individuals our walk with Christ, in many respects, are uniquely different from one another.  My walk isn’t your walk.  My weaknesses are different, my strengths are different.  My pace is different, and my gait is different. The areas you tread with ease might cause me to trip and fall-and vice versa.   Only the Lord knows where we are and what we can and cannot handle-our walk with Him has to be determined by Him.  We can’t even establish it for ourselves yet alone compare it to others. .

Continue reading It May Be Lawful, But Is It Helpful? →

Heart Matters

“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  John 8:32

Oh if only everyone walked in the truth!  One can only dream.  Imagine if it were so just how easy would it be to communicate and agree  with each other!  If only we could: recognize the truth; own the truth; believe the truth; acknowledge the truth; and speak out of-the truth.  If only that were true.  Unfortunately many of us have allowed the truth to become contaminated and tainted for us.  The enemy knows all it takes is a tiny piece of deception to pollute the truth.  The enemy knows that without truth revealed the meaningful areas of our lives can begin to feel like a lie.  The enemy knows if he can get just one party to embrace a lie, (especially an internal one created by ourselves specifically for the purposes to allow us to feel right, justified, and innocent), he can kill off a part of what was meant to be a thriving healthy relationship.  Yeah I believe its the lie that’s a result of the “sin of omission”, that which we choose ignore and refuse to validate, that does us in the most when it comes to our relationships.  It’s that type of deception that will block the door of real restoration every single time.  Any attempt to have a serious conversation will veer off course, get stumped and sidetracked, and end in frustration without accomplishing any ground towards restoration.  For the party clinging to the lie and refusing to walk in the truth, anything that so even hints at blowing off the lid and exposing it entirely, will be immediately and viciously rejected.  Aha! That’s what Jack Nicholson meant when he said in the movie “A Few Good Men” -“you can’t handle the truth!”  Can you?

What’s really sad is believers are also prone to this weakness.  We deny truth because of our pride, our desire to win, our selfishness, our self-centeredness, and/or our inability to own our stuff because of the pain we’d have to realize as a result.  Here’s the thing-when we fail to walk in the truth of whatever situation we may find ourselves in, we can cause others pain. For whatever it is we’re denying it also means we’re denying every accompanying detail that goes along with it, such as the grace, the love, and forgiveness we’ve received from other person.  When we deny truth we damage others.  When we deny truth we diminish our witness for Christ.  When we deny truth we delay healing.

Continue reading Walking In THE TRUTH! →

Heart Matters

“And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Judges 6:12

When someone says a person called them out of their name, it usually means they have referred to or addressed them in a way that’s less than admirable. Being called out of ones’name really equates to being cursed out.  It’s never a good thing and no one ever likes when it happens to them.  But did you know that God will sometime call us out of our names as well?  And guess what?  When He does, it’s always a good, righteous, and holy thing.  When He calls us something different than we’re presently living in and displaying through our character, He’s in essence saying:this is who you were meant to be; this is who I’m going to make you become. Everything that God speaks is the truth!  You see, The One who created you, knows you better than any other.  Yes your Creator knows why He created you and who you were created to be.  Even as believers often times we can find ourselves living in opposition to what our Christian character should be and our calling in Christ Jesus is. Right there in the midst of our lives while we’re living in a fog clouded by ignorance, apathy, distraction and self-realization, the Lord is able to meet us where we are and confidently call us out with a new name (or title).  We can be living in a completely opposite way from what He’s purposed us to live and yet He lovingly redirects us and blesses us with a new and admirable name.  Why? Because He knows “we can do all things through Christ Jesus” Philippians 4:13. Because He knows it’ll be HIM working in and through us to accomplish the things He’s called us to do.  Because we we’re created for His glory and His purposes “..before the foundation of the world.” Ephesians 1:4  Because we we’re bought with an incredible price 1st Corinthians 6:20.

Regarding the above scripture, God called Gideon, a man who at that very moment was hiding from the Midianites, a “mighty man of valor”.  Gideon must have heard that greeting and immediately turned around to look for the real man the Angel of the LORD was addressing.  When he saw no one else he had to have been like “who me?”.  During this time the Israelites were dealing with the consequences of their sin of idolatry.  The Lord had given them over to the hand of the Midianites for the last seven years.  Every time the Israelites would grow their crops, the Midianites would come and jack everything they needed to survive.  So here is Gideon, impoverished with his people Israel, hiding out from their oppressors threshing in a wine press instead of out in the open where the chaff could more easily separate from the wheat. Here is Gideon, trying to survive, working under a very real and severe threat, operating out of a valid fear, when the Angel of the LORD appears to him and calls him out of his name.  

Continue reading Called Out Of Your Name →