My Thinking Is Turned Upside Down

Before I say what is on my mind, I must begin with this. I, by nature, am a teacher. Furthermore, I also love to learn. It's just a part of me. But what is never all that lovable is having to back-track and re-learn things.

You may ask, "Re-learn what kinds of things?" And if you didn't just ask that, I will answer that particular question anyways.

Growing up, I was always taught, "Jesus fulfilled the law; he never abolished it." But now I am beginning to re-think that statement.

The first part is clear; Jesus fulfilled all the requirements for righteousness found in the law. And that I believe with all my heart. His fulfillment of the law and death on the cross is my only means of obtaining righteousness; and I have received it. But now that I have been made righteous in the sight of God through faith in Jesus, what about the law? Here's what Paul wrote to the church...

Col. 2:13-14 "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross."

What is the written code? Isn't that the law, given to men by God through Moses?

What does it mean to be canceled? It has been done away with. It is nullified. On what grounds? The cross of Christ; through Christ all of our trespasses are forgiven, and the written code condemns us no longer if we are found in Christ.

What was I taught was Jesus fulfilled the law, but the law is very necessary. But what I find is that Jesus fulfilled the law, and canceled it and all its requirements. Why? So I could be free to live however I choose? No. Rather, that I may live for God, knowing He has already made me righteous in His sight through His own blood. And this is true freedom, not living for my own pleasures. But I am free to grow in my relationship with God without worrying about my standing with Him. And I'm loving it.

June is here, and so am I

Welcome back Justin!

May has passed, with all of its glories, and now my mind is returning to me.

I'll go ahead and admit it. Sometimes I tend to have a proud streak. Before the wedding, everyone told me that it would all be a blur. I believed them, partially. Surely I'd be able to remember more than they say... But June is here, and I do believe I hardly remember the month of May.

But that is just fine with me! I am now happily (very happily) married to the love of my life, and we are starting our new adventure together. I couldn't be happier, having reached this stage in my journey with the Lord. This is part of the journey with the Lord.

Right now I am still in school and I work at Chick-fil-a. Hannah lost her job earlier this year before the wedding, so we're still waiting for the Lord to bring the right job for her. It really is a time of faith and growth for the both of us, together. But I wouldn't have it any other way. We are exactly where the Lord wants us.

Sure, we could have waited for me to be totally done with school, or waited til Hannah had the job she wanted. But that's just not where we're supposed to be. The time to get married was May 15th, and my beautiful bride was given to me by her parents. (Thank you thank you thank you!!)

So May flew by, June is here, and I am very excited two and a half weeks into our journey.

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Also, I want to say thank you to our many family members for the beautiful wedding (note, Harvest Church is family; we are blessed with a very large family). We couldn't have done it without you. We are still being blessed by the generosity of everyone.

Almost There!

Tomorrow morning I will drive out to campus, walk to my classes, and take my last final exams as a single person. And then, in exactly two weeks, I shall be married to the most wonderful woman in the entire world.

It's such an exciting time... not only am I able to get another semester behind me (and consequently so much closer to being done with school!); I am also on the verge of starting a new life with my soon-to-be bride. And on top of that, the grace of God has been working its way into my life, and bringing freedom as it is revealed. Now, that's exciting. It seems like everything in my life is screaming, "You're almost there! Hang in there!"

Sure enough, I'm seeing more of the light at the end of the tunnel. I haven't graduated yet, but I shall finish (and finish strong!). It won't be too much longer.

I can almost see my bride turning the corner, and walking down the aisle so we can start our new life together. Two weeks to go, with more work to do, but I am ever so glad I won't have to wait forever.

Pertaining a revelation of the grace of God in my life, more and more is coming in. As I said, it's bringing freedom: freedom from guilt or shame, freedom from fear, freedom to move forward, freedom from worry, and more...

But it's not as clear as I wish it were right now. The lights are coming on, and the biggest thing is I'm realizing this freedom has nothing to do with me. It has everything to do with what Jesus did on my behalf, because I could not and cannot do it for myself. In Jesus Christ, all the promises of God are "Yes." So when God says my sins are forgiven, they have indeed been blotted out. When God says he now sees me without a blemish, in Christ I have been made perfect, a new creation.

It's still coming in; I know I won't be able to see it perfectly while I'm still clothed in this flesh, but I know there's so much more that has been revealed to me. But with each new bit, I feel I'm being drawn closer to the heart of God. Even though I still mess up, I am reminded that "there is no condemnation for those found in Christ Jesus." So that can't keep me from knowing God more, and this wonderful grace that has been given me.

And anything that sets itself up in opposition to me, "if God is on our side, who can be against us?" And even more so, "We are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus..." There is absolutely nothing that can remove me from this grace in which I stand. And I long to know more about this security I now possess through Christ. I know more than I did yesterday, and the day before, but I need more.

I feel it; I'm on the edge of something more. I'm almost there, not by my efforts, but the Lord who is speaking this grace to my heart. He is accomplishing this work. I am doing nothing to obtain this; I just get the privelege of receiving it. What a blessed man I am.

While I Was Working

I find it amazing how the Lord works, and how the Holy Spirit brings things to our rememberance. For instance, every Sunday morning for a while now my Pastor has been preaching nothing but the grace of God, and that message has been working its way into my heart more and more. It just so happened that Monday (as I was cleaning the lot at Chick-fil-a) a scripture was brought to mind - I remember hearing "...for he cannot disown himself..."

The scripture sounded familiar, and I remembered further, "if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself." In other words, even if I am not obedient to everything the Lord gives me to do, He remains faithful to me no matter what. Why? Not because I deserve it; everything I know about myself even on my best days is undeserving of such commitment. My own righteousness is as filthy rags in comparison to Him.

But God in His grace sent Jesus to pay the price for my sin, for the sin of the whole world. Even though Jesus lived a sinless life, he bore the punishment of my sin so that the wrath of God towards sin would be satisfied. But the only way to receive that grace is by faith in Jesus; to believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose to life on the third day as He promised.

And on the moment a sinner places their faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, they are identifying themself with the Lord Jesus Christ. And the amazing thing is that Jesus also identifies Himself with us. His blood completely covers our sins and trespasses, and all that God sees is the perfect righteousness of His son Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus Christ rose to new life, so we are given a new identity as sons and daughters of the Lord God Almighty.

So even if I am faithless, He will remain faithful, for He cannot disown Himself. I am secure where I stand. It is written, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." So neither myself, nor anything else, will be able to undo what the Lord has done for me.

And like I said, that came to me at work - and since then I've been anything but perfect. But nevertheless, the Lord is mine, and I am His, and nothing can change that. It feels good to know such love, and I have a need to know Him more.

Wow... I've been gone for a while...

I can't believe how long its been since I've posted anything here. Actually, I can - and I would have guessed my last entry was in January. So I suppose I'm an overachiever of sorts.

Today marks an official 31 days until May 15th, which will be the bestest day of my life! On that day, I will be waiting up at the front of the church for my beautiful bride-to-be to walk down to me (darling, I know you'll be ready, but you'll have to walk... I can see it now. She turns the corner, and then she breaks out in a full run!... anyways...).

But I just had to post something, and this was the best thing that was on my mind, besides other important spiritual matters. Those will come at a later time. July, August, maybe?

The Strength of my God

For quite a long time, the following two scriptures have been stirring within me... Psalm 62:11-12 and Zephaniah 3:17. I don't remember which one hit me first, and which one came after. But once they both had, they have always been side by side in my mind. Here is what they say...

**
Zephaniah 3:17

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing

Psalm 62:11-12

One thing God has spoken,
two things have I heard:
that you, O God, are strong,
and that you, O Lord, are loving.
Surely you will reward each person
according to what he has done
**

I find it amazing. In both of these verses, the strength and love of God go hand in hand. Often, I find it so easy to divorce the two, treating them separately. But the prophets sure didn't do that.

The two attributes of God that David looks to in that Psalm are his strength and his love. Similarly, the prophet Zephaniah points to God's mighty ability to save, and then more than just his love... He even goes as far to say that the Lord delights in His children, and that his abundant love allows his people to rest in his strength. The Lord even rejoices over us with singing (or shouts of joy, depending on the translation)!

In this present day, there seems to be hardship disaster all around us. But this is what I know. That my God is able to fulfill every promise He has given me. The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

This is what I know. Even with all my inconsistencies or failures or problems or [fill in the blank], God's love for me is as strong as it was ten years ago. "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins... And so we know and rely on the love God has for us."

Two things that I have heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

There is a song from West Park that I still love, and here's what it says...

The Battle Belongs to the Lord

verse 1
In heavenly armor we'll enter the land,
The battle belongs to the Lord.
No weapon that's fashioned against us will stand,
The battle belongs to the Lord.

chorus
And we sing glory, honor, power and strength to the Lord.
We sing glory, honor, power and strength to the Lord.

verse 2
When the powers of darkness come in like a flood,
The battle belongs to the Lord.
He'll raise up a standard, the power of his blood,
The battle belongs ot the Lord.

verse 3
When the enemy presses in hard, do not fear,
The battle belongs to the Lord.
Take courage, my friend, your redemption is near,
The battle belongs to the Lord.


I was reading about when the Israelites came up to the promised land (Canaan), and sent a group out to survey the land. They were gone for forty days, in which they came up with the following conclusion: "We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. But the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large."

In other words, the land was just as the Lord promised, but there were some obstacles. There were some places that looked uncertain. There was even a race of giants living there in Canaan, and that frightened the people. How could a bunch of weary travellers come into Canaan and possibly take possession of the territory?

However, there was a man named Caleb (and also Joshua) who spoke up, saying "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." How could he confidently say such a thing?

We find out a few paragraphs later, after all the people began to rebel against the Lord's command. The people, rather than trusting the Lord, despaired and even spoke of how wonderful it would have been to be enslaved in Egypt! They even began electing a new leader to make the voyage back to Egypt!

To this Moses and Aaron fell facedown before the Lord, and Joshua and Caleb likewise tore their clothes and said this to Israel: "The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them."

In other words, Caleb and Joshua knew the Lord has already delivered the land into their hands. All they had to do was enter it and take it. The Lord had removed the protection of the Canaanites, and the Lord would be fighting for the Israelites. It would be by his hand that they would enter the land. Just as it was the hand of the Lord who delivered them from slavery in Egypt, so the Lord would also be the one to accomplish the victory in Canaan.

But the people would not believe, and they would not enter the land. They missed out on seeing the promised land because they didn't trust the Lord. They didn't trust Him to be the one to fight for them.

And what I love is that the Lord is still the one to fight for us today. It is in His strength that we are able to accomplish things. It is His strength that is made perfect in our weaknesses; it is never our own strength that can accomplish anything. So then, whatever stands in front of a child of God is trivial to the Lord. In fact, because the Lord is on our side, "we will swallow them up." And, "if the Lord is on our side, who can stand against us?"

What He has promised He is faithful to deliver. But we must be willing to walk into the land and see His deliverance. I must be willing to go into a land of giants and fortresses and follow the Lord's commands. We can rest in His hands, and let Him do the fighting for us.

Zephaniah 3:17 "The Lord your God wis with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."