Thoughts Coming Home From Passion 2014..

It’s amazing to me that you can walk around so “carefree” while completely wrapped in chain of bondage. You can sing and dance and praise The Lord, but all the whIle your hands are tied. Eventually you’re going to try and jump in praise, jump to heaven to scream the glory of God and you’re going to end up yanked back down to earth faster than your feet left the ground. You’ll keep jumping, though, screaming praise until it hits you that your worship is hindered. Your spirit is bruised from chains of bondage, and you can’t jump as high as your spirit is willing to. These chains can be of past sins, hidden under the rug because “you know Christ made you new,” but you haven’t accepted in heart and in your life  that Christ truly has MADE YOU NEW. You still look at yourself with hate. You still see the addiction you lived with. You still see the people you had sex with. You still see who were before Christ, unwilling to shatter that old mirror because of superstition. SUPERSTITION….BAD LUCK?! LUCK?! Lies, all lies from the enemy, from the demons that roam the earth. BREAK THE MIRROR! LUCK NO LONGER EXIST FOR YOU! BLESSING AND PEACE AND GLORY AMD HONOR HAVE COME IN THE NAME OF JESUS FOR YOU! Take the eyes of glory that God has for you to see the new. Everyone always wants to be “the next Peyton Manning,” “the next John Pieper,” “the next Albert Einstein,” “the next Francis Chan,” but the truth is…that will never happen. You will never be them. They already exist! God made you, God made a NEW you for a NEW purpose. GOD MADE YOU FOR A NEW SPECIFIC NAME TO BRING HIM GLORY! Jesus didn’t die on a cross so we could become the next Beth Moore, the next Jackie Chan, the next Chuck Norris or even the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs…the Son of God died on a Cross so we could walk in a new life, new body, new purity. Stop holding onto the scars on your wrist. Stop holding onto to that crippling mental illness that chokes the life out of you. STOP HOLDING ONTO CONDEMNATION THAT YOULL NEVER  BE AS GOOD AS SOMEONE ELSE! Stop believing the lie that you’ll never amount to anything, because guess what? God lives within you, if you have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, GOD LIVES WITHIN YOU! THE HOLY SPIRIT GUIDES YOU! No, you may not be running in faith (yet), but even if you’re crawling He lives in you. Even if the world tells you everyday it’s a lie, God. Lives. Whether anyone wants to believe it or not, there’s a time coming when judgement will fall upon ALL of us. Where we will either be redeemed to a new eternity with God or spend forever without Him. That’s all hell is, after all, being without God. God is the fruits of the spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23.) That’s all hell is…an eternity without those things. Why would a loving God condemn anyone? Well, the way I see it..those who have decided to live with God in this life, will do the same in the next..some have chosen to live life without God in this life so they will live without Him in the next. It’s simple as that. A choice. That’s why you can’t fight and argue over what you believe compared to others. It’s all a choice. But that’s definitely not to say don’t share the gospel!!! People may not even know there is a choice. There are people who may have never had someone explain His glory, or may have never even heard the name of Jesus. Sharing the gospel isn’t selling the gospel…it’s not convincing someone of some belief, but giving someone a choice. Don’t force your “sell” on them..it’s not a sell, give them a choice, pray with them and let them know they have a choice. Never stop praying for them even if their name slips from your memory. God is working. God is healing. Not just in those who haven’t met Him yet, but in those still building their relationship with Him! (hint: you’ll never stop building a relationship with God. There’s always room for more!) So to make my SUPER long story short: I’ve been made new in Christ. I’m not selling the gospel, I’m sharing my choice. God’s plan may be relieved to me today, but may not come to life for years. For now, it’s time to trust and grow. Keep moving forward. 

-Sammy