Why I Believe(Remixed And Reposted?)

Exactly one year ago today I posted a blog about the differences between being a lady and a woman; now it's time for the rest of the story (in a deep Paul Harvey voice.) About a year ago I had a conversation with someone I had dated in college about waiting for a true lady. She remarked that meek and humble women were rare and HARD TO FIND. Still, I was determined to wait for a lady. A woman who is defined by the way she acts and lives, not by her sex or how she looks. Ironically it was Marilyn Monroe once stated, "Your clothes should be tight enough to show you're a woman, but loose enough to show you're a lady." Contrary to what most people believe; every lady is a woman, but not every woman is a lady. Which is why I rarely use the term “lady,” I’ve met few in my entire life. This I know, there is a clear difference between the two.

King Solomon explains this difference (Proverbs 31:1 – 31.) Notice how she is a hard working woman, serving her household and because of this a man's household is "blessed." I can remember when I was little and my family lived in Italy, my mother would go around the living quarters on the base and clean houses with other military wives. Then she would come home and cook dinner and clean our home. In HINDSIGHT my mother was a pretty strong woman for the most part, but not always. I'll explain this more later. Maybe this is why I've always dreamed of marrying a woman with a servant's heart.

This woman isn't on fire for temporary things, there's a FIRE IN HER BONES for serving God and others. One who doesn't mind getting her hands dirty, so we can serve God together; whether it's at Habitat for Humanity or cooking in a soup kitchen together. To me that would be honoring God with our marriage. Someone once stated, "We cannot be sincere when we pray ' Thy kingdom come‘ unless we are doing what we can to hasten the coming of that kingdom—by our gifts, our prayers, and our service."

Towards the end of last year I met another young woman and her first impression wasn't a very good one, she openly shared that she didn't believe in marriage. This should have been the end of the relationship, but there was something about her that compelled me to get to know her. We talked on the phone, had lunch and shared disappointments. Eventually, our differences in belief about marriage finally ended the process of getting to know her. What was the point if it could not lead to a biblical marriage?

Just after I posted my last blog a bill was sent to Congress to strike down The Defensive Marriage Act of 1996 which defined what we believe marriage is as a nation. This bill stirred up a lot of controversy and hurt feelings throughout the nation as both sides stood firm on their positions of what they believed. There were strong movements throughout social media advocating each position, especially on Facebook as many changed their profile pictures to voice their position on the matter (myself included.)

This created a rift in my own family as certain members believed the opposite of WHAT I BELIEVE. There were some heated words between me and my family. Finally my brother stood up to me and explained that he and his wife weren't believers. What they were saying wasn't just that they didn't agree with the Bible, but they didn't want to live that way. His wife shared that she knew plenty of people who did good things and that was enough. Someone once put it this way, “Men do not reject the Bible because it contradicts itself, but because it contradicts them."

Again, let me emphasize Christianity is not a works-based faith; it's a results-based faith. Mike Guzzardo explains it this way in his book All In, “The truest evidence of what you believe is found in your actions, not your mind.” The term "BELIEVER" is how a majority of Christians describe themselves when it comes to religious association. However, there lies the problem. We associate the word “believe” as a noun, a mental thought or an adjective.

In actuality it is a verb which implies action, not just a thought. Knowing the word of God, knowing truth isn't enough. British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli has said, “Justice is truth in action." If we are truly believers, our actions will change to indicate that what we do lines up with what we “think.” The Greek word used in the New Testament for believe is pisteuo, which is also a verb and is used 251 times throughout the New Testament; particularly in John 3:16. Strong's Concordance On The Bible defines pisteuo as, “Put one's faith in, trust, with an indication that actions based that trust may follow. Committed to trust.”

It's the same word that James uses to describe what the demons do (James 2:19). The action that results is “trembling.” Believing always results in action, not just thinking. In fact RUMOR HAS IT that not everyone who says Jesus is Lord will be goin’ home to paradise. But there is an AFTER LIFE and the difference is, where. Oh that’s not a rumor, that’s what Jesus said (Matthew 7: 21.) Do what you say you believe or you may get CAUGHT DREAMING about Heaven. Will Rogers once stated, “Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there."

What we really believe influences the way we live and act. You can't believe in Jesus as Lord and not change the way you act. Let's look the Hebrew word for believe, “aman” which is where we get the term “Amen.” But there's a difference aman is a verb and implies action, it is more than a verbal agreeing. It is first used in the Old Testament in Genesis (Genesis 15:6). This isn't just a cognitive agreeing with God, every step Abraham took after this verse was out of obedience to God and thus Abraham was known for what he did in faith. They were proof of his love for God.

The concept of letting what they believe dictate their lives is seen throughout the Old Testament as an identifier of who the people of God were. In his book Everyman’s Talmud Abraham Cohen explains, “The miscellaneous material which constitutes the subject-matter of Talmud is divisible into two main categories known as Halach and Haggadah. The former term denotes ‘walking(living out’,) and indicates the way of life to tread in conformity with the precepts of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible)… the Halachah is the logical working out by many generations of devoted scholars of the theory devised by Ezra for the salvation of the people of Israel.”

On the other hand, it is well documented how the people (even leaders) willingly disobeyed God and thus showed that they didn't believe Him as well. For the purpose of this blog let's start with the prophet Moses and the nation of Israel as they left Egypt; this should have been a brief trip from slavery to the Promise Land. But since they didn't believe God, they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years and some of them (including the prophet Moses) never made it at all!
After all of the miracles and signs, the victories that God had just given the Israelites; they still didn't believe (trust) Him. We all know the stories about the 12 spies exploring the Promise Land. If you look at the report they brought back, you can see what they really believed about God. Only two out of twelve actually believed that God was bigger and stronger than the giants that occupied the Land (Numbers 13:1-33), only two were willing to take action and go into the Promise land. Those giants were there to show God's power was greater than any earthly power.

Those two men would lead the nation into the Promise Land (Numbers 14:1-12.) This was the fruit… the evidence that they believed in God. Just a few chapters later the people are again whining and not trusting God to provide water. God simply tells Moses to speak to a rock and He would give them water. And Moses disobeys God, in his own words he “Didn't trust God (Numbers 20:12.)” Instead he hits the rock with his staff, ironically just after he calls the people of God, “rebels (Numbers 20:10).” And we see this pattern throughout the Old Testament and into the New Testament; God's people, His children, His Bride willingly disobeying and turning from God. All the while “believing” in their minds and even their hearts that they are doing God's will. The whole time they aren’t faithful to Him. It makes one wonder why God doesn't get sick of it and walk away from us. Surely, He has reason to divorce us.

This is what scares me, it's impossible to be the people of God, bought by the price of Jesus’s sacrifice and not actually believe God. For the last three years I have believed that God is calling me into a writing career. Because of that I have I have trusted Him and gone through the doors He has opened and walked away from the ones He has closed. Some have been lifelong and dear dreams that I have WANTED so badly. But as I follow Him, He has led me back to my childhood dream and hobby of writing. He has miraculously opened the door for me to go back to school and pursue this career free of charge. He has put wise and godly instructors in my path to guide me on this journey. One of them author Jerry B. Jenkins recently tweeted, “Writers write. Dreamers only talk about it. Don’t be a dreamer; be a doer.”

I have learned that sometimes on the journey we have to let go of some things we want to show that we really believe God. That's why a few months ago after I finished my last class, I decided to take some time off from blogging and work on finishing the first half of my book and building my writing resume’ by writing articles (some for free) so that I could approach a literary agent for representation. So I decided to GET BUSY writing articles, I had one published in the local newspaper, one that I submitted to Guidposts magazine and one that I wrote for Leadership Journal magazine.

Although these weren't big steps, they were the little steps that showed I actually believed what God is doing in my life. Not necessarily what I wanted at the time, but it's the little steps we take that are the proof of what we actually believe. Evangelist D. L. Moody once said, "There are many of us that are willing to do great things for the Lord, but few of us are willing to do little things.” When THE SAINTS begin doing what we claim to believe, we can CHANGE THE WORLD. It is not enough to just say, "God you are my God," we have to live like it. This is something God had to teach me when I had my accident in college.

I learned this after my accident, when I wanted so BAD to get out of the hospital and get back to living my life; I believed that I would walk again, talk again and even smile again. But I had to learn the hard way, it wouldn't happen overnight. It took months of baby steps; hours and days of therapy and doctor’s appointments. And in the end God truly blessed me because of each little step of faith that I took. Yes, it was pretty humbling when I faced a setback or disappointment like falling off the toilet in the hospital.

But that didn't change what I believed. That didn't change what I did afterwards. Tennis great Andre Agassi recently tweeted, “What you feel doesn’t matter in the end; it’s what you do that makes you brave." Anyone can see how what I believed has shaped me into the man I am today. Jesus’ half-brother James said something similar to the early Jewish Christians, “Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-24).” Notice how James goes back to what Abraham “did” in Genesis 15. And that is what this blog will be about, what we as a church really BELIEVE.

Why I Believe (Remixed and Reposted?)

I enjoy being called a child of God because it helps me understand my relationship with God. For those of you who have children, you may relate to this. Although I don't have any children of my own, I do have two nieces that are constantly asking “WHY.” My oldest niece (all of 12) always thinks she knows better than my youngest niece, because she is older. To which I tell her, I’m older than she is and know more than her, so my perspective is better than hers. Whereas God has been around since the beginning of time, so He truly knows best; He is Sovereign. I use this comparison to give you a picture of How God sees us, His children.

I've said in a previous blog that there are times when I ask God why I can’t have this or that. Why can't I date this person or that person? Why do I have to go through this or that, thinking I know better than God. In hindsight, I never once asked God why He allowed me to have my accident and almost die. Nor did I ask Him WHY my parents both had to die in the same year. Because, I knew deep inside of my soul, He knows best. Even after I walked away from Him for six years to satisfy my selfish flesh, I still knew that God was going to use my accident to help me.

I knew that my parent's deaths weren’t the end of them and I believe God will use it to help me. As the apostle Paul says, we know that all things work together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28.) I have heard a lot of people misquote this verse over the years, including a friend that used it to justify his drug and alcohol problem, which later put him back in jail.

You see where he was missing it was, as Paul says those who love Him. Before you say I'm judging, listen to how Jesus says you'll know who loves Him(John 14: 21.) He goes on to say, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching, anyone that does not love me will not obey my teaching." As James says, do not be mere hearers of the word, but doers. If you love God, you'll do what he says. You can't indulge the flesh and love God or as the Bible says no one can serve two masters. So if my friend really loved God then God would work things together for my friend's good. If he was indulging his flesh, did he love God? With this said we know God knows best in everything, big and small.

The funny thing is I tend to trust God more with the little things than the big things; even after all He has brought me through over the years. While I was in Atlanta over the weekend, I had a reminder of God's working things together for my good. I had pulled into the wrong parking deck by my new agency. Since I was in such a hurry not to be late, I rolled my driver's side window down to get the parking ticket, forgetting that there was a short in the window motor, which meant I'd have to drive all the way home in the cold pouring rain if I couldn't get the window back up. After trying and praying a few minutes, I gave up and went in for the interview. Since they were running behind I decided to go back to my car to try some more, managing to get it up a few inches.

Grumbling and asking God WHY as I headed back in for the interview, I didn't think about all the miracles God had worked in my life. After the interview I walked to my car and tried some more, eventually getting it all the way back up before I got on any interstate. I began to thank God for his faithfulness and realized that if God is concerned about the little problems in my life, then surely He is concerned about the big problems in my life, whatever they may be. When my window first got stuck I couldn't help but think, why, why father, is this happening today? Why aren't you helping me? Then I heard Him say I AM. I realized that everything is working together for my good to make me better and I had peace. So I began to show Him my GRATITUDE even in the hard times when I get it right. Even when I don't know what I believe.

Ladies 2.0?

This brings to mind another characteristic of being a lady that many women overlook; being a lady doesn't mean that you are picture perfect, not physically or spiritually. We are all human and we will make mistakes, which only hurts us if we don't learn from them. That's the difference between a lady and woman, a lady learns from her mistakes. Fellow Christian Writers Guild member and writer Alisa Hope Wagner recently tweeted, “We are going to make mistakes no matter what, so it's better to be strong in faith despite our mistakes than weak in faith because of them.” Alisa also does M.M.A fighting.

Contrary to popular belief ladies aren't born, they're made. I know a lot of women reading this believe that their sex makes them a lady, but it's how you live and act that define you as a lady. This is why some countries have schools of etiquette for young women; someone needs to teach them how to act. As I watched this past season of American Idol, I was amazed by how certain judges tried to prove their womanhood by dressing... well hardly dressing at all. I've said it before, "The more you show me and the less I want to see. And the less you show me the more I want to see." A true gentleman can’t be simply turned on by outward appearances.

A lady is distinguished from a really good woman by the fact that she has respect for herself and earns the respect of others by how she lives and acts. I may have grown up in different parts of the world, but I've spent most of my life in the South and my parents raised me to be a country gentleman and to treat women with respect.

One of the classic traits of a lady is a sense of mystery and self-control. British poet John Milton said it best, "He who reigns within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king." Divas are all about outward beauty and power. They leave nothing for the imagination. A true lady has no problem staying in the background. Christian rapper Lacrae recently tweeted, "Better to have a small role in God's story than to cast yourself as the lead in your own fiction." Divas put on a good show, but that's all it is, a show. It's like how some Christians try to SHOW OFF what they know to look godly; every church has a Mr. Know-it-all. The apostle Paul warned his young protégé Timothy about handling the word of God carefully (2 Timothy 2:15,) while most Christians handle it like a chainsaw to make themselves look good.

J.D. Greear warns, “A great deal of damage is done by those who hold the truth of Christ with the spirit of Satan. Knowledge in their hands becomes a tool for puffing up, which produces pride, which leads not to life but to ‘the condemnation of the devil (1 Timothy 3:6)." Sure they have their head-knowledge, but they lack the heart to apply it and thus prove themselves to be simply Pharisees. There's a difference between being confident in Christ and being COCKY.

Or maybe they wear all the right church clothes and they think that they have the RIGHT LOOK of a Christian, but their hearts are cold. I learned years ago in college that it was the prettiest girls on the outside were the ugliest on the inside. Of course there is that one in a million that is an exception to the rule, a true lady. But they’re a DYING BREED, where are them girls at? Mostly it's all about the show, not the “life.” Joshua Harris explains it this way in his book Humble Orthodox, "It's not enough to get our doctrine straight. Life and doctrine can't be separated. Our lives either put the beauty of God's truth on display, or they obscure it.” Those of you who know me, know that I hate it when women wear a lot of makeup. I just want see that natural beauty.

This brings me back to John’s second letter to the early church, John addresses them as a “lady" because they are walking in the truth as commanded by God (2 John 1:1-5.) John doesn't tell them to look godly, but to live godly. Clearly there's a difference. John is simply saying to do what you claim to believe in your head and hearts, tell your heart, heads up. Remember it's not just thinking you’re a Christian that makes you a Christian, likewise it's not that a woman thinks she's a lady that makes her a lady, It’s living like one.

Divas are characterized by their power (false) and trying to SHOW OUT, while a lady is marked by her weakness and reservations. I don't say this in a chauvinistic manner; it's just how God planned the relationship between men and women and even between Himself and His bride. A man's strength and confidence is balanced by a lady’s weakness and reservations. Every man experiences that tender moment when the object of his affection needs his help... his touch and it is beautiful. It's a chance for him to be brave and show his love for her. As result he can't help growing in love with her. German monk Thomas À Kempis wisely stated, “Do not be self-sufficient, but put your trust in God."

The apostle Paul explained this beautifully in his second letter to the church in Corinth (2 Corinthians 12:9 – 10.) I'm not suggesting that ladies are emotional messes, it's quite the opposite, ladies have control over their emotions and that takes a strong will and power. This is one area where the church has failed greatly. We've belittled a relationship with Jesus to nothing more than an emotional state of mind or even our heart. This was evident as I watched this past season of American Idol. Countless times when a contestant sang a powerful song, the judges would state, "I FEEL like I just went to church." Perhaps you too have left church FEELIN’ IT, because the music was emotional enough for you. And that's part of the problem most of us live to feel the moment, we live for the God of emotions. Perhaps you've left church upset and thinking they didn't PLAY MY SONG. If so, the God of entertainment has taken over your faith. Is your spiritual life dependent on a DOWNPOUR of emotions?

Kyle Idleman explains in his new book Gods At War, "Most preachers in the United States would tell you that they start losing people if the church service goes much longer than an hour. There's also the pressure to make sure that hour is filled with enough song-and-dance and multimedia to hold attention." I don't believe God is concerned about how we share the message of Christ as He is about the message we share. Christian clergyman and writer E.M. Bounds shares, the church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men.”

Some churches will concentrate more on music during their services than they do the message and in doing so create a spirit of emotionalism, not spirituality. Their intentions to glorify God often backfire and glorify themselves while hoping for a AROUND OF APPLAUSE. It's like the guys who ride around in their cars with the music and BASS LOUD in an attempt to look cool and older, when they actually look immature. Some churches are more concerned about doing church business then they are with doing kingdom work. Personally, I'm appalled by how many Christians need a musical experience to motivate them to worship God and hear from Him.

As if all He has done on the cross and continues to do in their lives isn't enough to cause them to worship Him. His strength and power are displayed through THE BRIDE when she is weak and broken, He gets all the glory. His grace is on display when we allow Him to break us. A horse that's been “broken” is more powerful and USABLE than one that runs out of CONTROL. Christian author A. W. Tozer once said, "God rescues us by breaking us, by shattering our strength and wiping out our resistance.” Maybe this is why James says that it's the testing of what we believe that produces good in us (James 1:3 – 4.) When a lady (the church) endures trials, God can show His love for her. And this is a beautiful love. The lady (the church) is more precious when we FALL APART and fall to our knees.

I had the chance to see this firsthand nine years ago while taking care of my mother while she courageously fought her cancer. This strong woman was humbled to the point that she couldn't even eat. Tired and weak she had no choice but to let my father and then me care for her. It was during this time that I grew closest to her. It was during this time that I was able to show my love for her. I can still remember that last time I saw her alive in the hospital before she died.

I still remember her last words to me; they still haunt me to this day. “Martin, you're a good man and a good son." Nothing could have been further from the truth, then or now, I know who I am . This is something that the psalmist David and the prophet Isaiah were constantly confessing to God (Psalm 51:3 4, Isaiah 59:12). They knew that they needed help and they couldn't do it on their own. You see they didn't wear masks and put on a MASQUERADE like the Pharisees or us.

The Pharisees were constantly doing their good deeds and praying long, extravagant prayers in public in an attempt to look good. Jesus warned His followers not to do their acts of righteousness and pray lavish prayers in public (Matthew 6:1-5). We are to run this race with shadowfeet and not put on a display of holiness. Perhaps this is why the prophet Isaiah told the people of God that their acts of goodness were but filthy rags to God (Isaiah 4:6). Former president Truman once said, ""It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."

This is why I'm baffled by Christians who will plaster their Facebook pages with prayers to God. Don't we “believe” that we have a direct line to God? If you pay close attention to someone's Facebook page you can really see what they believe or not. My favorite these days is “I am to die for” implying they’re so righteous that Jesus died for them. Isn't that being self-righteous? While Jesus declared I choose you; He called us and not when we were at our best. The apostle Paul makes it clear that while we were at our worst, Jesus died for us (Ephesians 2:5, Colossians 2:13).

It's through His sacrifice that we are the DEAD COME TO LIFE, not our own righteousness. More often than not we as a body put ourselves up on a pedestal because of what Christ has done for us, in our prideful actions we forget that He paid the price for whomever “believeith” in Him, not just us. The old cliché is that, “Pride comes before the fall.” It's a long way down from the pedestal of self-righteousness. Jeremiah warned us to only boast about God's love (Jeremiah 9:24.) The apostle Paul wrote an entire chapter warning the church in Philippi to put no confidence in their flesh (Philippians 3:1 – 14) I know it is through Christ that I have been REDEEMED, not by anything I have done or could ever do. Who you are is defined by God. The Gospel of Luke contains a powerful parable about the role we take as Christians (Luke 14:9-10.) We are to humble ourselves until God moves us. If not, He will humble us.

After my accident in college, my best friend described me as a really good guy with a heart of all gold to the pastor who baptized me when I was 15 years old. Nothing could have been further from the truth. I may have been a nice guy, but I was far from being a good guy; I was a hypocrite at best. I had walked away from everything that I had claimed to “believe” in when I was baptized. As Yoda would say, "That power had turned me to the other side, the darkside.”

I was drunk seven days a week, sleeping around with different women and dabbling in drugs. I even mocked handicapped people. But, I had my fire insurance of SALVATION. The problem is I didn't believe God anymore and the fruits were evident. In a recent message by Dr. James Merritt he explained, “The real evidence of a follower of Jesus Christ is his affection. An outsider can see how you conduct your daily life and know that you are a follower of Christ.” Maybe this is why we tend to act like the Pharisees and showoff our works. In this case the problem isn't what we're doing, but why we're doing it. If you're serving God to get blessed by Him, you’re not doing it for the right reasons and He knows. There's no need to deny it. In fact, John stated that if we claim to be without sin, we’re liars and the truth isn't in us (1 John 1:8, 1 John 2:4,) ouch.

The psalmist declared that no one living is righteous before God (Psalm 143:2) and later the apostle Paul would echo this psalm in his letter to the church of Rome (Romans 3:10.) James Merritt continued, "If you are controlled by the Holy Spirit of God you will bear all nine fruits of the Spirit that the apostle Paul described (Galatians 5:22, 23.) Paul lists love first because the remaining eight fruits flow out of your love. You will be motivated by your love (1 Corinthians 13:1 – 13)” Matthew gives an account of a rich young ruler’s encounter with Jesus in which Jesus declared, ‘No one is good except God (Matthew 19:16 – 17.)” This man clearly wanted something in return for doing good and Jesus knew his heart. I’ve stated before, a lady understands the difference between lust and love; lust is about what you want from someone, love is about what you can give someone, anyone. Ernest Hemingway put it this way,” When you love you wish to do things for. You wish to sacrifice for. You wish to serve.”

If you are a woman reading this, do you want a man to love you for what he can get from you or what he can give you? Then how can the church teach that money is good, but the pursuit of it is evil and then teach its members to keep “believing” and keep praying, then you’ll receive? Isn't that teaching the church to do evil when were supposed to be doing good? Mark Twain once said, “kindness is a language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see." As a man, it is easy to tell the difference between a woman and a lady, there is something natural about her inner beauty; it's an inner GLOW that no one can miss. Likewise, we don't have to announce or showoff what we do for God with trumpets or in modern-day terms on Facebook for others to see His LIGHT in us. In doing so we are glorifying ourselves, not God. Have we traded our purple robes (Proverbs 31:22) for SCARLETT dresses (Revelation 17:4-5?)

The proverbs 31 lady doesn't adorn herself with lots of jewelry and she isn't always concerned about her appearance. After all, Solomon warns us that outward beauty is fleeting (Proverbs 31:30.) So women, NOW YOU KNOW how to dress like a lady and not a she-wolf. Don't think you're fooling God by straddling the fence between being a lady and a lady of the night.

Every man knows that when women wear a lot of jewelry, it's one of the red FLAGS that she is “high maintenance.” Along with constantly changing her appearance and using words that begin with, “mani” or ”pedi,” are dead give aways. I'm not talking about an occasional pampering, but a luxurious lifestyle. I've always been confused by women who “say” they want a man who loves them for them. Then turn around and put more emphasis on their outward beauty and then call men SHALLOW. Apparently they don't know what they believe, either! Don't they believe what makes you beautiful is what’s on the inside? Don’t we believe that God doesn’t make mistakes?

Kyle Idleman asks, “Is it possible that you now worship the gods of appearance and perfection? Instead of finding your identity and worth in Christ, do you find it in the clothes you wear, the house you live in, and what other people think of you?" It was Marilyn Monroe who once said, “I’m pretty, but I'm not beautiful. I sin, but I'm not the devil. I’m good, but I'm not an angel.”

At least she was honest. I can say the same thing about the young woman that I met at the end of last year; at least she was honest from day one, which is a lot more I can say for some of the WILD THINGS in the church who chase after anything and everything they can get their hands on. But they think as long as they look godly and do the "church" things then they are okay.

Some of you reading this may be quoting James about God blessing His children with “good" gifts (James 1:17.) But, here's the problem, we twist those gifts into our own gods just like the Israelites did with the golden calf. We really don't know what good is, do we? God is good and so are His gifts when we keep them in their right place. This was the mistake Adam and Eve made in the garden when they pursued the tree of knowledge and ate the Apple.

Idleman explains, "The invitation of Jesus is to take up a cross and follow him. It's hard to carry across when comfort is your god. And the gods of control and comfort are likely in direct conflict with the Lord God who is called you to a new kind of life." Seed From the Sower Michael Guido once shared, "Two apples on a tree were looking down on the world. One said to the other, "Look at all of those people fighting. Someday we will be the only ones left. ‘Which,’ asked the other, 'The reds or the greens? Why the shove and not the love, the desire to please self and not the Savior? Seek to please self and they'll be the slapping. Seek to please the Savior and they'll be the submitting.” Remember the Lord's Prayer? Not “my” will, but whose? God knows what is really good.

GOOD 3.0?

We claim to want God's will, but when His answer is “no” or “not now” we find ourselves grumbling like the Israelites in the wilderness. However, we believe that His ways are higher than ours (Psalm 103:11, Isaiah 55:9.) And like the Israelites we make Gods or idols for ourselves. Often THE SOUND OF SILENCE is how God lets us think about what matters most to us, Him or what we want. What was once a gift from God has become our God. And this can be anything or anyone that we place on the throne of God. So we keep asking, praying, believing in pursuit of what we want: our dreams, money, comfort, security and even marriage.

Trust me, we really take it for granted that it’s GOOD IT IS TO BE ALIVE. Christian author and speaker John Ortberg explains it this way, "It is God's presence - not comfortable circumstances - that brings people to the best version of themselves." We have let the American noise of money, power and success drown out the sound of the voice of God. The lady has been swept away by the voice of another man. Most of us would say that we wouldn't sell our souls for all of the money in the world.

If the truth is revealed, it doesn't take that much money. All it takes is just enough to put food on the table, pay the bills, go on a vacation, or get the kids the latest videogame or clothes. Satan is way too deceptive, he tempts us with what we think that we need, what we think is good. A man and his idols are hard to separate, especially when it comes to money. Have you fallen into the money trap? Are you trying to keep up with THE BENJAMINS?

I personally know millionaires who won't give you the penny in their pockets. I have also met homeless people at a local soup kitchen who will give you the shirt off their back if they thought you needed it. There's a constant TUG OF WAR going on for our hearts when it comes to money and dreams. God warned the Israelites and us not to put any other gods before Him (Exodus 34:14.) Pastor and my favorite Christian author Joshua Harris explains, “When we place God in His rightful place in our lives, we don’t struggle so much when human relationships let us down. In direct contrast, when we make another human our idol, God can’t be our God.”


At this point let me CLEAR THE AIR, I'm not saying it's wrong for us to have dreams and to DREAM BIG or have passions and goals. Those are good and noble things, but they are not God. Jesus paid too high a price for His bride, He freed us from the things of this world to make us His. This is appropriate since in three days we celebrate Independence Day. So why would we go BACK AT IT when they are PASSING away (1 Corinthians 7:31, 1 John 2:17?) We say and pray, "God bless America." He already has, but we've turned God's blessings into Gods.. into curses. In the article I wrote for Guideposts magazine I shared of my own experience chasing other gods, "Wasted, all those years were simply wasted chasing fleeting idols and temporary gods that could never satisfy my inner longings. The alcohol, drugs, pornography and sex were just temporary fixes to a bigger problem, I was alone.”

Yet God promises His lady that she will never be alone (Matthew 18:20, 28:20, Acts 18:10.) Still we chase after our dreams and He promises I'M WITH YOU. And we try to tell the greatest creator how to create us. Once I was dead in my sin and NOW I'M ALIVE. I AM NOT THE SAME, or least I should be and shouldn't be chasing the same things as before.

WHEN NOTHING SATISFIES and we turn to God, then and only then do we know who is good. It’s amazing how deep the father’s love is for us. Why would we want to serve any other gods? The richest and wisest man who ever lived once chased and caught the pleasures of this world and declared that they were all MEANINGLESS (Ecclesiastes 1:1 – 8.) Don't we say, "turn your eyes upon Jesus" and He is ALL I NEED? But, we don't really believe it, do we? We still want more. Anne Graham Lotz wrote a whole book about Just Give Me Jesus and still we want more, don't we? Most of you have heard me rant about moving back to Colorado; in some ways the big C.O. has become MY GOD and getting their MY RELIGION.

Sure I could justify it by saying how it will glorify God, but the truth is it's what I had wanted for the last four years. I may not particularly like living in the South, I may not like my circumstances; but I can’t complain. Because I am satisfied in Christ. Someone once wrote, "Bloom where God plants you." Now I understand why, when we bloom where God plants us, we can grow and be used by Him. We can bless people for His glory where we are and when He's finished using us and teaching us, He'll open that door. Prussian evangelist George Muller once wrote, “Faith does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins where man's power ends."

If I had had my way, I would have missed out on $15,000 in grants from the state of Georgia and never had the opportunity to take classes through the Christian Writers Guild. Could it be that God is preparing me to BE SOMETHING for God’s glory or is it I'M A SLAVE to my dreams again? I'll be the first to admit I am no Mr. know-it-all; all I KNOW is that I don't know anything and that's okay. Because Lord, I trust in You and I don't want to get caught dreaming or chasing pointless things that can't save me. Again, I know the MADNESS IN ME and I can't say that I’M GOOD. C.S. Lewis once wrote, “Don't let your happiness depend on something you may lose.”

Kyle Idleman continues, "A God is what we sacrifice for and what we pursue.... Idolatry isn't an issue; it is the issue. All roads lead to the dusty, overlooked concept of false gods... One of our problems in identifying the gods is that their identities not only lack the usual trappings of religion; they are also things that often aren't even wrong. Is God against pleasure? Sex? MONEY? Power? These things are not immoral but amoral; they are morally neutral until they are not. You can be serving something that is, in itself very commendable. It can be family or career. It could be a worthy cause. You can be feeding the hungry and healing the sick. All of those are good things. The problem is that the instant something takes the place of God, it becomes an end in itself rather than something to lay at God’s throne, it becomes an idol. When someone or something replaces the Lord God in the position of glory in our lives then that person or thing by definition has become our God."

At this point let me go ahead and confess, I am just as guilty of idolatry as anyone else. Again, I am no SUPERHUMAN that always does good. I must live with the me despicable me every moment of every day. You may remember a few years ago I shared about my heart ache over a young woman that I love and how I was devastated by the outcome, to be honest I'm STILL BLEEDING from it. I realized it was a dance that I wasn't meant to dance, You are meant to love God with every BEAT OF YOUR HEART. If life’s a dance, then the lady always follows the man's lead; perhaps if we'd learned today we wouldn't be disappointment so much. Maybe like me you wouldn't want to SCREAM, "I'M sick of it!" So let's DO IT TODAY.

Idleman continues, “When we feel overwhelmed by disappointment. It's a good sign that something has become far more important to us than it should be. Disproportionate disappointment reveals that we have placed intense hope and longing in something other than God. So if you were to identify your greatest disappointments, where would you point? The realm of career? The lives of your children? Your marriage or sex life? Erwin Lutzer writes, ‘Have you ever thought that the disappointments are God's way of reminding us that there are idols in our lives that must be dealt with?"

Personally I'm ashamed, as I sit here writing I can think of many idols that I once worshiped. Up until 2001 I used to bike over 3000 miles a year, which left little time for anything else. After I decided to LAY IT DOWN I got bit by the writing bug again. I had more time to volunteer. I had more time to read books, and the list goes on. It can even be our dreams and what we hope to glorify God through. But God knows better, He knows our hearts. Isn't that what we claim to believe? Who are we fooling? Don't we believe God is jealous?

Idleman continues, "God is jealous for your heart, not because he is petty or insecure, but because he loves you. The reason why God has such a huge problem with idolatry is that his love for you is all-consuming. He loves you too much to share you." The reason is because this is a SACRED LOVE like a husband for a wife. Just like “believe” is a verb, LUV IS A VERB! God won't share us with anyone or anything. Not even our dreams that we believe He has given us. Jess, I'm not sure if Bruce Wilkinson realized this when he wrote The Dream Giver. But the reason why the Giants in the story were Ordinary’s family members and friends wasn't because they didn't want him to be happy or achieve his dream.

God puts our friends and family in our lives to offer us GUIDANCE, they don't want to see us get hurt or waste our lives chasing after other gods. How often do we chase THEE THREE KINGS of this world; relationships, money and pleasure? It was C.S. Lewis who once said, “Don't let your happiness depend on something you may lose.” A few years ago it was my mentor and his wife who tried to talk me out of pursuing the young woman who would eventually hurt me. But I wouldn't listen, like the Israelites I was and still am “Stiff -necked (Exodus 32:9, 33:3,)” and God loves us too much to watch us settle for other Gods; whether it's a relationship, sex, a career, money or even our dreams. But we “believe” that the church is the bride of Christ. Then we treat Him like He is a middle school boyfriend.

We think we can come and go as we please. A lady doesn't play GAMES with love; she is faithfully committed to her husband. Love without sacrifice isn't commitment, its convenience. Mostly for us, it is adultery at its purest. Perhaps in our attempt to be more relevant, we have become less biblical. There's not much difference from the way the church acts from the way the world acts. We're supposed to be a city on a hill and a beautiful bride, the definition of a lady, instead we just a SECRET GIRL that only comes around when we want something from the groom. No wonder He's a jealous God.

Idleman elaborates on this in God's at War, “Copan writes, ‘a wife who doesn't get jealous and angry when another woman is flirting with her husband isn't really committed to the marriage relationship... Outrage, pain, anguish – these are the appropriate responses to such deep violation. God isn't some abstract entity or impersonal principle... We should be amazed at the creator of the universe was so deeply connect himself to human beings that he would open himself to sorrow and anguish in the face of human rejection and betrayal’…It's overwhelming to realize that the Lord God loves us this way; it changes the way we see ourselves. Everything in life has more significance when someone loves you like that – especially God himself... He makes it clear that we are to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength... There is no open marriage."

Then again, we really don't believe in biblical marriage anymore, do we? That's why we teach our young couples to get married if they can't control themselves sexually; so we've twisted the marriage covenant into a breeding ground for lust like a pack of wild animals. What happened to that self-control? This is why we have so many couples in the church worshiping the God of sex and using marriage to justify it. Then when they aren't happy, when things don't go as they plan; get a divorce, because you deserve better.

Thus we reveal another God that we worship, the God of self. It's all about me being happy. Recently, I finally understood the misconception about contentment, being truly content is not about being happy, it's about having peace (Phil. 4:7-8) whether you're happy or not; whether you're in want or in need (Philippians 4:10 – 12.) Contentment isn't complacency, its true satisfaction. Paul even shared with Timothy that godliness with contentment is great (1 Timothy 6:6.) Unfortunately most of us don't learn this like the apostle Paul did (4:12.) So we keep on chasing and pursuing other gods. I learned years ago through Promise Keepers that emotional adultery is the first step towards physical adultery and it's only a matter of time before one walks away completely.

We keep committing adultery over and over. It's been this way since the beginning. We are unfaithful to the God we claim to "believe" in. The God we claim to love, but the truth be told we only love what He does for us. Because He is always faithful, even though we prostitute ourselves like an adulterous wife. Remember Hosea’s wife?

God chose an adulterous wife (us) to show us that THIS IS LOVE, being committed to someone completely regardless of whom they are or how they act. A woman’s worth doesn't come from herself or her looks. It comes from the one who loves her. Beauty is the eye of the beholder, after all. The church isn’t the bride because of anything we have done, the church is the bride because Christ chose us (John 15:16,) even though He knew we would be unfaithful.

The apostle Paul had to remind one of the worst churches ever, the church in Corinth that they were saints because of what Christ did and he urged them to start acting like Saints (1 Corinthians 1:2.) So be careful when you declare I’m a saint. Don't we "believe" that we are sinners saved by grace (Ephesians 2:8)? And it's a SCANDALOUS GRACE that we can't earn, so we can show it to others. Grace that is earned is a grace that can be lost; however, grace that is given is yours forever. Grace=Love. Jefferson Bethke recently tweeted, “God gives us grace not because we are awesome, but because He is." It is this very grace that Paul reminded the church in Corinth that they "believed" in (1 Corinthians 15:10 – 11.) It's God’s grace that enables us to keep doing after we make mistakes.

A lady knows that a love that is earned is one that can be lost. And this is the good news of the gospel; it is a gift that is given, not earned. It's a chance to begin again. I first experienced this new beginning after walking away from God for six years and worshiping the idols of pleasure; sex, relationships, alcohol and drugs.

I'd like to think that I've done pretty well in my commitment to Christ, but deep in my heart I know that I can never be good enough to earn His love. It is because of this that I am thankful for His sacrifice and example. That's the whole reason why the apostle Paul chose the analogy of biblical marriage to describe the relationship between Jesus and His lady (Ephesians 5:22-30 ;) for the guys reading this, YOUR LOVE IS LIKE A RIVER washing away your wives mistakes. This is the example of Christ; He came to show us this is how we do it. For the women reading this, this is how you become a lady; this is how you can prove it when you say, “I believe."