Monthly Archives: July 2018

Capital G

1 Peter 3:15-16 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear, 16 having a good conscience , that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

I am exhausted from a crazy long weekend racing (almost 1,400 mile trip), but God said, “No you are not going back to sleep, you are rising and writing of my grace and mercy.” Yes, Lord….help me to do so, to share of how I cannot understand why or how you love me. You know the sinner I was, you know the sinner I still am, you know all my hidden struggles, and all those struggles I will carry until I die. I cannot fathom the depth of a love so great, You as the Creator stepped down from Heaven and gave your life for me. I cannot begin to comprehend how much you love us all, how much your desire is for eternity with us that you paid the ultimate price for all of us, that fail, yet you still love us unfailing. 1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. How could I begin to pack into a OneMinuteMinistry the depth of the Bible, the root meaning and evidence of the level of God’s love for us?

I feel as though I am in the middle of a transition season of my life, yet even part of me sees God’s hand in bringing me full circle back to where I started walking away from God. Without the depth of my testimony, I see God returning me to my idol’s arena (dirt bike racing), to share to those who still idolize it. I had placed racing above God, it was my god, my everything. By God’s grace and mercy, he opened my eyes to it, rescued me from it, now my life revolves around him alone. I have seen him at work in these dawning days of Need Prayer? Racing. I have had countless opportunities to share my faith, to pray with, and to be prayed for in our return to the racing community. It is though I am the recovering addict, returning to the streets to share of how God can give them what they are really seeking, something that brings an eternal satisfaction, something no temporary high of any kind can provide. I prayed this weekend just before going to the starting line, “God give me a chance to really share my faith.” As I parked my bike out in the middle to be seen, I walked around. A guy asked me if that was my bike, and I walked through that door God opened with a much more in depth faith sharing on the starting line of a race. My bike gets weird looks, you can feel the stares, feel the comments sometimes, but God is working through it all the time.

Do you realize that God loves you too? Do you realize that you have done nothing he won’t forgive, he doesn’t expect you to be perfect (you can’t anyway), doesn’t tell you that you have to do anything before coming to him, or even think going to Heaven, he only asks that you repent and believe in what Jesus Christ did for you.  Repent simply means to change, to turn from sin or any means you think earns your way into heaven, and believe simply means to accept the Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice accomplished everything needed, and is completed by your faith in that gospel of Jesus Christ. We have complicated Christianity, religion, church, faith, since the beginning of time. We live in a society that elevates oneself, projects the possibility of any or many gods, falsely believe that all paths lead to god, and many are falling away eternally chasing many other roads. The peace that comes to your soul, once God opens your soul to the simple truth, is very easy to share with meekness and fear, for those before you will see Christ in you. He will be using you, to share of himself, all you must do is to believe, be bold, and love him with all your heart, mind, body, and soul. When he is truly your God with a capital ‘G’, nothing else even compares, not even winning dirt bike races or whatever you are chasing.

The Eyes of God

John 20:28-31 And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.

I wouldn’t even know where to begin……but God gave me an answered prayer in that passage above as I sought him this morning. I felt the tug to write, and I prayed for him to place me somewhere for encouragement, somewhere I could encourage you, and the bedrock of my faith in Jesus Christ clearly shows in the closing of John’s gospel. Do you believe? Many say that they do, many feel that they do, but when God tests your heart will there be the evidence that proves your faith true of false? Will you have rested on religion, the manner of works and good deeds that lead you down a road to Hell instead of Heaven? Will you have proclaimed your faith in a moment of time, and returned to the life of sin resting on that belief in Hyper Grace that says God will forgive all now? Or, did something in you change when you said that you believed, something deep inside of you wanted to reject sin and live your life in service to the One who died to give you life? Did something so incredible happen to you that you cannot contain it and leap at the opportunity to share your faith? Do all those around you know that you are a Christian, or that you go to church on Sunday; the two are much different in the eyes of God.

I find myself deep into the book of Ecclesiastes again, the depth of the book of life by the wisest man who ever lived, questioning all of life, yet seeing it’s simple answer in just the holy fear of God and living your life for him. My life is in a changing season, how the book of Ecclesiastes begins. My dreams have been crushed, and all around me seems to be closing in. I have battled heights and depths of anxiety and depression I had not known, but it is OK, for I know God has allowed all of it for a purpose I am not to understand. These struggles either draw you closer to God, where faith grows, or you fall away and give Satan a small victory. If it were not for almost my daily pursuit of God in prayer and his Word, I simply could not deal with this world that Satan rules, and at which his leash seems to be stretching before it breaks and he falls at the end of time as we know it. I truly believe we are getting closer to Jesus’ return, because of the great falling away I see in my country. I heard an incredible sermon recently, and how I agreed with it on that topic of eschatology (the end of time).

How does God view your faith? Not how do others, and even your own self, but how do you think God weighs the level of your faith? Proverbs 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts. Do some self-examination, it is healthy to pray and ask the Lord to open your eyes to your own weaknesses, that is how he purifies us on the road of sanctification. Let him give you a glimpse of his vision, and let it change your life. Let everyone see and witness the level of your faith, because you have seen God within your soul. Be bold and pray and share of your faith, because the day is nearing when we all must give an account of it.