Okay, it's time to get serious and honest. Putting music, fashion, and books aside, there is a more deeper side to me and no, it's not of the philosophical variety. I am Christian and I live to serve my Saviour passionately and wholeheartedly. If you read this and you are not a Christian, per se; that is, you do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, you should know that that is what I believe and it works and provides results for me. If you are reading this and you are not saved, first of all, I want to apologize on behalf of the body of Christ. We, as a whole and perhaps the Christians in your life, have not set a Christ-like example--an example that emulates His character. I want to apologize that we have passed judgement instead of passing love. I am deeply sorry for the utter hypocrisy in the church and that we are not real with ourselves and therefore, we are not real with you. You don't see Christ's light because we still have darkness of our own that, sadly, overshadows that light of Christ. I am also sorry that we have nothing for you to desire; there is nothing that attracts you to have Christ. And lastly, I am deeply sorrowful to say that there is nothing that makes us different from saved and unsaved. We are all the same, and we shouldn't be; we should radiate, glow and shine.
In life and as a new believer in Christ, it's important to cover all the basics of Christian theology. It is important to know the fundamentals, but in this lifetime, we need much more than God's love, grace, and mercy. However, many people (Christians included) fail to realize that with Jesus, we have everything.
1. You should know that God loves you. In spite of all your problems, issues, hurt, and failures, God loves you. He created you and He loves you. Because He created you, there is this special and private place that only He can truly fill. He loves you no matter what you do, He will always love you. He doesn't see you the way you see yourself; He sees you as His child, and He loves you. His love is powerful. It fills, it washes over you, and it is pure, authentic, real love. It does not come with strings attached, it does not come to hurt you or to abuse you, and it certainly does not come to dictate. His loves washes over your insecurities, washes you clean and as white as snow, and He makes you new. When you experience His love, there truly are no words in the English dictionary to fully encompass the feeling of when His love washes over you. God's love is unlike anything else. God loves you and will always love you and there is nothing you can do that will ever stop loving you.
2. God sent His Son to redeem us. God sent His Son as the ultimate ransom. You see, back in the Old Testament, the blood of an animal atoned, covered sin; it did not actually take the sin away. The blood of an animal merely covers or masquerades the sin; it is still there only not as visible. But it's still there. When the Blood was shed, the precious, holy, and powerful blood of Jesus was shed, it was the ultimate sacrifice: it ransomed mankind's sin. The blood of Jesus Christ does not merely cover the sin, but it completely washes it away and it is gone. Forever. Psalm 103: 13 says, He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. Some people may say that Jesus was a weakling because He died and that no one in their right mind would die for us meek people. It is for that exact reason why He did. Jesus did not die for the people who could, according to highly proud people, could go to Heaven. Jesus died for the people who could not go to Heaven without Him--the people that we often raise our noses and sneer at them: homeless, criminals, drug addicts, fallen child stars, rapists, atheists. Jesus died for them because He knew that without His sacrifice, every person on earth would be condemned to hell. And God doesn't want that; He doesn't want people to go to hell, so God decided to give us His Son, sacrifice His life for us, and redeem us. Why would He do such a thing for me? you may ask? Because He loves you.
3. The Word of God is powerful. It is not a religious book (although it can be if used with wrong intentions). The Bible is alive, powerful, and at work. Hebrews 4:12 states that, For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Although the bible is written by men, those men who jotted down every paragraph, sentence, comma, and period were inspired by the Holy Spirit, who is God in Third Person (more on the Trinity later). The Word of God is not just something to be read for phonetics or superfluous reasons; it is a mighty weapon. Many people ask that when someone asks God to do something (save, heal, help, someone, etc.), why doesn't He do anything? For every single problem in life, and yes, I do mean all, there is a Word, a word of Scripture that is relevant for that said situation. God gave you the Bible so you utilize in faith. Faith is not simply acknowledging your belief; faith, according to Webster's dictionary, is complete trust and confidence in knowing what you know. Let's say, for hypothetical example, that someone is in deep debt and needs money. Rather than going to the bank and asking for more money (it is logical to conclude that in order to get out of debt, one should not ask for more money to be added to the list of debt), they lean on God's Word for money. Philippians 4:19 says, And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. If you confess this Scripture in absolute confidence, even though the situation looks bleak, the circumstance is aligning to God's Word. The situation is succumbing to the dominion of God rather than the other way around. The Word is power so when you say it with authority and confidence, knowing that what you're saying is happening, things change. Another example is, let's say, that the doctors tell you that you possess symptoms similar to cancer. You can do one of two things: (a) accept the condition, do the chemo and radiation, and fear your whole life that (if or when) the cancer is gone, it will relapse and you will eventually die before you should of. Or (b) you can refuse to accept the doctor's diagnosis (since the doctor isn't God), search all the Scriptures regarding health (such as Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24, Isaiah 54:17), claim them over your life (knowing that you're saying is coming to pass), soak your spirit with teachings that proclaim victory over your physical body (may I suggest Creflo Dollar and Kenneth Copeland?), refuse to allow the thought that you have cancer (you have symptoms; the battlefield in the mind so do not allow your mind and what you think dictate your life) and praise God that He is doing exactly what the Word says. The Bible is powerful only when utilized, proclaimed in faith, and be the final authority in life (not the doctor, bankers, or accountant). God's Word is power only if you use the power in it. Let me paint a picture (pardon the pun): A woman has a painting and inside the painting is a will. Only the woman cannot read so she does not know what is in the will. Eventually, the will is forgotten. When a salesman notices the painting at a garage sale (with the will inside), he reads it and discovers that the woman was to inherit one million dollars. She didn't know because she was unaware of what she contained. The Word of God is the same thing for believers. We have so much inheritance; because of ignorance or lack of teaching, we fail to realize just how much we have in Christ. The Bible is absolute power but it does not happen instantaneously. It takes time. If you run into a wall, nothing happens, but if you run into several times, accumulating force and momentum with each blow, the wall eventually breaks. In a similar note, if a water drips on a rock, nothing happens, but if water continually drips without ceasing, the rock eventually changes shape. Also, as an addendum, I should mention that the Bible is not magic. Magic is sorcery and deals with wizards and witches. They access the magic wrongly and it is darkness. It is not light and it does uplift you; it gives you control...for a while...but it does bring you to a better place. You have to ask yourself, Why do people use magic? With the Word of God spoken in faith, you cast out devils by the name of Jesus Christ. With magic, it's more complicated; spells, chants, and loosing your soul to the devil, who will never give it back, is required. With the Bible, there is power assessed because God is backing up His Word. But only if you believe what you say. Another thing you need to realize is that there is a supernatural world, one that is undetected by the naked eye. When you speak the Word of God in faith, in the supernatural realm (which God controls), the situation begins to shift in accordance to the Bible. The Word of God assesses into another dimension that cannot otherwise be tapped into. The wonderful thing about the Word of God is not the encouragement that fills you when you read it or the affirmation of God's amazing attributes, but the fact that the Word of God brings results. It brings fruitful results.
More to come. xo
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