hballingerLeave a comment

Do you?

Do you love Jesus?

I ask this question with people that I know and strangers that I meet, because it is the core foundation of the gospel of Jesus Christ – and I’m amazed at the answers that I get.

“I’m the pastor/deacon/elder at blah blah blah…”

“I go to church at…”

“I read the Bible and pray every day…”

That’s not what I asked, friend. Do you love Jesus?

Rarely do I see that response of deep joy spring up and rejoice with “Yes,  I love Jesus!” Rarely do I find someone eager to deny themselves, take up their cross, follow Jesus, give generously to the needy, love their enemies, and expect nothing from this life but the opportunity to serve Him until our days are through. Rarely do I find someone who wants to be used by the Lord to have His will done in our lives.

But far too often, I find a world that is interested in using the idea of Jesus and of religion and prayer to get what they want. Far too often I see a world that seeks to make God their slave and themselves the master – even in prayers as they name and claim all kinds of things for themselves as their portion instead of Jesus Christ being their portion and prize. I find so many selling their eternal soul for a bowl of soup – giving up the imperishable for more things that perish.

I find a world that has little interest in serving and loving God, but that wants to be served and loved by God. I find ac world that even when blessed by trusting in the Lord, is quickly distracted and falls into chasing after things and security and pleasure and honor amongst men instead of chasing only after God.

I find a world full of wolves that profit off of religion and the traditions of men,  who make merchandise and slaves and followers of the very ones they are supposed to equip and send out. I find a world of kings who gather their flocks to be fleeced to advertise their name wide and far that is not the name above all names – instead of a world of servants gathering together to be fed and provided for and loved so they can go out and do the same to others.

I find so many eager to talk and be seen, but so few who want to walk and be clean.

What an evil and rebellious generation we live in, with people chasing after whoever will tell them whatever lies they want to hear – and so few actually seeking to find Jesus Christ in the Word of God, so few actually wanting to know Him personally and intimately,  so few who want to love God more than self, so many that like the idea of Him as Savior but aren’t interested in the reality of Him as Lord.

Do you love Jesus?

Is He the love of your life?

Is He the steering wheel of your life instead of the spare tire?

And yes, I shine this light on myself daily and I am thankful for His grace when I fall short, but He loves us more than to leave us there.

Peter denied Christ too,  but was restored from his disgrace, from his shame, from his letting down the Lord yet again – and He was restored to walk in his purpose and mission. It’s time that we step past religion and rise up as the true church, alive with his Holy Spirit alive and active in our lives. It’s time that we walked out our mission.

It’s time for us to love Jesus.

So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.  Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.”  This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.”
John 21:15-19 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/jhn.21.15-19.NKJV

So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
Luke 10:27 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/luk.10.27.NKJV

hballingerLeave a comment

Locked tight

I have a box that is locked tight in the closet of my mind. It is a box that has been tucked away with hopes that I might forget about the guilt and shame and weight of its contents. It is something that I cannot change and it is a weight too heavy to bear.

At times I have feared that it’s weight might carry me down to Sheol with it. It is a weight that men will hold against me like a scarlet letter on my chest that announces “Unclean!  Unworthy! Disqualified!” Some would go as far as to tell me that I should not speak of the glory of my Lord and Savior – some would go as far as saying that I am doomed, with no hope at all – an abomination – filthy and eternally rejected by a God they claim can love them but not me,  can bless them but not me, can hear them but not me.

And their archers know exactly where to target those flaming arrows so they enter the creases of my armor. They are very familiar with the broken places in the walls where they seek to creep in and set up strongholds. They are very good at accusing their wounded brother, at mocking their wounded prey, at tearing into the very flesh of my heart with their teeth. And once they have set up camp inside the walls, they are very good at hiding and keeping quiet,  hoping that I will not remember, hoping that I will not find these intruders until they are ready to attack and overwhelm me in a moment of weakness.

And even when I think about this tightly guarded box, I do not know what to do with it. The stench of its contents overwhelms me and I wretch in shame and guilt just at the memory. I built up a great arsenal of weapons for the enemy to use against me and they have taken up camp in the armory that I built for the enemy through the foolish ignorance of my old, childish ways. I have handed the enemy weapons of mass destruction to use against me to terrorize my very heart.

You see, the past – I cannot change it. I cannot even fathom how to set it right. When I see the hurt and pain and wreckage that my past caused to some – especially to one – I know the warnings of stumbling even one of these little ones – but what about us who may have clipped the wings of an angel? What of those of us who have burdened another that we once loved? The event doesn’t even need an accuser to stand when I am called. They don’t even need the pile of evidence to hold against me.

I stand before you a dead man walking. I stand before you as the very man that carries the millstone around his neck. I stand before you, worthy of and expecting the pit for my broken covenant between God and another. I stand before you, knowing that on that day, I will finally know whether my hope has been in vain.

Can He love even me? I cry out, Yes! He can and He does! I preach to others the Good News of the gospel,  even as I fear the consequences that I deserve. Even as I acknowledge that I am unworthy, unqualified in the eyes of so many perfect men – I do not envy such men that are in their own estimations above reproach. I do not strive to be listed and titled and honored here on earth among them – because either Christ is my only portion and prize, or He will send me too the pit that I so truly deserve.

Enemy, do you call for a witness, for a testimony against me? Let me speak! Because I declare myself guilty by virtue of my old life – but thank you,  Jesus,  it doesn’t stop there! Yes,  I am guilty. Yes, I bear my cross as a man condemned and worthy of death and destruction and separation from a holy and righteous God – BUT GOD…

And I’m so thankful for that BUT GOD…

But God so loved ME, that He sent His Son to die on the cross in my place,  and the enemy was defeated by His love and by my faith, and He rose again as not just the judge, but the advocate that we have in heaven, and His Holy Spirit came to live in me and convict me if sin, teach me truth, and guide me in His ways, so that He will be glorified,  not me.

That box in the back of the closet will be opened, and the contents may do their best to torment me and distract me, and they may even overcome my emotions and my reason and my logic, but they will not overcome my strength because it comes from the Lord – because the victory is His, not mine. With God, all things are possible.

It’s time to open the box.

The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?” And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made  them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’  and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’ ?  So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.  And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.” His disciples said to Him, “If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.”

But He said to them, “All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given:  For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother’s womb, and there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.”

Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”  And He laid His hands on them and departed from there.

Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good?  No one is  good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which ones?” Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’  ‘Honor your father and  your  mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  ” The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:3-26 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/mat.19.3-26.NKJV

hballingerLeave a comment

What is Faith/Belief?

Faith is believing in the Word of God as truth.

It isn’t just believing that Jesus was a man that had good lessons to teach, the demons know that is true and will still go down to the pit.

It isn’t just believing that Jesus was the Son of God, God come in the flesh to walk amongst man, to die on a cross, because even the demons know this is true.

It isn’t just believing things “about Jesus”, because that is just mental reasoning and logic that starts in our mind.

Believing takes place in our heart, in that central place where our desires and our foundation exist – upon which everything else is built. Believing is a tearing down of the old structures of “my will, my dreams, my desires” to replace it with “God’s will, God’s purpose, God’s truth” as the foundation upon everything has to be built. Yes, humanly speaking believing involves change, cost, and sacrifice in this world. But spiritually speaking, it offers growth, value, and treasure eternal. Believing in our heart shifts our perspective and our priorities into a new alignment that is very contrary and different to that old idol/master of self/ego.

Without this firm foundation and change on the inside, we can practice religion and struggle under our own strength against ourselves, but we will find ourselves powerless – because our heart is still yearning for what it believes, regardless of any volume of “retraining” we subject ourselves to on Sunday mornings.

You see, belief is not a one time prayer and confession – although it starts with that. It starts with a surrender, once we’ve realized our need for a Savior, and we’ve humbled ourselves to receive a new Lord of our life – and it lives as a seed of grace,  of His Holy Spirit,  of His very nature and character planted in our lives and growing.

You see belief is active and alive and now – it isn’t a check box or a ticket already purchased. I don’t ask you if you’ve accepted Christ, because we know that many have thought they believed and have turned back because they had deceived themselves. No, I ask, “Do you love Jesus Christ? Do you love God? Is His Spirit alive and evident in your life today?”

This is belief – active, alive, manifest in the life of the believer. We must step past the mental games and gnosticism and new age spirituality – to a real and alive God who lives in us, whose guidance and instruction we value as truth, whose love and mercy and righteousness we hunger for. This is the Kingdom of God that we seek – His will being done in our lives. Yes, this is belief, to not only be hearers of the Word of God,  but to be doers – to actually love Him.

Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
John 14:23 NKJV

Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in  it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.
James 1:21-25 NKJV

hballingerLeave a comment

Sincere love

Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.
Ephesians 6:23-24 NKJV
http://bible.com/114/eph.6.23-24.NKJV

Grace for all those who truly love our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, grace is available to all,  it is a gift extended and avaliable. And grace isn’t just a promise of escape from consequences – it isn’t just an idea of a loving Father and merciful Savior. Grace is being born again, with a new seed of life planted within the tilled up soil of our old lives. Those of us who love Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives, who seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness – yes, this grace is for us.

And what a simple, but complete requirement to receive the gift of life – sincere love of Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives. Yes, something like this takes faith.

Do you love Him?

That is my question. At its essence, that is the gospel. Because if we believe, then how could we not love Him? He is the light come into the darkness, not to condemn us for our chains of sin, but to deliver us to new life. Are we running from the light to hide, or running to the light in grattitude for His revelation, for His truth, for showing us the way?

Thank you, Lord, for opening our eyes to your love. For revealing your very nature to us. For bearing out your fruit in our lives as evidence of your life breathing within these dead bones. Thank you for welcoming us with open arms as the loving Father, when we were just hoping to come back to your house as a humble servant. Remind us that it isn’t about our works, but about your love, and our love in response. Teach us to love more today, so that others might find us peculiar enough to want a taste of this sweet grace, of this wonderful for of your love that is alive in us. Amen.