Your Master

Who is your master? 

Don't just dismiss this question, think about it. Give yourself an honest answer, what is the master of your time? What are you consumed with?

We all want to say that Jesus is our master, but can we truly say that? This morning I was reading Galatians 1, it says:

"For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ." Galatians 1:10

Are you trying to serve two masters? The Word of God clearly says that it can't be done. If you aren't serving Him, you are in sin. Yes, it is blunt, but it is true! I pray that as I lead the men entrusted to me in my Core that it would never be about pleasing them.  There is nothing in that! I am then sinning and not leading them to the Father.  

It will be difficult in almost every situation that you are in throughout life, but if we truly want to do the will of the Father and be His bond-servant, that is what it takes. We must not allow our fears, insecurities, worries, stresses, or anything not from Him dictate what we say or do. This means whether you are working at McDonald's or if you are in the ministry, we must do all things as unto Him (Colossians 3:17). Do not let your sinful nature take control, it is a constant battle and thankfully He has shed His blood so that we can defeat it with the power of the blood and the Holy Spirit. 

I pray that you are encouraged and that you go on and serve only Him as your master. 

Lastly, if you think this would be beneficial for someone, please share it with them as that is why I do this. I want to bless people. I know the Lord has given me certain words to speak, and I want for those words to fall on the ears the Lord intended them to.

Be blessed!

Solitude.

First, I want to start with a little bit on vulnerability.  It is what is lacking in the church. Whether its the vulnerability in the church, like showing people what the Bible promises Christianity to be instead of just simply “asking Jesus into your heart,” or if its the personal vulnerability to tell the deep dark sins in your life (John 1:5). 

The reason I shared that is because I am going to try to be vulnerable here.  

Over the past two months, the Lord has done more in my life than ever before. That is the best way to say it. I think that it is so easy for those of us who grew up in the church to just know the right answers, while living life on our own. We rely on others for our relationship with God, just taking things others say, and letting that be our “revelation from God.” I know this fully well because for almost my entire life, I fell into this.  My relationship with God consisted of me never running from Him, because I knew the consequences, but also never running to Him.  I made it really far doing this. It was easy, and I never had to leave my comfort zone!  I made it even into spiritual leadership here at the Honor Academy as a Core Advisor while living like this.  

That is what it took. I needed to be placed into spiritual leadership to see it. I thought I was doing well, and that everyone who actually experienced God were faking it (I did have occasional experiences with Him, but I never actually desired Him and His Word or His life)!  In the past two months, God has taken me to a place that I could no longer do it on my own. I was failing at everything I tried. 

I don’t know exactly when the change happened, or what triggered it, but God gave me a desperation for His Word and a hatred of the things that are not of Him, but this was only the first step.

The second part of this was that I relied on others for my relationship with Him. I mean, sure, I was actually living in Him and running to Him, but I relied so much on those around me to process, to vent, to do almost everything. I needed to be broken of this.  

This is where I am now. I can’t say that I’ve learned fully, but the Lord is definitely trying to teach me. The only way He could do that is by removing those whom I relied on. He has slowly been doing this over the past few weeks, so that now, I have almost no one. I’m not saying this as a type of sympathy story, in fact, it is quite the opposite.  I know that this is the only way that I can learn to rely solely on God for my relationship with Him. The place of solitude is a wonderful place to be... I think.  It hurts a lot, and I’m not denying that, but it also is a place of huge growth. We are such a social society that to be in solitude is almost unheard of, which is why I think I have been so far off for my entire life. 

Finally, this is for anyone who may end up reading this. If you have a story similar to this, or are where I was, I do know a couple of resources that helped me know the Father some more.

-To get a better understanding of God and our relationship with Him, and a desire for His Word, read “Multiply” by Francis Chan (www.multiplymovement.com)

-Read His Word!

Lastly, here are a couple of songs that I’m thoroughly enjoying right now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o3mMsmbIbQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVudZGyvqE4

Blood and Fire!

Hello!

I just wanted to take a few minutes this week to tell you a little more about my core!  

This year I am responsible for giving them vision and discipling them throughout the year!  Each Core Advisor gives a name to their core, and it is the main focus for their vision for the year. This year, I know that the name God has given me for their vision is Blood and Fire. 

This name sounds very intense, and in a way it is.  The name is taken directly from Acts 2:17-19 “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; “ 

This isn’t exactly what it means though, as in the verse it talks about literal blood being shed and the judgement fire of God.  In the core vision, the blood simply stands for the Blood of Christ.  This is so powerful and God continues to show me that daily.  The Blood is the love of Christ.  Without the Blood, we are dead, but with the Blood, we have life and life abundantly.  It represents so much.  The enemy will continue to attack us, but anything that is covered by the Blood is off limits to him, so we can have the victory over him because of Christ’s Blood!  We don’t have to sit in pain, listen to his lies, or allow him to win in our lives; Christ has the victory!

The second part is the fire!  It says in Hebrews 12:29 “for our God is a consuming fire,” and in Malachi 3:2-3 it talks about how he is a refiner’s fire, burning away the impurities to make pure silver and gold. Along with that, in two different places, the Bible talks about “seraphim” which means “Burning ones.”  These are the four angels that are the closest to the throne of God.  The reason they were called burning ones is because they were so close to God’s consuming fire that they were consumed by Him and began to look like Him!  When we seek him and spend more and more time with Him, we too will begin to look less like ourselves and more like Him!  

That is the quick overview at what my vision is for them this year, and I’m really excited about what God is going to do with it this year!  I ask that you pray for my eight guys, that they would continue to seek Him and that they truly walk out in this! 

Consumed by Him,

Andrew