Can You Imagine Living a Life with the Ability to Fly, but Never Knowing it?

Church has been a cornerstone for much of my life, but I can’t say that I’ve experienced the church God intended until recently. We’ve been fed Truth in a way unlike anything we’ve ever experienced. It moved us with a quickening that was unfamiliar, at times uncomfortable, but always exhilarating!

What we didn’t know is that we were doing something Jesus commands in John 6 - we were “feasting on His flesh.”

Feel uncomfortable?

You’re not alone.

When Jesus tells His audience that anyone who eats His flesh & drinks his blood will have eternal life, many are offended, even His followers.

But here’s the thing: He wasn’t talking about His physical body. Yes, the Word of God became flesh & made His dwelling among us, but in the same way that the flesh of a man has no value without soul & spirit, religion without the quickening Spirit of God is dead & worthless!

Jesus clarifies with 3 bullet-like sentences:

The Spirit alone gives eternal life.

Human effort accomplishes nothing.

And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit & life.

I love that He sandwiches in a sock to the gut 👉🏽Human effort accomplishes nothing.

Nada.

Zip.

Zilch.

Aiming to accomplish anything apart from Spirit is like trying to fly without superpower - we will likely fall flat on our faces or miss out altogether that this power is available to us!

Can you imagine living a life with the ability to fly but not knowing it?

That’s what life without the Holy Spirit is like! When our spirits keep lock step with the HOLY Spirit, sparks fly & so do we!

How do we live life in the spirit?

By ingesting The Word Who became flesh! 

If we abide IN Him & His Words abide in us, we can ask freely & it will be done!

Y’all there is Divine power that comes upon, in & through us when we feast on the Word of God! ALL human effort is worthless, so if you’re striving, stop it.  You’re missing out on the most super-powered life possible this side of heaven!

Oh Father, awaken Your People to the much-more life you have for us! Holy Spirit, lead our spirits so we keep a quickened step with You! Flesh without spirit is dead. Awaken us to our need of The Word & place us in a church home where He is welcome!

#oneyearbible

May 11th One Year Bible Readings

1 SAMUEL 10:1-11:15

JOHN 6:43-71

PSALM 107:1-43

PROVERBS 15:1-3

Choices Matter | They Serve to Separate & Always Carry Consequences

Have you heard of the giant drop of blood on the Hollywood sign hiking trail? It’s a huge sculpture that looks like a blood drop. The owner of the property claims it to be art, while others think it might be a head-nod to adrenochrome harvesting. I won’t go down that rabbit hole, but it feels like a visual of the state of our nation.

According to the wisest man who ever lived, (King Solomon), godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people. Whenever I see a word with the prefix of “dis” I always rephrase the word with its meaning (not), so I re-read the verse as this:

When we choose sin, we choose not grace.

Wow. Talk about “Choices Matter!” The Hebrew root means goodness and kindness. When we choose sin, we choose not to live under the favor, kindness & goodness of God. 

The Israelites “mingled among the pagans & adopted their customs, which led to their downfall…”

What customs?

They sacrificed their sons & daughters demons;

they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons & daughters, whom they sacrificed to idols, & the land was polluted with blood. Psalm 106:35-38

Sound familiar?

We are nearing the 50 year mark of Roe v Wade. We have sacrificed over 60 million sons & daughters, shedding their innocent blood, most times for the idol of self. The comfort & rights of mom do not negate the value of life in her belly & yet we’ve polluted our land with their innocent blood.

Life is a key theme in the book of John. He mentions the word over 50 times! He writes how Jesus IS life, the Bread of life, the Water of life & He lay down HIS life that WE might have eternal life! His blood was shed so ours might be saved!

Every single choice we make carries consequences…they will bring life or death on some level. When we choose sin or a decision that brings death, we choose not grace.

Father, we need a fresh wind to blow through our nation. Pour out a spirit of repentance on the masses. Forgive us for polluting our land with innocent blood! Open our eyes to see the Truth of the matter - that choices DO matter, carrying the weight of life & death. Help us, Holy Spirit, choose life!

#OneYearBible

May 10th One Year Bible Readings

1 SAMUEL 8:1-9:27

JOHN 6:22-42

PSALM 106:32-48

PROVERBS 14:34-35

Something is Seriously Wrong when a Nation is Offended by Everything but Sin

The other day I saw an ultrasound of a baby in his mama’s belly immediately after he’d been given a lethal injection. The pain on his little face was unbearable…I closed my phone immediately & cried. “Oh, Lord, forgive me”,

Many know that abortion is part of my story of sin. It’s an awful reality to accept especially in light of the images we can now see in the womb. I let the life God gave, die. It was a selfish choice that could’ve been avoided by other choices like abstinence, contraception, adoption or even parenthood. I don’t think the ache in my heart, especially on the heals of Mother’s Day, will ever quite subside.

Lamentations 2:19 tells us to pour out our hearts like water before the Lord on behalf of our children. That same visual is used in 1 Samuel 7. Israel abandoned God for the gods of surrounding nations & yet they mourn because it seemed that the Lord abandoned them.

Samuel corrects them, saying, “If you’re really serious about wanting to return to the Lord, get rid of your foreign gods, determine to obey Him & he’ll rescue you.”

They toss their idols, worship Him only & then gather “in a great assembly to draw water from a well & pour it out like water before the Lord.”

Y’all, something is seriously wrong when a nation is offended by everything but sin…I mean, imagine being upset that babies will LIVE?

It’s HIGH tome we confess & like the Israelites, testify to the filth of our nation, letting our eyes gush forth like water in desperate need of forgiveness.

That poured out water, spilled out on the ground, could not be gathered. it soaked into the soil, seemingly wasted, but not. It was a visual of their need of internal washing by the grace & Spirit of God!

They didn’t cleanse their bodies, they cleansed their hearts & fasted as they confessed their sin…& guess what? He followed their confession with a mighty deliverance from the tyranny of the Philistines!

Oh Father, You say if we turn from our wicked ways, humble ourselves, pray & seek only Your face, that You’d give us grace & heal our land. So here we are with poured our hearts, coming into agreement with our need to turn back to You. We need You, Lord! Come have your way!

#OneYearBible #abortion

May 9th One Year Bible Readings

1 SAMUEL 5:1-7:17

JOHN 6:1-21

PSALM 106:13-31

PROVERBS 14:32-33