Tag: Jesus

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Goodness

I’m sitting with blankets wrapped around me, watching my husband do his daily stretch routine. The song “King of my heart” by Bethel Music is played by Jarrod’s doing in the background. It’s one of his favorite worship songs. One of mine too, and probably for many of you. I’ve heard this song several times. More times than I can count and each time I get teary-eyed. God’s goodness surpasses whatever I am going through. It surpasses whatever you are going through. I don’t mean that lightly. That is not downplaying your circumstance, rather giving hope amid your circumstances. God is good.

We understand God is good, not merely through head knowledge. Rather, we understand God is good when He is the King of our hearts; when He is everything to us. God’s goodness becomes clear not when the miracle comes. God’s goodness becomes clear not when life is easy. God’s goodness becomes clear not when we no longer have worries and struggles. God’s goodness becomes clear when we become to know the Father’s heart. When the gospel message and Jesus become the mountain you climb, the fountain you drink from, the shadow where you hide, the ransom for your life, the wind inside your sails, the anchor to the waves, the fire in your veins, the echo of your days and the song that you sing. That’s when you know of His goodness. All that is a fancy way of saying, you truly submit your life to Jesus, giving Him full control.

God is your King when you climb the mountain and path He’s set before you in faith, trusting an unknown future to a known God. God is your King when He becomes your source of life; not Instagram, not Facebook, not the media, not the culture Christian. God is your King when you hide in His presence daily, not merely preaching you’re seeking the face of God.

God is your King when, like the mountain you climb, trusting in faith, you allow Him to direct your every move no matter how crazy wild it may seem. God is your King when He becomes your anchor on tough days that despite getting hit from all directions, you remain grounded, unwavering, and unmoving.

God is your King when what gives you life is not your family, not your job, not your status or fame. Rather, it’s the knowledge that you are grafted in the linage of Christ by being born again. The tenacity and fire you approach each day with if of purpose knowing your calling is for the Kingdom, not for the earthly things.

God is your King when He is what you remember. That what echos in your heart is the heartbeat of God. God is your King when He is the song you sing both when life is great and when you feel like giving up. You sing a song of praise and thanksgiving despite the circumstance.

God is your King when you make Him the center of your heart. When God is the King of your heart, there’s no question as to whether He is good. His goodness is known deep within your heart and you live that out daily. You live it out boldly. You live it out with expectancy even if everything around us is crashing. You live it out even when it’s scary. When God is the King of your heart, you know He is good, and because He is good He will never let you down.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:22-26

My question to you is simple. Is God the King of your heart?

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Is Jesus the hypocrite?

When man fails, especially those who call themselves Christians, does that mean Jesus is the hypocrite? Should we challenge the integrity of Jesus because a follower of His failed? The answer of course is, no. We shouldn’t, but we do. We are quick to cast stones and blame God for the actions of man. We challenge God and His principles casting blame on Him because, if God was so good HE would have prevented the evil from happening.

Reality is, God has given us a choice. You and I get to choose. For the majority of us, we have the freedom of choice and our choices ultimately pay a price. Make good choices, the outcome probably is, good. Make bad choices, the outcome will be bad and ultimately, those bad choices affect those around us. Often those who are innocent.

The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be shouted from the housetops for all to hear! - Luke 12:2-3

On December 9th 2021, Joshua Duggar, the 33 year old former reality star and eldest child of the TLC show 19 Kids and Counting, was indicted on child pornography charges. Court documents exposes that Josh used his work computer to download child sexual abuse material. Children under the age of 12 enduring sexual abuse were among some of the material found. If you’ve followed the Duggar family you are probably aware that this is not the first time Josh Duggar has made headlines.

In 2015 it was revealed Josh paid for two subscriptions for AshleyMadison.com – a site known to “help” married men find others for affairs. His account revealed he was looking for someone who is interested in “one-night stands,” “experimenting with sex toys,” “someone who can teach me,” “open to experimentation,” and more. Further data, include his preference as “professional/well groomed,” “short height,” “high sex drive,” “natural breasts,” “girl next door,” “naughty girl,” and more. This comes after Josh admitted he molested 5 underage girls, four of whom are his sisters when he was 14 years old.

The Duggar family are known as devout independent Christian Baptists. They boldly take pride in living conservatively sharing their values and their individual relationship with God. Knowing this, it can be and should be unsettling knowing Joshua Duggars doing. How can a Christian, someone who says they serve God, do the unspeakable? More so, how can a good God allow this to happen? A hypocrite we say. And rightly so. Someone who says one thing and does the other. But does that mean Jesus is the hypocrite too?

Did Jesus commit the wrong? Did God force man to do evil? Did Jesus show in His example here on earth tolerance of any of the evil done today? Did God ever reward in the Old Testament literature good for evil? The answer to all of these is, no. It’s simple, we were each given a choice. A mans hypocrital actions does that translate to a hypocritical Jesus or God. While God is all powerful, in His powerful nature He granted you and I the freedom to choose between right and wrong. What we do with this freedom is not a reflection of who God is, rather a reflection of what’s really in our hearts.

Many will say they follow Jesus. Many will be able to quote versus and write songs of wonder. Many will preach with vigor and outwardly appear they serve God, but often we find that this is all a facade. What’s truly in our hearts, the sins we hide and have tucked away in the abyss of our hearts eventually air it’s ugly face. We know that love, true love, does the will of God. And those that love not God and His principles eventually are exposed.

Jesus is not the hypocrite. We are.