Truthfully: Jesus is NOT All I Need!

I know this may sound a little off color, but bear with me on this one. I have been wrestling with this one for a bit now, and still have more wrestling to do.

So many times we hear someone say, "Jesus is All I need," or "Jesus is more than enough for me." Have you or I ever stopped to consider the meaning of this statement? I have and I have come to this conclusion, Jesus is NOT all I need and He is NOT more than enough for me!

Sounds sacrilegious doesn't it? But I really believe it is true not only for myself, but for all who follow Jesus as well. Here is why. Jesus was not all that Jesus needed either! If Jesus needed more than just himself, then why shouldn't I need more than him?

Before I lose you, let me explain. Jesus is my best friend and he is my only Savior and Lord. He is my king and my shield. My Comforter and my Shepherd. His blood is all sufficient to cover my unrighteousness and his love is more than enough to cover even my darkest of hours. Jesus is who I stare at and persevere to imitate and hope to one day embrace and have him tell me of his love face to face. When I think of Jesus and the depths of his passion for me, it is overwhelming to say the least. He bore my burdens, he carried my scars, he wore my flesh, he faced my temptations, his body was ripped and torn because he loves me. What an amazing Savior and Lord!

But I need more than Jesus, and so did he! I need the Holy Spirit to help me and guide me on a daily basis! Oh how I thirst to know the Spirit's voice more clearly. Jesus was able to tune into the voice of the Spirit which led him to the water with John the Baptist, and then to the desert to be tempted. He heard the sound of that voice when his body was wrecked by hunger and yet he could quote the power of Scripture to overcome his foe. He himself said he did not do anything that he did not see his Father doing, and it was the Spirit guiding his eyes to see and hear those very things. Jesus, in his human form, was forced to rely solely on the guidance of the Holy Spirit to show him his Father's path, and I need the Holy Spirit that much more. In a day and age when we are so driven by what we can see, feel, and taste, Jesus showed us that we are to live on the bread of his Word and the water that flows from him which comes only through the Holy Spirit. Jesus is not all I need, I need the Holy Spirit.

That however is not all. I need my Father as well. Jesus told us that he came to point us to the Father, God in heaven. Jesus had to entrust himself to the hands and plan of his Father, praying it would all be as he had been told. He knew the plan, because the Spirit made it clear to him through the Scriptures, but Jesus wrestled in his heart with this plan. "Father, is there any other way?" he cried as drops of blood mixed with his sweat. However, Jesus said, "Not my will, but yours be done." Jesus walked his daily life trusting His Dad to pull through for him because he needed his Father. When he broke bread for the multitudes, he had to trust his Dad would stretch it out and make it last. When he faced Satan in the desert, he had to trust his Dad to give him strength to resist the temptations. When he faced a demonic person, he had to trust his Dad to overcome in the battle. When he faced an angry mob in the temple who wanted to stone him before it was his time, he had to trust his Dad to protect him. When he was physically and emotionally exhausted, he had to retreat to a place to be alone with his Father, through the Holy Spirit, to regain his strength and focus on the path ahead. When he faced the trials, he had to trust his Dad to keep his mouth shut as he was falsely accused, because every ounce of human flesh in him raged to lash out and defend his honor. When he was on the cross, and gasping for air, he had to trust his Dad that this was the plan and that after three days his Dad would summon him from the hands of all his enemies and set him on his rightful throne for all eternity and give him the bride his heart so desired. While for three days he suffered the unthinkable tortures of death, he had to trust his Dad to call his name and say "Son, Arise my Love!" When he left us here to continue on this journey, he had to trust his Dad that he would clothe us in righteousness and bring us home even though our journeys would be difficult, just like his. Jesus needed his Heavenly Father, and so do I!

There is one more thing Jesus needed, and it was a physical family. Remember, Jesus was human in every way we are, and that means he required fellowship just as we do. Jesus longed to walk with others he could share life with. That is part of the reason why he called 12 unworthy men to be his friends. As he went through daily life, Jesus thrived in the presence of these guys. He enjoyed pouring his love out on them, and he also enjoyed them sharing their lives with him. Could he have survived without the 12? I am sure he could have. However, Jesus knew our human needs, as he created us as we are, so he gave himself to be like us and to the need of surrounding ourselves with a family. Human nature is drawn to others who can lift us up and give us strength to face life together. It is evident on Sunday mornings when like minded people gather in a building or when a gang of thieves all gather and live together. Farmers enjoy the company of other farmers! Bikers enjoy riding with other bikers. Athletes connect with other jocks! Smart people surround themselves with other smart folks. Look around and everywhere you turn you will see that intimate need we all have for a family. Even those who are "alone" and depressed tend to connect with others who are alone and depressed. It is our human nature and Jesus carried that burden as well. That is why he surrounded himself with outcast and those others cared little for, because he grew up as an outcast and one who others despised. The world looked down on fishermen and tax collectors just as they had looked down on a baby born in a manger, to a mother out of wedlock. Jesus longed for intimacy with these guys so much, that at one point when the crowd grew so large only because people wanted to see the miracles or be fed for free, he spoke a harsh word of reality (you mist eat my flesh and drink my blood) so all those who were not truly committed would leave and he could draw in closer to these 12 men. Jesus, the man, needed a family, and so do I!

As the payment for my sin, YES, Jesus is ALL I need and more than enough for me. But Jesus himself knows I need so much more than just him. He knows how easy it is to struggle and doubt, so he sent the Holy Spirit to be my guide and the lifter up of my soul. to groan for me in deep prayers I know not even how to utter. He knew I needed more, so he pointed me to His father and said, I am one with Him and my Father longs to be one with you. I will show you how to walk with him, just Follow Me! Jesus knew I needed a family, because life alone can be so miserable, so he surrounded me with dear brothers and sisters whom I can share this life with. And in these days when true, authentic family can be so hard to find, he allows for our hearts to span a globe to be close to someone who may be thousands of miles away.

I want to be like Jesus in every way, and that includes acknowledging not only my need for him, but that I also need more than just him. I need the Holy Spirit to guide my every step. I need God my father so I can entrust myself to his plan even though to me it does not make sense. And I need a family to walk through this life with so I can be held accountable to His high calling and reminded of his love through their hands and feet of service.

Through Jesus ALL of this is possible, therefore I need Jesus and ALL he has to offer!

In Love
Ray

Dear Church, I Apologize.....

For the past two weeks, my family has attended church services for the first time in 8 years. My two young boys have not even known what a church service looked like as they had never really been other than a time or two on Father's day to see their grandfather who is a preacher. For 31 years I was born, raised, and lived in church. I was the guy there every time the doors opened, until God literally yanked me out for his purposes. So the past two weeks have been interesting to say the least.

This morning, I was asked the question I really did not care to answer, "So what have you thought about the church?" The reason I did not want to hear that question is because I cannot say I have enjoyed it or even liked it. Yet I sense a need to be there for some reason and at this point she is 12 (aka, my daughter.) But truth be told, I just have a deep issue with "church" as we know it.

Is it the songs? No! I love worship songs and fully enjoy them in my car, at home, or just in my head as I sing and worship God. Is it the preaching? No! The sermons have been biblical (something hard to find today) and not a shallow interpretation of them. In fact, they have put the true believer on the spot for sin in their lives, including mine. It is not those things at all.

Truth is, "church" (organized gatherings of believers in America) have left a bitter taste in my mouth. Why? Because I have seen the organization chew people up and spit them out. I have seen countless arguments over non essential things tear brothers and sisters apart when Christ says it is through our love and unity that the world would know we love him. I have seen legalistic churches breed holier than thou attitudes. I have seen shallow churches breed nothing but babes who think they know Jesus, but only want the comfort he offered while forgetting the cross. I have seen more destruction come from "church" than I have seen glorifying of God's name.

People often ask "Why would I want Jesus" in America because they see the church and it is little different than what the world is like. We divorce at a higher rate than the world. Our teens fornicate no different than the world. Our pastors watch porn as much as the world. We are drunk, on drugs, and live no different than the world. We pat sinners on the back and tell them they just committed an indiscretion or that they are sick, instead of confronting them with their sin. We do not hold each other to Christ standard because in truth, we do not want to be held to it ourselves. We have allowed our walls to be broken down and our gates to be burned so our enemy is now infiltrated our body and is destroying us from the inside out.

But that is my fault! I am the one to blame! You see, God called me to preach to his body when I was 14. He gave me a very specific message (Isaiah 6). but I like Jonah did all I could to run from it. Calling people to righteousness, I learned at a very early age, is very unpopular. People do not want to hear they need to die to themselves and pick up a cross daily, they prefer hearing about how awesome Heaven is going to be with its streets of gold. We do not want to hear how following Jesus means we will suffer persecution for his name sake, they want to hear how his love will cover all their sins (so it is okay to keep sinning and still call yourself a Christian.) We do not want to hear how Jesus demands all our money, our possessions, and lives (sell all you have and give to the poor), they want to hear how if we give the minimum of 10% God will reach out and send showers of blessings upon you. And because I bear the sin of loving to be liked, I have avoided speaking the truth. I have avoided my calling. I have abandoned my post and I have allowed the enemy to creep in.

Dear Church (the Body of Christ, not the meetings on Sunday) I have failed you. I have abandoned you because I was afraid of how you would respond. I have forsaken following Jesus because I did not like the cost once I had counted it. I masked it well, not just for 7 years, but since I was a child, by living a "Christian Life" and doing just a little more than my fellow man. I lived to honor Him, and when I failed I confessed. I prided myself in my ability to hear His voice and follow Him! But I was living out the life I wanted to live, not what He had asked me to do. I wanted the American Dream no different than any other American. I wanted my family to be proud of me through my accomplishments. I allowed the lies of Satan that my sins of fornication prior to marriage was a valid reason to not speak out, because I would just be a hypocrite. Simply put, I have sinned the greatest sin, disobeying my Father.

Brothers and Sisters, I apologize for leaving my post on the broken down wall. I am sorry I have allowed our gates to burn and the enemy to creep in. God has shown me the result of my silence, and I weep for what has become of my family! I ask you to forgive me for allowing my sin to let Satan in our house. Because I was afraid to speak for fear of the reaction (Read Isaiah 6 sometime and you will know what I am talking about), I chose to shut my mouth and let you live as you pleased.

Today, I can no longer bear to continue down this path. As Jeremiah said, it is as a fire in my bones. God loves His people and longs for us to abandon our selfish, prideful, American Dream lives, and long desperately for Him and allow his light to shine through our broken lives! He longs for it so much that He is willing to forgive us our sins if we confess and repent. He is also willing to CRUSH us if we fail to confess and repent because he loves us enough to do whatever it takes to have that intimate relationship with us.

Pray for me, that from this day forth, I will stand guard at my post. That I will not abandoned you anymore. That I would desire Christ and his cross more than I desire to be liked. Most of all , join me in praying that God would hear our prayers, that we would confess our sins, turn from our wicked ways, and seek His face, so that He might hear from Heaven and heal our broken body, the Body of Christ!

Your brother,

Ray

Where Sin Feels Safe!

Warning: This article may go against the main stream thinking in the Church today.

I cringe every time I hear someone say, "We want our church to be a place where a sinner feels safe to come in." Oh how this causes The Spirit to ache and groan within me. Do we not understand what we are doing if we create a "safe place for sinners."

Now, I completely understand the idea and concept of the truth that we are all sinners and live daily with our faults. I completely grasp the knowledge that we are to live in a state of forgiveness of every fall that happens within the body. I also agree that we should be a people who a sinner can turn to and know that we love them. 100% we are on the same page. 

However, the temple of God (His People and the Body of Christ) is not a place a sinner should feel safe (unless they have been clothed in the righteousness of Christ.) This is what I mean:

Just this year alone, in my small corner of the world, I have been faced with 6 different marriages that were corrupted with affairs. If you could understand how literally small my corner of the world is, this should shock you. Also, even more so, every case involves people who are professing believers who spend time working, serving, and being a part of the local church. Why you ask?

Well, I mentioned that in a past article. When we are comfortable glorying in sin on the big screen, or on the TV, or in someone else's life, or even in a book, we are setting ourselves up to partake in that sin as well. Sin is not a toy, it is a snake that looks beautiful as it wraps around you, but once it starts to constrict, it does not stop until it has killed you. It wants to swallow you up and destroy you! 

Here is the problem that arises from "creating a safe place for sinners." You are also creating a place where sin feels safe to grow and fester, slither its way around and latch on to as many in the room as possible. You cannot create a safe place for a sinner without also creating a breeding ground for sin! Mark those words! 

The Apostle Paul said to confront the brother or sister in sin, if they did not listen, to go to them with 2 or 3, and if they still did not listen, they were to be dismissed from the church (turned over to Satan for a season)! Harsh? No! Paul knew if sin was allowed to creep around the body, then it would be like a contagious disease and infect many more. Now did they hate the sinner? NO! They simply were not going to tolerate sin in God's HOLY house!

Please hear my heart! We should never strive to create a place where a sinner feels safe, because it will create a place for sin to flourish. We SHOULD absolutely have a place where a sinner is welcome to come in, however, when he enters in God's HOLY presence amongst the people (church) of God, the sin living in the sinner should ache, groan, and SCREAM, because sin should NEVER feel comfortable in the presence of God and in the midst of His people!

My Grace is Sufficient!

Many times, when we are talking about the "Lord Providing," it is in reference to a financial provision. However, His greatest provisions in our lives come through His grace!

Recently I was speaking with a brother about how he was doing. He is going through a difficult time in life brought on by a fall into sin recently. As we were talking he mentioned some days are okay, however, most days he can hear Satan screaming in his ear about how he messed up and how unworthy he is. Despite all efforts to rebuke the Devil, there are just some days it is a hard load to bear.

Toward the end of the conversation he brought up how he keeps falling back on when Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12 that "Gods grace is sufficient!" That brought to mind the context that was in and how Paul was referring to a "thorn in his flesh" that God had refused to remove. So I asked my brother in Christ if he knew what Paul's thorn was? He of course said "we are never told," but in reality we are. Read this: 2 Corinthians 12:6-9a

6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

Do you see what His thorn is? That is right, a "messenger from Satan." A demon was assigned to Paul. I am not sure what all this demon was to inflict on Paul. but I do know one of his jobs! He was constantly screaming in Paul's ear 'You are not worthy!" 

Do you remember what Paul did before he spread the Gospel of Christ? He was a murderer and persecutor of the body of Christ. He watched as they stoned Stephen (Acts 7:58). He dragged off men and women to prison for their faith in Christ! (Acts 8:3). He gave himself to fully destroy the church of Jesus Christ because he believed with all his heart that Jesus had deceived the people and that his disciples were furthering this evil. With zeal he gave himself to eradicate this false doctrine from Israel. 

Though he was radically saved (Acts 9), Paul's memory did not leave him. I know in his dreams those days played over in his mind. I know as he went about sharing his faith, that demon constantly reminded him of those he had harmed and put in prison. I know that day Stephen died while he watched with glee haunted his memories. Paul, of all people could start to believe the lie, "You are not worthy! You have no right to ask people to come to Jesus because you are nothing more than a murderer and persecutor of this very faith." 

I can imagine how loud those screams were in his ears, because I heat them just as you do. I have prayed as you have, "God help me forget my awful past and those sins I committed," but he has not removed those memories. However, He does say,"My Grace is sufficient for you, and MY power is made perfect in YOUR weakness!"

I now can join Paul in the rest of verse 9 and 10 where he says:

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Although God had not removed the messenger from Satan, Paul had learned to lean into the power of Christ to overcome this enemy in his life. "Yes" he said, "I have messed up, I am a broken sinner who persecuted the church, I did watch as Stephen was murdered, I wrestle with my self worth every day, however, I delight in this weakness I have, because it through those I realize my desperate need for Jesus and know I can lay my weary head to rest in Him. As I rest in Christ my king, His power flows through me and in my weaknesses I am strong because He is MUCH stronger than my weaknesses!

God Himself will provide! Rest in His sufficient grace today and allow your weaknesses to let you live in His strength!

The Troubling Truth!

I will be honest, this post will have the potential to become soap boyish if I am not careful! But it is really hard when you see so much pain and hurt not to call out the reason why!

In the past 8 months, I have dealt with 5 different phone calls of friends and fellow believers who have called to confess either having an affair or being the victim of one. The first one, I really just stood back and wondered what was God doing? Then the phone calls starting piling up and my frustrations grew. Why were people of God struggling so much with this issue?

Now look, let me confess up front, I am a HUGE sinner. I have a history marred by sex outside of marriage, addiction to porn, hatred of certain individuals, having elitist thoughts of myself, pride, anger, lying, failing to mention Jesus because it would cost me money, and the list goes on for miles! So let me be clear, I am not immune to any sin, and I am only a Saint because God has declared it so, not because I live like one.

However, that does not take away the fact that I have sit back and watched sin overcome God's people. And I only could ask the question "Why?"

Then God showed me this verse in Romans chapter 1

"22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them."

People of God, those who claim to know Jesus and be his disciples, if you glory in sin, you are doomed to partake in it!

We the church of God have been deceived into thinking it is no problem to watch others sin via movies or reading books that dramatize sin and that it would not eventually allow sin to overcome our lives. Not one of the calls I got came from someone who was planning on sinning! However, when the temptation arose, because they allowed themselves to glory in the portrayal of sin on the big screen, TV, and in articles, videos watched, etc, they were already deceived into thinking the sin they were now living in was not really going to have huge consequences. Is it not true, typically the sin we glory in by watching often leads to "happily ever after!" That just is not the real world and all of these people now know it, but too late. 

Here are some examples! 

Women love the Nicholas Sparks books and movies. Who wouldn't. Such amazing stories that show two people falling in love as "fate" brings them together! However, we have failed to point out, myself included, that every one of them show a couple living in fornication! Sex outside of marriage is simply just a part of the story! Yet we watch it and glory in it without pointing out, "That is Sin!!!"

Take simple Romantic Comedies like "Letters to Juliet." My daughters love this movie, however we as parents failed to point out that the main character is living with her fiancé out of wedlock and that is sin. Or that the older character displays the fact that although her now deceased husband was a wonderful man, she never forgot her first true love. Therefore she never could really give her whole heart to love her husband completely because she kept back a place in her heart for her "true love." That is emotional adultery which is Sin, and it should be pointed out. 

How about those Marvel Movies. I could not just pick on the ladies. Parents, how many of us let our kids watch Iron Man? Hey it is just a movie, right? But it is a movie that says it is okay if the good guy is a "Playboy" who has any woman he wants. What are we telling our boys about the value of marriage and sew when their hero has sex with super models whenever he wants? 

I can here it now! "Come on Ray, you are getting legalistic!" No. I never said you should never watch those movies, however, I did say you should point out that there is sin being portrayed os "okay" and that is is NOT okay. And guess what, I bet if you point out the sin long enough, you will not desire to watch those things, or read those novels where fornication is portrayed as okay, or sit easily through a movie filled with vile language (Transformers: Age of Extinction) or anything of the sort. If we stop glorying in sin, it will amaze us how much sin starts to stand out and how much we HATE sin. 

These calls I have received have led me closer to the foot of the cross! They are forcing me to hold more dearly to Jesus. They are growing in me a hatred for Sin amongst the Body of Christ. No different than Jesus, who always loved the sinner, but he despised the sin in the Temple. Jesus who quickly forgave the sin, healed the hurt, but then said, "Go and sin no more!"

I personally can no longer sit idly by as Satan infiltrates the Body of Christ and destroys us with sin. I can no longer stand to allow pastors to preach tickling messages while their flocks glory in the sin that the world enjoys! I can no longer allow my greed to have the American Dream comfortable life to stop me from saying what Jesus said to the Pharisees, "You Hypocrites!"

How I long to see the people of God restored to righteousness (not rightness, but righteousness!) How I desperately desire to see America healed because the People of God, who are called by His name, humbled themselves and prayed, repented and sought out His face, and turned from THEIR wicked  ways, because if they do God promises to heal the land. 

But on the flip side of that letter, if we do not humble ourselves and pray, and repent and turn from our ways and seek his face, He has promised to turn us over to our wicked ways, destroy our land by completely wiping out the forest of trees (Isaiah 6), and leaving our land desolate with nothing more than a small "holy seed" in the stumps that remain!

Please oh People of God, Please stop glorying in sin! Let'e be like Jesus, never afraid to condemn sin for fear of offending the sinner, yet never afraid to immediately forgive the sin, offer our hand to the sinner as we say, "Now go and sin no More!"

Your Brother in Christ

Ray

Choosing Jesus in America!

Have you ever stopped to think about the reality that one day we will have to choose between the country we love and Our Savior?

Have you ever considered the passage in Isaiah 6 where God asked a simple question, "Whom Shall I send, and Who will go for us?"

I will have to admit, this passage has much bearing on my life since I was 14. How can a young man ever forget the day that God asked him this question, only to see him do his best Jonah impression and attempt to run like the devil in the opposite direction. 

Born the son of a preacher man, I never aspired to preach or even teach others. I wanted, and still want, a quiet life, one filled with as little turmoil as possible. I saw the life of a minister of God and I cared little for it. People always upset at you when you deliver the word of God which is aimed at sin in the life of the body of Christ. People literally spitting venom at you through choice words and threats of how miserable your life would be if you ever spoke such words again. Who would want that job?

When I was 14, I understood very little of this passage in Isaiah 6. I only saw the question by God and the answer by Isaiah, "Here am I Lord, Send me!" In reality, I often wonder if that is not where most of us stop in reading of this passage. It is a feel good verse in which we hear a call from God and see one of His faithful servants answer. But there is so much more to this Chapter of Isaiah's life. 

You see, Isaiah lived in a time of great prosperity in Israel. Things were going pretty well for the "children of God." Peace somewhat resided over them and they were all making a nice living off the land. However, we know that they had strayed in their hearts from their first love, God himself. They had traded in God for their own imagination of who God was. God was the "go to guy" if things got tough or hard and he was the "buddy" they could depend on. However, in the day to day living for Him, things had changed quite a bit. People had become complacent in their lives, enjoying the fruits of this world and what it had to offer them. Sure, they were still going to the Temple for the weekly gatherings, they were still living a "more moral than the rest of the world" life, and they were't doing any "horrible" sins! However, they had wandered away from God being their ALL in ALL, their only passion, their only desire. He had become a part of their lives vs being the entirely of their beings. 

God had chosen little ole pathetic Israel to be His people, he had set them free, driven out their enemies, forgiven their waywardness, and still yet again, they had began the process of simply "enjoying the good life." Unfortunately that meant they were self centered, self focused, and forgetting to care for those in need around them. They began to put so much attention on their own lives, that the needs of those around them became the thing to ignore. Eventually, they had become deaf to the cries of the starving children and the widows in need. Eventually the neighbor who was having a tough year just needed to do better for himself. Eventually, it became a nation of people who lacked any resemblance of God and his nature all together. 

That is when God asked the question "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us!" That is when Isaiah, considered the most righteous man of his day, jumped at the opportunity to tell people God's instructions and see his people return to God. That is what Isaiah wanted. Isaiah loved Israel, his country and his people. Isaiah longed for revival to sweep their land and for people to return to being the light of God in a dark world. No wonder Isaiah was so quick to leap at the opportunity to lead his people back to the foot of God's throne. I would feel the same way! After all, when it was all said and done, the people would adore Isaiah and thank him for being willing to serve God and draw them back to His side, right?

Well, that is where the story turned south for old Isaiah! Right after he threw his hand in the air like an excited school boy to answer his teachers question, Isaiah had God's real intentions handed to him:

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (NIV)

9-10 He said, “Go and tell this people:

“‘Listen hard, but you aren’t going to get it;
    look hard, but you won’t catch on.’
Make these people blockheads,
    with fingers in their ears and blindfolds on their eyes,
So they won’t see a thing,
    won’t hear a word,
So they won’t have a clue about what’s going on
    and, yes, so they won’t turn around and be made whole.” (MSG)

Now if I am going to accept God's call to go to his people with a message, the least I would like to see is some results in the positive direction, right? How many people you know are willing to sign up for the "Call" knowing they are going to be used as the one to harden their hearts vs free their hearts? No way! Not me! That is what I have been saying since I was 14. Sure, I will go preach, I will go to the people, but God I want to see them redeemed, not condemned. Not run out of their homes and their lands. Isaiah felt the same way, look at this:

11-13 11-13 Astonished, I said,
    “And Master, how long is this to go on?”

Isaiah was not exactly thrilled at this either. Who wants to go out and preach to the people to repent and return to God only to see them turn away even more. How frustrating that kind of ministry would be. But it was the call Isaiah had on his life and it was during a time that Israel was living large in the land. People feared Israel because of all God had done for them in the past. but Israel had become proud and haughty and lifted themselves up over God. So God sent word to repent, knowing that in their prosperity, it would only harden them even more to continue to live their "okay" lives and enjoy the fruit of the earth. Even the king, Hezekiah, friend of Isaiah, showed his true nature when in Isaiah 39 he was told all he had and all that had been accumulated by the forefathers would be hauled off to Babylon along with Hezekiah's sons. His response was the following: Isaiah 39:8 Hezekiah replied to Isaiah, “Good. If God says so, it’s good.” Within himself he was thinking, “But surely nothing bad will happen in my lifetime. I’ll enjoy peace and stability as long as I live.” (MSG)

Let us be honest. Is that not truly our mentality? I hear it all the time, "Boy I really feel for the next generation, my kids, their children. This world is getting so much worse, I hate to imagine what it will be like for them!" But do we really stop to make a difference through how we live? Are we concerned enough to fall on our knees, repent of our complacent lives, and Pursue Jesus with a fervent passion? (2 Chronicles 7:13-22) Or are we simply content to continue to enjoy our peace in our lifetime and hope they can figure it out?

The final verses of Isaiah 6 are so disheartening to the prophet when he hears: 

11-13 Astonished, I said,
    “And Master, how long is this to go on?”
He said, “Until the cities are emptied out,
    not a soul left in the cities—
Houses empty of people,
    countryside empty of people.
Until I, God, get rid of everyone, sending them off,
    the land totally empty.
And even if some should survive, say a tenth,
    the devastation will start up again.
The country will look like pine and oak forest
    with every tree cut down—
Every tree a stump, a huge field of stumps.

What a devastating outlook for a newly commissioned ministry. No wonder Isaiah struggled with this new found calling. I know I only felt like running the more I grew to understand what God was saying. He was literally planning the full destruction of Israel right in front of Isaiah's eyes and all his pleading and preaching were simply going to be ignored. However, God did not leave him with absolutely no hope. No, he gave Isaiah a small treasure on which to hold as He finished by saying this 

    But there’s a holy seed in those stumps.”

My fellow believers, God raised up America in a very short time to be one of the greatest powers on the earth. We were a beacon of hope to those in need. "Come rest your weary souls here," was the cry and we set our foundations on the simple hope of having a place where we could freely worship God as we saw fit apart from the Catholic Church, The King,  and the Pope. But as time has passed, we have puffed out our chest and we have said "Look at what we have built!" literally putting God out of our minds. Mindlessly laughing at sin portrayed on our TV sets and in the movies. Willingly turning our heads to those in need simply by choosing to ignore the fact that most of the world lives in utter poverty while we live in extravagance. Choosing to prioritize this life over life eternal. Choosing money over God on a daily basis. Choosing to simply stay quiet so we can live a life of peace and free of turmoil that comes when speaking the truth. Choosing to be religious rather than being righteous. 

What God has raised up, just like Israel, He too will level to the ground until it is nothing but a field of stumps! Thankfully, He is also leaving a holy seed in the stump, a remnant to grow again for His glory. America will fall, history has proven it time and again. The greatest nations on earth have always crumbled when they turn their back on God. The choice we will face is do we love America or Jesus more? Do we want our nation saved from destruction more than we want souls delivered from eternal destruction? Do we want our way of life in America to continue, or do we want God to be glorified and the Gospel given to all nations? Which do we love more, Jesus or America? These are questions we will have to answer, or better yet, should answer today!

May God Himself Provide us the Grace that we may we choose Jesus when that day arrives. 

Your Brother, 

Ray