He Paid the Cost for My Life

But God said, "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine." Isaiah 43:1

Mel Gibson didn't want to pay his $2 million ransom, but Jesus paid it.
Ransom: money that is paid in order to free someone who is kidnapped or captured.

We were all captured by sin, but Jesus paid the price to set us free. Jesus was and is the ultimate ransom.
Because He paid for our lives so that we could be reconnected to Him, there is no reason to fear. Jesus will never leave us. Why would someone pay the hefty price for your life and then leave your side?

On the contrary, when a child is taken for ransom and a parent pays the cost, the parent holds that child even closer. The parent doesn't want the child to leave their side for the chance that they may be taken again.

So too, God will never leave our sides. He holds us so tight because He doesn't want to lose us again. Our God is a jealous God. And so He ransomed His life to free us and now He holds us tight, defending us, guarding us, doing whatever has to be done to keep us from being captured again.

When you know that Jesus has paid the price for your ransom, would you stay with your captors? Will you stay tied up in imprisonment or will you run to your savior who set you free? Once your in your saviors arms, would you look back?

Jesus paid your ransom. Be obedient to Him and live free of fear from being captured again. Let Him protect you. The debt is paid.

It's Going Down in 2014! Turn Up!

" But forget the former things; do not dwell in the past -- it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?"  -Isaiah 43:18  (NLT emphasis added)

"If He did it before, He will do it again. Same God right now. Same God back then." These are the lyrics from the chorus of one of my favorite songs of 2013 (Tye Tribbett's Same God). But those lyrics will have to be remixed in 2014 because God is about to blow our minds.

The lyrics are absolutely true, but we dwell so much on what God did in the past that we start to put Him in a box.  We limit what God can do because we pray small prayers. We think low, even when we try to think high. God thinks above and beyond our thoughts. God does miracles.

You dream, "God will give me money to pay off my students loans."
God dreams, "I will make her student loan debt disappear."

You dream, "God will get this Obamacare web site to work for  me so I can get  health insurance to buy my blood pressure medicine."
God dreams, "I will remove high blood pressure from him, his children, and his children's children so there will be no need for the medicine."

You dream, "I will get an entry level position at the IT company of my choice."
God dreams, " I will help her open her own IT company that will help local businesses in her area."

Our prayers are so small in comparison to what God really wants to do for us. God wants to do a new thing in 2014. His new thing is stifled by our small imaginations. Don't put God in a box. Get ready for His new thing. It has already begun and if you aren't watching you will miss it.

How iOS7 works like the Holy Spirit

“And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.” Mark 2:22

So my mom called me and told me I have to do the iOS7 update. I really had no rush to do it, but when your mom does something cool before you, you just have to redeem yourself. So I deleted all my pics to free up 3gigs to download this iOS7 onto my iPhone 4. As mom said, the update was pretty awesome. It's a whole new platfom that looks sleek, clean and easy to use. I thanked God for saving me $199 on buying a new phone because this update made me feel like I was pretty brand new already.

That was until three days later when my phone went black and completely crashed. My first thought was , "Just like those people at Apple. They set my phone to self-destruct so that I would have to buy a new phone." But that wasn't the case at all.

It was simply a modern scenario of Jesus' 2000 year old parable -- "You can't put new wine in old wine skins." And it wasn't until my phone crashed that I truly understood that parable. We are flesh, soul, and spirit. A cellphone is hardware, application, and operating system.

You can't put a new operating system into old hardware and applications and expect to it to to function properly. So too, you can't place the Holy Spirit into your sinful soul and flesh and expect it to function properly. Your renewed Spirit and sinful flesh will constantly be at war for your soul. Therefore, when we are saved we must increase the strength of our Spirit in order to train our flesh to be in subjection to our Spirit.

We often wonder why when we are saved we don't immediately stop drinking, smoking, clubing, fornicating, etc. It feels like the moment we leave the alter we will never be tempted by our flesh again. But that is not the case. You now hold this new Holy Spirit of God inside of you, but you put it into some old hardware. The next step to walking out of sin is renewing your mind and soul, and strengthening your Spirit. "Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world (flesh), but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think (soul). Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:2)

You do this by growing ever more closer to God by reading and hearing His word. The more the Word of God dwells with you the easier it becomes to let go of the things of your past. So as you walk out your new life and your new operating system, which I have cleverly named the iHS7 (Holy Spirit 7), utilize the Word of God to renew your mind and soul so that you don't crash like my iPhone 4.

Who You Are: A Message to All Women

Spiritual Maturity for Christians...

One of the key messages in the Bible for Christians is that they need to keep moving forward as they walk with Jesus Christ. But what does that mean? If you think about walking in the physical sense, it means:

"A steady progression moving forward along a pre-determined path."

For the Christian this is no different. To progress and grow as we walk with Jesus Christ we too have a path to follow. The key words above are steady, moving forward and pre-determined, these too are the keys to Christian growth.

Steady Progression

The analogy of "walking" with Christ is quite profound. If we had to "run" then we would be quickly worn out, possibly injured and definitely exhausted in the same way as we are physically when we run. But someone who "walks" can keep going for a long time, steadily covering a distance to take in and learn about the things around him or her. As Christians we are striving in this same controlled fashion as we are in this for the long haul.

Moving Forward

Forward motion suggests growth and advancement. As Christians we seek to grow so as to become like Christ. Our aim is to emulate him and to learn, act and behave as he did. The value to us as individuals is that we are no longer at the mercy of our emotions. We can calmly and rationally make right decisions based on the truth of Christ.

A Pre-Determined Path

We follow a certain route to go from somewhere to somewhere else. As Christians we are moving from a life controlled by the emotions, passions and desires of the flesh to become like Christ where we choose to behave and do what is right.

The Apostle Peter described an eight-step program to achieve maturity in Christ, as identified in 2 Peter 1:5-7. We are encouraged to supplement or build upon each successive step to reach towards the next.

Eight Steps to Christian Maturity



1. Faith - This is the basis of Christianity. You cannot be a Christian without faith, without believing in Jesus Christ. It is from this starting point that the Christian walk begins.


2. Virtue - Do what is morally good. Aim to always learn what is the right thing and then do it. This is not about being "holier than thou" but rather living a life of good works and moral behaviour.


3. Knowledge - To progress you must learn what you need to know to progress. Knowledge is the key. Learn what is right and what is pleasing to the Lord through his ways and teachings. Only then you can move towards maturity.


4. Self-Control - Too often the forces, people and things around us influence us, whether peer group pressure, family pressure or our own emotions and desires. Self-control gives us the ability to take a stand, choose rightly and to act appropriately on our choices.


5. Steadfastness - It is important to be stable. Immovable. Steadfastness allows us to be calm when we are under fire. To be the rock in the storm. The value of steadfastness is that we know our position because it is right, and we cannot be moved from it regardless of the turbulence around us.


6. Godliness - Learn to be like God. Learn his ways, which we see in the examples of Jesus Christ and the Apostles. Follow the teachings of the Lord so that we can progress to that place where we will be able to behave as he did.


7. Brotherly Affection - In all of this it is important that we care for our brethren. We are called to be a family of God and it is important that as children of God, as brothers and sisters in the Spirit, that we get along.


8. Love - Finally the essence of God is love. Not the mushy pulp depicted on TV or in movies but the love of God, which is action oriented. God is love, and if we are to be mature we need to aspire to living a life of love too. The love of God is identified in 1 Corinthians 13 and all of the attributes of God's love are not about feelings and emotions, but behaviours and attitudes.

Overcoming Procrastination:

"Jesus replied, "But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice." Luke 11:28 (NKJV) 

The Bible has alot to say about procrastination. And I know the things I shouldn't do and I do those. But I procrastinate on the things I really want to change in my life. Why?
Give Reasons We Procrastinate:

1. Indecision.  "A double minded man is unstable in all he does" James 1:8 NKJV

Have you ever sent a waiter away at a restaurant because you couldn't make up your mind?  Indecision causes you to postpone buying a car, choosing a college, getting married, buying new clothes, changing a job.

2.  Perfectionism. "If you wait for perfect conditions, you'll never get anything done!" (Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT)

If you wait for things to be perfect, you're going to wait a long time. You don't have the time or the money for things to be perfect.

3.  Fear. "Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety"  (Proverbs 29:25 NLT)

Have you been postponing going to the dentist?  Or having that needed surgery?  Or getting into marriage counseling?  Sharing your faith at work?  Ask yourself, "What am I afraid of?"

4.  Anger. "A lazy person is as bad as someone who is destructive." (Proverbs 18:9 GNT)

Procrastination is a way to get back at people we don't like.  We delay.  Kids are great at procrastination.  You ask them to clean up their room.  They do it but they take so long doing it. One of the reasons may be that they're resisting your control. Procrastination is passive resistance.  I don't want to do it because I don't like you telling me to do what I have to do.  Anger causes us to put things off.

5. Laziness. "Lazy people want much but get little, while the diligent are prospering." (Proverbs 13:4 NLT)

One of the most popular words in America is "easy." If it's easy, we like it.  If it's hard, we don't like it.   Can you imagine a best seller titled, "Ten Difficult Steps to Change Your Life" or "Fifteen Difficult Ways to Get in Shape"?

What action that you know you need to take of are you currently avoiding? Why?

The next time you find yourself procrastinating, stop and ask yourself why. Then ask God to help you overcome it so you can move forward and do what you need to do.

The Mouth of the Whale

The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai:  “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach
against it, because its wickedness has come up before me.”  But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord. Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. ( Jonah 1-4 NIV)

We hear about strangers every day. We see them in the news, under overpasses, passing through streets littered with bars and prostitutes. We see the obvious sin ravaging our cities. Some of us join community service projects. We take large steps to evangelize to those in need. And these are indeed services that our communities need us to take part in.

But what about people who are not strangers? What about our closest friends and relatives? We all have friends and family that are not saved or are living luke warm. Are we ministering to them or are we afraid to offend them? Are we afraid to get out of our comfort zone with them? Do we believe they deserve their punishment for what ever they do? Do we hold resentment for some of the people we say we love?
We should all think unashamedly and inwardly about ourselves and why our pursuit to save those closest to us is not as fervent as our pursuit to save strangers.

It's funny how sometimes the people you say "I love you" to the most, can be the ones we resent. There are so many different reasons we may harbor resentment -- jealousy, anger, unforgiveness, and distrust. These feelings can often keep us from truly wanting to see the people we say we love be blessed. This may be a touchy subject because no one wants to admit that they aren't truly wishing the best for someone else. We don't want to admit that inside we are bitter and holding back true agape love for them. We may be holding back so much that we cringe at seeing them blessed before we are. Are there people you would rather see fall than be saved?

God told Jonah to go to the people of Nineveh who had fallen away from Him and warn them that God would destroy them. Jonah refused because he knew that once he warned the people of Nineveh they would turn from their evil ways and God would bless them. Jonah did not want God to have mercy on them. He resented them because of their sin.

Are we choosing the route of Jonah? Are we choosing mercy for those things that us comfortable more than those people who we say we love? It was often funny to me in college to see how quickly I could forgive a boy who cheated, but forever hold anger in my heart for a best friend who betrayed my trust but apologized sincerely. It's even baffling how we forgive our best friends for ditching us for someone else, but never forgive our parents when they don't show up for important events.How do we choose our standards of who gets our mercy?  And are we inevitably giving God standards for who He should show mercy to? Maybe sharing the gospel to strangers who we will never have to see again is easier than sharing it with the people we say we love.

God wants to show mercy to everyone. It's not our choice. It's his. Deal with the deap rooted feelings within you that may be keeping you from sharing the best of God with everyone God calls you to.