At The Cross

This is a devotional I wrote awhile back on the song "At The Cross" by Polen www.polenband.com and I wanted to share it with you.

AT THE CROSS
(words and music by Jeff Polen ©2005 Jeff Polen Music / ending words written by Eric Kaufman, Jeff Kaufman, and Maynard Miller ©2009)

You have asked me for everything
But You have given me more than I gave You
And I have found that when I’m nothing
I am everything in You

When I’m weak You make me strong
When I’m down You give me words to a song
And it picks me up again
And I lay my burdens down
At the cross again
And then it’s only You and me

I am a stranger in a strange land
You are still the same
And You are always right beside me
Every time I call Your name, Jesus

When I’m weak You make me strong
When I’m down You give me words to a song
And it picks me up again
And I lay my burdens down
At the cross again
And then it’s only You and me


Has music ever brought you to tears? What about the realty of truth? I was able to get a pre-release copy of the cd and I remember the first time I heard this song. It was one of those days when things aren’t going well and you just want to get in your car and drive. As I was driving along listening to “At The Cross” tears started to stream down my face. In that moment the reality of the cross hit me. The truth of scripture meant something to me. The sacrifice the Jesus made for me, the grace that I do not deserve, and the eternal life in Him that I have received brought tears of joy to my eyes. In this moment of weakness in my life the cross made me strong, it picked me up again, and I was able to lay my burdens down. What does the cross mean to you?

I love the term “weight of truth.” Have you ever felt the “weight of truth?” That’s what happened to me in that car ride. In the story of the crucifixion I love how the centurion finally felt the weight of truth.

“When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God.”” – Matthew 27:54

He got it. The fact that Jesus was really the Son of God, that he was the Messiah resonated. The weight of that truth came crashing down. In fact in Luke’s account it says they were said to have “beaten their breasts” which refers to grief and repentance. What does the cross mean to you? When was the last time you ask God to help you believe? He desires to give you faith, he desires to help you believe, but he is looking to you to ask.

Someone once told me “you can’t out give God.” I constantly think about that truth. Not only do I think about that in terms of my finances but to get more to the core my selfishness. There are many times I have made excuses to God. Many times I have let God know just how much I have given up for him. Things like friends I love, a business career in professional sports, money, girls, lifestyle, etc. Usually right away God lets me know that he has given me more than I gave him. He lets me know that he has asked me for everything and rightfully deserves everything.

This begs the question, “why would God ask me for everything? Couldn’t he just ask for most of me and that way I can still enjoy some guilty pleasures?” The answer lies in the third and fourth line, “I have found that when I’m nothing I am everything in You.” How much do you rely on God? One of the reasons God asks us for everything is that it removes barriers that keep us from him. It reminds me of the passage in 2 Corinthians 8:9-10.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 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.”

God gave us more than we could ever give him at the cross. At the cross Jesus was crucified. At the cross our sins were paid for. The cross is where we need to be. We need to remember the sacrifice, the love, the pain, and the humility of Jesus coming to earth and taking on flesh to become a ransom for many. What emotions, feelings, and thoughts does the cross of Christ create in you? What goes through your head when you think about Jesus Christ as a spotless, blameless, perfect Lamb of God, who died for you. Think about it, we were broken, fallen, and worthless, yet he died, he died for us. I hope today that you remember the cross. That you would remember he has asked you for everything but has given you so much more. That you would let go of the temporal and hold on to the eternal.

“I was spotless, I was blameless, and I was the perfect Lamb of God. You were broken, fallen, worthless, yet I died. I DIED FOR YOU!”

WHAT DOES THE CROSS MEAN TO YOU?

Offense

This week I started lifting more weights than normal and can real feel a difference. I am becoming more sore but feel stronger. My times at the gym this week were purposeful and I had others working out with me. I didn't just go through the motions but worked hard and I feel better and stronger because of it. I often wonder if this example transfers over to my spiritual life. Ephesians 6:10 says,

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might."

Paul continues to go to write about putting on the armor of God and reminded us that we are in a spiritual battle and we need to be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Just think about an actual battle for a second. If you had to go fight a massive army who would you pick to go with you? Wouldn't you want the biggest, strongest, mightiest person you could find? If this is the case then why so often do we go into the spiritual battle without the biggest, strongest, mightiest person we know? We give up too quickly, we try to do it ourselves, and we often time end up defeated and weak.

I would encourage you to read Ephesians 6:10-20. Take a look at your spiritual walk and see if you are strong in the Lord. As children of God, co-heirs with Christ we have the Holy Spirit to help us. We have a God who has given us weapons and strength to fight this fight of faith. My prayer is that today you would understand that it is a spiritual battle, that you wouldn't just try to play defense but that you would fasten the belt of truth, that you would put on the breastplate of righteousness, take of the shield of faith, put on the helmet of salvation and play offense with the sword of the Spirit. Remember that the weapons for warfare are spiritual and should be rooted in prayer.

Believing Lies

He(The Devil) was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. - John 8:44b

Were you the gullible little kid? Maybe you are that person that falls for every sales gimmick. If we all take an honest look at our lives we will find at some points in our everyday life we believe lies. The world and the prince of this world are experts at feeding us lies and we so often believe them as truth. Right now I want you to think about how you feel about yourself. What are you believing? Are you living defeated? depressed? constantly in despair? Are you believing lies or the truth of the Bible? Are you believing human words or God's Words?

When we are living defeated 9 times out of 10 we are believing lies.

So the question you may be asking is "how do I stop believing lies?" Well I don't claim to have all the answers but the key is knowing and believing the Word of God. Here are some suggestions or steps that can help.

• Identify the lies you are believing
• Find Scripture verses that deal with those lies
• Know your identity in Christ (visit www.ficm.org/whoiam.htm)
• Become a prayer warrior

I want to encourage you to check out the Off The Wall website (www.offthewallministry.com). We are having a retreat in February with the theme "Labels." The reason for the theme is this very idea of believing lies and then in turn labeling ourselves. These labels then in turn tend to run our lives. I hope you can make it out, we pray that it would be a powerful two days where God will reveal the lies you are believing and replace them with the truth of Scripture. I want to encourage you today to check out the Freedom in Christ Ministry link above and take some time to see what your Biblical identity is "In Christ."

Overwhelmed by Grace

As I was working out this morning it hit me. I can't even come to fathom the grace of God. Really, think about it for a second. Do we realize how blessed we are? Do we understand that we were destined for eternal condemnation? We were objects of God's wrath (Ephesians 2:3).

"But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved." - Ephesians 2:4-5

If you are like me then often times you forget the "great love with which he loved us." Our circumstances and situations in life leave us often times feeling unloved. The sense of loneliness may surround us when we take our eyes of the cross of Jesus Christ and forget about his love and grace.

Hillsong sings a song called "To Know Your Name" and the lyrics go like this:

The precious blood of Jesus Christ redeems
Forgiven I'm alive restored set free
Your majesty resides inside of me
Forever I believe
Forever I believe
Arrested by Your truth and righteousness
Your grace has overwhelmed my brokenness
Convicted by Your spirit led by Your word
Your love will never fail
Your love will never fail

The line that sticks out to me is "your grace has overwhelmed my brokenness." So my question is has it? Has the grace of God overwhelmed your brokenness? I want to encourage you today to reflect on the Scripture from Ephesians and the lyrics from the song. My prayer for you today is that the grace of God will overwhelm your brokenness.

A Life of Thankfulness

Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road. - John Henry Jowett

Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving I thought it would be fitting to write a blog about Thanksgiving. The quote above is one of my favorites. I want to strive to be a man whose life is lived in thankful gratitude for all that God has done and is doing. It is essential that our salvation and sanctification is a gift from God and not something we are entitled to. When we look at a world that is falling apart and lives that sin destroys we should get on our knees thanking our Lord and Savior for all that he has done.

When we are not living a life in thankfulness towards God and one another our love and passion fade. We become cold, self focused, and prideful. We start to think God and people owe us. Our passion starts to fade while depression and discontentment enters into our lives. I pray that this Thanksgiving you will be reminded to, "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever." - 1 Chronicles 16:34

The Mark of a Disciple

The human race was created to be relational. In Genesis 2:18 God said, "It is not good that man should be alone." We were made to be in community, to have fellowship with others, to be built up and encouraged by the people of God. In order to do this we must first have fellowship with God. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." Our call is to an intimate relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. Fellowship with Jesus marks the heart of a disciple's life, and this fellowship includes trusting him, confessing him, taking note of his conduct, following his teaching, and being shaped by a relationship to him. Is that what is marking your life?

Lets define two terms, fellowship & relationship. First we must understand that once we are in Christ our relationship as Sons and Daughters of God never changes even despite our sin. Just like you can't not be your parents son or daughter. However, our fellowship can drastic change because of sin. When we sin our natural tendency is to run. The last thing we naturally want to do is confess our sin. It makes us feel like a failure and worthless. The problem is in not confessing our sin and accepting forgiveness the feelings of worthlessness continue to build and our fellowship with God diminishes. The mark of a disciple is one who maintains intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to be a people who purge sin from our lives, who are quick to confess sin and accept forgiveness so that we are filled with love for our Creator. The weight of carrying sin is too much for us, that is why Christ Jesus died on the cross, he paid the penalty and God validated his sacrifice at the Resurrection. I want to leave you with a few verses from 1 John that I pray God will use to speak to you today.

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:7-9

Training Camp

"Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come." - 1 Timothy 4:7-8

I love to workout. If I could I would work out, play basketball, football, volleyball, soccer, or some kind of sport everyday. I set my hope on being in good physical shape and living a healthy life and the drives many of my decisions and training (sometimes too much). The example in 1 Timothy 4 is essential for us to grasp as followers of Christ and relates to each one of our lives.

In verse 10 it says, "For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God..." Paul shows us how our relationship with Christ is just like many things we strive for in our lives. Did you set the goal of winning that state championship? Did that drive you to train? To push through the hard times? To keep going when you felt like giving up? You knew the end goal and weren't satisfied till you reached it. What about a relationship or job? Maybe a promotion or work goal. Do you train and focus on reaching it? Does it consume you?

Take a step back and look at 1 Timothy 4:6-10. If you say you are a follower of Jesus Christ your hope needs to be set on the living God. When our hope is set on the living God the things of this world fade. Our training shifts from selfish motives to selfless motives. Our focus shifts from the temporal to the eternal. We take every advantage to grow ourselves in the image of Christ and gain wisdom and understanding. Where is your hope set? We as believers must understand it takes blood, sweat, and tears to train ourselves for godliness. We must not run from it but embrace it.

Speak Life

We often talk about three basic kinds of words. Good words, bad words, and God's words. Good words may encourage but last for a moment, bad words are destructive and tear down, and God's words bring life and are everlasting. If you had to do an inventory of the words you spoke on a daily basis how would the percentages play out? In Joshua chapter 1 verse 8 it says this:

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

I love how this verse says, "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your MOUTH..." God's words should always be flowing out of our mouths in conversation. Think about it for a second. When someone brings up the name Jesus, Scripture, or even just talks about what God is doing in their life or community what goes on inside of you? Do you get excited? Does passion start to burst forth? When we speak God's words we are speaking life into people.

How then do we speak God's words you may be asking. Well the answer is found in the next part of the verse, "you shall MEDITATE on it day and night..." 1st Timothy 4:7b-8 says this,

"train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."

If you thought following Jesus was easy I am here to inform you that you have been mistaken. Scripture lays out how hard it is to follow Christ and that it requires intense training, discipline, perseverance, endurance, and much more. Just as we train for sports, careers, hobbies, and other things in life that are temporal we must train even harder for the eternal. We must meditate constantly on the Word of God so that the Words of God will flow from our mouth. We must be people of God who speak life.

Alive to Shine

"And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever." - Daniel 12:3

In Daniel 12:3 he uses the phrase "those who are wise." He is referring to those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. The ultimate outcome of "those who are wise" will be that they will shine brightly like stars forever and ever. God is not in the business of making bad people good but He is in the business of making dead people alive. God doesn't make us alive just to be alive...He makes us alive to shine! I want to you to know that once you place your faith in Christ he makes you alive to shine. Not only to shine in this present life but you will shine like stars forever and ever in eternity. What an amazing eternity that will be.

*On November 19, 20, & 21 our 2nd Fall High School Retreat will take place at Skyview Ranch. This year's theme is "Alive to Shine" and we will be taking a deeper look at this. For more information visit www.alivetoshine.com or feel free to email me at travis@offthewallministry.com.

The Lust for Security

"Once we have set ourselves to be pilgrims and strangers on the earth, which is what Christians are meant to be, it is incongruous for us to continue to insist upon the sort of security the world tries to guarantee. Our security lies not in protecting ourselves from suffering, but in putting ourselves fully into the hands of God. The desire for physical and material security makes us sly and hard. No. We must be like little children. The child in its father's arms is not worried. It lies quietly at rest because it trusts its father. We disobey sometimes because we say it is impossible to do what God asks. Impossible? Perhaps what we mean is that it is impossible to do that and keep our security, impossible to obey without tremendous cost, or at least tremendous risk. Where, then, will we find safety? Is it likely that we will find it elsewhere than in the arms of the Father?"

- Elisabeth Elliot

Do you ever view yourself as an alien? What about a sojourner or exile? If you are a follower of Jesus Christ Scripture is clear that we are aliens here on this earth. Our citizenship is in heaven and we are ambassadors while on earth. This mindset is vitally important to grasp, especially in our American culture. When we start to view earth as home and lose an eternal mindset we hold on to things as our security, we strive for comfort, and we stop trusting God. Do you desire physical and material security? Ask God to help you place your life totally in the hands of God. It is when we lose all control that we see God in total control.

"Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul." - 1 Peter 2:11