Absolutely Nothing Left

Why is there so much comfort in having nothing? Why do I feel more free, more alive, and more powerful when I am nothing? It is a strange feeling that sometimes makes me scared that the things I add to my life will rob me of life. He knows the power of it, too. He designed nothing as a starting point for everything. Literally. So many people in this world are afraid to lose everything, and they miss the freedom of needing nothing.

When I am no more, then He is in me. I want to stay this way. Undivided, not watered down, not held back or locked up. Remember it, remember it well my soul.

Let go of every dream and hobby and safety and desire and embrace the world with an open heart. That's what it means to lay down your life. That's what it means to follow Him.

Fading Tastes

There's an odd sensation that accompanies the power of the presence of God. Stay there long enough and your appetites will fade. The wonder of Him is so completely overwhelming, that everything else fades in comparison. Food, activities, everything. God is addictive. We get our fix every week in church, daily in prayer, when we read our Bibles. His presence falls - that's the goal - to hang out with Him.

But what happens when we step beyond that? What happens if His presence isn't the goal anymore. What if I want His physical manifestation? What if I want to talk face to face? What if I want to see Heaven? I want more than just an ordinary life - and His power in my life can either grow or shrink; staying the same is a deception to let you shrink quietly.

I want more in my life! I don't want to be a could-have-been. I don't really know what I want to be. Have I been sent to convict the world, or set it free? Can I do one without the other? I'm starting to think I can't. Why do I see what I see and hold what I hold? Why have all my messages that burn to get out been preached already? Can I make a difference by saying them myself?

I want to plug into the source of power and learn to let it flow through me into others. I want to be the wall-breaker in lives desperate for change. I want to be a catalyst, to set something off within people. But I don't even know who I am. I'm struggling against my other natures. I'm struggling for boldness every day.

I get this terrible feeling that once I step out, there's no going back. If I went back, I'd crumble completely. I don't know that I'm strong enough. Show me the way! I don't want to be scared and afraid to step out. I don't want my mind to cause me to hesitate. I don't want to overthink everything. But I do. How can I stop? How can I turn into the man I need to be? I need to start looking for the answers today!

Tomorrow is too late to start changing.

Why Holiness

it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." - 1 Peter 1:16

Holiness is a syncronisation of our natural lives with God's plan for living. It is a practice that brings us closer to God's original plan for how we were meant to live. It connects us to Him and allows love to flow, because practicing holiness will tend to clean away impure motives and darker emotions. Colossians 3 provides a good description of what to do to be holy.

The "what" of holiness is not the goal, and we must remember this. If we concentrate on the actions, we become a form of Godliness but powerless. We rob the very concept of holiness of its power, because we move away from the heart - which is the key to this.

1 Peter begins to tell us why. As Christians, we have to be broken people. We have to be humbled and constantly living in a realistic view of ourselves: we are slaves whose freedom is owed ENTIRELY to Christ, through no work of our own. We live and work on this earth as agents of our God, who is merciful to us, but is also a just judge of men's actions (v13). Through the Holy Spirit we have access to a communion with God that even the angels wish they had (v12). I am a nothing who has been given the highest honor of any being in this universe - a personal and intimate relationship with God. A knowledge of things unseen and unheard.

Out of this comes holiness. We have to respond to a real view of ourselves with a passion for Him. We have to be passionate for His heart and desiring a closer relationship with Him. If we aren't building that relationship, then we're wasting His gift to us - to get to know the one who created the Universe and has all things planned. Do you want to waste His gift? Holy life is birthed out of fear and reverence for His power and gifts, and passion and desire for His mercy and love.

After this, we discover the reason for holiness on this earth (v22). We are called to be holy, because out of holiness comes a purified heart that is ready to love. Our capacity for Godly love will depend directly on our lifestyle. If we choose a lifestyle of holiness, then we will produce a heart that loves. Love is the ultimate goal and result, that ties everything together into one thing that the rest of the world desperately wants and needs.

If we want to love, we must work to purify ourselves of ungodly things, because they will taint our lives and draw us away from a godly heart. This is what we seek, because we know His great love, and we want to share it.

Empty Vessels

I saw a vision of people walking round. Christians - going about their daily business. Jars of clay on little legs, walking around. They were all empty!

I cried out as tears filled my eyes, "I don't wanna be an empty vessel!" I cried it over and over again... I reached towards Heaven desperately pulling at the power I knew could change things.

And then the Lord came to me and said, "Neither do I want you to. That is why in the next week I am going to make you a new man."

Now I know, desperately, that life cannot be about just this physical stuff. I must clear a spot in the jungle of my life for Him. I know it... I feel it.... I'm desperate for you to move God! Desperate! I cannot live with anything less!