A Godly Foundation of Freedom

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” (2 Co 5:16–19)

Over this last year, there has been violence where I serve at against both inmates and Correctional Officers. This has resulted in a many lockdowns and controlled movement. During these times men are locked into their cells for longer then they usually are and often the riot team is present. The riot team always brings a sense of tension to the inmates and at a glance, it often seems chaotic. Nevertheless, I have learned that order comes out of chaos. In one of these recent situations one of the inmates wrote this below letter and shared it with me. 

This entire situation has me thinking about my family; how I miss them, and how impossible it seems that I will ever be with them again – without prison between us. I guess with all of what’s going on, it becomes hard to see beyond the present. I am so glad that despite what is in front of me, I know that I serve a God that can accomplish the impossible, and deliver anyone, from any prison. That being said, I do my best to see beyond what I’ve been sentenced. 

I look to a day of being reunited with family, and operating in my purpose beyond prison walls. If nothing else, it has been proven to me that no matter how long, or how aggressively my body is locked down, no one but me, can lockdown what’s inside of me. I for one chose to be free. The fact is, I was in bondage long before I was ever subjected to a jail cell. The sad thing was that (like many others) I didn’t even realized it. I guess we really don’t miss the water until the well runs dry. 

My bondage was to things that dictated my behavior, and my behavior in turn dictated my positioning in life, and my positioning put me in the wrong places, at the wrong time. No matter the circumstances – for me – a mental attachment to bondage soon materialized into my physical placement in captivity. Ironically, I was able to see my condition for what it was; when I became physically locked down. I guess I was moving too fast out there, and was too distracted to realize this before. I figure if it happened to me, it can happen to you. 

I am not alone in this, I talk to men everyday who have shared a similar experience, some worse, and some less than my own. The Bible has helped me discover that my bondage, my being out of position, and even my behavior is all the result of a problem man had been wrestling with since “The Garden of Eden.” Whatever your take on this is, I simply refer to one aspect: Whenever man or woman rebel against the directions that are given by God – they will soon find themselves evicted from paradise. 

I am not a scientist, but I do understand the scientific method. Scientist perform an experiment repeatedly, and if they get the same results, they take that to mean, something has been actually proven. 

For a longtime, I’ve tried things my way, and each time, in some form or another, my way seemed to repeatedly lead me into some type of bondage, (bad habits, rebellious thinking, or growing addictions – just to name a few). 

In my case, the bondage first formed mentally, before finally manifesting physically. It’s true that some never end up in a Correctional Facility, but that does not mean they are not bound up inside (while still sitting in their own living rooms). For some time now, I have been following the directions from that book I spoke of, and like a scientific experiment, I have repeatedly received the results it promises. 

I have been reversed engineered – where my inner captivity was dealt with first. Today, it is my hope that this will eventually result in my “Physical positioning.” I say this because once my inner bondage was dealt with, it didn’t matter that I was physically in a Correctional Facility. Now, no matter where I am, I am free.

So now, as I focus on my “Physical positioning” it is not for the purpose of obtaining my physical freedom; it is to be in a specific, and physical position with my family. Once there, I am hoping to have an impact; I’m hoping to break any cycle of bondage; and establish a Godly foundation of freedom. I want to give the ones I love most, the gift that was given to me. So instead of focusing on the current chaos looming in front of me, I am here thinking of family. 

Although I have many needs, I would ask, only this one thing of you. Whenever I happen to cross your mind…please send up a prayer. A prayer for my health, for my release, and for my physical positioning. I thank you in advance for that.

In closing, no matter how the court records, or history ends up portraying me, I would have you know from my own hand…I am a changed man, and that change was for the better.

Secure Hope

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus’ Name. When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand! —Edward Mote (1797-1874)

I’m back! My absence from weekly blogging was due to a crazy last couple weeks. There are a lot of thoughts running through my head as I sit here this morning and ponder what to say. These last couple weeks have been disappointing, discouraging at times, and not expected. But God in His sovereignty was in control! When the situations seemed to much to bare, God was there! And when the diagnosis seemed hopeless, God was still in control! 

This all began with a phone call from my brother late on a Thursday night several weeks ago. He called asking me to pray because my father had been hospitalized and wasn’t expected to make it through the night. Though my father made it through the night, we had several weeks of disappointments from the doctors concerning his condition. But through all the disappointments, there is still hope, God is in control! We as Christians can have hope regardless of what the doctors say, regardless of what society or those around us say, because our hope rests in God and not in the ability of others! As Christians our hope is an guaranteed hope not subject to change, but rather anchored in our unchangeable Savior and Lord. Unlike the hope of this world, this hope is secure! 

A hope secure in God’s unchanging values, (Psalm 119:160, 165) “All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal.… Great peace have they who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” 

A hope secure in God’s unchanging justice, (Deuteronomy 32:4) “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” 

A hope secure in God’s unchanging promises, (2 Timothy 2:13) “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”  

A hope secure in God’s unchanging integrity and righteousness, (Psalm 36:5–6) “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.”

 A hope secure in God’s unchanging wisdom and understanding, (Jeremiah 51:15) “He made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.” 

A hope secure in God’s unchanging purpose for your life, (Psalm 57:2,10) “I cry out to God Most High, to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.… For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.”

 A hope secure in God’s unchanging abilities, (2 Corinthians 9:8) “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 

A hope secure in God’s unchanging financial provision, (1 Timothy 6:17) “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” 

A hope secure in God’s plans for your future, (1 Corinthians 15:42,44) “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable … it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” 

If there is one thing I have learned from these last few weeks, it would be, that nothing is secure outside of God! God knows our needs, my fathers condition is in His hands! We can rest assured in a world that is in a sense of hopelessness, where it’s knowledge is limited, and there is knows no certainty! Friends regardless of what your going through don’t be discouraged, there is hope and as Christians our commitment should be this: “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)  

Change

But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand. Isaiah 64:8

In life, the only thing that is constant is change. This quote by Heraclitus has been on mind a lot recently. I used to despise that saying because I hated the disruption that change always brings. When my wife would want to reorganize the living room, I would hate it! Why because it would disrupt a perfect but dull room. Yeah, I would rather live in the boring and mundane than have change in my life.

Change is hard. No one ever said life was easy; and if they did, they lied. Change is hard, and nothing about it is comfortable or smooth. Being a Christian, we are called to change, our lives should daily reflect change as we daily strive to follow Christ! As a Christian, God is always at work in us, shaping us and conforming us to His character. He wants us to become more like Him in every way. God is the potter and we are the clay that He shapes to His own purposes, making us into worthy vessels to be filled with His Holy Spirit. This growth and change as God molds us is a process that is on-going, so we do not need to be discouraged along the way.

It’s rough to walk along the narrow road. It can mean your family distances themselves from you. It can mean you are all lonely in that journey. But, embracing life means a new path to salvation. It means that one may find a peace. And honestly, it can mean a lot of wonderful things if the right attitude is present. For many that I minister to on a daily basis, prison played a role in their lives changing! For many it was that very low time in their life where they cried out to God! One man told me of how one evening being discouraged, realizing what had become of his life, he contemplated suicide but before he mustered the nerve he cried out to God, ” If you are real save me!” His cry was heard and in that little cell God spoke to him! Change happened in his life as he surrendered his messed up life to God that night and received from God a new life! 

Even though we as Christians hate change and often resist it, God is in the changing business! As a Christian I have come to learn that change is inevitable, in fact I now welcome it in my life! I have no desire to be the same man today as I was yesterday! I have come to learn, that with each growing pain or new dilemma, and for every mountain climbed and valley realized, there is a certain level of familiarity that I feel. My situations are not always new, but I can see how God is moving in and through them to mold me more into His image! 

Friends, however much you like change in your life, God has promised that he would never change. The good news is He has the power to change any situation, any person and any thing. The only thing constant in life is God’s unchanging hand; we can rest assured that change in us is a sign of God’s work in progress. Change is what makes our lives full, rich and ripe with godly substance. 

Purposeful Interruptions

“If you had slept in the same house or field with Jesus, awakened with him, eaten with him and helped him, what would you have observed? One thing we always think of is that Jesus gave himself almost entirely to what we would consider interruptions. Most of the teaching, healing and wonders we see in his life were responsive…seemingly unplanned. He trusted that what the Father allowed to cross his path was exactly that…from the Father. Jesus always seemed willing for things to get messy” ― Marcia Lebhar

This last month my usual schedule came to a halt when some unexpected things came up in my life. The usual weekly routine came second to the issues at hand and my focus was directed more toward the problem at hand! Sadly, I don’t always handle these interruptions in my life correctly. I often react with frustration, stress, and worry. “How much money will this cost?” “God I can’t handle this!” Often doubting the intent of these situations and why God allows them to happen. 

Though these interruptions are unexpected and catch me off guard, they do not catch God off guard. They are not random, meaningless events. In fact, these interruptions are divinely placed in my path for a reason. God uses these interruptions to change me to be more like Christ. Stressing out and being irritated is only a waste of precious time. In these recent weeks I was reminded to stop and listen to God, rather than to doubt him. I was reminded that God is never far away, even though we feel all alone! It is in these times when we really do need him so often we find ourselves pulling away from Him! It is not that He has abandoned us, but that we walk away from Him. It is when we need His power the most that we unplug from the source that gives us that power. It is in these vulnerable times that the enemy’s tool of doubt enters into our minds and continues to question God! 

It is these interruptions that often tell us the true intend of our heart! Are we more concerned about our schedule then what God is trying to teach us? Slow traffic, a sick child, or a costly home repair may not seem like important tools in our sanctification, but they are. We often overlook these interruptions and inconveniences and instead expect God to work in our lives through huge life-changing circumstances. But the reality is, we won’t often have major events in our life that cause us to trust God and obey him in some deeply profound way. Paul Tripp writes in his book (Whiter Than Snow) “that the character of a life is set in ten thousand little moments of everyday life. It’s the themes of struggles that emerge from those little moments that reveal what’s really going on in our hearts.” 

In Philippians 1:20, Paul says “It is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.” At this very time Paul was facing many interruptions, he was wrongfully incarcerated and had been beaten and ridiculed for his faith. Yet through it all his expectation and hope was that Christ would be honored and glorified! That should be our hearts desire! When God interrupts your schedule or day with the unexpected, stop and listen to God, drop to your knees and pray that God would be honored through your crisis! Our lives are like a telescope, people are watching you! For many Christ is only a misty figure who lived centuries ago. In fact Jesus isn’t very big in their lives, others and other things are far more important! As Christians our bodies are to be a telescope that brings Jesus Christ close to people. It is when we are interrupted and go through hard times in our lives, that unbelievers should be able to see how big Jesus Christ really is. Our bodies should be the “lens” that makes a “little Christ” look very big, and a “distant Christ” come very close.

I have been challenged this month that interruptions as frustrating that they are are used by our Great Shepherd to push us to the cross of Christ where we must remember the gospel and receive his grace and forgiveness. We can not do life on our own and in our own time, God is in control! It’s hard to see all the little frustrating events and interruptions in our day as divinely placed opportunities to grow in grace, but they are. And seeing them as such helps us take our eyes off ourselves and put them on Christ, who cares more about our transformation than about our daily comfort. Instead of doubting the one who causes the interruptions we should glorify Him!

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