Feeling Guilty?

“For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”

(Psalm 103:14 ESV)

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you hear the word “guilt”? My best answer begins with a story. In Junior High, I went on a guys only back packing trip with my church. We headed to West Virginia, each carrying a 60 lbs. backpack. It was early June, just out of school and we were having a blast. The first two days we hit the trail hard. Our goal was to conquer the peaks early in the week so we could enjoy our time along the river before heading home. One of our campsites was along the river and we found a swim hole. It was a stunning view with a ledge overlooking a deep pool. We quickly climbed as high as we could and took a big jump. Not realizing that this was recently melted snow water. As soon as I hit the water it was like I was sucker punched in the belly. I lost my breath, my lungs felt heavy and I was freezing.

That is a picture of what I think of when I think of guilt. This icy cold feeling flowing over my head and causing a heaviness to my chest. Far from the joy and elation of jumping in the swim hole, guilt is a miserable experience.

When you feel guilty, do you ever stop to wonder why you have that feeling? When you examine the source of guilt it can be very revealing to what is going on.

In the Gospel of John, chapter 16 we read about the convicting work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-11). Often we will feel guilt because of our sin in our life. Unconfessed sin in our lives will lead to a sense of guilt because it breaks our fellowship with God and He longs for us to be close to Him.

Sometimes we have guilt over stupid things we do or say. However, most of the time I think Christians struggle with “false guilt”. What exactly is false guilt? Great question. One manifestation of false guilt is when you feel guilty over a sin you already confessed to God, as if God has not forgiven you. 1 John 1:9 tells us that when we confess our sins to God, He forgives us and cleanses us. He will no longer bring that sin up against us, so why do we? When you truly confess your sin to God, be done with it. Don’t let the enemy bring it up again and again.

False guilt also surfaces when we do not keep up with misplaced expectations. This is the one that has caused me to want to write today. Sometimes we feel guilty over things we do not need to be. As a youth pastor, I try to encourage teens, parents, friends and family to do a Quiet Time everyday. We should spend time with God as often as we can. However, if you are like me it is easy to miss a day. When I miss a day I am tempted to feel guilty, like God is disappointed in me because I did not do it. God has forgiven me of sin, he went to the cross because of my sin. He knows that in my heart is anger, bitterness, wrath, jealousy, lust, greed and pride (to name a few), and yet He still chose to forgive me. Why do I think that missing my Quiet Time will change that?

Do you know that sense of guilt? When you fail to do some spiritual discipline you want to do? The Apostle Paul understood this and his description in Romans 7:15. It is a constant battle, and that is why I love Psalm 103:14. God remembers that we are dust, he knows we are fragile and that on our own we can do nothing.

So instead of feeling guilty over forgetting your quiet time, not praying, not reading your Bible or ___________________, thank God for loving you in spite of your sinfulness.

Remember this, the God of all the Universe loves you! The God who spoke the world into existence loves you! The God who sent His only Son to die for the sins of the world, loves you! This God knows everything about you. He knows your sins: past, present and future. He knows what goes on in your thoughts, your deepest darkest secret. He knows your biggest failure. And yet He still loves you!

This God promises you that if you will draw near to Him, He will draw near to you! He promises that He will never ever leave you and He will not forsake you! He says He will be a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He delights when you spend time with Him! Nothing you do will cause Him to stop loving you!

The more you realize how much He loves you the more you will desire to spend time with Him. Stop feeling guilty, and start feeling loved! Fix your eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2) and thank Him for forgiveness. The Son has come to set you free, so be free!

Are you ok with status quo?

“This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.”

This is Gollum’s riddle he proffered to Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit. If he answers incorrectly, he will lose his life. Bilbo, by dumb luck, asks for more time, but could only muster the word “Time! Time!” To His good fortune, this was the answer.

Time is a mysterious thing! Does it not seem like we just celebrated the New Year beginning and now we are already more then three weeks into it? Time is elusive. If you are like me, just when you think you have caught up to it, it flies away again.

In these past few weeks many people have made New Year resolutions. Some are still on track, others have already given up. We look to the future hoping to grow, to mature, to heal. We know where we have failed and hope to finally have successes. The problem comes when we realize that we are ok with the status quo. We are used to it. It is normal. It is comforting.

Every year you know what you want. You know how you can get it. The problem is that getting it is harder then you could imagine. The ideal is far different from the experience. “I want to lose 25 lbs.” or “I want to pay off my debt!” Yet you don’t want to give up the donut, or stop spending money. You may want it but you are not willing to count the cost, preserve and achieve it.

Sadly this is typically the case in our spiritual lives as well. We envision, dream and pray for an intimate walk with Jesus. The problem is we wake up to “real life.” We have so many things vying for our attention and the Bible is often pushed aside. We would rather miss church then the miss the game. We really want to be a part of a Bible study, but we can’t seem to find the time between piano recitals, soccer games, work, etc.

The truth is you will never get what do not have if you are not willing to do things you have never done. You will never have the intimate walk with Christ you desire if you are not willing to sacrifice time and effort to get there.

Thankful Jesus was willing to sacrifice everything so that we may have hope in Him. In Philippians 2 we see that Jesus gave up his position, his palace and his power. He voluntarily laid aside His heavenly attributes to live life as a normal human, yet He was far from normal! He gave us a pattern to follow, how to live life to the fullest. He demonstrated this in his prayer life, in his life of service and his sacrifice.

My prayer for you is that 2013 will be a year when you pray, serve and sacrifice more to be more like Jesus. That you will love Jesus with all your heart, care for others around you and communicate the Gospel to all the world. That is a picture of a life that does not settle for the status quo!

A Neglected Gift

I love Jesus! Seriously, I really do. I have to be honest that I do not proclaim my love for Him nearly enough. If I just pause for a moment and realize that when He found me, I was utterly undesirable, filthy and stuck in the miry clay of sin. Nothing in me made me attractive to Him, yet He, in His great love chose to desire me, forgive me and cleanse me. It is because of this that I now love Him with all I am. However loving Him does not make me perfect, no far from it.

This past week I joined the Word of Life Local Church Ministry Team to write future lessons. These lessons focused on the gift of the Holy Spirit. Originally I was tasked with four lessons assigned ahead of time. These were to cover who the Holy Spirit is, what indwelling means, how the Holy Spirit sanctifies us, and love as a fruit of the Spirit. Can I just say wow! It was so much fun studying and preparing those and I am thankful for my team for making them even better.

All three members of my team came well prepared and we were able to move quickly through our lessons giving us some extra time. I was able to take on a couple of more lessons; one on how the Holy Spirit worked in the Old Testament as compared to the New Testament and today, and the sixth lesson on the Holy Spirit in the life and work of Jesus. I tell you this, so can see the amazing week I had studying some amazing truths from the Bible. The privilege of bring such wonderful teachings to teens around the world is awesome!

When you study the ministry of the Holy Spirit you come to realize how utterly dependent on Him we are. If you are a believer, you are dependent upon Him whether you realize it or not. Often we like to do our own thing and invite God along with us, instead of seeking out the leading of the Spirit first. Yet the Holy Spirit pours out His grace on us anyway.

Studying this week I realized afresh the awesome gift it is to have the Holy Spirit active in my life. All too often I take it for granted. If we turn to one of my favorite passages in the Bible, John 4, we see Jesus encounter the Samaritan woman. I firmly believe in a literal interpretation of Scripture and so I believe this is a real account of Jesus interacting with a real woman. However, I see in this woman, me. I see you, I see all of us who look for meaning, purpose and love in all the wrong places. Jesus tells this woman who has been in several bad relationships and leading an immoral life that He has living waters to give her. Jesus says the gift of living waters comes from Him.

Turning to John 7 and reading the 38^th and 39^th verse we see that Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit. Living waters is the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit as He begins to make us new and conform to the will of God. Paul describes the evidence of this in Galatians 5:22-23. The Fruit of the Spirit is not a list of things we do on our own, rather they are signs to us that the Holy Spirit, the Living Waters are flowing in us.

The problem comes when I think I am doing good all on my own. Above I reminded you that loving Jesus does not make me perfect (as if you didn’t already know that haha). I try so hard to do it on my own, which is like turning off the faucet of the Holy Spirits power. As I learn to surrender each day to Him, I will see that a flood of blessings, encouragement and power is available. Basically, learning how to get out of the way and let God work His masterful work.

I am so excited for when these lessons hit the press and go out to the churches, for we often neglect the Holy Spirit. How can we neglect a gift that God has given us? Jesus said believe on Him and the living waters will spring up in you! Do you see the evidence of the Spirit in you? If not, right now is the best time to run to Jesus, in humble belief and repentance and watch the waters

2012: A Grateful Reflection

"Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire."
                                                                                                                                       (Hebrews 12:28-29 ESV)

Grateful is one word I can use to describe 2012. My heart is full of joy and excitement about what God has done in our youth group, Loft, and in our church, Lakeside Christian Church. I wish I had the words to describe to you what is in my heart and mind. Honestly, I don’t think I really know yet. Ending the year is always such a whirlwind in our youth ministry that I don’t get a lot of time to process and ponder about it until a few weeks into the New Year. So all I have right now is a grateful excitement!

If I were forced to say something now I would describe it as a juxtaposition of comfort and thrill. When you hear comfort, what comes to mind? For me on a snowy cold day like today, it is a warm cup of coffee around the fire place with my family. You know that deep sense of belonging, safety and love feel combined with the aromas of crackling wood and fresh brewed coffee. Comfy yet?

When I say thrill, what comes to mind? The first thing I thought of was getting on a roller coaster at Cedar Point that I am afraid of but I am willing to do so I can be with my teens. You know that heaviness in you chest as the adrenaline begins to pump and you just want to scream as you hit the hill. The fear quickly subsides as the thrill takes over and instead of shaking in anticipation you are trembling with the desire to do it all again.

Now combine those two: comfy thrill. Makes absolutely no sense, but that is how I feel right now as I look back at 2012. I am overwhelmed with thankfulness at how close I feel to our ministry at Lakeside Christian Church. Truly it is a place where I fell at home, loved and I belong. But what brought me more excitement than that this year is how our teens and our members made so many new people feel like welcomed and like they belong with us.

The thrill of hearing the teens share their faith each week in youth group and falling deeper in love with Jesus. Seeing them bring their friends or text me with questions on how to share Christ with their unbelieving friends. Getting text messages from teens early in the morning who just can’t wait till after school to get answers about a Bible passage. Phone calls about teens needing help with a Bible study they are doing at lunch. Not to mention Facebook messages, retreats, camp and missions trips.

I believe that our Thanksgiving Eve service was a highlight as the adults in our church got a chance to hear some of what is going on in the youth ministry. Our teens began to lead worship in “big church” and are continually growing and leading others in their passion for Jesus.

If you would have asked me in January of 2003 where I thought I would be in ministry 10 years later I could not have imagined this. For me, 2012 was one of the sweetest years of ministry I can remember. There are memories that I will cherish for a long time. Yet I am not content with 2012, it is just a picture to me of what Jesus can do with our group. How can we go deeper and farther for Jesus in 2013?

I woke up this morning and read this quote from Pastor Mark Driscoll “Resolve to follow Jesus & receive a new identity, new power, a new mind, new community, and new desires. Happy New Year indeed.” If we all could place this at the top of our 2013 Resolution list, then the sky is the limit.

Thank you Lord Jesus for your tremendous blessings in 2012.