It’s time to get real!

I’m so sick of the way we hid ourselves these days. As you look about church you see everyone with these perfect lives. You see all these people that don’t have any sin problems. All these people better than you are. I’m so sick and fed up with it. Is it any wonder why people that visit church that aren’t Christians feel so upset. They just feel as if everyone is judging them. Why have people told me that they can’t become a Christian yet because they’re not good enough? They have these thoughts that we’re all perfect. That church is for good people and not sinners. Is it any wonder?

We need to start being real. We need to stop polishing up our sins and we need to let everything come out. James 5:16 says, ‘Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.’

It’s a command that we should start to confess ourselves to one another. We’re in this together and not alone. That means we help each other and don’t put others down. We make some people feel so bad about their sin and make people feel so guilty at times. And you may say that you’ve never made someone feel guilty about their sins before. But if you’ve been putting yourself out there as someone that’s a good person and as if you never fail then you’ve probably made someone feel bad about themselves. It’s time to be honest with each other. It’s time to be honest with God.

I’m just back from a men’s weekend. A man stood up at the open session on Saturday night and admitted how he felt fake. He poured out his sin to all of us. I just wished that there was more of this honesty in church. Would we not be so much stronger and be so much more attractive to the world if there was?

God spoke to me a few years ago and he said this: ‘Let us share in our victories and defeats as if we were one. In this way we will grow stronger.’

At first I saw it between God and people but a while after God helped me to see it in a different way. He helped me to see it as a relationship between people as well. So may we become people that share. May we share our victories in Christ with each other and encourage others with our testimonies about the things that God has done in our lives. But may we share our faults and failures with each other so that we are real. May we stop trying to polish ourselves up as these great people. May we stop trying to make our sin out as not being as bad as it is. May we be people that pray for each other. People that care. May we be people that grow together in Christ and may we be people that grow stronger as we share and pray.

It’s time to be real. Everyone else is feeling the same way. You’re not alone because other people share the same sins as you.

I’m Clifford White and I’ve been a fake. I’ve polish myself up as someone better than I actually am. I’ve decided not to receive prayer at the front of church before because other people would know that I struggle so much with sin. They would see me as a weak man. I’m tired of not being strong enough to be real. I’m fed up with being weak because caring about what other people thought of me was the real weakness. Admitting sins is not a weakness. I struggle with anger at my brother yet outside everyone knows me as a man that never gets angry. And I’m so self-obsessed and feel this is a common one among everyone. If we weren’t self-obsessed we would love everyone so much and we’d never sin because we would be following Jesus completely. The times when we sin we’re too focused on ourselves. So everyone needs to confess this and talk about it and pray for others as they confess. And I mean I’m not just self-obsessed but I am so focused on myself. I have joined in on gossip before. I have made excuses up for why I sin. I love to blame others for my sin. I struggle with pride. I’ve envied people in church before. At times I just don’t want to follow Jesus. I’m really not that bold when the time comes. I’m a hypocrite and preach and teach people about things that I don’t even live out in my own life. I’ve listened to people saying they’ve struggle with things and I’ve help them but I’ve never admitted that I struggled as well and that I was not doing the things that I had just told them to do. I’m a sinner! And I was a sinner at birth. My sin isn’t God’s fault, it’s not Satan’s fault, it’s not my upbringings fault, it’s not other peoples fault, it’s not my poor health’s fault; it’s my fault because I am a sinner. And even still there are things I haven’t confessed and I’m going to finally get real with people. And I’m going to confess with a couple of guys this weekend. I’ve just sent them a text to make sure they see me this weekend cause I know I’d only pull out of seeing them. And man I just feel God’s freedom right now and I feel relaxed and joyful. I’m just so glad that I’ve finally shown people that I’m not a super holy person and I feel God’s love right now.

So pray with me, grow with me, become stronger with me, confess with me, share gladness with me, be free with me and be honest with me. Let’s get real!!

Some of you may want to post below this and confess and some may just want to go and tell your close friends. Either way make sure you do it tonight or at least text them and tell them that you want to confess sin’s to them. And remember, were in this together and make sure that there is not one sin that at least a couple of people are praying about. Don’t hold any confession back from at least a couple of people.

Suffering

I thought I would just share this with everyone even though I’m only really writing it for one family, but I think some others might benefit from this. I would like everyone to pray for this family; for strength, peace, joy and for healing. And although you have no idea whose family it is or what the problem is, God does.

Suffering is a guaranteed fact of life. It’s everywhere we look. With a world full of diseases I’m sure every one of you can think of someone who is suffering, or you can see it in yourself. At times like these we are asked, ‘Where is your God?’ We either stand up for God and try to justify why he allows it or we fade away and we start to question his ways, as if we know best.

During suffering, our job is not to try and justify God. Nor is it to question him. Sometimes we may know what he is doing and why he is doing it, and others we might not have a clue. But don’t lose sight of what our job is. Our job is to worship the King who is worthy of praise. Our job is to believe that his ways are the best ways. Our job is to trust him with our lives and let him do what he does, no matter how bad things seem to get. Our job is to rest and find peace in his promises.

One of the greatest promises from scripture is found is Philippians 3:20-21. That Jesus is transforming our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body. I find this promise so great because God is making us become more like him. Is that not something to rejoice over? This is an on-going thing in our life and we can be assured that no matter what happens in our lives, he is making us more like him. And he can use times of suffering to make us more like him. I know that the hardest times in my life have been the times I have grew stronger in Christ. Although the pain may seem unbearable at times and you may cry and struggle, you can rejoice about what God is doing in your life. And I know that it’s a lot easier to say than to do. So pray that God would help you to do it.

When the golf ball was first created is was completely round. Then after research scientists realised that the golf ball would travel further if it had dents in it. Sometimes God brings things into our lives that hurt us and leaves dents. The reason is so that we can go further in him and become more like him, that we can be better than we ever could be by ourselves.

In Romans 5:3-4 we are told that our sufferings produce endurance, and endurance produces character. And I’ve already pointed out Philippians, where we’re told that Christ is making us more like him. Do you believe this? Do you believe that God does not lie? Do you believe that he says what he means? Do you trust him? Do you trust him enough to stick with what he says? God is doing something wonderfully complex here; so complex that we do not understand. Continue to praise him, thank him and trust him, even though it can be every hard.

Now I’m not going to pretend i know all the answers. Maybe he’s working through your life to reach others through this. Maybe others will come to know God as they see your faith through this time. Maybe it will encourage other believers. Or maybe he is trying to bring you closer to him. Maybe he is bring you to a deeper understanding of trusting him and relaying on him.

I don’t have a clue what he is going to do through this situation but I can assure you of one thing. Through life he is making you more and more like his glorious body. I will ask the questions again; do you believe him? Do you trust him?

Lord, I give thanks to you that you would care for us enough to make us more like you. I thank you for you Holy Spirit, who works inside of us to help us. I pray more than anything that you would help this family to rejoice in this storm. I thank you that you are making them more and more like you through this, no matter what happens. I pray that you would heal this person and bring them back to full recovery. Though I do realise that you’re ways are not my ways and you’re thoughts are not my thoughts. I realise you do complex things in our lives that we do not understand. So I humbly ask for healing Lord, but may your will be done. May we not question your actions but understand that they are the best actions that can happen. Help us all to know your plan of Christ-likeness in everything that we suffer. In Jesus Christ’s name I ask these things, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Faith

And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Mark 6:42-43

 

Jesus feeds the five thousand. I know you’ve probably heard the story hundreds of times throughout church. A short while after…

 

In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.

Mark 8:1-9

 

When I read this I get a little taken back by the disciples reply to Jesus. I mean surly after him feeding five thousand they wouldn’t say how can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place. But the next bit stuns me even more. Right after this they get onto a boat with Jesus and this is what happens.

 

And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”

Mark 8:16-21

 

It just takes me back how stupid they can actually be. Like Jesus does something that day and they still don’t believe that he can do it again. It just surprises me so much. Surely I’m not as stupid as that.. Surely I fully understand. As I said on the last post we are all eager to judge others and make excuses for ourselves so this caused me to look at myself.

I’ve had 17 main moments in my life when I have seen, hear and felt God act in ways that I cannot comprehend. They were all moments when I was just blown away. Apart from these main moments that have happened directly to me I have heard about many other times of healing and seen the results. I have had uncountable times in my life when I have had healing in smaller ways, compared to the main moments, just after prayer. I have read about all the incredible things in the Bible and what Jesus did when he was here on earth. I have saw how the Holy Spirit worked through from Genesis to the New Testament, unto the first church and I still see how he works today. I have had times of calling in my life and have saw the incredible plans that God had for me and how he made them come about, through lots of wee events that made things possible.

I must have such an incredible faith. Like I must pray and things just happen because my faith… How couldn’t I have such a great faith in God? Right? But it amazes me that I doubt so much. That even with small things in life sometimes I don’t have faith. Simple things like worrying about something or fearing something is a lack of faith. It’s me saying to God that he isn’t big enough for this problem or he isn’t big enough tackle something. There’s times when I dream about doing something and then thoughts come into my head and it’s like you can never do that. I even had doubts the day when I saw and felt God grow my leg to be the same size as the other. The exact same day I kept putting my legs together to make sure they were still the same size. There was some part of me that just couldn’t take it in. I just could understand or say, ‘okay God. I get it now and from now on I’m going to believe everything you say!’ I have such a lack of faith at times in my life. What about you? And what are you going to do about it? I know I’m going to pray!

Boldness

And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Mark 14:27-31

We can be tremendously bold when we don’t need to be. We can all talk the talk when nothing is going wrong. We can all make statements about how to live but we rarely live that way when we need to. Jesus tells the disciples that they will all fall away. All the disciples tell Jesus they won’t fall away. I’m going to focus on Peter more than the others because he replied back emphatically. That word means to do something in a forceful way. You get a picture of Peter saying with such passion and force, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you”. You could probably see the passion in his eyes as he said that. Though we all know what happens in the end.

And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Mark 14:66-72

Peter had been bolder that all the other men. He had followed Jesus right to the courtyard of the high priest and he was sitting down, warming himself at the fire, with the guards (14:54). He had made it all that way not denying the name of Jesus. Then this servant girl says that he was with Jesus. Suddenly he is not comfortable anymore. A sense of trouble comes about him. He knows that not denying Jesus will have consequences. Before, he was able to be free with his words because nothing would come of them. He didn’t have to suffer because he told Jesus he would die with him. But now when the trouble was right in front of him his words might actually mean death for him. Maybe he had seen the young man that they had tried to seize for following Jesus. All these thoughts would have gone through his head about death. He was also sitting with guards all around him in the courtyard of the high priest. It wouldn’t have been a big bother for the guards to bring him to the high priest. They would probably have taking him straight away and put him down before Jesus.

The point is, Peter had been tremendously bold and courageous when nothing would happen to him. He would not deny Christ at any cost, even death. But when the problem faced him everything that he had once known disappeared. He denied Christ! The man that had once forcefully said he wouldn’t deny Jesus forcefully denied Jesus. Boldness and courage aren’t measured by what you say or do in the absence of troubles, but what you say or do in the presence of troubles.

We can all be like Peter. The countless times I’ve gave advice to people from the Bible in times of their trouble and yet when I go through the exact same thing I don’t know what to do. The times in church or in small groups or talking to friends that we can say I would never do that. The times when we talk about our faith in non-troubled times and tell others what we would do and how courageous we would be. The times when we look at others and judge them because they’re going through a problem and aren’t really turning to God. We are all eager to judge others and make excuses for ourselves. We are quick to forget our God when we need him the most. When trouble comes the person we once were is quick to disappear. Worry and fear come in and traumatise us. We forget our God is bigger and better than anything that faces us. We forgot to keep our eyes focused on Him. We deny Christ in our own ways. Be bold and courageous when it matters! Pray about it..

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

The Great and Humble King

Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

John 14:11-14

 

I was brought up in the thinking that I could never do anything like what Jesus did when he was on earth. Like that is Jesus, the Son of God, God himself. How could I ever do anything as good as him? Like that’s crazy and very stupid of anyone to think that.

The verses above are Jesus talking about his miracles. He is saying that the disciples should believe that he is in the Father and the Father in him. And if they can’t believe that then they should believe it because of the works, or miracles, that he has been doing. Then he goes on to talk about these works. And what Jesus said next just blew me away. He tells us that anyone who believes in him will do the works he has been doing. Already that’s crazy but his next step takes it further. He said we will do even greater works that him because he will be in heaven with the Father. It’s really hard for me to take this in. Like me, a sinner and not God, can do greater miracles than Jesus did because he will be with the Father. That’s insane. These verses aren’t saying that I’m better than Jesus as it will still be Jesus doing the miracles, but it does show me another level to his incredible character.

I mean if I was God I probably wouldn’t have come down here in the first place the way Jesus did. I might have had the odd visit but I’d make sure I’d be like some sort of superhero, flying about, with a massive crown on my head. Just by seeing me people would worship me and turn towards me and love me. I certainly wouldn’t let people mock me or kill me and my no means would I let people do greater things on earth than I did, even though they could only do it in my name. It’s a great job I’m not God.

This gives me such a bubbly feeling about God. It makes me just want to thank him and praise him more and more. It makes me want to live in a way that’s all about him (the way it should be) and to sacrifice more and more for him. Worship him for being so humble and no seeing being God as something to be equal to.

Now, I know some people have argued that the works Jesus talks about is not miracles, but we need to look at the surrounding verses of verse 12 to get the right context. Why would the disciples believe that Jesus was the Christ if he was just a good person or if he was just a good teacher or if he was just a good evangelist? That’s some of the things people say the word works means in verse 12. If it was like that then there would be a lot of people that I know now that seem perfect, because I don’t know their private lives. There are a lot of great teachers out there at the minute. Are they all Christ? And why would Jesus say what he said in the next verses if he wasn’t actually talking about miracles. If we ask anything in his name he will do it. The whole context of the surrounding verses points towards the word works meaning miracles. Other versions of the Bible even have the word miracles in this passage. So clearly Jesus is talking about miracles.

The only question on my mind is why we do not see these miracles that much today? In fact, reading the New Testament gives me a lot of questions about the ‘church’ today. And why do a lot of different individuals and church bodies not believe that people can do miracles at all these days? I just don’t get it at all. God is still here, Christ is still alive, his promises are always kept and his Spirit is still with us. The problem isn’t God; the problem is us. Just think about these things and pray about them. Sacrifice things for God and live in a way that worships his name always.

Live Christ

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”

Philippians 1:21

To live Christ means to live a life like him. To honour him with everything we have and to sacrifice the things that take us away from Christ likeness and worshipping Christ. To live Christ sometimes requires us to give up things that we don’t want to give up.

Maybe to live Christ in work would mean that if our job was making us do something that Christ wouldn’t do then we should talk to the manager about changing it and if nothing changes then we should leave the job. This is something that people feel very uncomfortable with but we can be assured that when we make a sacrifice like this for Christ that he will take care of us.

If we have a friend that makes us become less like Christ then we should chat to them about it. If they don’t change then we should spend less time with them. And although we may absolutely love hanging around with this friend we must sacrifice this friendship because it is making us unlike Christ.

If our favourite TV programme is making us think things that Christ wouldn’t think then we must stop watching it. And I know the last two are very hard sacrifices that people will have trouble over and this is also a hard one. I know a lot of you will watch things on TV that aren’t healthy for your relationship with Jesus. Jokes are made and things are shown that would influence your mind and your thoughts. So to live Christ would be to stop watching them.

If we are in a relationship that makes us less like Christ then we should end it.

If we have possessions that make us proud and boastful or take our worship of Christ then we should sell them. We should just sell them and maybe even give that extra money to advance God’s kingdom.

If banter is bringing us away from Christ then we should sacrifice so much time of it a week. We still need a time to have fun and to relax but if the fun is getting in the way of our relationship with Christ then we should not have it until we have our quiet times with God.

If we do anything or have anything in our life’s that takes us away from Christ or takes our focus of him then we should stop them and get them out of our life’s. Even if we love them we should stop them. That’s what it means to live Christ. To count everything as loss compared to him.

“What is more, I consider everything as loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”

Philippians 3:8

And as we do this then everything we do will magnify Christ and honour Christ and draw us closer to Christ and make us more like Christ. Then to live, for us, will be Christ.

And to live Christ is not to merely live Christ in our own life’s but to live in a way that enhances the living of Christ in the life’s of the people around us.

Live Christ

Standing Firm

Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:13-14

I’m going to mix up the order that these two verses come in first of all. In order to stand firm against Satan we need something bigger than Satan, and that is not us. Satan will triumph in a battle against us but not in a battle against Jesus. We need to focus on Jesus in our mind first of all; and then we can start standing firm.

The first advice we can get from this is to be still. Other scriptures come to mind like, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalms 46:10). When he tells us to be still it means to focus on him and to understand that he is God. This can be done in many different ways.

Go for a walk and just admire the trees, the clouds, the sky, the mountains, the sea… (even yourself). Look about and see what God has made. A God that can make these complex things must be a God that is able to carry you through all your problems. We must have a God in our heads that is bigger than the giants that you face in life.

You can sit at home and be still and read his word. Get stuck into the Bible and read what God has to say. As you read through the Bible you will be reminded about how big and powerful God actually is. When Jesus was tempted by Satan he quoted the Bible and this helped him to get through the temptation. Reading and knowing the Bible can get us through a lot of sin because in order to sin we have to remove God from our minds in the first place. So the more scripture that is in our heads the harder it is to sin. Learn verses and then pray that God would help you to remember them in times of temptation.

And I’m not just saying that you read it and leave it there. You must put into action what you have read. Don’t just read Christ but live Christ. We won’t stand firm if we just forget the thoughts that were in our heads while we were being quite. We must continue to look towards God and focus on him.

Prayer is another one. You can still your mind and heart when you pray. Take 5 minutes out and just pray to God. Thank him for things, apologise for things, praise his name, pray for help… As you pray know that God will hear you and that he is there with you.

You can sing some worship songs or play some and listen to the words. Maybe if you play a musical instrument you can get the sheet music to songs and play them.

Just do something that makes you think of nothing else but God. Do something that magnifies God in your head as this will minimize your giants. Be still and do something that makes you know that he is God and when you’ve done that you can stand firmer.

The more time we spend being still and doing things that make us realise God and to focus on him, the easier it will become when we move away from the quite times.

Now back to the first verse. First of all God tells us not to be afraid. In 1 John 4 it tells us about the spirit of the antichrist that is already in the world. This is a spirit out to bring us down and lead us to hell. The next verse says, ‘You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world’ (1 John 4:4). Take courage from this verse. We don’t have to be afraid because God is there with us and we have already, and will continue to, overcome them because God is in us. So what are we to be afraid off?

Then were told to stand firm. Were told to not move. Were told to stand right where we are and not to run from these giants. The Israelites’ giants were the Egyptians that were on their way to bring them back. They had no escape plan and there looked to be no way out at all. But when they stood firm and trusted on God they overcome their giant. When our giants come to face us today it seems as if there’s no way out at all and most times we tend to run and get scared. Or we just walk up to them and give ourselves into the temptation. If we just hang in there and stand firm then Jesus’ Spirit, which is within us, will show us the way out, like God’s hand parted the sea.

And now for the best news of all. And this brings me great joy and happiness to share. ‘You will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again’. Now for them it was that day. I’m not going to say if you have trouble with a sin or with worry, fear or anything else, that it will go away today. Sometimes it happens right away. Other times we have to continue strong for months or years. And still other times we have to remain strong for years to come. But when we continue to have the still times and as we continue to stand firm on what we have learnt from God then we will overcome these giants. And there will be times ahead when we are free from that giant. Times when we are no longer tempted by it and times when will be more like the people God called us to be. We will be becoming more like Jesus as we have times with God and then stand firm as this is what Jesus did all his time on the earth. He had quiet times and then he went out and stood firm.

Sounds easy but I assure you this is hard so pray for yourself as you do this. Pray for me as I try to do this. And be assured that I have already prayed for you if you’re reading this. May God bless you as you read this and may you become more like Him.

Your brother in Christ,

Clifford