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!