I Never Knew You...

"What in the world is that noise?!" It is three o' clock in the morning and someone is blowing a horn right outside the window. WHOOSH! All of a sudden something feels really weird. Your body feels... somehow... nonexsistant. All of a sudden you start levitating into the air; what is going on? You start looking around and it looks like everyone else is going through the same thing. It hits you: it's judgement day. Your life starts flashing before your eyes. You don't drink, you never even picked up anything to smoke, you've never committed adultry or fornication in your life. More importantly, you've gone to church every time the doors were open since you were a little kid and you've even been a daily Bible reader. In fact, you've even preached at your church a few times. Needless to say, you are feeling pretty good!
In front of you, there is a gigantic white throne. There is God in all His glory! You can't help but fall on your face and worship the Lord. After a while, you are told to move over to the right. The right, that's where the sheep go. You've paid enough attention in church to remember how this is going to happen and you are estatic! Then something weird happens: a mighty shout rises from your left side and then it hits you: YOU ARE ON THE WRONG SIDE. You realized that God was going to place the sheep on His right but, seeing as you are facing Him, you are on His left.
You start running, I mean running, to God's throne. You cry out, "Jesus, I've lived a good life. I don't do things that are wrong and I even preach your name." He loooks at you and simply says, "I never knew you." Your heart drops like a rock. "But... Jesus..." But you know He is telling the truth.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a second, what just happened? You see, sometimes we mistake discipline for discipleship. We think that if we don't do certain things and punch the sitting in the pew clock enough times, then we are okay. And for a little extra, we might lead a prayer a few times, preach a lesson, or even start a blog. Jesus rebuked the scribes and Pharisees for adding restrictions to the Law. The early church struggled so much with stepping back into their Jewish ways and trying to earn their salvation. Why was this? It was because it was easier and more comfortable for them because they felt like they could just do what he Law says, and they would be okay. Paul wrote so many times trying to convince them otherwise and teaching that Jesus saves. He taught that through Christ, out heart's become transformed. (Romans 12:2) Jesus taught us to follow His will with our hearts, not only with our actions (ex Matt 5:27-28). And there is something that He wants from us. In fact, he said it is the MOST important thing:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind." (Luke 10:27)

We're supposed to love God AND keep His commandment, (Deut 11:1) not just keep the commandments. Somehow we think that if we have our act together then we are okay. This is just not true. When are we going to stop this show we put on and be real about Christ? When are we going to run after God with heartfelt prayer, worship, fasting, giving, sacrifice, and DYING TO OURSELVES instead of just talking about it (I'm talking to myself here too)? When do we take "Pray without ceasing" seriously and have communication with Him? Jesus takes it seriously. He doesn't care what you, even if it is in His name, if we don't know Him (Matt 7:21-23). He wants us to talk to Him and build a relationship with Him. After all, how else are we going to know him.
God's people in Malachi were facing the same kind of problem. They weren't putting their heart into anything they did. They still sacrificed to God and did everything right, but there was a problem: they didn't give their all to Him. You know what God thought about that?

"Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle the fire on my alter in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand." (Malachi 1:10)

I wonder if God would say the same thing about our churches. I wonder if we mean what we do because if we don't, God would rather us not even show up. It doesn't matter what we do if there is no heart behind it. The only way to have any heart behind it is if we have a relationship with Him, if we know Him. I wonder if Jesus could really say that He knew me... I really don't want Him to say that He doesn't and I don't want Him to say that to you either. I wonder, do we give Him an opportunity to know us... just something to think about.

Who's Your Daddy?

Who put the universe into exsistance? What is He like? These are questions that man has been wrestling with since the beginning of time. Countless theories, religions, and cults have formed as a direct result of seeking an answer to these questions. Thankfully we, as Christians have found the truth: Jesus Christ! He is "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 4:6). His name is the only way that we'll ever make it to Heaven (Acts 4:12). His name is what we need. For the purpose of this blog, I'm going to assume that everyone reading is already living under that name and is washed in the cleansing blood of Christ Jesus. I'm going to call it "Chasing". A simple name, but that's what we need to be doing. Our whole lives need to be in a constant pursuit of Him, His will for us, His specific calling for our lives, and a deeper relationship with Him.
This morning I was sitting in Bible class. Believe it or not, I don't expect something profound from it everyday, but TODAY was different. As I'm sitting in class learning about history, context, and language of the New Testament, something popped out. As you probably know, the New Testament was written in greek: koine greek, the greek of the street, to be specific. I had some great Bible teachers early in life that have already taught me this. What was really interesting was when we started talking about the language Jesus spoke. He spoke greek of course, He must have spoke Hebrew seeing as He was very well versed in the Hebrew Bible, but scholars agree that He also spoke arabic. In fact arabic was His "heart language". If you remember, when Jesus was praying in the garden before His betrayal he cried out, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what You will." (Mark 14:36) What struck me was this word "Abba". It's an arabic word, and you know what it means? It quite literally means "daddy"! And here's the best part:

"For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adotion as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'" (Rom 8:15)

God, the creator of the universe is our father. Not only is he our father, but he is our daddy! That famous quote says, "Any man can be a father, but it takes a special man to be a daddy." There is a distinct difference between a father and a daddy. God is aiming to be our daddy. He may be all powerful, but he can't be our daddy without our cooperation just like your father here on earth. If you treat Him like some far away diety, that's what He'll be to you. If you treat Him only as an authority figure, that's what He'll be to you. If you feel like you have to be formal and scripted everytime you go to Him, then you won't have any depth in Him. If you treat Him like your daddy, then He'll be your daddy! That's what He want's. Believe it or not, God has a unique intrest in you. Yes YOU! 1 Corinthians 7:17 says, "Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him..." He has called you to something specific and has a place for you in His kingdom. He says that He will take care of us (Matt 6:25-27), and we need to believe it! We need to trust in Him, trust in His calling, trust in His promise, and trust in His leading. After all, "...If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom 8:31)