Tuesday, December 6, 2011

God's Relay Team

Hi Friends,

I trust you're having a great month!! I'm sharing a post my brother Matt Root shared on Facebook and I though it was so encouraging. God cares =)

With God, we don't get what we deserve, we get what His Son deserved. In high school I ran track and was on the 4X400 relay team with 3 really fast dudes- two of which are in the NFL right now. I was the opposite of fast, I was slow as pancake syrup, but they had no one else to run the 2nd leg so I was picked by default. During one race at the state meet, I the 2nd leg, was given the baton with a comfortable first place lead. As I ran around the track, 8 runners past me up and I took my team from first to last- dead last. As I stumbled to give the baton to our 3rd leg guy, he caught us up to the middle of the pack while our anchor did the rest and finished us in first place! I didn't have much time to be embarrassed because everyone was giving me high fives for coming in first place- no one seemed to remember that I was the slow white guy! ...just reminds me that even when our finances are a mess, or we are discouraged that we aren't married yet or we are just flat out struggling, whatever it is remember we are on God's relay team and He is gonna see to it that we don't get what we deserve which is dead last, but He includes us in His first place finish. He chooses us to be with Him in the victory circle!! ...REPOST from Matt Root ...awesome message!!!...


Pursuing Truth,D.“Everything that I am, is because of Jesus Christ. All that I ever do, I do it only to bring Him glory.”

Friday, July 8, 2011

'Too imperfect for a perfect God...

I had an opportunity to fellowship with a dear friend and we had the most amazing conversation …’talked about sooo many things but everything came right back to the center of our existence …God’s grace.

She said something to me that is still ringing loud and clear in my head: She proceeded to tell me about her friend who suggested that he lusted for women and didn’t want to face the “torment” of giving his life to the Lord and having to struggle with failing God because of his shortcomings.

Sadly, this is the story of so many of us, perhaps we don’t struggle with sexual sin, nevertheless, there is a struggle (fear) of some kind; for those who are born-again, there’s often a struggle to meet a standard of Christian living and for those who don’t know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, there’s a lack of hope for God’s redeeming love in their lives because of lifestyle, failed relationships, or unbelief.

But friends, there’s good news.!! This life is about a journey and when we make the decision to live for Christ, it gives us freedom to fulfill the plan that God has for our lives. He never intended for us to live in bondage to sin….He.wants.us.to.be.free in Him!!

So, I’ve been lead to write this Blog as encouragement to the masses. I believe, based on the scripture, there are 4 major principles we must understand:

1. THE FALL OF MAN
2. GOD’S PLAN OF REDEMPTION
3. GRACE AND FAITH
4. THE JOURNEY

I’ll run through these and provide scriptures so that you can do more in-depth study for more clarity and understanding.
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THE FALL OF MAN

Let’s begin with Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. This simple scripture validates God’s power and existence. If we read further down to Genesis 1:26-2:17, we understand God’s plan for man, to rule and reign over the earth. If we check out Genesis 2:18, we recognize the creation of Adam’s help-meet, or fit :

(Side Note: Adam had 1 woman to choose from, Eve. ‘Illustrates God’s perfect fitting of male and female. Therefore, we don’t have to guess who our mate is going to be, God has already set it up …our focus, until that appointed time of marriage, should be on the things of God (Instructions for Singles: I Corinthians 7:32).

Chapter 3:1-7 illustrates the Fall of Man. It’s important to understand that because of Adam’s disobedience (not Eve, God gave the instructions to the HEAD of the home, Adam), all of humanity would be sentenced to die because of sin: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Sin separated Adam from God, but THANK GOD FOR JESUS!! …The redemption plan was in order and Jesus was on the way (Genesis 3:15).

(Side Note: Interestingly enough, God loved Adam so much, He never told him what he'd done and how his actions had messed up all of humanity. GOD LOVES US. HE NEVER WANTS TO CONDEMN US!!).
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GOD’S PLAN OF REDEMPTION

Luke 1:16 – 38 illustrates God’s plan to send Himself (Spirit) in the form of a man (flesh) to take the wages of sin (death) for us and redeem us back to fellowship with Him. “And behold, though shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a song, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Song of the Highest” (Luke 1:31-32). If you read further you’ll read how the virgin birth takes place. Jesus’ ultimate assignment, was to preach and teach the Word of His Father (God), take our place to die on the cross, and give us an opportunity to LIVE and accept Him in fellowship with His Father.

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth (continuously believes) in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life!!
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LAW, GRACE , and FAITH

Grace has been defined as “God’s unmerited favor” …In other words, it’s something freely given that we don’t deserve. The challenge is believing (faith) and understanding God’s grace for our lives. GRACE saved us from the wages of sin!!

Simply put, the LAW (before Jesus) was a set of rules given by Moses to expose sin. As a matter of fact, before Jesus came, if you broke one law, you were killed!! This was to show us that we, in our own self-righteousness could not fulfill or comply with the law: I Corinthians 15:56 “..and the strength of sin is the law.” This is why it was so important for Jesus to come, to fulfill the law for us!!! …and because He died on the cross to fulfill the law, we now have an opportunity to bypass death, and be reconciled back with the Father. Take a moment to read the 4 Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to understand Jesus’ love for us, His life and His work on the Cross.

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). The application to faith is to believe!!

How then, are you saved? By grace through faith!! Not works!!...but by grace!! ;) How encouraging is that?? ;) Ephesians 2:8-9 illustrates how we are saved from death and redeemed back to God. There’s nothing that we can EVERRR do to earn salvation. Our job is accept God’s grace and mercy for our lives and believe by faith that we are saved!!
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THE JOURNEY

So then, when we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, we don’t do so as perfect people!!...we do so with the faith to believe that God has forgiven us and now we can have eternal life through Him.

Ephesians 2:13 tells us that the moment we are born-again, our Spirit is sealed. This means that it can no longer be contaminated. God is a Spirit so the only thing we can be seen by is through our Spirit. He doesn’t see the color of our skin nor our stature…He doesn’t look at our sexual act, yet He sees the lust in our heart. Nor does He focus on how angry we get with someone, He sees the hatred in our heart. So this heart (Spirit) is the major issue. THIS SPIRIT, is what has to be changed. When we get born –again, God puts His Spirit on the inside of us…this is what He sees ;) Again I ask, how encouraging is that??? =)

So then, how often to do we beat ourselves up when we mess up? As my Pastor put it, God’s grace doesn’t give us the license to sin but when we begin to study the Word and renew our minds (Romans 12:1-2), we shouldn’t want to sin because of our love for the Father...the living Word (John 6:63) on the inside of us will compel to live Holy and righteous. But as a believer, IF we sin, we should repent and keep it moving, continuously walking in the grace of God ;)

Since we are a 3-part being: Spirit, Flesh (Body) and Soul (mind, will, and emotions), our struggle isn’t with our Spirit!!...it’s getting our Body and Soul (the way we think, what we want to do, how we feel) to line up with our Spirit. Friends, that’s the journey. He never intended for us to put pressure on ourselves to live completely free from sin. As long as we have a body, we’ll always have issues with sin. Paul said it best in Romans 7:18-25. He made it clear that he is always fighting His flesh.

But friends, there’s a good news. This life is about a journey and when we make the decision to live for Christ, it gives us freedom to fulfill the plan that God has for His life. If you are a born-again and struggle with perfection and not letting God down, be free today! God loves you and His grace has freed you from ALL condemnation!! (Romans 8:1-2). If you do not know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, please visit http://the-word-ministry.com/plan-of-salvation to understand the plan of Salvation and live in complete liberty today!! “..if you confess with your moth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heath that God has raise Him from the dead, you shall be saved!...for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:9-10).

I love you and please share with a friend. God is not mad at anyone…God loves us!! …He sent Jesus to give us an opportunity to live!!

-Dwan

Pursuing Truth,

D.

“Everything that I am, is because of Jesus Christ. All that I ever do, I do it only to bring Him glory.”

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

JACK OF ALL TRADES ....

My father (Pastor) gave me sound advice a long time ago and I woke up this morning with it on my mind: "You're not anointed to do everything. Find out what God has called you to do and pursue that. Just because it's a good thing, doesn't mean it's the right thing."

I'm reminded of my father's words because God has given me soooo many gifts and talents, as He has all of us, so there's sooo much that I want to do to impact my community and ultimately the world. Yet, as good as I may be, God hasn't anointed me to do everything. Simply put, the anointing guarantees success!! ...and that's where I want to be ...in.a.successful.place.

Any attempts to "make it" or "do it big" or "come up with the master plan" void of God only leads to frustration, brokenness, confusion and emptiness.

Someone once told me that it doesn't matter what we do, as long as it brings glory to God. That's.not.true. God will only judge us on our obedience to fulfill the SPECIFIC will He has for our lives...not our justification of a good deed. Saul, too, thought that he was doing a good deed: I Samuel 15:22 ...but we realize that Obedience is better than Sacrifice. This is why it's important for us to stay in relationship with the Lord so that our steps are ordered.

I've observed the last 30 years of my life: Society has increasingly put such an emphasize on "making it big" or impacting the world, VOID of God. So now, more than ever, man (humankind) has taken it upon himself to do things without operating in the anointing and power of God. And so, in the end, man gets the glory.

There are also signs of this approach in the church. The only difference is, the church has labeled any talent or gift, "anointed"! Just because someone is articulate doesn't mean he or she is anointed to preach the Gospel or lead a congregation as a Pastor. Just because someone can sing, doesn't make him or her anointed to lead the congregation in praise and worship or cut a Christian album!

When we find our purpose, allow the Lord to lead our lives, we'll understand that we are already anointed to get the job done!!...What seems difficult for most, is easy for us because we're walking in the obedience and fullness of God. We'll recognize our purpose when (1) It brings glory to God, (2) Lines up with scripture, and (3) We're passionate about it!! ...

Let's not be a Jack of all trades and a Master of none ...Live life, in your specific purpose, to glorify the Lord ...do it ALL to bring Him glory ;)

Pursuing Truth,

D.

“Everything that I am, is because of Jesus Christ. All that I ever do, I do it only to bring Him glory.”

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

SEED SEASONS ...

Friends!!! ... yet another opportunity to share my heart ...and where I am on this journey of life!!! It's so exciting and comforting to know that my life is truly in God's hands. The plans that He has for me ("For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"-Jeremiah 29:11) make life so worthwhile!!

Soooo... I've been learning a lot about Seed Seasons ..."To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven"(Ecclesiastes 3:1).

My father (Pastor) reminded me of this scripture a few weeks ago, and it still rings loud and clear in my ear!! It's often difficult, at times, for me to be patient ...something I'm still working on ...because I'm super excited about life and the passion that God has given me to change the world!! Yet, the older I get and the more I study God's Word, I realize that impatience is indicative to lacking trust in God.

Time, is irrelevant to God (II Peter 3:8) so if God has given me a zeal to manifest His glory in my life, why then should I ever allow time to dictate God's relevance in my life? If He's given me a vision, why should I allow time to determine my success?

Genesis 8:22
(While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease) further proves Ecclesiastes 3:1.

So then, I continue to focus on these powerful scriptures to understand this "underground" period of my life; an opportunity to rest, grow, die to my flesh, and study God's Word ...so that when my season of harvest comes, I'll remain humble, patient, and always reliant on God's truth (Word).

If He promised it ...I simply believe it!! ;)

On.the.journey,

D.

“Everything that I am, is because of Jesus Christ. All that I ever do, I do it only to bring Him glory.”

Monday, January 10, 2011

On the Journey ...

2011!!!...it's a new year =D...

"...I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14).

I thank God for His faithfulness over the years and for showing Himself sooo consistent in my life! The older I get and the more my Pastor teaches, the more I realize this thing called life is an ongoing journey. A journey of peaks and valleys, good times and sad times, heartache and pain, joy and peace!!! But nevertheless, it's a journey!!! ...a journey we must finish!! ;)

I've entered 2011 with a boldness like never before!! A boldness to declare the works of the Lord because I am persuaded, convinced that God is who He says He is. I've made a decision to follow Him, obey Him, adore Him, love Him, chase after Him ...all because ...He's given me words of eternal life (John 6:68).

You see friends, when we make our lives available to the Lord, our life no longer belongs to us (Galatians 2:20:Matthew 16:24). THE DECISION has to be made: Follow the things of God or continue to be influenced by the things of the world (Romans 12:1-2).

If you are reading this post, my prayer is that you will seek a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ ...choose today whom you will serve. The Bible declares that we cannot serve two masters...we either hate one and love the other (Matthew 6:24). CHOOSE LIFE!!! =D ...because God cares (Deuteronomy 30:19).

No one is qualified to work for the Lord ...it's only by grace and mercy that we have been given an opportunity to fellowship with Him again. He's not looking for perfect people but people who will willingly submit (born-again: John 3:1-7) their lives to Him.

In this life, there's peace and joy!!...I'm on a journey y'all to FULFILL the plan that God has for my life!! ...I don't boast in myself, yet I boast in the things of God for He IS GREAT, HE IS POWERFUL AND MIGHTY!!! Be encouraged today!!...because...IN CHRIST...WE.ALWAYS.WIN!!!!

On the journey...

-D

driggins.com
the-word-ministry.com


Pursuing Truth,D.“Everything that I am, is because of Jesus Christ. All that I ever do, I do it only to bring Him glory.”