If Anyone Is Thirsty

Slammed

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We all get SLAMMED by the various pressures of this world. Things from within us and things from outside. If there really is a God, Who has profound love for you, don’t you think He would have an alternative to the quite-miserable way we usually deal with stress?

We are not made of steel but fragile tissue. Our minds are not impersonal computers but linked directly to our heart and emotions. Unforeseen circumstances expose that we are not as ‘together’ as we pretend to be. Sometimes we implode with anger or depression. After a while it is easy to just give way to complete apathy “Ah, who cares?”.

Whatever your response, one thing becomes very obvious. We are vulnerable, weak and prone to think and say negative things. Our heart can be easily cracked like fragile glass. So you feel compelled to harden your heart and toughen your outer shell. The pivotal question you must contemplate is whether or not you really want answers and a solution. To harden your heart is the worst possible thing you can do in order to discover God’s awesome revelation!

People love to talk on and on about their problems. They love to blame everybody they possibly can, even the Creator God. Even the guy who insists Jesus is NOT God, when slammed, will suddenly find the faith to believe just long enough to blame and curse Him. Interesting. Ever heard anyone say “Oh, Allah damn it” or “Ah, Buddha”? A break-up or a break-down brings our inside out and turns us upside-down. Our “Mr. Cool N. Together” is suddenly exposed as “Mr. Jack Ass”. We all find a very uneasy affinity to “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”.

You must realize that to discover God’s real love for you is not a “warm and fuzzy” transcendence. It requires the ‘brute force’ of FAITH (Mt.11:12). God defines all our crazy behavior as SIN (Jer.17:9/Rm.3:10/Ecc.9:3). You don’t have to get rid of it. You have to BELIEVE that Jesus already did just that! There really is a monster inside each of us. We are born with it yet deny it every day. The crazy thing is that it’s very name, Pride, is something we both cherish and hide. How’s that for logic? Sin is an enigmatic beast with many faces whose proud motivations find their origin in the prince of darkness. Such truth is either a hard pill to swallow or, like it was for me, the medicine for my sickness (Jer.17:9).

You have probably read many things but have you ever SERIOUSLY read the gospels of the New Testament? Don’t you think this might be a bit more important? Is there any truth to issues such as finding true fulfillment, discovering God’s love and being saved into heaven and from hell by Jesus? God’s truth is a sword that strikes at the heart of the monster. We each have to face-down the monster within but God wants to be there with you to teach you how exactly to do it. God command us to repent AS He provides the alternative of His Spirit and new life.

The true church is not a place that you go, but rather a person that you become (Acts.7:48). God wants to spare you the heartache, disillusionment and depression that comes from listening to what “they” say. He wants you to learn directly from His Spirit(1Jn.2:27). People think that by meeting other like-minded “Christians”, and becoming involved in such an atmosphere, their own lives will become better. It may seem this way for a season. The problem arises when you put your trust in people and then realize they are not who they appear to be. When you get SLAMMED everything again bottoms-out just like it did before. Only this time you are twice as bummed out because you thought you found the answer. Then you say “Oh, I tried ‘IT’ but ‘IT’ wasn’t for me”. That’s right. Now what about HIM? You didn’t search beyond what “they” say. You stopped short. You settled for the system of Christianity rather than personally seeking the Person of JESUS!

Church is not the answer any more than booze, money, a nice house, recreation or entertainment. They all offer the same thing; temporary hype. Something to pacify the urges of the beast within.

Jesus does not say “Come to church”. He cries out “Come to ME...” (Jn.7:38/5:40/Mt.11:27). All alone! He demands no moral life-style or tote-the-line legalism. His one demand is humility in your inner most being (Ps.51). Truth is not a concept or “accept Christ” formula. Jesus says “I AM the truth” (Jn.14:6)!

Being alone in this cruel world is very tough. Getting SLAMMED can make it unbearable. ( God says this world belongs to Satan?-1 Jn.5:19). God yearns to be gracious to you. He proved it by sending Jesus. When most people hear His Name they equate it with a picture or some churchy life-style. Can you possibly get beyond all this baloney to seriously contemplate the Jesus of the Scriptures?

Jesus was SLAMMED beyond recognition (Is.53). He proved Himself to be God by the response He brought back, from the dead, the very resurrection life He now offers you (Jn.11:25). Yes, God is invisible but He PROMISES that if you will seek Him you will find answers from His Spirit (Mt.7:7ff). Yes, we’re talking about FAITH. But what do you got to lose by humbling yourself and re-examining, all alone, God’s written Word?

No one wants to deal with sin. Just cover it up and hope it’s never exposed. As if Jesus is unaware of it. Sin is not some thing you do. It IS human nature. None of us are a “basically good person”. The Bible says all men are born evil (Gen.6:5/ Rm.3:10ff, 5:17 /Eccl.9:3/ Jer.17:9). All of us bear the nature of Adam’s rebellion. It’s not like you might go to hell. It is God’s justice for rebellion. Yet out of His precious mercy, God offers mercy and transformation!

Jesus offers you the forgiveness your conscience craves! Born the first time into Adam’s nature you must now ask Jesus to be born AGAIN (Jn.3:7/1 Cor.15:45/2 Pt.1:4/Jer.31:33/1 Jn.2:17). Let God slay the monster with the truth! FAITH will open up a whole new world where there is a peace you cannot imagine (Jn.14:27/Phil.4:7)! The next time you get SLAMMED remember....there is a divine alternative! Ask God for help! Expect Him to answer!

Salvation is not about finding “it” but meeting Jesus! How hard is it to start talking TO GOD, not just thinking about Him? Start asking Him about all matters in your life. Ask Him what it really means to be “BORN AGAIN” (Jn.3:3). Seize this time! You don’t know how long you have left!

God says, “Now is the day of salvation”(2Cor.6:2). Your past doesn’t matter but your future does. Humble your heart. Become childlike (Mt.18:3). Jesus promises to fill you with living water, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find(Jn.7:37/Matt.7:7).

Start anew and read the Gospel of John. Search deeper! Unless a seed falls into the earth it remains alone, but if it dies it yields much fruit(Jn.12:24).

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The clincher for me was where Jesus says "Come to Me...and LEARN from Me" (Mt.11:29). How does one "learn" from an invisible Being? Jesus says the true church are those who learn the things of spirit and truth (not pretense and pomp) (Jn.4:24). Does such a work of the heart not require such things of which no man can describe? Silence, meditation, talking TO God are things of spirit and truth. In this mega-hype culture it can be impossible to force yourself into a stillness of heart. You must do the impossible! Start meditating on the Book of Psalms and the Gospel of John. Wherever you are for five or fifteen minutes. It will seem awkward at first. You will find many voices in your head and feelings of anxiety. You've got to LEARN to silence them. Solitude is essential!

You will find that the reaction by others to this quest, to go directly to Jesus, is treated with presumption; "Oh, of course. I know all that already". Men can work eight hours a day but are too lazy of heart to consider that God's love is of such mysterious and magnificent proportions so as to require a work of individual heart far beyond any passive prayer (Jn.6:27,29). Thus they fall short of His divine Presence. This is the essence of salvation! It was prophecied hundreds of years ago (Jer.31:33-34/Ez.36:26).

This is not the "salvation" of today. Rather it is the unbiblical "accept Christ" prayer-formula that produces plastic "Christians". McDonald's Christianity would have you believe that all you have to do is drive up to the "service" window of any preachers castle and get the salvation-to-go order of repeating a one-time prayer. As if the same generic prayer written for all to parrot has anything to do with the personal heart cry which God requires (Ps.51:17). Like everything in the American culture it is "processed" into an articial and refined response so as to make everyone the same and fit perfectly into their system about Christ.

The brethren in Corinth or Ephesus were the true church who lived as those "set apart" to love Christ rather than this world (1 Jn.2:14ff/Consider Acts 5:32). Luke explains that what Jesus "began to do and teach" in bodily form He now continues in His people in His risen state (Acts 1:1). Their identity was not in an affliation with a particular doctrine, or trying to make this world a better place, but in the power they beheld in their obedient lives looking for the city which is to come . They were uneducated and unlearned but their lives demonstrated that they had actually been with the living Jesus ( Acts 4:13).

Jesus revealed the world is full of religious deception; many "churches", cults and religions (Matt.24). How will you know the truth? Will you learn from a man or go to God? More than ever before, my friend, you must not just go along with everyone. The majority is wrong (Mt.7:13). Don't look at what men SAY. Tons of people claim to be an authority because they have a website or claim to have a following. Like armchair quarterbacks who never played a down of football yet pretend to know what's wrong. Look at their LIVES! Do they just sit around like anyone else claiming to be religious? Or do their lives stand out as a witness? Are they doing something that bears the cross of Christ (Mt.10:38)?

There is nothing wrong with going to a service to try and learn something but watch over your heart (Proverbs 14:23). "...A little leaven levens the whole lump..." (Gal.5:9). Hypocrisy is like toxic waste, it disintegrates sincerity and corrupts anyone with a heart. Don't give yourself over to "church". Learn and go on. You must not settle there. You must keep going. You must get beyond it to learn, build and discover a personal walk with Jesus. We can tell you it is awesome! Do you know His voice? Your life now and your eternity are at stake. This is about your capacity to walk in abundant life or abundant hypocrisy.

For surely there is a true church and is a false church. There is a false christ and a true Christ (2 Cor.11:3-4ff/Mt.24:24,23). Jesus beckons you to come to Him and find the posture of humility to become a disciple and learn directly from Him. His anointing is capable of teaching you all the things (1 Jn.2:27). The idea of God actually coming into your being can only be defined as a mystery (Col.1:27). David said "I have more understanding than all my teachers: for Thy words are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep Thy truths" (Ps.119:99ff/read the whole chapter).

Jesus is waiting....If anyone is thirsty!

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