Fighting With Unholy Weapons

Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore get rid of all moral filth and evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. ~James 1:19-21 (NIV)

Several months ago, I had an unholy fight with the love of my life.  What made it unholy?  My weapon of choice: anger.  Isn't there a righteous indignation?  Absolutely.  But I was not expressing it.  I was raging from hurt feelings, longing for time and an evaluation of priorities; all my expectations were flowing from a heart that felt jilted.

Was my desire for wholeness, for a meeting of the minds?  Yes, but I was going after this conclusion in a tainted way.  I had let my hurts pile up and fuel anger.  I thought I was bringing these hurts before the Lord but had not left them there.  I kept bringing them out, stroking them, feeding them with thoughts of discontent.  All this stroking admiration led to a big blow up.

My fight was launched in hurt and anger.  When I chose to march with such weapons, I was marching to the drum of the Deceiver.  I had the opportunity to leave my hurts at Jesus' feet and march with the Redeemer, but I made the wrong choice.

Thankfully, the Spirit touched my heart and I saw the unholiness of my weapons.  I stopped, asked for forgiveness and the Redeemer stepped in.  He brought the right weapons, holy weapons: love, patience, forgiveness, mercy, peace...in that instant, the atmosphere changed.  The real need came to Light and discussion was possible.

My unholy weapons were leading toward a path of destruction -- Oh, the damage those weapons could have done!  How thankful I am for the Spirit's whisper, that He helped me listen!  How thankful I am for holy weapons!

Didn't I want unity and restoration?  Very much.  But this was impossible with the weapons I was wielding.  What deception -- to think my unholy weapons could bring about holy resolution.

The Lord is teaching me to stop, look up and wait before I respond -- to wait for Him to choose the weapon that is right for whatever I encounter.  All too often, I bound forward in my pride, packing unholy weapons, when He is simply asking me to wait, humbly realize I do not know the weapon to use and look to Him -- where the correct weapon is already waiting and ready -- a holy weapon.

Christ in me, those holy weapons are always at my disposal, but I have to stop and look to Him, asking His Spirit to choose instead of my flesh.  Looking up releases the license to carry a holy weapon that has the power of life.




Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness. ~James 3:18 (NIV)

Conformed to Transformed: Christ-minded on Love

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. ~Romans 5:8 (NIV)

There is a lot of pain and hurt in this life, but, in Christ, that pain and hurt need not be our resting place.  Sometimes in the midst of pain, struggle and hurt, it is hard to keep sight of the fact that we are dearly loved by God.  So often, the struggles that touch our lives do not feel marked by love, and yet God showed us how deeply He loved us by sending His Son to die for us -- though we were sinners.  Holy God sent His Son into the pit of sin that we might be pulled out of its depths.

Just as this Holy God was willing to send His Son into the pit of sin that we might be saved, this same God is willing to allow struggle and pain that we might learn to rest in His Son and be renewed from within.  He does not delight in our affliction, but He does delight in our transformation.  "He will not keep back even the most painful chastisement if He can but thereby guide His beloved child to come home and abide in the beloved Son." (Andrew Murray, Abide in Christ).  Transformation is that significant, that important, that necessary and that freeing.  Do we believe in a Love that will go to any means to make us more like His Son?

No matter what touches my day, everything boils down to this: do I believe that God is a good Shepherd and Overseer of my soul?  Do I trust that He knows my needs better than I do and that He will do exactly what is needed?

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It is so easy to look at our situation, to sit in our hurt, and believe what we feel instead of the truth of God's words.  Those flesh-minded thoughts taunt and taunt, but we must persevere and seek God's help to keep our mind stayed on Him.

Flesh-minded Thought:
My life is filled with struggle and pain, God must not truly love me.

Christ-minded Thought:
Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you. ~Isaiah  54:10 (NIV)

Flesh-minded Thought:
This hurts too much to be of God; a loving God would never allow me to hurt like this.

Christ-minded Thought(s):
The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing. ~Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)

True Christian joy is the heart's harmonious response to the Lord's song of love. ~A. W. Tozer

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us. ~I John 4:18-19 (NIV)

Fear is a result of being subject to someone who rejoices in evil and does not desire our good. If we are living in such fear, then we do not understand the depth of God's love for us. A Love that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. A Love that does not make us bend to His will, but is permissive in allowing man free will. A Love that has good plans for His children and desires to bring them a hope and a future. ~CDS

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Rest has overtaken my heart through understanding that God never leaves a single detail dangling.  I know that sometimes it seems that He is working in another time zone (I guess in a sense He is - He works outside of time), but there is a peace that comes in realizing that time has no hold on Him -- our deadlines mean nothing -- His work will always be done in the very best way at the perfect point of purpose without a single detail dangling!  The only thing that God ever waits on, in relation to our personal destinies, is us -- He is always waiting to give us more of Himself, to bring fulfillment to our lives -- we can take comfort in the truth that He waits on us; He longs for us: He will keep hoping, keep persevering, keep enduring...because that is what Love does. (I Corinthians 13:4-8)



Praise the LORD, for he has shown me his unfailing love... (Psalm 31:21, NLT)

Conformed to Transformed:Christ-minded on Purpose

...the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ~ John 14:26, NIV

Christ-conscious instead of self-conscious, Christ-minded instead of flesh-minded -- this has become the desire of my heart.  I am impoverished, unable to make this my reality.  Thankfully, this desire originated from God.  He has promised that the Spirit, who lives within me, will bring Christ's words to my mind.  Though I am powerless to change myself, I do have a role -- I must read, meditate on and memorize God's words.  I must make a deliberate choice to believe His thoughts over my own thoughts.

In every moment, in every situation, I have a choice: will I believe what God says or will I believe what my flesh says?

For the majority of my adult life, I have struggled with illness.  Because of this, I have often felt like my life was void of significant purpose.  These thoughts were untrue, but I believed them -- allowing them to rule my mind and crush my spirit.  Through time in God's Word and answered pleas for understanding, my outlook was adjusted; the Spirit helped me discern God's thoughts on the situation and flesh-minded was replaced with Christ-minded.

Am I still taunted by these flesh-minded thoughts?  Absolutely.  But the Spirit has shown me what is true. Each time these thoughts taunt, I can choose to believe what He has revealed to me instead of the fleshly thoughts that desire to defeat me.

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Below are some of the flesh-minded thoughts that have deceived me along with the Christ-minded thoughts that have freed me:

Flesh-minded Thought:
"Some days I am too weak to even do the small things around my house, perhaps the Lord has put me on the shelf...perhaps He no longer desires to use me."

Christ-minded Thought:
...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

Flesh-minded Thought:
"Because I do not have a big life, my life lacks purpose."

Christ-minded Thoughts:
"We are meant to be...the common stuff of ordinary life exhibiting the marvel of the grace of God." ~Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. ~Ephesians 2:8-10 (NASB)

Flesh-minded Thought:
"My day-to-day is filled with the mundane. I have such a small life; my life is lacking in value."

Christ-minded Thoughts:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." ~I Peter 2:9 (NIV)

"As we surrender every moment to our loving Lord, even the most mundane task is marked by the musical accompaniment of His pleasure." ~CDS

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"Add to the Beauty", by Sara Groves, is one of my favorite songs.  The first verse and chorus of this song says:

~We come with beautiful secrets.  We come with purpose that's written on our hearts,
written on our souls.  We come to every new morning with possibilities only we can hold, that only we can hold. Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces, calling out the best of who we are...and I want to add to the beauty, I want to tell a better story, shine with the light that's burning up inside~

I cannot think of a more beautiful way to honor the Lord this Christmas -- and every day -- than by surrendering to what He desires for my life, beginning with my very thoughts.  As I do, the beauty that He has in store for me will be revealed and the possibilities that only I can hold will become reality.

May your Christmas celebration be filled with His beauty~





From time to time in the next weeks and months, I will continue this Conformed to Transformed Series, sharing the Christ-minded thoughts that are little by little, moment by moment, replacing my flesh-minded thoughts.

Conformed to Transformed, Part III

The definitions of our life are manifested through our actions – this includes our reactions. The foundation of our expectations is betrayed by how we respond to the hurts and disappointments of this life. Are our expectations grounded in truth or are they motivated by a desire for our own way? Are we consistently coveting a different scenario than the one that God has allowed in our life? Though our covetous flesh will not die graciously, God’s gracious provision of truth can conquer our selfish motivations.

II Peter 1:3-4 tells us that the divine power of God, through Jesus Christ, “…has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.” (NASB)

A life built upon the deception of self-gratification is a life conformed to the world, but a life built upon the true knowledge of God is a transformed life.

As we fill our minds with truth, the definitions of our life -- our very belief-structure -- will be rebuilt. To say our belief-structure is being rebuilt is another way of describing the renewal of our minds. The rebuilding of our belief-structure (renewing of our minds) is the practical process of realigning our thoughts with God’s truth.

Realigning ourselves with God’s truth is a constant process. The moment our expectations show any sign of covetousness, we must realign ourselves with the truth of God’s Word. If we are consistently in God’s Word, the Spirit will begin to bring truth to our minds, but these moments will be equally filled with the bombardment of self-gratifying and self-defending thoughts. It is right then that we need to stop and realign ourselves with God’s truth.

Proverbs 3:5-6 is a perfect outline to help with the realigning process, it says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (NASB)

I cannot tell you how much these verses have helped me.  As a child, I memorized these verses. I know them as well as my own name, but they have not always impacted me as they do now.  When the phrase in all your ways acknowledge Him really sunk into my heart, it changed everything for me.  A light bulb went off in my head:  In order to acknowledge God above my own understanding, my feelings, emotions, expectations, motivations, and intuitions need to be realigned with God's truth.

II Corinthians 10:5 describes the realigning process in a powerful way.  It says that "arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God" need to be demolished and every thought needs to be taken captive that it might be obedient to Christ.

To acknowledge God above my own understanding is not a natural inclination, it is a deliberate action.

The first step toward realignment is to recognize thoughts that are not based upon God's truth.  Am I coveting a different scenario than the one God has allowed?  What is fueling my actions and reactions, fleshly expectations and motivations or God's truth?   As soon as a faulty thought process is recognized, admit that in this moment, your path, or thought, is not straight; it is filled with distraction and deception rather than being focused on truth.

The second step is to ask Christ to be your support; tell Him that you do not want your own understanding, emotions or feelings to be your source of support. Ask the Shepherd and Overseer of your soul to help you trust Him.

Finally, acknowledge God’s truth and dwell on His character. Allow yourself to praise Him, not only for who He is, but also for what He is going to do through you. Speak His Word to yourself and to Him.

For instance, when someone has done or said something hurtful, my automatic reaction is not one of love and understanding.  I want to defend myself.  Sometimes, I pull away, shrinking inside myself rather than reaching out in kindness.  Other times, I want to lash out and say something hurtful in return.  But I have come to understand that the Lord wants me to stop and allow Him to take control of my thoughts so that He can reign in my actions.  I am learning to stop and talk to Him before I render any kind of response.

I will often pray something like this: Lord, I know that your Word says that your plans for me are good, but right now this situation hurts – it feels evil – yet, I know that even when others mean something as evil, your intentions toward me are good. You are faithful. I, too, want to be faithful to you. I want your beauty and faithfulness to be on display rather than my selfishness. I trust what you have allowed. I know that this situation is an opportunity to portray truth. You are my Lord and I bow to what you desire to do in and through me. May your truth reign in me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

No matter the scenario, as soon as I surrender my thoughts to Christ, submitting to His truth over my own way, my focus is shifted and the bombardment of the moment begins to diminish. By acknowledging God’s way as the only right way, I am declaring the Lordship and authority of Christ over my heart. Self-preservation is no longer my objective; rather my aim is that Christ's truth be evidenced through my life.

Though this realigning process is constant and deliberate, it is not about perfection. Perfection is not the goal, nor is it attainable on this earth. Realignment is about Christ-mindedness which produces Christ-likeness.

When God-appointed words flow from my lips, when forgiveness is freely given, when grace is offered instead of judgment, when joy and praise fill my heart though illness overtakes my body -- this is glorious transformation.  Though I have done nothing to deserve such a priceless inheritance, in Christ, it is mine.

Conformed to Transformed, Part II

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.
When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace;
In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my hope and stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound, Oh, may I then in Him be found;
Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne.
On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is
sinking sand. (Edward Mote and William B. Bradbury, The Solid Rock, Public Domain).

When I began reading God's Word to understand Him, I was asking Him to define Himself to me.  Instead of coming to His Word with my own expectations and definitions, I came to His Word with nothing.  Nothing but a heart that wanted to understand, that wanted to be changed, that wanted to know Him.

Up to that point, my life had been built on an unstable foundation.  It was unstable because it was built on a belief system that was not totally based on God's truth.  I had come to my own conclusions about God, about how He should do things in my life.  Because of this, much of my life was built on misconception, thus on sinking sand.  My life needed to be built, as the song says, on "nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness".

I recognized how much I needed God, but solitary recognition of my own poverty of spirit was not enough.  My spirit wanted to be controlled by God's Spirit, my flesh did not.

The flesh, striving for control, coddles our feelings and strokes our pride.   The flesh flaunts assets, virtues and ideas, telling us that we are self-sufficient, that we are good, that we need to live for ourselves.  But God alone is good, there is nothing good within us.  Once we are in Christ, our life is not our own.  The voice of our flesh should not be our guide, but when we live for our own definitions and expectations, our flesh is our guide.  Recognition of faulty definitions and expectations is a necessary starting point, but we must go a step further: our definitions need to be replaced with God's definitions.

Romans 12:2 says: "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (NIV)   We are conformed to whatever we believe.  What we believe shapes us, defines us.

Our flesh is conformed to the pattern of the world, it is built on the foundation of sin and self-gratification.  Our fleshly instinct is service to the flesh, but because we are in Christ, we no longer have to fear or serve the flesh.  The Spirit will enable us to live in His power and deny the flesh.  Yet we must understand that the flesh will not die graciously, it does not want to surrender power.  The flesh will constantly try to raise the scepter of its power and get back its control. In order for the Spirit to rule our flesh, we must conform (align ourselves) to God's truth instead of our own fleshly definitions and instincts.  Every definition of our life must be built on "nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness."

More than anything, I want to be controlled by God's Spirit.  As I believe God over my own feelings, emotions and expectations, my mind is slowly but surely being renewed: flesh-minded is becoming Christ-minded.



Part III will soon follow...

Conformed to Transformed, Part I

May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.  ~Hebrews 13:20-21 (NIV)

To many, the Bible is seen as a bunch of rules and regulations and the Christian life about following those rules and regulations.  When in reality, the Bible is a description of who God is and what He desires to do for anyone who would believe Him.  The Christian life is not about rules and regulations but about relationship with a loving and just God.  God pursues man that He might give something to him which will fulfill and transform -- Himself.

I have known God since the age of 5, at which time I accepted the gift of redemption offered by Him through His Son.  I have no memory of life without God.  I memorized His Word, but did not always understand His Word.  I desired to serve the Lord, but did not always know what that meant.  I read God's Word but, when it came to meaning, I usually accepted the explanations of others.

I did have a relationship with God.  I talked to Him.  In so many ways, I trusted Him.  He was everything to me, yet I did not realize that He was everything to me on my own terms.  My life was about what I could give to Him, about doing for Him -- and then, due to illness, it came to the point that there was nothing I could do for Him.  I had nothing to offer, no strength, no ability, nothing...and I was broken.  Lonely. Scared. Confused.  Disillusioned.  I was filled with doubt, filled with questions.  Who was this God who allowed extended times of physical, emotional and material loss without any sign of relief?

Like Jacob, I struggled with God. (Genesis 32:22-31)  Though I was scared, confused and disillusioned, I kept crying out to God, kept holding on to Him.  I began reading His Word to understand Him.  Little by little, focus was shifted from my circumstances to the One who wanted me to know Him.  The eyes of my heart were opened to the unseen, to the eternal.  For the first time in my life I realized that I never had anything to offer God, there was nothing I could give to Him, nothing that He needed from me.  "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5:3 NIV)

As I adhered to God, as I sought Him as the only Source for life and godliness, my heart was truly ready for both fulfillment and transformation.



Part II will soon follow...

The Ministry of Reconciliation, Part II

Living a life that is reconciled to truth means that I cease to see myself as the instigator or producer of change. I throw out all idea of trying to convince others, of trying to change their minds toward Christ. For I see that to bring change in anyway is not my job, nor is it even a possibility for me. I cannot change myself, why would I assume to change the minds or hearts of others?

Any form of discipline I inflict upon myself will not change my heart. My routine may become altered, my traditions may be adjusted, but my heart, who I am within, cannot be altered by actions to which I attempt to adhere. No, it is only Christ that can bring about change within me. Only submitting to His truth can relax and free my stiff-necked soul. Likewise, it is only the truth of Christ which can bring about change of mind and heart in others.

Definitely, I must know the truth. Knowing and surrendering to the truth is how I am prepared to always give an answer for the hope that is within me: as I surrender to truth, Christ will communicate the answer through me. The answer that is needed on every occasion can only be provided by Christ. I do not know the hearts of others. I know nothing of their inner suffering, their past hurts and triumphs, but Christ knows their thoughts. He knows what they need, and if I will surrender to be reconciled to the truth of His Father, I will be granted the privilege of His life being fitly spoken through me, both in word and deed.

A life reconciled to truth is a life transformed, a life that everywhere and in every way exudes the fragrance of Christ. Some will breathe in this fragrance and will also long to wear such a scent. Others will sniff with caution, unsure if they desire to be permeated by this perfume. Still others will cover their noses; overpowered by the draw toward change which such a scent demands, they will turn away their faces not wanting the redolence of truth to affect their fixed focus. All who encounter the scent of reconciliation will have to make a choice between the abundant aroma of Life or the withering stench of death.

Yet no matter how others respond to the fragrance of reconciliation, my sole responsibility is to allow the aroma of Christ to invade every pore of my being. Christ is the aroma of life, to exude His perfume is my inheritance, my privilege, my calling, my ministry.

The Ministry of Reconciliation, Part I

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come! All this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation...II Corinthians 5:17-18

Christ died for all mankind so that each individual man and woman could be reconciled to God. At God's request, the sinless Christ became sin, thus providing the way for us to know and become the righteousness of God.

Once we are in Christ, we are a new creation. As II Corinthians 5:17 says, the old is gone, the new has come! This is an incredible gift of God -- it is the gift of constant renewal and unending reconciliation. Colossians 2:6 explains the sustenance of this incredible gift: ...just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him...Christ Jesus is received by grace through faith when a soul confesses with his/her mouth that Jesus is Lord and believes in his/her heart that God raised Him from the dead. Likewise living in abundant newness of life is only possible by grace through faith.

This means the question which overshadows every second of a believer's life is: Who reigns?...Who reigns over my thoughts? Who reigns over my emotions? Who reigns over my body? Who reigns over every part of my life?

II Corinthians 5:15 tells us that Christ died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and rose again. Christ's death provided the way for the old man (the fleshly nature) to also die, thereby breaking the power of the old man in the life of any soul that would believe in His death and resurrection. The old man is only able to express himself when he has not been made subject to his Lord, when he is unreconciled to the truth of God.

Our calling is constant reconciliation, consistent alignment, to the truth of God. Alignment with the truth of God is only realized by grace through faith. This means that our mouths must continually confess that Jesus is Lord over every area of our lives and our hearts must continuously believe that His way is the only way of life, the only reality. Through continuous confession and belief, we are being crucified with Christ. By faith, we are bringing the old man's default actions into subjection, and the glorious outcome is Christ living in and through us. The life that is being lived in our body is lived by faith in the Son of God who lovingly gave Himself for us. (Galatians 2:19-20)

A life that is in every particular surrendered to truth is a life that is in every particular reconciled to truth. A truth-aligned life lives in the power of God; that same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is raising us to live in newness of life. Therefore, it is our ministry to live a truth-aligned life, for a life truly reconciled to God's truth causes others to ponder such reconciliation.

Part II will soon follow...

The Performer

When I was in high school, I enacted a monologue from a play that was written about Anne Boleyn. Anne had been unable to give Henry VIII a male heir, so he found a way to dispose of her. The scene I enacted finds Anne awaiting her execution...it depicts the thoughts of a woman sentenced to death, but not just a woman, a mother. Yes, she had produced a child. Her crime was that the child was female rather than male. She mourns leaving her child behind, mourns that her child must face the world without her.

The monologue was dramatic. I practiced my lines. I memorized them, but then I went past memorization....I began to think as Anne, what she felt, how she hurt and mourned. I empathized with her so deeply that in saying the lines, I became Anne.

At a national competition, I performed Anne's monologue. I poured my empathetic heart into the lines. I had no vision of winning the competition, after all, my piece was a monologue while other competitors entered pieces of complicated and intricate dialogue. Nevertheless, I had thrilled in being Anne. As I stood on that stage, I was Anne Boleyn.

The competition had taken place in the morning and awards would be presented in the evening, so my afternoon was free to take in other performances. As I was walking to a particular presentation, I passed by one of my judges. She looked at me, with a sparkle in her eye, and said, "Hello, Anne". My heart somersaulted within me. In that moment it made no difference to me if I won or lost the competition, my purpose had been realized: Anne's story was lived through me to such an extent that when my judge looked at me she did not see Crysta, she saw Anne Boleyn.

Today, as I was reading James 1, this memory came rushing back to me. James 1:22-23 says, ....receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. I looked up the word doers in the Greek and found that it is the word poietes which means poet or performer. I rolled this thought over and over in my mind. I know that a root of this same word is found in Ephesians 2:10 which says that we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. The word workmanship is from the same root word as doers. Workmanship is from the Greek word poiema meaning a product or a thing that is made.

My life is a play, or poem, of God. God has written the lines of the play, and He desires for me to beautifully express the lines of truth that He has written for me. In order to express these lines of truth, I must know the lines of truth, I must memorize the lines of truth...but I need to go past memorization and begin to think these lines of truth. These lines are to be breathed and eaten, they are to become my foundation and my only reality. Each minute of each day, I must stand on truth. To stand on truth requires that I fill my mind with God's lines and allow His lines to replace my default lines. These are not lines of improvisation or lines of my own interpretation, these lines require complete adherence.

Yet God is the Master Playwrite, for He does not require that I find it within myself to perform these lines. No, for anything that He has written, He has arranged a way of execution. Anything that He requires, He supplies. He makes no requirement without also making provision for the requirement. He knows that I am not capable of performing these lines. But the lines were not written for me to perform them, they were written that I would surrender to them. The lines of truth, the lines of God's Word, demand surrender. They are to be accepted as the only truth, the only reality.

Such surrender will mean that I no longer live to quote my own lines. Those error-filled lines have been transformed. Christ, the very Word of the play, has taken command of the sentence structure and has brought the story to life. This was the vision of the Master Playwrite, this story was written with one Performer in mind, no other could enact these truth-filled lines.

And thus the purpose of my play is realized: for as my Judge, peer jury, and a varying gallery of onlookers watch this play, they will not see Crysta, they will see only Christ.

The Ultimate Upgrade, Part II

II Corinthians 4:16-18 tells us not to lose heart, Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day, for our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen, for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

The trials of this world cannot tarnish our inheritance in Christ. Every moment of every day Christ desires to make good on the internal-transformation-assurance policy that has been issued in your name. Ephesians 1:3 tells us that we have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. To activate this policy on earthly soil, we must enter the activation code F-A-I-T-H. The Spirit will then remind us of the policy terms by speaking into our heart the words of Romans 12:1, ...offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. Hebrews 11:6 promises that this activation code will be accepted and favored by the Father.

Simply put, we must trust Christ's love and surrender to His desires. But I thought you said this policy had no additional cost? If you go to the Frequently Answered Questions document, also known as God's Word, you will find the answer listed in II Peter 2:3-4: His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

The moment you surrendered to Christ's way of salvation and believed that He was the only Way to forgiveness and redemption, He became your Savior. Likewise, Christ is activated to live through you in each and every moment that you surrender to His free reign in your life and believe His truth over your own thoughts, feelings and emotions. Thus, you become a partaker of His divine nature. There truly was no cost to you, it was an even exchange: your decaying and error-filled flesh for His divine power and nature. It actually doesn't sound very even to me. He seems to be getting the raw end of the deal, but He sees it as beautifully and pleasingly even!

As you and I surrender to Christ's loving hands and believe His truth, we will find that our internal-transformation-assurance policy is upgraded with new and fresh benefits. The greatest being: enhanced intimacy with the One who is always new.

The Ultimate Upgrade, Part I

Commercials bombard us with visions of the better and the faster - the newest model of the I-Phone, the latest, most-effective wrinkle cream, the better-equipped vehicle...Such visions lure us into upgrade mania - we want the newest and the best. We rush to buy the latest version, even when our current version is more than adequate. Lately, I have been wondering why we feel such a need for the new and fresh....Why do we want to look and feel younger? Are these feelings and desires only attributed to affective advertising and/or the appeal of worldly fame and success?

I feel certain that there is something greater at the heart of our desire for the new and fresh; in fact, I believe each of us was created with a deep desire for newness, with a strong urge to seek renewal, but we misinterpret these impulses.

These strong desires for the new and the better fill many people with an insatiable lust for more - more of anything that causes them to feel freshly alive or that gives them a sense of greater significance. They long for the unrivaled thrill, the bigger excitement, the best that money can buy, yet none of these pursuits retain their freshness. After just a day, the novelty of that new I-Phone begins to fade; the sensation of the latest thrill has become a pleasant memory. The newness is gone, but the longing for newness remains. This quest for renewal has led to empty sources of instant gratification, and the initial sense of satisfaction faded as quickly as the gratification was acquired.

Longings for newness will never be satisfied through upgraded machines, "fool-proof" creams or roller-coaster screams. These options will always leave behind an after-taste of unfulfillment. Does this mean that we are created with a yearning that cannot be fulfilled? No, it means that we are seeking renewal in the wrong places. The desire for renewal is placed within each of us to lead us to Christ, whose mercies are new every morning. Christ, who is constant and yet has such dimension that the universe itself could not contain the treasures that are waiting to be unearthed about Him. Christ alone is our Source of renewal. He is always fresh. He does not need to be upgraded or restored, but His newness will never fade. He truly is fool-proof. Even greater, He provides an eternal warranty. This eternal warranty requires no supplementary insurance, rather it has a special clause which entitles you to internal transformation assurance at no additional cost.

Part II will soon follow......