On my face, at His feet...

  Well, howdy yall. It has been awhile since I posted anything on here. So I will just be sharing a little bit about  what is going on in my world here at IBLP HQ. Nothing extremely exciting, but one must remember when He said, "He who is faithful with few things, I will put him in charge of many things."
  The conference season here at HQ is ramping up pretty quick for the Graphic Arts Dept. Its all interesting as the different depts all start throwing in their aspects to the conferences and before you know it, all the hard work of many individuals make a successful even! Big thanks to all those who put lotsa hours of work into it. :)

But, honestly, on another level, its been quite a trying time for me spiritually for the past month or so. It has seemed like my talks with the Lord seem long distance. And sometimes like my walk seems to have many rough places where one could easily trip and fall if not careful. I have looked here and there for the reasons for this, but it hasnt really seemed to show its ugly head. Then, last week, I was just doing some cleaning ore something, and I just remember the feeling coming over me, and coursing through me, "Lord, I need you." I think I even said it out loud. It was then that I realized that its not that I had been doing something wrong, but its like the realization, the knowledge of that truth, had kinda faded out of my vision. My walk was hard cause I had become, idk, proud enough to not get on my knees that morning and beg for His guidance and wisdom, and protection for the day. And I had become arrogant enough that I had forgotten where my place is...on my face, at His feet. The words to the song, How Love Wins, just kept playing over and over in my mind:

This is how love wins, every single time:
climbing high upon the tree where someone else should die.
This is how love heals the deepest part of you:
by letting Himself bleed into the middle of your wounds.
Etc...

I just felt so bad, cause I had not loved Him with all of me. I had kinda pushed Him away as things got really busy. So, today i was just thinking about all that, and I remembered what my Journey to the Heart leader told me (2 years ago). I had just gotten saved, and I asked him what to do. He said, "Just keep your eyes on Christ. Go where He goes." Ever since then, I have really been challenged by those words...to "go where He goes." He died to His will every day, and began it with His father, so must I.

So, thats just alittle about what I am learning these days. I hope that some can be encouraged as they decide to "go where He goes", which begins "on your face, at his feet."

I am determined to be a leader as a man, and in order to lead, I must be confident in my direction...I am confident in my God: I go where He goes.

Well, Lord bless you all! Good night! I mean morning!

Josh

You say....but I tell you...

  "You say....but I tell you, whoso looks at a woman with lust in his heart has committed adultery. 

You say....but I tell you, if you hate your brother in you heart, you have committed murder," Jesus says. 

I remember at the 2012 WIT singles conference when in the guys discussion session, the term "virginity" kept being used. The guys kept using the word as if that is the "line"...to go past that is sin morally. I leaned over to whispered to a buddy, "Something is wrong with that. It just dont sound right." We talked for a few minutes and came to the conclusion that "virginity" was a term of the world. "Purity" is what God demands. "Purity" is the principle that should have been held high...I bet you are now wondering what in the world my point is. 

  God has just really been showing me is that every single thing sin that I ever commit outwardly (whether verbally, or physically, etc), started long before in the heart. He has shown me that its whats in the heart that is the sin. If a man were to steal something, he sinned long ago by coveting. The sin only became more serious when it became outward by the act of stealing. Now he have not only sinned against God, the heart, but wronged a person, the action. If a man commits adultery, God would tell him, "Your sin started long ago when you thought this in your heart. Your adultery was only an outward expression of your wicked heart."  Now, not only has he sinned against God, the heart, but now the woman by the action. The sin began long ago as lust. If a man murders his brother, it wasnt the act of killing him that was "the sin". (Although that is sin). The act of murdering him was just an outward act of what was in his heart all along. These are not my ideas, but principles that Jesus taught. He says in Proverbs 23:7, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." God didnt say, "as a man doeth with his hands, so is he." Nor did He say, "as a man speaketh with his lips, so he will become." He said, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." In other words, you are what ur heart is full of. The Pharasees were what He called "white washed tombs". They were spotless on the outside, but the inside was full of "dead mans bones". Its not your actions that He calls sin, its your heart (which He calls "desperately wicked") that has committed sin. And Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it flow the issues of life." Arnt we glad that we have a Savior that covers our wicked hearts?! :) That adds a whole new meaning to "He was spotless". Wow...He was indeed Holy. Praise His name! :)

  My friends, it is whats in your heart that is the sin against God. Deal with the issues of your heart before they become the outward expression and before you harm another human being. "It is better for you to have a millstone placed around your neck, and for you to be drowned in the depths of the see than to cause one of these little ones to stumble." -Jesus.  He takes wrongs against others very seriously. Please confront the sins of your hearts before the cleansing blood of Christ who has forgiven your sins, and strive to be a man/woman after God's own heart. What is the perfect heart? According to Jesus, the perfect heart says, "Father, have mercy on me, a poor sinner." 

Just some things that have been on my mind lately.

May the Lord bless you all. 

Keep them smiles on your faces. ;) 

Josh