EPIC FAILURE!

"There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him."-C.S. Lewis

I know that I have been pretty serious  in my blogging as of late...this cannot be helped, it's a serious time.  My life is an emotional roller coaster these days and the only thing that keeps me grounded is Jesus.  This is truth.  If it was up to me, I would be curled up in the fetal position rocking back and forth.  But God is faithful.

So to the topic...


I have noticed that I have a great propensity for evil.  I am "bad to the bone."  Literally.  It's easy to say when things are going great that I "feel" like I'm a good Christian.  "Man I am a Godly guy!  I'm pretty awesome!"  


And then...


EPIC FAILURE!  Truly Epic!  I am humbled very quickly. And whether it be my attitude or my circumstances, I see myself for who I am without Christ.  It's a dark place.  We, as lovers of Jesus, can get caught up in a whirlwind of "being tossed to and fro like a wave."  


I guess I realized that the only good in me is Christ.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal. 2:20 

I always have the capacity to make a sinful choice, to believe a lie over truth, to judge someone.  Only God is good.  Someday I will be like Him, but till that day, I need to seek His face, and trust that He is good.

I guess a blog can be a glorified diary.  I posted on my FB music page yesterday, "When stumbling around in the dark, don't forget to turn on the light(hint: the light is God's word)."  I noticed that when I go through a particularly hard time(or day) there is much sorrow and crying out to God...but do I pick up the Bible and fill my mind and heart with truth?  NO!  How ridiculous is that?!  It's right there!  "God help me!"  I say, but do I fill myself with His word and so doing position myself to be changed by Him?  Again no.  This is a window into my "faith-o-meter."  I want God to change my heart without actually seeking Him.  Just pull up to the drive-thru and speak into the clown's face, "Yeah, I'll take some peace, and satisfaction...oh can I get a side of endurance with that?  Thanks!" 

My faith is dead if I don't act on it. I believe this is true when seeking Jesus.  Do I trust Him?   I say I do, but do I pick up The Book that is so easily accessible in our country...for which they now have an app?

I know that tough times come, and I'm not saying that I will never be in despair, or believe a lie, or fall into temptation.  But, I know that the only saving grace is God's goodness and favor in my life.  He IS good.  Hang on to Jesus friend.  Stay close to Him, even in failure! 

Chuck S.

The following is a devotional from Charles Spurgeon.  I hope it encourages you.

"As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you." - joh 15:9

"As the Father loves the Son, in the same manner Jesus loves his people. What is that divine method  He loved him without beginning, and thus Jesus loves his members. "I have loved thee with an everlasting love." You can trace the beginning of human affection; you can easily find the beginning of your love to Christ, but his love to us is a stream whose source is hidden in eternity. God the Father loves Jesus without any change. Christian, take this for your comfort, that there is no change in Jesus Christ's love to those who rest in him. Yesterday you were on Tabor's top, and you said, "He loves me:" to-day you are in the valley of humiliation, but he loves you still the same. On the hill Mizar, and among the Hermons, you heard his voice, which spake so sweetly with the turtle-notes of love; and now on the sea, or even in the sea, when all his waves and billows go over you, his heart is faithful to his ancient choice. The Father loves the Son without any end, and thus does the Son love his people. Saint, thou needest not fear the loosing of the silver cord, for his love for thee will never cease. Rest confident that even down to the grave Christ will go with you, and that up again from it he will be your guide to the celestial hills. Moreover, the Father loves the Son without any measure, and the same immeasurable love the Son bestows upon his chosen ones. The whole heart of Christ is dedicated to his people. He "loved us and gave himself for us." His is a love which passeth knowledge. Ah! we have indeed an immutable Saviour, a precious Saviour, one who loves without measure, without change, without beginning, and without end, even as the Father loves him! There is much food here for those who know how to digest it. May the Holy Ghost lead us into its marrow and fatness!"

I shouldn't be writing this...

Well I should be writing an essay for a college application right now, but I am blogging instead.  It seems that the theme of my life lately(and not so lately) has been "His mercies are new every morning."  I write songs about it, I've written poems about it, I've blogged about it, and I've posted videos on my FB page about it...Now, when am I actually going to believe it?!

I realize that we are a sinful group(group referring to all of humanity).  And we are in need of a Savior.  It just so happens that Jesus provided us with saving grace.  We as Christians have little trouble with this...I rarely question my salvation.  But how often do I live as though I have been snatched from doom and destruction?   Hardly ever!   I try to live an honest life.  I hate hypocrisy and "Acting Christian."  Ironically, these are two areas I think I struggle with the most.  I want to actually live what I say I believe.  I say Christ is all and that abiding in Him is everything.  But I find it the most challenging to live this way.  Maybe you understand what I'm saying.  But in any case, the world has enough people living like Hell and saying they belong to Christ.

I believe the key to overcoming this seemingly inevitable lifestyle lies in what I mentioned earlier.  When we open our eyes in the morning.  What is the truth?  The TRUTH is that Jesus has made me clean and new! And the moment we wake up the Enemy of our souls whispers a lie into our ear .  The very second we awaken from the unconsciousness of slumber, he is crouched at our bedside hissing in our ear a dirty lie about our Creator and about who we are and what we've done(or not done).  At the same time, the Holy Spirit of God who lives inside of us affirms His truth.  And we can either fight off Satan or choose to walk in deception.  It is simple...so simple, but so difficult.  Why?  Because it's human nature to believe the lie.  Our flesh wants to do what our Spirit hates.

I want to encourage you my friend that even though it might seem hopeless remember one thing:  GOD'S GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU!  This is it!  In our weakness He is strong.  So what needs to happen every single morning?  We wake up realizing that if we don't surrender to God and say "Lord I can't do it!  I don't even want to!  But You are more powerful than my humanity!"

“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
      for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." Matt. 5:3


The question we have to ask ourselves(I have to ask myself) is do I really believe what God says in His word?  Do we?  Because the true test of whether or not we have faith is when we have to put it into practice.  Are we living?  Actually LIVING?  Or simply existing with an identifying belief system.  Trust Jesus! He's worth it!

We need a miracle...

You ever find yourself in a state of utter discontent?  You don't know how to move forward, but you can't go back?  It's a tough state to be in.  Life is a bloody punch in the face, and it feels like there's little we can do to stop the gush of our proverbial wound.

I don't mean to sound fatalistic.  But the reality is that we all go through crisis of belief and burden laden experiences.  It's good to be honest and not sugar coat a hard existence.

Sometimes we want to give up.  Sometimes we don't want to exist at all.  Sometimes we feel trapped. And sometimes we can't see past our own self pity.

So what of it?  What's the answer(if there even is one)?  Do we recite our favorite verse and push on...do we send up a quick prayer and give God a high five?  Well, these are options of course...however, it seems there might be another approach.

We are Christians.  We are supposed to be there for one another.

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep." Rom. 12:15


The Bible is the only map I have to know what to do.  Period.  I can't go to a person, they fail me.  I can't look within, I end up betraying myself...so by default, if for no other reason, I look to God's word. EVEN WHEN I ABSOLUTELY DON'T WANT TO!! This is me being honest.   If  we are honest with ourselves we don't have it all together.  We don't have all the answers.  We don't even get it right when given the answers.  In essence, humanity is pretty pathetic(using myself as the ultimate example).  If we don't get down on our knees, and I don't mean figuratively, we will not be able to look up!  I am so self-everything...self self self self!  It's not all about me!  It's about Jesus.  How can we be joy filled, or even experience happiness without Him.  It says all good things come from God.  That includes my attitude(if it's good).  So how do I(we) maintain this perspective?  Simply put:

"Abide In Christ!"

What the heck does that mean?  Good question. I have no idea!  What...  Not the answer you were looking for?  Yeah, me neither.  But that's the point isn't it?  If we knew what it meant to completely "abide" we wouldn't need to be told to do it by Jesus(Jn.15).  WE DON'T SEEK HIM ANYMORE! We want a quick "pep" verse for the day so we can get in there and succeed in life.  I hate to break it to you(me)...We are not here to succeed.  We exist for Him.  And Him alone.   Sorry peeps.  I'll give you a min..this is quite a blow...

Ok, so the point is, the only solution I have when feeling hopeless, down, sad, angry, pitiful, and complacent is to CRY OUT to Jesus.  Cause if I believe He is who He says He is, then I need to act on that faith and surrender to God.  And surrender is simply looking up and saying, "Help, I can't...."

Believe God for a miracle. Ironically, this song was playing while I was writing...