Everyday Without Rachael Ray.

The conviction of the Holy Spirit is usually taken the wrong way.  Before I explain what I mean, let me give you an example.  Timmy was a good little lad, raised in a loving home with caring parents and two older sisters.  Being that of a good Christian boy, little Timmy was always on good behavior.  One day, Timmy's sisters had some friends over for a pool party.  Timmy couldn't help but notice just how pretty these friends were.  (Gee Justin.... I wonder where your going with this story? Just wait...)   Timmy found himself tempted to peek while the girls changed into their swim suits.  And, little Timmy had his sneak peek and got away with it.  But something deep down inside just didn't feel right, why?  Little Timmy just couldn't figure it out.  Nobody saw him do it, and the only person that knew about it was himself.  So why was he feeling so bad about what he did?  DING DING DING.... If you said HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION you guessed right!!! Congratulations! You're smarter then a 5th grader.

So back to what I was saying about how most of us usually take this conviction the wrong way.  When the Holy Spirit convicts us of something, our response is usually that of guilt.  And rightly so.  But guess what?  The Holy Spirit does carries no condemnation! So It's important to not tear ourselves down when we're being convicted.  This happens all to often, and when we do this, we loose focus on what the Spirit is really trying to do.  Well Justin, what is the Spirit trying to do?  I'm glad you asked!  Lets look at the book of John. Chapter 14 says:

"All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, 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."

  Oh boy! this is good stuff!  The Advocate. I like that.  Do you know what advocate means?  Neither do I!  So, let me copy and paste from dictionary.com to show you!  "Advocate: a person who pleads for or in behalf of another; intercessor.  To speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument."  So here we have the Holy Spirit "The Advocate", the One who stands in our favor, who supports us and urges us.  And He is ALWAYS with us, to teach us all things. Chew on that for a while!  Thats good stuff right there! When He convicts us, He's teaching us.  He's telling us that we're better than what He's convicting us of!  His conviction gives us the opportunity to repent, rise up and become stronger.  A good teacher helps his students to overcome obstacles and certain weaknesses and also helps them to persevere through hard times and trials.  Thank you Jesus that we've got the greatest teacher anyone could ask for!  He convicts us, not to tear us down, but to build us up and encourage us.  To teach us how He can help us overcome all sin and temptation.

Why is this titled Everyday Without Rachael Ray?  Good question!  I have no idea.  Everyday we have an opportunity to be guided and taught by the greatest mentor the world has ever know!  The church needs to take hold of this! You know what I'm gonna do!?!? From this point on, I will take his conviction straight to the heart and push aside all the shame and self pity that tears me down!  I will let His words of wisdom be my guide to the joyful and more fruitful ways of living. I will look upon myself as He does, and look to Him if I loose sight.  It's His teachings and convictions that will encourage me and strengthen me to become who He's training me to be.

Way Of The Warrior

I've shared before in one of my past blogs, that Christians need to start seeing themselves as God sees them. As much as this is true, there is another side to this I've noticed in my own walk.  Putting this into words may be hard for me to do, so please hang in there with me.  Often times we think that in order for us to live up to God's standards, we have to fix things in our life before we can do it.  We have to become better or develop a righteous Godly character to be who he wants us to be.  In other words "We need to be more religious".  I was reading about Gideon for the men's breakfast at my church and was encouraged at what I read.  An angel of the the Lord came to visit him, saying " God is with you, mighty warrior."  Gideon's response was,  "My clan is the weakest, and I am the least in my family."  He wasn't finished there either.  He did the whole "do something God, so I know it's really you talking" thing we've all done a million times!  After Gideon finally got the proof he needed, God began to use him.  This is where I want us to catch this.  God used Gideon to do His work! There was no training or character development courses, no leadership seminars or team building classes!  God used Gideon, as he was, where he was, to do his work.

God turned a pansy into a powerhouse! A weakling into a war hero!  Character, Righteousness and Power come from obedience.  The Church needs to can the religious mumbo jumbo and realize that God can use us where we are, as we are!  And in the process of being used by God, comes the revelation and transformation of becoming who He sees us as! Mighty warriors!  On the flip side, We shouldn't be walking around with our chests puffed out either. We need to remain humble before the Lord, like Jesus.  Matthew 23:11-12 says "The greatest among you will be your servant.  For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." This is good stuff isn't it!?!?


God is moving powerfully in His Church, to counter-act the enemies advances in the world.  We can't afford to not be humble.  Trying to fix our issues and develop character before God uses us is only making us more religious!  Becoming that mighty warrior that God sees starts now!  Accomplishing the mission at hand prepares you and strengthens you for the next mission!  And the next after that! Eventually becoming that spiritual powerhouse for the Kingdom that He sees in you!

Going Overboard!

Jesus told the rich man in matthew 19, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Guess what guys? We're rich! This post may come across as kind of..... whats the word I'm looking for..... Ahh yes! Dinkish. So if your one of those people who get offended easily, do yourself a favor and just stop reading here. I feel as though I might tick a few folks off with this one. Now where was I? We're rich. You might be thinking "I'm not very rich Justin, I only make 20,000 dollars a year! I struggle to pay the bills and feed my family and to boot, I drive a piece of crap car." Your still rich dude! Even though our country is broke, we still manage to keep on living like kings. Sure some of us have had to make some cut backs in our lives but when we step back and look at the rest of the world, we've still got it made. But at the same time, because we've got it all, we've also got a boat load of dead weight! I'm talking about our luxuries. On facebook, I've recently asked a few questions just to challenge people, and see what they had to say, It was interesting to hear some of the responses.

Why do 3rd world countries seem to have greater faith then the western church does?   The most popular answer was, "because the western church has more distractions!" How true, this is. We have so many distractions it's not even funny. We got the big hitters like T.V, internet, video games, and work. Followed up with other little distractions that are usually some kind of personal pleasure. And we hear it at church and in small groups all the time. "It's just so hard, with all the distractions that life seems to have." Ever heard somebody say that before? I know I have,  like 50 million times! I'm guilty of saying it myself.....probably like 49 million times! and to be honest, I'm really starting to get sick of hearing it!

If we all agree that distractions are what keep the western church from having greater faith, then why do we choose to live with them?" Wow, what a good question! We all act like these distractions we've got are holding us back from having greater faith! We act like we don't have a choice but to surrender to them and let them control our level of Spiritual intimacy with Christ. I got some news for you, in case you didn't know. We are without excuse! Ladies and gentlemen may I purpose to you an idea? We could all stop using the "to many distractions" excuse, by getting rid of our distractions! Wow, Justin! your soooo smart, why didn't I think of that before? Please, thank me later.  It seems so elementary, to just get rid of them.  Call me crazy but I think it might work.  A.W. Tozer says in his book The Pursuit of God, "There can be no doubt that this possessive clinging to things is one of the most harmful habits in the life. Because it is so natural it is rarely recognized for the evil that it is; but its outworkings are tragic."


Many people in our church are ditching these distractions, so that they can grow in the Holy Spirit. Thats what I want hear!  People who are choosing to destroy their distractions, rather than keep them, and then use them as an excuse for struggling to grow. Some people have taken it as pointing the finger when other people destroy their xboxes or get rid of their distractions.  If this is how your receiving this message, then please let me clarify.  Distractions are different for everyone.  If T.V is not a distraction, then whatever dude! don't get rid of it then.  If internet is your weakness, then you have a choice to make.  We all know that God has so much more to offer.  The stories I hear about what happens in Africa, make me want to live like they do. (with less)  Heidi Baker who is the founder of Iris Ministries, operates out of Africa, and has some of the most mind blowing testimonies you've ever heard.  Did you know that every single deaf person they pray for is healed....Thats 100%... EVERY SINGLE DEAF PERSON IS HEALED!  Why do I mention this?  Because I feel, that if we (the western church)  could only step it up a notch and choose to live with less, choose to live without all the riches and luxuries of life, then God would move more powerfully then we've ever seen!  The Holy Spirit would move, and the church would move with him!  Revival!  YES!  Isn't this what the church should be craving?  Lets do it, guys.  Lets kick these distractions to the curb, and let the Holy Spirit be our distraction!  Lets show our Father that we care more about his Kingdom, then we do our favorite t.v program.  This is not a "finger pointing" message people!  It is a challenge, however.  Many of our distractions are our luxuries, and these luxuries may seem like something we can't live without. It really is different for everyone.  But God knows what you need to kick in order to go deeper. 


"Any revelation from God's Word that does not lead us to an encounter with God only serves to make us more religious. The church cannot afford "form without power", for it creates Christians without purpose"  ~ Bill Johnson, When Heaven Invades Earth


Lord I pray, that you begin to reveal to your people the distractions you would have us remove from our lives.  And show us the better way of life!  The Holy Spirit way of life!  The way you intended life to be. More Lord!