Misconception: Him and Her

“Wives submit to your husband”,

a line we are all so familiar with. Why is it that, this world has made it known how a wife should be, but has not made it known how a husband should be? Guys hear this one line and think they have power over women, and it’s not true. Sad thing is, women think the same thing, and rebel against guys to obtain power over them, because really, they’re just scared of little boys having power over them. Which is understandable, especially if there are not too many real men in those women lives. There are just little boys who think, just because they went through puberty, they are men. So now little boys with chin hair, hear that line, and being immature, and ignorant to the original design of marriage, they automatically think they are superior to women.

To these females, it’s not the best feeling thinking God wants a little boy to have power over you, to do whatever he wants. Well, guess what… that isn’t how God wants it at all.

Ephesians 5:22-33 (ESV)

“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.”

This addresses the role of a husband in greater detail than it does the role of a wife, this is because God holds the husbands as leaders. This doesn’t mean they have power over their wife to do as they please, it is a God given role, not to be abused. Leaders are held accountable, and the husband is the leader of the marriage, even if he sits around the house all day, he’s still leading, just leading poorly.

The leadership role was given to the husband before the fall of man. The husband having the leadership role is how God originally designed it to be, it did not come as a curse for women. This leadership role is demonstrated in Genesis when Adam names his wife.

Genesis 2:23

“Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.'”

Genesis 3:20

“The man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.”

And when Adam and Eve commit the first sin by eating fruit from the forbidden tree. Although Eve took of its fruit first, God holds Adam in the leadership position.

Genesis 3:9

But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”

Eve bit the fruit first, “But The Lord God CALLED TO THE MAN”.

When Adam and Eve bit the forbidden fruit, even though Eve bit it first, God called to the man “Where are you?”. God already knew they bit the fruit. Adam was with Eve when the serpent was feeding her lies, and he holds the man as the head/leader of the marriage. This doesn’t mean he doesn’t hold the woman responsible for her sin, but it means, when the husband just stands by and watch his wife be deceived and as a result she sins, and he does nothing about it, the husband sins in omission. He stands by and just does nothing! He doesn’t act in his God given role as leader and lead her away from the deceitful serpent.

So God calls to him saying, Where are You?, why aren’t you stepping in and leading her like Christ led his bride, the church? Where are You? why aren’t you praying with her and for her? Where are You? Why aren’t you rebuking the serpent for her sake? Where are You? Why are you enabling her sin when you are suppose to be leading her closer to me? Where are You? Why aren’t you correcting her and reminding her of my commandments? Where are You? Why aren’t you loving her like Christ loves his bride, the church? Men, leaders, Where are You?!

Here’s the thing, some boys never became men. They hear “wives submit to your own husbands” and in their mind, they hear “females do what guys say”. No! WIVES should SUBMIT to THEIR OWN HUSBANDS. This is how marriage is designed, not every male and female relationship. A mother does not submit to her son, nor does she submit to the mailman, or her brother. She submits to HER husband.

Husbands, love your wives, and do not be harsh with them. – Colossians 3:19

A lot of guys think that when they find “the one”, they’re going to respect her, love her, and treat her like a queen. In some cases, that’s not true. If you don’t respect females now, you won’t respect your “wifey” later. Even if “the one” shows up, you’re going to have days where you’re not too fond of her, then guess what, she’s not going to look like “the one” during that time frame (whether it be a day, week or month). In that time, when you don’t see her as special (it’s going to happen), you’re going to treat her how you treat every other female. So if you call females out their name, when you find “the one” and you get into an argument with her, you’re going to call her out her name. If you hit on females, when you find “the one”, during the time you’re not too fond of her, you’ll hit on her too. This happens all the time, all it takes is one argument, for the moment when you finally come off of “cloud 9”, when the sparks fade, and the make-up comes off, you began to see that the girl you fell for, is really just a female that you fell in love with. The only difference from her and the rest of the females, is that she’s special to you, so what happens on the days when you don’t see her as special? You treat her like a female.

The reason you can respect the females in your family while disrespecting the ones who are not, is because you can’t question whether or not they hold a special role in your life. In your eyes/heart, your sister is your sister before she’s a female, that’s how you identify her, as SISTER. Your mother is your mother before she’s a female, that’s how you identify her, as MOTHER. Your daughter is your daughter before she is a female, that’s how you identify her, as DAUGHTER. You never have to question their role/identity in your life, but when you find a female you like/love, you’re going to have periods of time when you question her role. You’ll wonder, “is she the one”, and during that time period when you don’t think you can identify her as “the one” or “wifey”, she becomes a regular female.

How you identify a female determines how you treat her.

The reason why female relatives don’t get treated like regular females by you(guys), is because you identify them first as relatives, then as females. If you didn’t identify them as relatives first, then you would automatically identify them as a female first, because… well, they are females. Just imagine you’re at a family reunion, and your family invited a whole bunch of friends. So there’s a female your cousin invited, and you’re thinking, “she’s not family, she’s a female”. So you identify her as female first. You’re about to go up to her and spit some game, when your cousin walks over, the female next to her, and your cousin points to the female and says “this is your cousin, Jasmine”. Now you identify her differently! You automatically call an audible in your brain, you have to talk to her differently, approach her differently, respect her as your cousin. She is now identified first as your cousin.

So, if you disrespect females in general, on the days when you and your “wifey”(girlfriend) are not getting along, when she just gets under your skin and irritate you, in your eyes, she’s no longer going to be identified as “the one”/”wifey”, she’ll just be a female. At this point, your relationship with her is now counting on how you treat females in general. If you respect females, and cherish them how you would your sister, you’ll get pass those rough days no problem. But if you don’t already respect females, it’s going to show during the rough days, and that’s when and why many relationships end.

So how you treat females now, determines how you treat “the one” later. If you don’t already respect females, “the one” is not going to change that. That’s a problem in your heart. Females need to stop encouraging guys to disrespect other females, because ultimately, they’re encouraging guys to treat them like that when the guy no longer see them as “the one”. And more and more he’s going to get accustomed to treating “the one” like every other female, even if he still see’s her as “the one”.

Ladies, if he doesn’t respect females, he’s not capable of respecting you.

Guys always say something like: she doesn’t respect herself, why should I respect her? she should have more respect for herself. A lot of guys are just like their forefather, Adam.

After Adam and Eve bit the forbidden fruit, they put fig leaves on to cover their nakedness and then God comes…

“But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” – Genesis 3:9-12

First, God is all knowing, he knew they bit the fruit he knew Eve gave some to Adam, he knew everything, BUT he calls out to Adam, the man, the husband, the leader and holds him primarily responsible. Then Adam blame shifts, “The WOMAN whom YOU gave to be with me”. Adams saying, “yea, I bit the fruit, but God, YOU gave me this woman and SHE gave the fruit to me. It’s not my fault. It’s your fault and her fault. You shouldn’t have given me a woman that would do that.” Can you image how Eve must’ve felt standing right next to Adam, the man she loves and is suppose to love her, when he throws her under the bus, pointing his finger at her like “it’s her fault, she did it!”? Like a little boy, not a man, not a leader.

Isn’t this how guys are today? She shouldn’t have been wearing that outfit, it’s her fault. She came on to me. I wasn’t even worried about her but she wanted me. Pointing the finger at HER. Little boys playing the blame game.

If its her fault, why doesn’t their lust stop when she’s gone? Because really, it’s a problem in their(guys) heart. They know they lust after any female that looks good to them. They know that when SHE leaves they’ll be watching porn, masturbating. They know they think about sex everyday. They know they’re pursuing sex every chance they get, whether SHE’S there or not.

When crazy situations happen between a male and a female, everybody looks at the female and says “she has no respect for herself”, “she’s a dummy”, “she’s stupid”. Everybody keep looking at these male and female relationships and they know something is wrong, and they’re right, but the problem is we keep looking at the female ONLY to correct herself.

And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Mark 10:42-45

Jesus puts it like this, to be a leader, means you are the servant. So, in marriage, the husband is the SERVANT-leader. Ephesians 5:25-33 puts the husband in a Christ-like leadership. As Christ, the Son of Man, came not to be served by His church, but to serve His church, living a sacrificial life until death on the cross; as Christ is the head/leader of the church, so also is the husband head/leader of the wife. This means, the husband comes into marriage with the intentions to serve his wife, not looking for her to serve him. This doesn’t mean the wife does not serve the husband, it just means the husbands leadership position is a servant leadership, like Christs leadership over His church was a servant leadership. The church serves Christ, but Christ did not come with the intention to be served but to serve, to sanctify His bride, the church, that she might be holy.

So the husband leads his wife by putting her needs before his own, doing what’s best for her life and their marriage. A wife’s need is to be loved, husbands are responsible to love his wife like Christ loves His church. If the wife’s need is to be protected, the husband responsibility is to protect her (not just physically but mentally and emotionally). If the wife needs the husbands attention and affection, it’s the husband’s responsibility to give it to her. If the family need is to be financially stable, it’s the husband’s responsibility to lead their family into financial stability. This doesn’t mean the wife gets whatever she wants, if she says she wants to rob a bank, you don’t rob a bank with her. You pray for her, lead her closer to God, away from sin, meeting her needs, loving and honoring her.

So in a boyfriend girlfriend relationship, the male should be demonstrating his ability to lead her graciously and lovingly. In dating, the guy is on his best behavior. So if he’s leading his girlfriend in a abusive, disrespectful way, he’s demonstrating his poor leadership. The problem is that we no longer acknowledge them as leaders, and in not acknowledging that, we don’t hold them accountable, which makes them think the responsibility to be mature, self-controlled, adults, falls only on the women and they can be kids all they want.

When we go into a recession do we look at our neighbor and say “you must have done something stupid.”? No, we look to the leader of the country.

Women weren’t meant to be leaders in marriage, it’s just how God designed it. And it’s not a bad thing. When Godly men live in their God given roles as leaders in their marriage, loving and caring for his wife, and when the wife submits, not out of fear but out of love and respect for her husband, that’s when marriage is joyful, that’s when it’s awesome. God is for our joy. This doesn’t mean women can’t be leaders at their job, in church, leaders over their children (alongside her husband), this just means, in order for a marriage to work, the husband has to lead his wife like Christ leads His church.

It’s time to start acknowledging guys as leaders. Even if you don’t acknowledge it, that doesn’t take away from their leadership, it only takes away from their accountability as leaders. Here’s the thing, while the guys are not only mentally, emotionally, and physically abusing females, after they’re done abusing them, they further demean the females and call them dummies and all the rest of the females join in, calling the female a bunch of names along with the guys. NO-ONES THROWING PUNCHES AT THE GUY! No-one is holding them accountable. Where are the male and females looking to the guy to correct himself? No-ones looking at the guy saying “Man up!”, “Show respect to these females”. The guy breaks all these girls hearts, disrespect them, demeans them, and both male and female are giving these guys HIGH FIVES! Are you serious?! Not only do they get away scot free, but they gain more respect from both male and female.

The guys will disrespect multiple females, or every female they come in contact with. It’s not effective to individually point out every female that falls for that disrespect, because the guys disrespect/behavior doesn’t stop with that particular female.

Guys need to stop waiting for the girls to respect themselves and just start respecting the girls. That excuse is just a cop-out anyway. These guys are just like Adam, “God the female YOU made, SHE fell for the serpents lie and bit the fruit(sex) you commanded us not to(before marriage). And SHE offered me fruit(sex) and I took of it.” but the men were suppose to lead her, speak truth to her, lead her away from the serpents lies, correct her, not sit by and watch her be deceived then join her in sin. God entrusts His daughters to guys, so that they can lead His daughters, in love, in grace, like Christ, to Him(God). Just like God called out to Adam, He’s calling out to the men…

“Where are you?”

Read If You Love Jesus

Christianity is horrifically watered down.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'” – Mathew 7:21-23

Not everyone who says, “God”, “Lord”, or “Thank you Jesus”, will enter into the kingdom of Heaven, not everyone who says they love Jesus, or calls on Jesus, will enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but why? Because these people were all talk and no game. They didn’t do the will of The Father. They said they believed in God, but didn’t live by the Word of God. They said they loved Jesus, yet lived by the commandments of Satan.

See, the devil doesn’t care if you say “God”, “Lord”, or “Thank you Jesus”. He doesn’t care if you go to church. He definitely doesn’t care if you share a Facebook post/picture that says “Share if you love Jesus”. You’re not a threat to him. He cares if you truly repent, if you start to live by the Word of God, he cares if you go to church to get closer in your relationship with God, he cares if you’re trying to bring the kingdom of God down here on earth, he cares if you have a relationship with God, he cares if you worship God, not if you share a Jesus post on Facebook or if you have good church attendance.

You think your little church attendance alone will make a difference to God? You think because you come into the house of God once a week, you’re safe? The devil LIVED with God, he was always in God’s presence, and he winded up turning his back on God and waging war against Him. The Devil says “God”, “Lord”, “Jesus”, “The Messiah”, but he’s sentenced to hell. It’s NOT ENOUGH to just SAY you believe in God, because the Devil believes more than you that God is the Almighty sovereign God. It’s not enough.

Atheist say they don’t believe in God, and they live their life like there is no God. You say you believe in God, and live your life like there is no God. So, if the atheist say they believe, are they not on the same level as you? If all it takes is to say you believe, then everybody can be a Christian, right? If all you have to do is share a Facebook post that says “share if you love Jesus”, then everyone could get into Heaven, even the atheist, right? When did Christianity become so simple, where we could just talk a good game but never truly live for God? A lot of people will disagree and say they live for God. Okay… how? And I’m not talking about your church attendance or keeping your sins “under control”. Do you worship Him? Do you pray to Him just to talk to Him (not praying so you’ll get stuff)? Do you praise Him? Are you studying His Word just to get to know Him? And that’s JUST THE BASICS. There’s a couple of good sayings/phrases for this: “talk is cheap”, or how about “actions speak louder than words”. If that’s what we tell people, don’t you think God is saying the same thing to you? Anyone can say they believe, not too many can prove it. It’s not enough to say you believe in God, the Devil believes in God, it’s not enough to go to church on Easter and wear a necklace with the cross on it. It’s not enough!

Let me go a little further. ITS NOT ENOUGH to click the “share” button on Facebook when you see a picture that says “share if you love Jesus”. IT’S NOT ENOUGH! If you had a husband/wife, do you really think you can click “share” on all his/her statuses or just come home once a week and that be enough for your spouse to know you love them? Anybody that’s been in a relationship knows, IT’S NOT ENOUGH! You have a boyfriend or girlfriend and demand way more than that from them. With God, it’s about relationship. So it’s not enough to just click share, it’s not enough to just read this because of the title, it’s not enough to just come home/to church once a week, what about bringing church with you when you come home. Worshiping and praising God in your room, praying to the Father for hours. If even you, a mere human, demand more of a commitment, more acts of love and affection from a person, you should expect God to be expecting more from you.

Lets say, hypothetically speaking, we did have to earn our way into heaven: Moses parted the Red Sea, David beat Goliath, the giant, for Israel’s freedom, Daniel was thrown in a lions den and still trusted in God, All 12 disciples was murdered for preaching the gospel, Paul was tortured and imprisoned several different times for preaching the gospel, Solomon built Gods temple where God came down to dwell in, and he was the wisest man (besides Jesus of course) to ever live, Esther saved Israel’s from being slaughtered, and the list goes on. I don’t think your little church attendance can stand up against what these people did for God and His people.

You really want to stand up next to Moses on judgement day, and read your accomplishments after he reads his?

Moses: I was the (adopted) son of an earthly king in Egypt, and I gave it all up because they mistreated your people, the Jews. While I fled from Egypt into a foreign land, you(God) appeared to me in a burning bush and gave me orders to command Pharaoh, the king, to free your people. I was hesitant at first because of fear, but even in my fear I marched up to Pharaoh and commanded him, in your name, to free your people. You sent me to him 10 times, and your people began to doubt me and you, but I stayed strong and remained faithful to your will God. I parted the Red Sea through faith, and freed your people. I led them through the wilderness, where they did nothing but complain. But still I held fast to your name until death.

Then God says, “How about you?”

You: I went to church, I only cursed when somebody really pissed me off, I didn’t sleep with A LOT of people, I only got drunk and high occasionally, and I wore a cross on my neck… oh and I shared that post about you on Facebook!

Or maybe this is you…
You: I graduated from college, got a good paying job/career, moved out of that awful city you put me in, brought some nice cars, didn’t sleep around too much, only got drunk at parties, and I got a tattoo of a cross on my arm… oh and I shared that post about you on Facebook!

Seriously, if this was real, and you seriously had to earn your way into Heaven, how do you think it would go? Seriously, not to well for you, and it’s not because you sin! It’s because, in no way were you truly for the kingdom of God. Is a friend really a friend if they help your enemy fight against you? How can you be a friend of God, if you’re helping The Enemy fight against God? If you don’t fight against, and hate, the things that are against God – sin, the Devil, demons, etc – then how are you truly for the kingdom of God? And fighting doesn’t mean picket signs, or putting up your fists. It means worshiping God, communing with God, repenting, praying, fasting, loving people, hating sin. It means doing the Fathers will. I’m not saying this isn’t hard or that you won’t struggle, even sin comes with hardship, but I’m saying you’ll keep fighting to live for the kingdom of God.

How about if you stood next to the people in Mathew 7:22-23,

“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'”

What if you stood beside people who cast out demons and prophesied in Jesus name, and after Jesus said to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”, then you’re up next…
You: I went to church, I only cursed when somebody really pissed me off, I didn’t sleep with A LOT of people, I only got drunk and high occasionally, and I wore a cross on my neck… oh and I shared that post about you on Facebook!

The people cast out demons and still was rejected by God, and that’s all YOU have to bring to Him? And you’re pretty confident about your earthly accomplishments. But God doesn’t care about your earthly accomplishments. He doesn’t care if you “reached your goals”, He doesn’t care about your trophies, and man made awards. He cares if you love Him with all your heart and soul, if you are living by the Word of God, if you are bringing heaven on earth, if you actually KNOW HIM!

People prophesied in Jesus name and Jesus said “I never knew you”. You can be in church your whole life and never know God and He never know you.

See a lot of people go to church and put on their best clothes, a happy face, some nice jewelry, and act like they got it all together. But church is not for you to come to God like you have your sins under control, like your life is awesome and you have no worries. We go to church trying to cover our true selves up, trying not to let people and God see how jacked up we are, trying to cover up the fact that our lives are screwed up and that sin has a strong grip on us. Stop trying to lie to God and yourself.

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:8-9.

When you approach God, in church or out of church, and you act like you got everything together, you’re hiding behind lies. How can God know you if you’re never truthful with Him, if you never expose who you really are to Him? Confessing to Him: I am the sinner who can’t stop fornicating, the lady who can’t stop gossiping, the guy/girl who can’t stop getting high, the guy/girl that can’t stop getting drunk, the guy who likes to beat women, the girl who likes to seduce men. Expose yourself to God. You keep hiding behind the mask of lies, and come judgement day, when everyone has to take off their masks, Jesus will look at your face and say “I never knew you”. He only knew the mask.

So it’s not enough to have good church attendance, it’s not enough to wear a necklace with the cross on it or have a tattoo of the cross. It’s not enough to SAY you love Jesus, to say you believe in God.

How are you a threat to the Devil? If anything your helping him; promoting sin, causing broken hearts and not caring, telling little boys it’s okay to sleep around, it’s okay to break girls heart, telling girls it’s okay to sleep with a couple guys just don’t look like a prostitute doing it, it’s okay to get high, it’s okay to be drunk, it’s okay to watch women be abused and taken advantage of (porn), it’s okay if you don’t worship God. Do you know the first person to say this is okay?… The Devil. And a lot of people sound just like him. Crazy how we are made in the image of God (Gen 1:27), but live our lives looking and sounding more like Satan.

See, you like the Devils way, you like his rules. The Devil says “do whatever you want to do” and you not only embrace it, you promote it. Your following the Devil’s commandmeants, not God’s. The Devil is your master, not God, because you give God no say in how you’re living your life, but are influenced by the way the Devil says you should live.

God said, wait until marriage (1 Cor 7:2), the Devil said, where a condom. Which did you choose?
God said, don’t get drunk but be filled with the (Holy) Spirit (Eph. 5:18), the Devil said, get wasted! Which did you choose?
God said, women were to be loved and cherished (Eph. 5:25-29), the Devil said, women were made for guys to have sex with them. Which did you choose?
God said, love me(Him) with all your heart and soul (Deu. 6:5), the Devil said, just go to church here and there and post statuses every now and then saying you love Jesus. Which did you choose?
God said, you shall have no other gods (Exo. 20:3), the Devil said, you can call Him your God as long as you live by my rules. Which did you choose?

If you’re obeying the Devil’s commandments, choosing the Devil’s way instead of God’s way, then you’ve made the Devil your god, your master, not the God of the Universe.

Here’s the key, your either for the Devil or for God. There’s no in-between. You’re either promoting the Devils kingdom by the way you live your life, or Gods kingdom by the way you live your life. There’s no in-between. The Devil doesn’t care if you say you love Jesus, as long as you’re promoting his(the Devil) kingdom through your life.

A lot of people will post statuses or tweet “#teamjesus”, but are you really bout that life? Put tape over your mouth and prove how you’re for the kingdom of God. Anyone can say they’re on a team, I can say “yea, I play for the L.A. Sparks (WNBA team, professional basketball).” Then you’ll look at me like “yea right!” Because you know I’m not bout that life. You know I’ve never stepped on the court with the pros and took hits, shot free throws, and blocked shots. My life doesn’t demonstrate me being on the team. You know if I put tape over my mouth, and have no way to speak, I have no way to prove that I’m on the Sparks team.

Anyone can say anything, we’re all a bunch of liars, why even take your own word for it? You know you lie to yourself. God said “the truth will set you free.”. If you lie to yourself, and say you do the Fathers will, then you’ve accomplished nothing. But if you confess to yourself and God, that you don’t do the Fathers will and you don’t live for His kingdom, and you repent not just with words but with your heart and your life, then God can finally get to know the person behind the mask.

Come judgement day, will Jesus recognize your face? Will He know YOU or the mask?

P.S. For those who missed it, the picture above (as well as the title of this post) was only to prove a point. Read the picture’s caption.

Do Bad People go to Heaven?

“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” – Luke 18:10-14

The tax collector went down to his house justified! God had mercy on him! He didn’t even look up to Heaven when he prayed because he KNEW he wasn’t worthy, and he was right. The tax collector humbled himself and was truthful with God, confessing that he was a sinner and begging for mercy. The tax collector knew he needed grace… he needed a savior.

The tax collector receives mercy, not the Pharisee. This may not seem fair to some people, but… when did the Pharisee ever ask for mercy? The Pharisee exalted himself, boasting about his “good” deeds, he sees himself as a “good” guy, righteous, so he never asks to be forgiven because he doesn’t think he does anything wrong, he doesn’t ask for mercy because he doesn’t think he needs it, he never asks for a Savior because he thinks he already saved himself by being “good”. Are you a Pharisee, the “good” guy or the “good” girl?

Here’s what you need to know about tax collectors back then: the Jews were under the authority of the Roman Empire during this time. The Jews had to submit themselves to the Roman authority and the Jews were oppressed by them. Jews would become tax collectors for the Romans, so the Jewish tax collector would take money from their fellow Jews and give it to the Roman Empire. They were considered traitors to their fellow Jews.

In modern day, it’s like a guy who had “bad” (unjust) experiences with the government, then their friend from childhood grows up and becomes a cop, and the friend keeps writing the guy up, giving him tickets and fines for the smallest things. Helping the government continue to be unjust to the guy. An old friend who became a crooked cop… a traitor. Not somebody you’d want to hang around, right?

The Pharisees, who were also Jews, are like the church goers of our day. They are self-righteous people. They have excellent church attendance, can quote multiple scriptures, say “Lord”, “God” and “Thank you Jesus!”, when people are around, only to look righteous in other people’s eyes. They pull a list of “good deeds” they’ve done, to prove themselves worthy. These are the church goers who condemn the prostitutes, the drug dealers, murders, adulterers, and they look down at them like they are better. And they pray to God like this: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.”. In their prayer, they are saying “God I thank you that I’m better than everyone else, that I’m righteous because of my deeds/actions. I always go to church, I give you your tenth (tithe), I don’t cuss, drink or smoke. God, I thank you that I’m so awesome.”.

You don’t even have to be a church goer to be self-righteous. People get a good job, pay some bills then look at other people from the projects, the hood, jail, even Baltimore street, and thank God they’re not like them. You could be broke and still think your better than people. It doesn’t matter who you are, what you do (or don’t do), where you live, none of that matters, you can still be a self-righteous person. The characteristic of a self-righteous person, in short, is pride. They are prideful, thinking highly of themselves, thinking that they are such an awesome person. You know who else is prideful?… Satan.

I use to put my identity in being the “good girl”. With so many people telling me that, I became self-righteous. I’d look at people and think to myself “God, I thank you that I am not like other people, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like all these other females.” This is truth, this was my mentality. From the time I was little, even to this day, I’m literally being told that “I’m not like most females”, “I’m a good girl”, “I’m a sweetheart”, “an angel”, “I’m different”. Not to say people telling me this is a bad thing, it’s nothing wrong with compliments, but this became my identity. Instead of my identity being in Jesus, like it ought to, it was in being “good”. I prided myself on that I wasn’t like most females… I exalted myself, and God humbled me and gave me a glimpse of my heart, my wicked and corrupt heart. Yea, I’m not like most females, but I’m no better, my heart isn’t less wicked or less corrupted, I’m not less of a sinner.

I KNEW I was a good person, and I didn’t think I really needed to change because I was already “good”. I was the self-righteous person praying to God, thanking him that I wasn’t like “that tax collector”, and God had to show me, I was no better so that I could be humble and receive His mercy.

To all of you who are self righteous, who are like the Pharisees, and call yourself a “good person”, who thank God that you’re not as bad as the next person, Jesus says, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” – Luke 5:31-32

Jesus also said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

In order to go through Jesus to get to the Father, you have to actually need Jesus, the Savior. Jesus says he did not come for the righteous but for sinners to repent. So He only came to call the bad people to a life of repentance. If you’re a good person, why do you need to repent? Jesus came, died and rose, for the “bad” people not for “good” people. If you say you have no sin or that you’re a good person, you don’t need/have Jesus (why would a good person need a savior, right?), if you don’t have Jesus (who is “the way”) then you have no “way” to Heaven. But if you are a sinner, then you need/have Jesus, and if you have Jesus, you have the way to Heaven. Bad people CAN go to Heaven ONLY IF they REPENT and trust in Jesus! This is what’s called “Good News” or “The Gospel”.

Here’s the thing about good people going to Heaven… It’s impossible, because good people don’t exist, only bad people who confess their sins to God and repent and trust in Jesus. In Heaven, there will be Jesus, The Father, The Holy Spirit, Angels and tons of ex-murderers, ex-adulterers, ex-thieves, ex-idolaters, ex-convicts, ex-prostitutes, who Jesus saved and gave His righteousness to. Only bad people, saved by grace, who live a life of repentance, go to Heaven.

To be a good person, you would have to live your life without sin, meaning you can’t even sin ONCE, and live a life of constant worship, love, and communication to God. So like I said, good people don’t exist, only bad people who confess their sins to God and repent and trust in Jesus.

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” -1 John 1:8-9

Jesus said he IS The Truth. If we say we are good people, we are saying we are without sin and are living a life of constant worship, love, and communication with God. So, to say we are good, would be a lie and The Truth (Jesus/The Holy Spirit) is not in us. Lets not deceive ourselves, but confess our sins to God and live a life of repentance.

God and money

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” – Mathew 6:24

Jesus makes it clear, in this verse, that we can make money our master. Instead of serving God, we can (and do) serve other things, and those things become our master. But, you can’t serve God and that other thing. This is not a rule/commandment from Jesus, He’s telling us that this is our nature. We literally can’t serve two masters, it’s not in us to do that. We can’t truly say yes to serving God, while truly saying yes to serving money (or whatever it may be).
To the “paper chaser”, you can’t serve God and money. To the “player”, the “ladies man”, the typical guy, you can’t serve God and sex. To the typical female, you can’t serve God and your boyfriend. To the people who say, “I do what I want to do”, you can’t serve God and yourself. You “will be devoted to the one and despise the other”.
For example:
Which do you choose?
Want a job that pays $30 an hour or do you want to study the bible?
Want that thick girl you saw last night or do you want to worship God?
Want to spend time with your boyfriend/girlfriend or would you rather hear The Word at church?
Want to sleep in on your day off or do you want to wake up early to pray to the Father?

You will love one and hate the other, be devoted to one and despise the other. NO-ONE can serve two masters.

Let me put it in other words. What do you spend most of your time pursuing? What takes up most of your time, thoughts, attention (even money)? Whatever it is, thats your god. If all you think about is when the next time your going to have sex, you spend time trying to “get girls” (or guys), spend money on clothes to look more appealing to girls/guys so it can lead to the bedroom, your attention goes to porn and girls/guys… You’ve made sex your god. You’ve made your life more about sex than it is about God. You worship it. You can’t serve God and sex. You can’t worship God and sex. Everyday you will be choosing sex over God.

“You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…” – Exodus 20:5. We bow down to these things in our hearts. We compromise Gods laws for these things, we compromise our relationship with God for it, we want it more than we want God, we pursue it more than we pursue God, we care about it more than we care about God. We put these things before God, as a result, we make these things our gods, our masters, and dedicate our lives to those things, instead of God.

You can’t serve/worship God and something else. We all have done it or are still doing it. If God (and the things of God) doesn’t take up your time, attention, and thoughts, then something/someone else does. If you’re not pursuing God, you’re pursuing something or someone else. To some, it may seem like you’re pursuing both but ,truly, your devoted to one and despise the other.

You can’t have two masters. Only one god can be your true master. So what’s it going to be? God or money? God or sex? God or your boyfriend? God or power/status? God or pleasure? God or entertainment? God or porn? God or weed? God or your will?

What god is your master, which one is seated on the throne of your heart? If its not the God of the Universe, then He needs His seat back, for your sake.

Three types of people. Which one are you?

Three guys decide to go to a restaurant and eat. They choose one to go to, and order just about everything on the menu. These guys could EAT! Seemed like they would never get full. As they were coming to their last meals, a stranger came to there table and asked to sit and talk with them. They didn’t mind. So as they continued to eat, the stranger pointed to the pictures on the wall of the restaurant, of a guy, the son of the one who owns the restaurant, and all the other restaurants. He was hard at work in each picture. He told them that the son worked day and night, gave his life to pay off the debts that people would get into when they ate at this restaurant. He told them that the guys father called him to live such a sacrificial life, and the son willingly obeyed his father because he, like his father, didn’t want others to have to live their life trying to pay off a debt they could never pay off. So as the 3 guys finished eating, the stranger dismissed himself, and was gone. The 3 guys began talking about all their earnings, and how they could never get into that much debt, that they would need the son. The 3rd guy laughed and mocked the son, and said he was stupid for wasting his life working for other people. “He must not have been able to get any girls.” said the 3rd guy laughing. And as the 3rd guy continued to mock the son, the 1st guy interrupts him, saying, “all that is not necessary”.

They finished their drinks and called for the bill, and the waiter gave the bill to the manager. The manager looked at it and slowly brought it to them. They were worried. They took the bill and as each of them looked at it, their hearts dropped. All their earnings, and life savings couldn’t pay their bill, even if they combined all their money. They knew they would have to become slaves to the restaurant, working day and night until they die, and even then, their debt will not be paid. So as one blamed the other, the manager sat down and started talking. He pointed to the picture of the son, and asked have they heard of him. They all nodded. He handed all 3 of them a card and said, your debt is paid in full by the son, on the card is his contact info. The guys mouths dropped. ‘What?!’ They exclaimed, “This is for real?!” they asked. The manager told them they could call the son and confirm for themselves if they like, and he walked away. The guys sat there in shock. In utter disbelief. They thought to themselves, “I came here and ate irresponsibly and recklessly, any and everything I wanted but could never afford. And someone worked their entire life and paid my debt without wanting anything in return?!” They couldn’t understand it.

The 1st guy leaves the restaurant and does not call the son. He feels so good, so liberated. With a clean slate, he waits a couple hours to pass, until he’s hungry again, and he goes to another restaurant, owned by the father, eating until he’s full. Since he’s no longer in debt, he feels as though he can eat anywhere he wants, and he does.

The 2nd guy that leaves the restaurant, immediately calls the son, and the father answers with joy. The second guy thanks him and apologizes, and promises to pay the son back. The father tells him there is no need, because the guy can’t afford to pay him back. As the father was about to express his love for him, the 2nd guy brings up his debt again and insists on paying the son back. He tells the father he will make sure he pays back what he owes. The 2nd guy goes on to work the rest of his life, attempting to pay off his debt. He contacts the father and son every once in awhile to let them know he has not forgotten about his debt, and he sends payments, not knowing that the amount he sends will never pay all his debt.

The 3rd guy leaves the restaurant and immediately calls the son to thank him. The father picks up the phone with joy as the 3rd guy cries thank you, and apologizes, telling the father everything, and admitting to mocking the son, and being reckless and irresponsible for all his debt. The father forgives him and tells him how much he loves him and invites him to come to his house some day. The 3rd guy excitedly agrees to come and is thrilled that he is forgiven. From then on, he talks to the father and son daily, laughing and joking with them, seeking their love, friendship and guidance. The 3rd guy came to know the father and son, and the father and son came to know him.

Here is the breakdown:
They feasted at the table of sin, and like all of us, we consume and consume sin and are never full. The son, is Jesus, who came on earth with one mission, and that was to pay off our debt of sin. Having lived a life we couldn’t live, a life without sin that is, he paid the wage for our sin, which is death (the cross). Now that he is home, we can now communicate with God the Father because of Jesus sacrifice.

The stranger is anyone or anything that came into our life and proclaimed the Gospel and then we go talking about our earnings/good deeds. We talk about all the good things we do and how we are not so bad, and we have seen worse people. That we are not that bad of a person that we would need a Savior (us being self righteous).

The 1st guy is the typical person. They fully believe their debt is paid, but it doesn’t change them at all. The 1st guy trust the sons grace but he doesn’t really accept it. See, the sons grace is so we can have a new start, but the 1st guy only saw it as a clean slate to fill back up with sin, instead of filling it back up with the Holy Spirit. Even though the 1st guy continues to eat at the tables of sin, all the restaurants he goes to is owned by the father, so he is never too far from repenting, and truly accepting the new start the son provides.

The 2nd guy is the religious person. They believe if they go to the club Saturday, they can make up for it Sunday morning (just an example). In their hearts, they neither trust in the sons grace, or accept it, seeing as though they are still trying to make payments. They never try to get to know the father or son, they just live a life where they try to make up for their sins by doing good deeds. In Mathew 7:22-23 Jesus talks about judgement day, and he says “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you”. All the mighty works/good deeds of the religious, even casting out demons in Jesus name, would amount to nothing because as Jesus says, he never knew them. The 2nd guy never tries to get to know the father and son or be known by them, he only tries to make payments (good deeds) to make up for his debt. The religious never try to get to know God, or be known by God, they just try to have good church attendance.

The 3rd guy is the Christian. He knows he’s wrong and confesses his sins to the father, and repents. The Christian has now trusted and accepted the sons grace, that he completely paid his debt and wants nothing in return. And the 3rd guy grows to love the father and son because they loved him first. And the 3rd guy accepts the invitation into the fathers home, because he just loves the father and son. The Christian life is a mess, and just like the 1st and 2nd guy, the Christian is nowhere near perfection, but God the Father has established a relationship with them, through Jesus, and if the debt of the sinner/Christian is truly paid, and they have trusted and accepted that, then sin becomes irrelevant, and it’s now about the relationship between the Christian and God.

These are the 3 ways we approach the Cross of Christ. Which guy are you?