And All Was Forgiven...

"You don't want to master the Word of God. You want the Word of God to master you." 

Josiah started the night with that quote and it stuck with me. It's really interesting to think about how we try to mold the Word to fit our lifestyles, but really, when you think about it, the Word should be molding your lifestyle.

This past Sunday we did Fusion a little differently. Instead of the normal message, we took a turn in a direction that got you, as the body of Fusion and the body of Christ, to be a little more involved than usual. To put it simply; we had a night of discussion.
It was really awesome getting to hear all of the input from everyone and see how they perceived the passage we studied.

We studied Luke 7:36-50, which is titled [in my Bible, NIV], "Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman," and Josiah presented six questions to go along with the passage .
If you were not at Fusion on Sunday, I highly encourage you to read the passage and ask yourself these questions.

The first question:


     1. Which of the characters in the passage do you most identify with and why?

I think that a lot of the times, when we feel that we're at a good place with God, we think of ourselves as someone like Simon; someone who has everything figured out and just can't fail. Why would you associate yourself with a sinner, especially one who is rumored to be one of the worst? You probably wouldn't. Either you'd be too scared to approach them because who they are could rub off on you, or because you just don't to have anything to do with them. The problem is, though, that we weren't called to be in communion with God to just stay there. God pours out His love on us so we may pour it out on others, especially the lowest of the low. Of course we aren't like the sinful woman who has done so many awful things in her life that she could never really be forgiven for all of them. 

     2. Think of a time when you were forgiven for something. What did it feel like to know you were forgiven? How did it change your relationship with that person?

Oh wait. Yea, she can. Jesus died for the salvation of all sinners, remember? He didn't die for just the sinners who only committed a few sins. Nope. He died for everyone.
In verses 41 and 42, we see that the two men who owed a debt, one way more than the other, were both forgiven of their debts. The moneylender did not say the one who owed fifty denarii was cleared, but the one who owed five hundred was definitely not and still owed a huge debt. No, he said that both debts were canceled, regardless of the amounts. 

Jesus went on to ask Simon which man would love the moneylender more. Simon replied, "I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled" (verse 43). Jesus confirmed his answer. 

Jesus then went on to compare that story with the sinful woman that had washed His feet, declaring that her great love had gained her a forgiveness of all her sins. A forgiveness that only the Father can give. 

Jesus also pointed out that "he who has been forgiven little loves little" (verse 47). Ouch. That's the brutal truth, though, straight from Jesus.

     3. What kind of person would be the "sinful woman" be if this were a scene at Fusion? What do you think your response would be? 

Well, I've pretty much laid out the fact that the sinful woman's great love and faith caused her to receive a great forgiveness that cleared her of all her sins. You may understand what I'm trying to say by reading it, but I don't know if you really understand the situation if it were you standing in the room with the sinful woman. Think about that for a minute. If you were standing in the same room, at Fusion, with a prostitute, what would be going through your mind right now. Would you be questioning why she felt so inclined to be there? Why she thought she could be there? What exactly would you do? Would you ignore her and hope she would just leave already, or would you reach out to her? Sorry for all the questions, but they need to be asked. What would you do?

Simon acted as if she had the plague. He was astonished that Jesus even allowed her near him, let alone to touch him with her hair, which is known to be a sign of intimacy. Really, Simon was holding the woman up to his standards, rather than letting Jesus decide where she stood in terms of holiness. Hmm.. Simon was trying to play God, huh? Trying to decide whether this woman was worthy of being in Jesus' presence? That doesn't seem right.

     4. How might her actions have embarrassed Jesus? How did Jesus receive this woman and her extravagant actions? What does this show about Jesus?

I don't think Jesus was at all embarrassed by this woman. In fact, when I read the passage, all I could see was this brilliant love towards the woman. He openly welcomed her and because of her great faith, He forgives all her sins. He looked at her with a passionate love for one of His children. He didn't look at her in disdain because of all the wretched sins she had committed. Her faith saved her life. 

The main thing I think that this shows about Jesus is that He definitely wasn't just a man. No way. We judge others so easily it seems ridiculous to even think about comparing ourselves with Christ. We are no match to His greatness. 

I think it also shows, though, that He forgives even the worst of sins. He gives you new life if you truly love Him and have faith in Him. Just because your past isn't the brightest, it doesn't mean you don't have a chance at forgiveness. 

Jesus embraced the woman in love. He didn't accept her sins, but He did accept her faith and love.

That reminds me of a song where the opening line is this,

"We were born to embrace not accept it"

Shouldn't we live so that we're embracing others in love. You all know that saying, "love the sinner, hate the sin," right? Yea. Same thing.

     5. How did Jesus compare and contrast the woman and Simon? Why did Jesus rebuke Simon? 

Ok, remember when I said that Simon looked at the woman like she was the scum on the earth? Well, I sort of said that. Anyway, Simon was trying to play God when he set the standards of which he thought the woman should live up to. He didn't see that she was forgivable, showing that he lacked love for her. I think it also showed a lack of faith in Jesus. If he saw the woman and someone who could not be forgiven, he doubted was Jesus was capable of, which is forgiving everyone. 

Simon condemned her as a sinner, as if saying that he wasn't and that he didn't need Jesus' forgiveness to get to heaven. It kind of sounds like he though that because of all the good things he had done in life, he was set for heaven. Not so much, buddy.
The woman, who knew she could not compare to Jesus, poured herself out to Him through her actions. She did not try and cover up what she had done, but she accepted the fact that she had and chose to seek forgiveness. She presented herself in the most vulnerable state of humility and laid her broken pieces at Jesus' feet. He saw that her heart had changed and knew that true repentance filled her. Jesus saw hope and life for a brighter tomorrow within the heart of this broken sinner. 

Simon lacked faith and love, the woman was full of it. Jesus saw that.

     6. Where is your heart in relation to Jesus today? Is it more like Simon's or more like the woman? 

When this question was asked, I immediately thought of both. I feel like we start out like Simon, full of pride and control, highlighting others' sins to direct the attention away from ours. It's the point of reckoning, where we become vulnerable and openly broken, when we are forgiven and given a humble and passionate heart like the woman's. 

It's a daily decision, though. Each day, we must choose to have the heart of Simon or the heart of the woman. 

Something I thought about when applying all of this to my life, was that I make excuses all the time. I make excuses to make the blow of whatever I did, a little less awful. 

That's just it, though! We make excuses all the time to make our sins less prominent, but because of forgiveness, we have no reason to do that. 

We don't need to keep making up reasons to make it sound better. Think about it, sin is sin, no matter the degree. 

Also, I thought about how pride plays into this. We often don't like to receive forgiveness, because to do that, we would have to admit we were wrong in the first place. That's not so easy, huh? 

Guess what? Christ is always right, so either we're with Him or we're not. 

Guess what else? Christ just wants to forgive you! He already knows what you did, so there's really no use in hiding from Him, but He still wants to forgive you. 

All of this talk about forgiveness reminded me of when Josiah talked about forgiveness a couple weeks ago. He recited this:

I have been forgiven, so now I can forgive.

It's up to you who you choose to live like; Simon or the woman?


Here's some music for you:

• "All The Faint Lights" - Steve Moakler
• "Hold My Heart" - Tenth Avenue North
• "When A Heart Breaks" - Ben Rector
• "The Reckoning" - NEEDTOBREATHE
• "Let Us Love" - NEEDTOBREATHE
• "Beautiful Things" - Gungor
• "Save Me" - Elenowen

The Foundation

Going through Luke 6:46-49, Richie talked about foundations. I think we all know the story of the man who built his house on sand and the man who built his house on the rock. The man who built his house on the sand suffered a loss as his house was swept away in the storm. The man who built his house on the rock stood tall knowing he had a firm and solid foundation that would support his house in the storm. Both men had faith in their foundations, but their foundations were different and only one could protect the house and withstand the harsh weather. 

When it comes to faith, we have a foundation too, but not everyone's foundation is as strong and reliable as the man's rock, and some are as faltering as the other man's sand. The question is, what is your foundation comprised of?

Do you seek the stability of the world? Or, do you seek the stability in Christ, the only source of true strength?

Whatever you do in your life, it has to start somewhere. You aren't going to become a genius all of a sudden. You have to start at the basics of education. You aren't going to make millions in one day. You are going to have to work for minimal amounts first. You aren't going to put a roof on a house that was never built. You have to have a foundation, or a base, on which you place that roof. 

You need to see that you can't get someone without starting somewhere. 

In faith, we must start where it begins. It begins with Christ.

To have faith is to completely trust, or have complete confidence, in someone or something. Having faith in God means that you have complete confidence in Him and what He is going to do for/with you. Having Him as your foundation means that you have faith in Him. 

It's hard to see at times, but having Christ as your foundation and having faith in Him means that you have given all control to Him. It's hard to see because we get so wrapped around what is going on in our lives that we try to handle it by ourselves, failing to realize that He's right there waiting to help you. He's your foundation because He wants to stabilize you and help you stand tall. He wants to be your support to help you withstand the fierce storms of life. He's waiting for you to allow Him to really be your foundation, not just be something you stand on. 

Something that really stood out to me when Richie showed us the picture of the crumbling foundation, was that whatever is broken does not repair itself. That failing foundation can't just fix itself up and be good as new. It needs someone who is able to mend the damage. We are the same way. When we are broken and in need of a healer, we are just that...in need of a Healer. 

The thing is about all this talk about foundations, you may not have a solid foundation right now. You may be broken and damaged lacking in the strength that a good foundation provides. You may think you're a hopeless cause because at this moment you are failing. 

Guess what? There's this really awesome thing called Grace. God gives us second chances. Actually.. He gives us daily renewal through His Grace. You may not have a solid foundation right now, but He's handing you the tools the build a better one, one that can never fail. He is giving you the chance to build your life on Him from this point on. How crazy is that? 

With a strong and steady foundation in Him, through trials and tribulations, we may be beaten and torn at, but we do not fall.

Here are some songs:

• "Able" - NEEDTOBREATHE
• "The Heat" - NEEDTOBREATHE
• "Balance" - Deas Vail

Oh, Yea!

There are two things I almost forgot...

Josiah recommended a book for us all to read and I wanted to share it with those who missed out.
It is Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer.

This Sunday there will be an exciting reveal of how we, as the body of Christ, will be able to actively change the city of Titusville in His name. It's Easter Sunday so definitely come out and celebrate His powerful resurrection with us!

Loving Like Christ

We've been going through the book of Luke for a while now as we continue the series, Just Jesus.
I cannot get over the fact that although I have read Luke plenty of times before, there is still so much that I am learning.

We read through Luke 6:27-42 as Josiah talked about loving your enemies and judging others, two topics that are not always the most comforting.

As a Christian, I know that I am called to love all people, regardless of whether or not I really like them. More importantly though, regardless of whether or not they love me.

You see, Christ loved all men even when they hated Him. Even when they were running from Him like he was stricken with leprosy, He continued to pursue them with all His heart. So much so, that as the Father, He sent His only son to die in order to save them.

Jesus, like His Father, was just in love with you as well. He knew He was going to have to die when He became man, but He still became man.

Think about this... This guy that you think is absolutely insane, but so hopelessly in love with you, dies for you. Dies for.

Those two words mean something huge.

Jesus died for you.

What exactly am I getting at, right? Ok. I want to focus on that word for.

The definition of for is "in support of or in favor of".

With that being said, think about this.. Jesus died in favor of you. He died to support you.

It's kind of ridiculous to think about... Jesus died in favor of me?!

I know I keep saying that, but really think about it for a minute...!! It's crazy! He died to support people that hated Him! Who does that?!

The Savior of the world and source of redemption and salvation, that's who.

"Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Whoa.

Ok, so back to loving your enemies.

I know it's not the easiest thing to do. Trust me, I struggle with it daily.

Knowing what God did for me when I hated Him is something I can never repay, but it shows me what I need to do.

As followers of Christ we are called to live like Him. He willingly sacrificed His life to save people that despised Him. He loved the one's everyone looked down on. He gave up what He had because He genuinely loved them.

Should we not strive to love like this? Should we not reach out to the lost who don't know Him with the love He has equipped us with?

He fills us with His love so we may pour it out on others.

There is so much to say about loving your enemies that I could really go on, but there was another thing Josiah talked about...judging others.

Ok. It is horribly easy to look at someone and pick out every flaw possible. We all do it. Maybe not to everyone we see, or that harshly, but we all pick people apart because they don't really meet our standards.

Meet our standards.

Why are we setting the standards for everyone else to live up to? That doesn't seem quite right.

Luke 6:42

"How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank our of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."

Well that was brutal.

I think what is being said is that before you start pointing out the flaws in other people, you must first take a look at yourself. Once you have seen where you stand you are called to help your friend whose vision may be 'spiritually impaired,' but I don't think that means condemning them for their faults.

We are called to be a guide to the lost, not the judge to sentence them on where they are going to end up.

Only Christ has the power to justify man in the end, we, however, are supposed to help them follow the right path to eternity.

One verse that has played a big part for me in the way I perceive people is James 4:12

"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?"

See? Only Christ is able to determine the end for man.

We tend to set the standards for people to live up to by the way we live, not the way Christ lived. Shouldn't it be the other way around?

Judging others and loving your enemies are so alike. Your love for your enemies should overpower your desire to judge them.

Love never fails.

Loving your enemies and refraining from judging others does not happen overnight. It's a process, and sometimes it takes a long time because it's a process of molding your heart to be like Christ's. It takes prayer and encouragement and time. A lot of times it means it's just you and God, but other times you need a friend, someone to help you along the way.

I really encourage you all to continuously pray that your hearts are constantly seeking God. I also ask you to pray for me as I walk with Christ.

And please know that I am here for anyone and everyone who needs a little encouragement and prayer.

One last thing...

Music is a big part of my relationship with God. There are just some songs that I feel like He speaks to me through and sometimes they're songs that I have forgotten or haven't listened to in a while, but still hold a deeper meaning to me.

I want to make up playlists for you guys so help remind you of the messages at Fusion like they help remind me. It may be a song or two one week and a bunch of songs the next week, but I think it'd be neat.

So... here I go...

• "Garden" - NEEDTOBREATHE
• "Mess of Me" - Switchfoot
• "Your Love is Strong" - Jon Foreman
• "Noticed" - MUTEMATH
• "Sixteen" - Deas Vail'
• "True Love" - Phil Wickham

Love is in the hands that reach out.