the devil hates you. by (brianlucas) "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings." 1peter.5.8-9:

i was thinking about how much the devil sucks and tries to destroy us, and how he even hates the part of us that enjoys sin. he hates us completely. he seeks to devour you. not just to tempt you, or to lead you to something not as cool as God. but he seeks the utter destruction of your soul. he wants you to sin. not because it makes him happy, or because he wants your worship. the devil desires your attention because it breaks God's heart. the devil doesn't care about you at all. he only wants God to hurt, and hurting us does that more than we can imagine.

but God loves us. even the part that enjoys sin. He wants to see that part fixed, healed. He wants to see us turn toward the light and let it shine out the dark spots. Darkness cannot exist in light. God desires for us to get closer to Him, and allow Him access to our hearts where he can sanctify us. He desires for us to know His love, and share in it with Him.

There is an enemy who seeks to destroy.
There is a savior, who created us for love, and wants to heal us so we can be loved and love better.

Seek creation. Not destruction.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" _2corinthians.5.17

Be in Christ. Be in love.  ¶ 10:30 1 Comments

  "Daughter of Kings" by Mandy "Lord you have searched me and you know me." Psalm 139:1
For the last few months there has been a recurring theme in my life. I keep hearing over and over again the challenge: "be who you are called to be."
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13
Now I have always prided myself on knowing who I am. I know who I am, I am very aware of my strengths and weaknesses. I know what I am not, and usually I am fine with that. Please note a disclaimer here: I am not accepting the things about my character or personality that may not or do not glorify God. I believe that He will always be burning things out of my character that do not need to be there. But who I am at my core, I generally understand. I am not girly, though I am feminine. I played water polo and I swam competitively in high school, so I was once very athletic. I am an achiever; I am driven. I highly value people. I am inspired by movies like Batman, Gladiator, Dead Poets Society, Men of Honor, Remember the Titans, and Braveheart. I am confident in who God has made me.

However, I have long struggled in the Christian culture to be me. I became a Christian at 17. I was introduced to church culture as a high-schooler and have learned to adapt. I have a perceived notion of what I should be and how I should act in the church and I have struggled to find very many Godly examples of the type of woman I am. Usually when people describe Godly women, they use images that I do not fit. When they tell me that we are daughters of a King, I think of Esther. I see perfume bottles, oils, scented lotion and a very reserved woman who with a great measure of wisdom acts in perfect time. I am not an Esther. I have felt that I just do not fit the mold. So, here I am. I am called to minister to people, to nations, to children. I am called currently to my local church and I have long felt that I don't fit in, that I don't fit the mold.
"...he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ.."Eph. 1:5
Something happened recently. I think I finally understand why this theme of being who I am called to be has been following me around. I went to a meeting for women in ministry this week. One of the speakers shared that we are daughters of a king. FYI: I have been watching all three of the Lord of the Rings movies with my husband this week. In fact, just the night before this meeting, we had watched The Return of the King. Immediately, when the speaker at the meeting said this, that we are daughters of a king, the voice of Aragorn was in my head; I could hear his response to Eowin when she expresses to him that she is afraid of dying in a cage. He tells her that it will not be so, that she is "a daughter of Rohan, a daughter of Kings." Now you may remember that Eowin is the one who ends up killing the Nazgul. She was pretty hard core, definitely not a princess that is all about nails, and primping, and being proper. She was a warior and she desired to stand and fight the battle.
I have to express, this is the first time that I have been truly able to feel like a daughter of the King. I am realizing it is not about what I think (and generally it is probably a wrong perception) I need to do or be to fit the mold. It is more about being and becoming all that God made me. Whether other people accept that or not is not my deal. Again, it is still my responsibility to allow God to burn out the things that do not belong in my character.
"And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit." Eph. 2:22

Paul is always talking about becoming, becoming more of who God made him. The struggle between abandoning self and trusting that God is at work in you is a difficult one...especially if you think you have it all figured out. Man or woman. Minister or lay man. We are all a part of the Kingdom of God. We are all in process until we enter His Kingdom. If God isn't speaking to us about ourselves, are we asking him to? Are we listening? This has been my journey of late. I hope and pray that God continues to make me more than I am, and more fully me than I ever knew I could be.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139:23-24  ¶ 23:27 2 Comments

  Roots Beneath the Surface__Simply Jason There are deeper, underlying issues to the pain we cause God. Those times when we look upon His face, even hear His voice and turn our backs and walk slowly with our heads hung low in the other direction. These things we do which cause Him so much pain are often done grudgingly even though we seem to anticipate joy in the upcoming moments before we slap Him in the face. And shortly after...grief, embarrassment, sorrow, guilt, that feeling as if you were just beat up by several people and then kicked repeatedly when you fell down. It hurts and the enemy chalks one up on the board for himself.

Unfortunately, this happens again and again, but why? We know that this thing we are doing is hurting the only One who would never think to turn His back on us...so why aren't we able to conquer it and begin walking in the glory that God desires us to walk in? These deep, underlying issues lie beneath the surface of the acts of rebellion we partake in against God. These issues are the root of the foothold that the enemy has against us.

Fortunately, there is One who can bring these roots to the surface and expose them to the light. Satan, try as he may, will continue to water these roots, feeding them until we can't take it anymore and burst out in and act of rebellion. We give in to our addictions, we give in to our anger and attack others, we give in to any other act that separates us from the One who is trying to heal us. God wants to expose the roots in order that we recognize, admit to, and entrust them unto Him...the only One that can remove them. The roots may be issues of insecurity, bitterness, jealousy, loneliness, a fear of inadequacy, a fear of rejection, or countless other issues. Realizing these roots exist and that our acting out in rebellion is not the main issue that needs conquering...letting God work on your heart and letting Him bring the roots to the surface in order to destroy them is the key to us running towards God every time an idea of rebellion comes instead of turning our backs on Him.

Ephesians 5: 13-14

But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says,   ¶ 14:03 1 Comments

  "Now We're Two" by Mandy Lucas Right. So, I was watching Batman Begins (a personal favorite) and there is a scene, just as Batman is begining to stand against injustice he visits comissioner Gordon. He is looking for someone to help him "rattle the cages" someone who is willing to stand with him against injustice, someone who isn't afraid, someone of integrity. Anyway, he is standing there in the dark office with a stapler to the comissioner's back, and the comissioner says: "You're only one man." To which Batman replies, "now we're two."

I have been walking around with this for about a week now. I am a Kids Pastor. I have several volunteers and a few leaders. I firmly believe in team ministry, I believe that God has placed unique gifts in each of us, and that He intended those gifts be used to build the Kingdom of Heaven. You see the criminals of Gotham city had all of the good people, like comissioner Gordon, isolated. Much like the devil creeps and sneaks thoughts into our heads and convinces us that we are the only one who cares about whatever vision or calling God has placed in our lives and our hearts. The few good people in Gotham had no hope, they saw no possible help on the horizon. After all, what could they do? They were looking for a hero, and that is what Batman became, but he knew he could not succeed without good people beside him.

All that to say: we, as leaders, need good people around us. We are not alone, there are people in whom God has a placed a burden for His mission and purposes. There are people that are waiting on the sidelines for a leader to step up and stand up to fulfill the dream.

But what if Batman didn't enlist comissioner Gordon's help? What if he tried to do it alone? He couldn't--trust me on this one, the DC universe would have exploded. We can't do it alone either. If God has put a vision or a dream into your heart, you can not accomplish it by yourself. First, of course, you need God, for it is only by His will that anything on earth is accomplished. Second, you need a comissioner Gordon. Don't pretend that there is no one there. The bible says that wherever two or more are gathered in His Name, He also is there. (Matt. 18:20) It's biblical. Christ is with us when we work together; when we go alone...we go without him.

It's simple. God did not intend for us to do this on our own. Jesus didn't. Jesus gathered disciples to himself, trained them, spoke mission and purpose to them and then comissioned them to continue the work after he had gone. (Gospels and Acts)

If you feel like there is no one else who cares, pray. Pray hard, because chances are you are either outside of God's plan, or about to do something fantastic and the devil is trying to isolate you. Take a good look at the vision God has placed in your heart; is it biblical? Is it Christ centered? Does it further the Kingdom of heaven? Have you told anyone else? Have you asked people to help? Don't be a silo. Batman couldn't do it. Neither can you.

Find others. Glorify God. Where two or more are gathered, he is there with you. Is it just you? You're just one man, now be two.  ¶ 21:28 0 Comments

  Two brothers _brian.unfallen Are you a child of promise or a slave to the world?

Galatians 4 talks of trusting in the law, or the ways of men, vs trusting in the salvation of God's promised redemption.

 21Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.  24These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27For it is written:    "Be glad, O barren woman,       who bears no children;    break forth and cry aloud,       you who have no labor pains;    because more are the children of the desolate woman       than of her who has a husband."[b]  28Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son."[c] 31Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman"
_Galatians 4:21-31

The way of Hagar: the covenant of Sinai. Worldly wisdom. Following a set of rules or guidelines to be saved. Thinking you can earn your way into heaven or being righteous. These things are not salvation. They are not even pleasing to God. The ones who live under this "mother" are slaves. They must live as slaves to their laws forever. And as it happened, God did not accept and extend His promise to Ishmael. Instead, he sent him and his mother away. He gave Ishmael a curse that looked like the promise, only broken and incomplete:

10 "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."  11 The angel of the LORD also said to her: "You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the LORD has heard of your misery.  

12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward all his brothers."
_Genesis 16.10-12

Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn, and therefore heir to Abraham's inheritance, and the promise from the Lord. But God doesn't give it to Ishmael. He promises to increase his descendants, just like Isaac, but also curses them to be at odds with everyone including their brothers, Israel. Trust in the law to save you, and you may see a glimpse of God's blessing,or something that looks like it, but with that you will also see the curse, which is the penalty of the law, and death. God does not accept the sons of the law, but sends them away.

Do not fall into this, but follow the promise of the Lord.

The way of Sarah: the promise of God, fulfilled in God's time.

God promised Abram that he would be the father of many nations, and changed his name to Abraham.

God promised that Sarah would bear him a child. This promise came when Abram was 75! And she was 65!

After 10 years, when nothing had happened, they turned from God's promise and through the slave woman, had Ishmael. We have shown how he was received by God.

14 more years pass, and Abraham is 99! Now, says God, you will have a son and call him Isaac. Now God's promise will be fulfilled. Not when Sarah was young enough for it to be natural. Not when Abraham took a younger mistress. But NOW. When Abraham is 100. When Sarah is 90. Now you will have a child; when it is completely incredible and impossible. When no one will have any choice but to acknowledge God's miracle - His hand - in fulfilling the promise. It is by the Hand of God, or not at all.

There is freedom in the promises of God. There is salvation in the work of the Lord. And all else will lead to being cast away, cursed.

Be rad for Jesus.
Fallen in sin.
UNfallen In Christ
Brian Lucas
art.design.photo
714.553.9766
brianlucasart.com
unfallenart@yahoo.com
Sent on the Now Network™ from my Sprint® BlackBerry

  ¶ 21:19 0 Comments

  Windows and Mirrors by HomespunReality Before I knew what happened I awoke in the midst of a dream
Hollowed out my perceptions, leaving the world serene
Convoluted were my thoughts, ideas and sights
That I gave up finding the ground and continued on in spite

Filled with inglorious lights blinding my eyes
I felt unprepared, dazed and wondered why
What was the purpose of the tint, shimmer and the shine?
And why were there mirrors reflecting truth unparalleled in my mind?

Filling up my sight with images of yours truly
Blinding my mind and letting vanity become unruly
Saving face became the only objective
And altogether I felt cold, lonely and utterly defective

I covered my eyes to safeguard what sanity I had left
Hoping to uncover more than losing my deft
And in an instant I awoke in the midst of another scheme
Hollowed out my world, leaving my perceptions intact or so it seemed

Found myself in the room filled with windows and a door
Facing outside, revealing satisfaction of more
Confused at the stark contrast, dark in here, light out there
Signs directing to a message, but at the present I couldn’t care

I know that there’s a change and I need to find a clue
Searching for answers, any help would do
There’s no focus on me or the here and now
But the perception shifted more than my vanity would allow

And now I understand why I was shown the mirrors and the light
To contrast my-self perception with outward sight
Knowing that we all struggle with mirrors, saving face and vanity
But Christ came to shift our focus with windows, towards genuine care for humanity  ¶ 13:09 0 Comments

  Love that makes sense By Scott Lucas Well, for the lay man, Love is pretty straight forward. It is a feeling of joy and romantic harmony. A complex string of wonderful emotions. A sure thing worth searching, dying, and fighting for. It is a feeling. A feeling.

What's the problem with feelings...let me think...oh yes, they change. Feelings change often. And they are always subject to change. They are always conditional as well (hence the changing). So love is a complex string of emotions that most people feel and want to feel. The feelings love contains are all subject to change...and we intrinsically believe that this is worth fighting for? Something that always changes? No wonder the divorce rate is so high! It simply cannot be that people don't have values or morals or don't believe enough in the power of love. It's not that love isn't capable of enduring. The problem is that we believe too much in feelings.

Jesus was capable of loving us without a reason, beyond feeling. He IS love. And while we were yet sinners he came and died for our sins. Why? Why do my sins need dying for? Why a man coming down here to do it? Jesus came down and felt humanity. Not just because of the old levitical law that states that sin must be paid for in blood, God wrote the law, he wasn't tying his hands with it. Jesus came down to suffer with us, along side us, and ultimately for us. He cried while he was here, he was tempted in all ways, he was a man who was capable of feeling immense pain and going beyond it. And so he related to us in this way, born under the law so that he might redeem those under the law. So that makes sense, but why?

Love is the reason. Not the feeling that we often attribute to the word no matter how much you swore-you-loved-your-high-school- sweetie-and-told-her-"the-band's-gonna-make-it" Love. REAL love. God IS love, so he really can't not love. He is love. Love that existed before emotions and feelings did. It is love that was not born or created or crafted under any conditions or expectations, so it will never ever be subject to conditions or expectations. The love will remain no matter what we do or don't do. It is an essence that pre-dates our time and will most definitely outlast it.

Be loved then in all you do because that is the truth of every moment...love.

S.L.  ¶ 23:38 0 Comments

  Filthy Rags _brian.unfallen "You welcome those who cheerfully do good, who follow godly ways. But we are not godly. We are constant sinners, so your anger is heavy on us. How can people like us be saved? We are all infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are but filthy rags." _Isaiah 64.5-6

I read this and thought, how amazing that our most righteous offerings are merely dirty, filthy rags compared with the glory of God; but that He chooses to love and accept us.  In our failure, He shows himself to be truly deserving of all of our love and attention. All of our time and devotion. All of our lives.

Step out today and follow God. As my friend, Jarret says, say Yes to Jesus. Say YES. Get close to God and walk in power and truth in the glory of the Holy Spirit of God Almighty dwelling within your soul. Do something amazing by letting God work in and through you.

All for Christ.
because we are fallen sinners,
but we are UNfallen in Christ.  ¶ 10:12 0 Comments

  Awakening (Redeemed) Love by HomespunReality The flashing lights, the music playing and the billboards spilling their ad campaigns
It’s just another night in a world looking for love
Everyone’s got their pitch that they’ll drop everything to lay it before you
But with all the lights and sounds around, how come no one seems to know love?

We live in a hollowed out tree of a world that was once something beautiful
Created for a unique purpose but since then, has degenerated over time
Too much influence from all the wrong sources chip away at the inside
And now the roots have dried up, the leaves are brown and it’s just about over this time

The world is lost, confused and doesn’t know which way is up
But it believes that the love it’s seen it is true, and that is good enough
So everybody sell your product, play the games and you’ll find love out there somewhere
But the love you’ll come across says everything about who you are, and whether you’re good enough

Their love is not the kind of love that I want anything to do with
Love that I have to work for time and time again, because the flesh is more honored than a word
The world will say it loves me and that what I seek is normal, just like everyone else
But what if I don’t want to go down that road? What if I want something different than what I’ve previously seen or heard?

True love cannot be found amidst the flashing lights and blazing sounds
It’s all about the calming peace one feels when their alone, but they know this is something better
Better than the lies that the world offers, give yourself away because you don’t want to lose them
And so many people fall into that trap because we’re scared of what would happen if we waited for something better? And it never happened

We so scared of feeling alone; heartbroken, cold and lying awake at night with no one to hold
Wondering if we did something wrong because we don’t fit in with the world
I paint you this picture not to depress you or play with your head, heart and soul
But to show you the reality of this world and tell you that Christ’s love will overtake this world

He’s offered His life one time to forgive us, heal us, and love us eternally and that was enough
So why do we force our brothers and sisters to prove they love us, over and over again?
If one act from Christ was enough why do we question if God loves us when we feel so alone?
I know that Christ has come to show love and to be love and that’s all He’s ever been

So when you feel alone at night, desperate for what the world has to offer think about what He did
Dwell on the facts of the pain, and torment than He withstood just for you
If Christ died because of love one time and proved it for all of us
Why do you still think that He doesn’t love you?

Labels: homespun reality

  ¶ 19:57 0 Comments

  When is too much, enough? by JustLite When is too much enough? I find that we never ask ourselves that question until it's unusually too late. For those addicted to substances, too much is enough when either they can no longer feel it, or the feeling has taken their lives. Here in America we live in the land of good and plenty, where our value meals, cars, and debt continuously increase in size. However, we did not become labeled consumers by accident. It was the byproduct of a need to fill the gap, because we in America have fallen under the belief that if we buy enough, or if we own enough, or maybe even if it appears as either, we will be happy.
This is based off of the belief that you can achieve happiness via an exterior object, whether it be something that you wear, be entertained by, or even an identity. Although, this train of thought did not work two-thousand years ago, for some odd reason, we believe that it will work today. Humor me for a moment, and think of yourself as a cup. We tend to try and clean the outside of the cup, and yet neglect the inside, but still expect results. We dress our cups up, we try to add new fancy designs on them, we believe that maybe if we can change our look, or maybe if we were a different cup things would be better. Or perhaps if we begin to hang out with that other cup we always liked, or maybe even the ones we didn't, or what about a table coaster? Perhaps, all I ever needed was that table coaster, and from there maybe all of my emptiness and need for companionship will be met, but this has never worked, and it never will.
Simply because, it's not the outside of the cup that matters, but the inside and if on the inside we are filled with nothing more then greed and self-indulgence, well, everything we achieve and strive for will be only to achieve the ends of greed and self-indulgence, which may be happiness for a moment, but it's never the eternal joy of Christ that is with us tell the end, and beyond that which is the end. although, this is because we must first clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will be clean, but you must fill your cup with something that is not greed and self-indulgence, so when you're at Starbucks today, and you're ordering that Venti Iced Caramel Macchiato upside down with Soy; realize that it's not the Venti iced cup you care about at all, and nor do you care too much for the green label with the Siren on it, but you care about what's on the inside, that sweetness which will poor out and fulfill your desires, and realize for that moment too, that that is which God cares about.  ¶ 11:17 0 Comments

  cm link working on a newsletter for the Children's Ministries over at Covina AG. Good times! Stoked to get parents more informed and hopefully more involved.

  ¶ 10:36 0 Comments