Radical Life Support

It is very difficult to grasp that God is infinite, let alone try to explain it. The bible says that this is a real attribute of God and a part of His nature.  He has infinite knowledge, infinite wisdom, infinite resources, and infinite power. Definition of infinite means limitless or endless in space, extent, or size; impossible to measure or calculate. God knows no restrictions of space, ability, or power. There are no edges or limits to His presence, nor are there pockets where he is absent. Neither is there any place where God is not supreme. God is an inexhaustible source of wisdom, counsel, and knowledge. He has no bounds, no boundaries, to Himself in any area of His being.

We try with our human words to state who He is and what He is like. But there is no one and nothing on earth like Him. Whatever God is and all that God is, He is without limit. Infinitude can belong to but One. There can be no second.

I Kings 8:27 – “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you.” Ps 147:5 – “Great is our Lord and mighty in power, His understanding has no limit.” Ps 119:96 – “To all perfection I see a limit but your commands are boundless.” Job 11:7-9 – Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty? 

A.W. Tozer says, “the word infinite can only be applied to God. No created thing is infinite in any way and that is why it is so difficult for us to understand with our limited minds. Here are a few attempts to find Him infinite in creation: math, biology, and space. 

• Math. We know it exists because we even have a symbol in math that looks like the number 8 laying on its side which means infinite. Think of the largest number possible and then there is always one more. But God is innumerable.
• Biology. We once thought the smallest thing on earth was the cell until we found the atom, then we found protons in the atom, and now quarks within the proton. Can it even go smaller? I’ll bet with an infinite God it can.
• Space. They just keep finding more and more, trillions more galaxies in our universe. But God is above it all, outside of it all and beyond it all.

God is measureless and incalculable. There are no degrees in God. All that He is He is without growth or addition or development. Nothing in God is less or more, or large or small. You cannot put God in a measured box. He cannot be measured and He has no boundaries. The created limited world screams that only an unlimited God could have created it.

Jesus' riches are unsearchable. His infinite mercy “extends to those who fear Him (Luke 1:50). “Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound through Jesus.” Tozer says, “The gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus is as limitless as God.” Ps 86:5 – You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you.” Nothing can separate us from His love. He has enough love to cover the whole earth and beyond. It is boundless.

Tozer says, “If you create God in your own image, it will be an image you can understand and you will never think of Him as infinite. When we create God in our own image then he can never surprise us, never overwhelm us, not astonish us, or transcend us.” 

John 3:34 – “God gives the Holy Spirit without limit.” Through he Holy Spirit unlimited truth is available to all believers. But when you have an unlimited God on your side, this opens up the impossible. Impossible become possible with and infinite God. 

It is impossible for a limited mind to grasp the Unlimited God, but we have to try. It is worthwhile to study about this infinite God. Even if we cannot know Him fully, based on what we do know, we can truly appreciate and praise Him for His infiniteness.

People are looking for changes. This episode is about what changes lives and like the lyrics say in a song sung by Brian Duncan and the Sweet Comfort Band, “changed hearts make changed lives and I see one in you.”

One day, Rick as was putting petrol in the RV traveling across Iowa, one of his RLS band members, Scotty Madison, came up to him and asked, “Rick, how do you know that God is real?” Rick said, “Scotty, I know God is real because I can see Him in you.” 

An interesting question shows that sometimes even believers have questions and doubts. The battleground is not Armageddon, the battleground is in the mind. Satan knows it and he tries to beat us up in our mind with our thoughts. When your heart is changed, it begins to affect your mind in a great way. When you have a new heart, it sends out and pumps out new blood out into the body. When Jesus comes into your heart, He changes things. Jesus is the change maker.

When you have doubts, the simple answer is to rise up in faith and believe. Practically, start with the word of God, it is full of truth. Get the word of God in your mind, open your mind to dwell on it and meditate on it. Let the word of God go to work in your heart. Let the truth of God set you free. God understands when you doubt. So, go to Him and ask Him. 

But be cautious when you start to get a doubt. Remember when Satan talked to Eve, he was placing a doubt in her mind about God. He even used God’s word to cause her to question what God said. Satan even used God’s word when tempting Jesus in the wilderness. Any thought that might cause you to think God is less than He is, less caring, less loving, less good, that is not from God. That is the enemy trying to get you think that God is not for you or maybe that He is not real.

If God is before you, who can be against you. Satan would like for you to believe that everything is against you. So, if your doubt questions aren’t answered right away, keep believing in faith of who God says He is in His word. Speak out truth, say it out loud.  Don’t speak words of doubt, believe in who God is and what He can do. Believe you are a child of God and can ask and will receive answers to your doubts. 

When you ask, seek and knock, God will give to you more than you can ask. He gives more than enough. When you seek, ask, and knock, you are taking action towards God. Doubting leads you away from God. When you ask God don’t doubt. Get aggressive with doubt. Stand up against it. 

We live our lives like they are unessential. But our lives are essential. God gave us essential lives. God gives us essential work to do. We need to be out there doing the essential work. Don’t you want your life to be essential? Don’t you want to be significant? What is God stirring you up to do? What did He put you here for? Meditate and ask God about it.

Know Jesus, know peace. No Jesus, no peace. The peace of the world is temporary. Jesus’ peace is perfect where you are not worried, fearful, angry, anxious, or churred up inside. Put your trust in the Lord and rest peacefully. Bring your requests to Him, make them known, lay them before Him and a peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind. 

If you are not feeling peaceful inside, it should be a huge red flag to you. Seek diligently to get back to peace. Everyone wants peace in the whole world and in their personal lives. Jesus wants that peace for you too. He says to put your trust in Him and everything will fall into alignment.

If you have never asked Jesus into your heart, you can do it right where you are. You can say, “Jesus, I need that changed heart. I need that life where blood is coursing through my veins that comes from you Jesus.” Stop and ask Jesus into your heart. It doesn’t matter where you are. Recognize Him as supreme. Recognize Him as the change agent. Recognize Him as Jesus, Son of God, Savior of the world.

Two definitions of Holy. One speaks of being set apart, sacred, for a spiritual purpose. The second refers to something being pure. God is someone who is holy and it is a rich fullness of purity that is incomprehensible. Holy is what God is and the way God is. A.W. Tozer says, “To be holy He does not conform to a standard. He is that standard.” His holiness is infinite and He is incapable of being anything other than holy. He is absolutely holy. Not diminished in any way, total complete holiness. There are no degrees to His holiness, He was, and is, and always will be holy for eternity. His holiness doesn’t fade. He is pure and free from any contamination.

Everything around me is impure, contaminated, and incomplete. Nothing is reliable to provide a constant source of goodness and rightness. To have one perfect thing in your life that you know you can hold on to no matter what gives great comfort and strength. 

If God is holy then His word is holy. When you hold the bible and read it, you are holding the holy word of God given to you with love for your good. Is 40:25 – To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal? Says the Holy One. Is 48:17 – This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go. Rev 4:8 – Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.

Lev 20:26 – “You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” We are to be totally consecrated to God. Our holiness is to be expressed in every aspect of our lives, to the extent that all of our life should have a certain ceremonial quality about it. 

Tozer says God, “has made holiness the moral condition necessary to the health of His universe.” God’s holy standard for His creation is holiness. Then sin entered the world and magnified the contrast between what is holy and healthy and that which is evil and morally sick. God requires holiness in us. In Heb 14 it says, “without holiness, no one will see the Lord.” Since we cannot become holy ourselves, He makes it available through Jesus.

Peter said in John 6:68-69 – "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus is holy. Jesus did nothing outside His holiness. All His words and works were holy, wonderfully perfect, and pure. He was the only person who ever lived that never sinned. This is important because only someone who is holy and impart holiness to someone else. Heb 10:10, 14 – We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. By one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

Jesus’ work on the cross accomplished that. Because of His sacrifice, in God’s eyes, we are whole and finished. Christ’s wounds cover our unholiness. But as with many paradoxes in the bible, that process isn’t done yet while we’re still on earth. We’re still being shaped into His likeness, still ‘being made holy.’ All Christians are positionally ‘set apart,’ meaning we are set apart from sin and impurity and set apart to God.

I Pt 1:14-16 – “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: Be holy, because I am holy.” This verse seems unattainable but it really says, "Be ye holy; for/because I am holy,” not “Be ye as holy as I am holy,” for that would be He’s demanding us to be absolutely holy, something that belongs to God alone. God would not ask us to do something that is unattainable.

By being made holy, God is preparing you for eternal companionship with Him. One day, we’ll see Him face-to-face, and we shall be like him (I John 3:2). But until then, we’re still under construction. We awaiting the glorious day when the work in us is truly complete. 

When people ask how worse can it get? God’s word says like ‘in the days of Noah,’ it can get a whole lot worse. Protests and riots and pandemics did occur in our past but once we get through it, we become densified and our memories fade. Maybe some are getting through it now but many are not getting through it, they are dying. Even with all of the news we receive, we don’t get a clear picture each year of all the people who are dying of so many different things and for so many different reasons. In certain areas of the world, you might not even realize that there is a pandemic because no one around you has been affected.

We hear people say in today’s climate, “it is not as it always has been,” or “we are going through things we have never seen before,” or “can it get any worse?” People need to slow down and get alone with God over these questions. Read God’s word. Listen to God through God’s word. 

Rick and Robin celebrated their 88th meniversary, which they celebrate on the first of every month since they were married on February 1, 2013. Each month Robin gives Rick a personalized card and this month she stated that if the number 8 is laid down on its side, it would look like the symbol for infinity. So, Robin said 88 was like infinity in duplication. She realized this when she was preparing for her podcast on the ABC’s of the Attributes of God that God is Eternal.

The number 88 also reminded Rick of when he was reading a book back in 1988 called, “88 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming Bank in 1988.” Rick was reading the book while traveling during a youth conference in Toronto, Canada. He finished the book while he was in the air on the exact date that the author said Jesus would be returning.

Matthew 24:36 says, “But, of that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but Jesus said, ‘My Father only knows.’ But as the days of Noah were, so also will be the coming of the son of man be. So as it is in the days before the flood, they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were given in marriage, until that day that Noah entered the ark, did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will be the coming of the son of man be.” 

As a young believer, Rick heard a speaker once say that we might not know the day or the hour but we can know the season. Back then, Rick didn’t want the season to come yet because he had just started his walk with God. 

Jesus’ return is going to happen. His coming is closer every day. We don’t even need signs to know He is coming back. God’s word says He is coming back. The faith that you walk in that is dedicated to Christ is the most essential that a life can ever be. Walk in faith with God in whatever you do.

God purposely doesn’t tell us the day Jesus is returning and He doesn’t tell us when we are going to die. One reason could be that there is always a sense of urgency in the message because He could come back any day and you could die any day and you need to be ready. Don’t wait, give you heart to Jesus today!

A.W. Tozer says, God’s goodness is not the same as His holiness or righteousness. Because of His goodness, He is kind, cordial, benevolent, tenderhearted, quick to sympathize, and full of good will toward men. God’s goodness is a foundation stone for all sound thought about God. The cause of His goodness is in Himself. Divine goodness, as one of God’s attributes, is self-caused, infinite, perfect, and eternal. Since God is immutable (never changes) He never varies in the intensity of His loving-kindness. He has never been kinder than He now is, nor will He ever be less kind. Your life will be changed if your view of the God of Heaven includes the understanding that the unmerited, spontaneous goodness of God is underneath all His acts.

That God is good is taught or implied on every page of the bible. I Chron 16:34 – O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving -kindness endure forever. God’s name is good; what God does is good; He satisfies your desires with good things; His will is good, perfect, and pleasing; He gives good gifts; and no one is good except God alone.

Gen 1:31 – “God saw all that He had made, and it was not just good but very good.” Eph 2:10 – “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” His purpose for us is to honor Him as a good God and to do good works.

Life is not neutral and God is not neutral. There is good and evil. God is one or the other, not good sometimes and not evil ever. He gives us daily blessings because of His goodness. The recipients of His goodness don’t deserve His goodness and we can’t pay Him back for His goodness.

The gospel means Good News. Luke 2:10-11 – The angel said to the shepherds, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord.”

John 10:14 - Jesus said I am the Good Shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me. If you have seen Jesus, you have seen the Father. One reason Christ walked with men on earth was to show them what God is like and make known the true nature of God.

What things get in the way of you seeing God as He truly is? One thing is our expectations. We have expectations regarding how we believe a good God acts. Do you anticipate significant good things to happen from God, maybe mild or mediocre things to happen from God, or maybe no action from God. Where are you on that scale? 

Sometimes we dictate to God how He should perform in a given situation. There is no flexibility to allow God to do it His way in our expectations. God does not have to perform out of our expectations of Him. He performs out of who He is. And He is good. He will do what is best for you and those around you and what will bring Him glory. Rom 8:28 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. Working out things for my good may mean I come out stronger, more mature, and better prepared to take the next step.

Can you dare to believe that all His ways are good? Trust that He is good and will lead you in the path He has prepared for you. God’s purpose in a hardship is plainly stated in Rom 8:29, God’s good work in you is to conform us into the likeness of His Son. He cares about that more than anything else on our prayer list.  We can worship Him because He has a good purpose for us and He promises to be with us in it and work it for our good.

God does not ask you to say the situation is good; but you know you have a right view of God when you can say He is good regardless of the circumstance.  Thank God for His goodness every day and you will see His goodness in every area of your life. God’s goodness should be the basis of our expectation of Him. Expect to see God’s goodness.

For most people there is something that drives them, that gets them up in the morning. They cannot get up early enough because there is something that they love to do in life. It is something that is different for everybody. Different things that motivate us. You might have friends that do something that you cannot even imagine wanting to do what they love to do.

Rick’s morning routine is what he calls spending his time in the garden. He loves being outside before everyone gets up and hearing the birds wake up and watching the sunrise. He has been doing that most of his life and it is when he feels more like a human being because it is just him and God. God and him can walk and chat and Rick can better hear his voice. Rick and Robin do their devotions very differently. Robin sits and reads many devotionals. God made them different and He did it on purpose. We were all created to be His children, we were all to be receivers of His love and the words that He speaks to us.

When Rick talks about communing with God, some have asked Him if he thinks he is Moses. Rick is like Moses only in the fact that he has a calling on his life. Moses didn’t know at first what a great thing he was going to do. He didn’t want to do it at first either. But every one of us has a calling on our lives and it is an amazing thing. Satan would like for you to think that your life is mundain and not meant for anything.

We can be addicted to our calling. Once you get into the groove of what you are called to do, it is hard to set your mind on other things. As you move forward in life, other people will challenge you too and bring things into your life but more than anything, you need to be the one to challenge yourself, you and God. And to be addicted to the calling of God on your life, there cannot be a greater thing. But when it gets to the point where you use it as an excuse, then even in the Christian realm, you can become addicted. 

There is nothing in this life that is easy. You set up so many boundaries in your life that there aren’t any more challenges. Boundaries are a good thing but they shouldn’t be so tight that everything is too comfortable and under control. The main thing and it starts with what is God calling you to be and then what is God calling you to do because we are human beings first and human doing second. The other word that falls in here is balance. Everyone is striving for balance but it might take a life time to figure it out. Don’t worry about it because this world is just the beginning of forever.

So, what you learn in this life is important for the next. Our time right now is boot camp for eternal life with God. This is the launch pad for the rocket ship that is going to blast off into forever. Because everything we do now is temporal, it is hard to imagine that what we are doing now affects our time in eternity. Everything is built around this temporary world, our bank account, our jobs. Very little that we do has the thought of eternity. But as we seek the Lord’s will for our life, it all becomes clearer.

One of the things Jesus gave us is peace. If you know Jesus, you are going to know peace. If you don’t know Jesus then something is definitely out of balance and you don’t have peace. The best way to have balance is to know Jesus and you’ll have peace. KNOW Jesus, KNOW Peace but NO Jesus, NO Peace.

Our encouragement to our listeners is get to know Jesus. Not the Jesus you were told about as a child but the Jesus you seek after and ask into your heart and have a relationship with. The one who died on a cross, rose again from the dead and is seated at the righthand of the Father. Get to know this Jesus so you can know peace. If peace is something you’ve been without, if peace is something you have always wanted, then get to know Jesus so you can get to know peace. 

Just another part of the radical life.

What is your favorite attribute of God? The majority say God’s faithfulness. Why would faithfulness be so valued and important to us? Maybe because we don’t see it in our world very much. Children are abandoned by their parents, spouses leave marriages, when people face difficult circumstances, how quickly they give up.

But faithful is what God is – He’s unwaveringly loyal, constant, reliable, and steadfast. He is true to who He is.  God will always be absolutely truthful and true. He is the definition of honesty and integrity and will hold up His end of the deal. He is certain, established, lasting, enduring, and continuing. He won’t do anything against who He is. Tozer says, “God being who He is, cannot cease to be what He is, and being what He is, He cannot act- out of character with Himself. (Since) He is faithful (he cannot be unfaithful)…, so all His words and acts must be and remain faithful.”

Deut 7:9b – He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands. Lam 3:22-23 – Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I Thes 5:24 – He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.”

Our other attribute that God is Father. God created the family be the perfect environment to raise children under a loving marriage covenant between a man and a woman. Children would grow up with committed parents who would raise them up in the ways of the Lord. It was to be a safe environment filled with love, support, and nurturing.

What was your earthly father like? I’ll bet you that your father has come short in some way or another. We need to fight against the lie that how your earthly father is, is how your heavenly Father is. Know who God the Father is in His character and His ways so you do not confuse the two. 

In the parable of the prodigal son, the father was good yet the son’s disposition was one of rebellion, unthankfulness, and selfish ambition. Until the son focused on all the blessings he had with his father instead of all what appeared to be restrictions, then he came to his senses and came home. And the father welcomed him with open arms and love, freely forgiving and ready to reinstate him into the family. I John 1:9 – If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Jesus was faithful to the Father from the beginning to the end of His life on earth. He came to do the Father’s will. Heb 2: 17 – He had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

Jesus spoke of God as Father. It reflected His relationship to God but He also wanted us to know that it is our relationship to God as well. Jesus told Mary at the empty tomb, “I am returning to my Father and your Father.” Jesus was constantly leading people into a family relationship with Him and the Father. God and Jesus are in a loving relationship and they ask us to be a part of that family. Rom 8 says, “and by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” It is like calling God, Daddy. The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.” 

God is a father to the fatherless, His love for you is immeasurable, He created you and so will always be there to provide, protect, and support you. You can come to Him with any request knowing he is attentive and wants absolutely what is best for you. He is with you and will never leave you. He is even kind enough to discipline as a good father would do to you to keep you on the path of peace and blessing. 

Living a Radical Life for Jesus means believing that God is a Faithful Father.

God created us all with different likes, talents, desires on purpose to make the world work. If everyone was interested in space exploration, we wouldn’t get things done on the earth. If we didn’t have musicians, our world would be void of that beautiful art. God gave people interests in different hobbies, activities, collections for enjoyment in what we do in our free time. We need to keep these type of things in balance. It is hard to admit when something has become an obsession or fixation in your life.

An idol is something that you would put up to worship or give time to or pour your life into. It would not be a good thing to pour yourself into. God was very specific when he said have no idols. He didn’t make it a suggestion, He made it a commandment. God knows when He looks at our hearts if we love something more than Him. when your love for something is greater than your love for Him and then it becomes an idol of sin.

What am I investing in, where will this lead me? Listen to the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart. It is good to re-evaluate, re-organize, and re-examine the things that you do.

Here is a check list of questions to ask yourself:

-   How much money do you spend on the things you are doing in your free time? Robin shares her story about her love for tulips and the tulip collection she had. At one point she put all her items in one room and calculated how much money she had invested this tulips collection.  

-   How much time is spent doing an activity? How are you spending your time and how should you be spending your time? Are you using it as an escape to get away from your family? What is your motive for doing it?

-   How much time do you spend thinking about something or some activity? When someone is pouring into something, they are pouring their lives into it. Jesus poured Himself out on the cross. That means He emptied Himself for the purpose of saving the world. What are you emptying yourself out for?

-   Does it have a hold on you? Do you feel bound to it?  Is there a pull on you now that it didn’t have at first? You may become enslaved to it. It might not seem possible because the thing you are doing is not a sin. You started as a fan but now you might be a fanatic and it has captured your heart. 

 Your life shouldn’t be about pleasing yourself, or what your job is, or what relationships you have, but about using all your were created to be for God. Find others with your common interest and let it help lead you into a conversations with people who might be open to hearing about Jesus. Use it as an evangelist tool to shine the light of Jesus in your area of interest and influence.

Write out your spiritual goals and objectives and what the Lord wants to do in your life with how He has created you to be. If you think an interest is just an interest then you have the wrong perspective. The interest has been given to you by God. God wants you to have fun with your interest. Some people think that if you put Jesus in the interest then it wouldn’t be fun but it can be more fun and fulfilling. You were created with a purpose. God is the grand designer of the world and you are a part of it. 

Absolute Eternity means God has no past and no future. God is found in both and unaffected by either. God dwells in eternity. Time dwells in God. God does not wait for time like we do. Time is not bigger than God, God is bigger than time. 

God Eternal/Everlasting – El Olam is a name of God. Ps 93:2 – Your throne was established long ago; you are from all Eternity. Ps 90:2 - Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God. Ex 15:18 – The Lord will reign for ever and ever. Is 57:15. Was and is and is to come. Other verses say: The Word of the Lord stands forever, He remembers His covenant forever, His love endures forever, the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, He remains faithful forever. Forever means forever, it is permanent and sure. An anchor you can hold on to.

Time is created by God.  Time refers to us, not to God. Time and eternity exist together, not one or the other. God never began. God is uncreated. It is the only way he can be eternal past and future.

Rev 21: 1 John says he saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Current earth is not eternal. Everything in our world is dying or eventually will die. Rom 8:18-22 says all creation is presently groaning and will be liberated from its bondage of decay. It longs to be free. The current heaven appears not to be eternal either but we do know that heaven is a real place described in Revelation, God’s kingdom there is eternal, and God promises that we will be with Him forever.

Hell is a real place too. I believe Hell had a beginning and God’s word says that it has an eternal future for there is an eternal fire, eternal judgement.

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. An eternal Jesus who you can rely on because he remains the same forever, as He always has. Jesus stepped out of eternity and came into time. John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him will have eternal life. Eternal life is not a gift FROM God, eternal life is the gift OF God. Presence of life within you. Jesus Christ…has destroyed death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. [II Tim 1:10].  Jesus came to rescue us from eternal damnation and hell.

Jesus said in John 14:16 – And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you FOREVER – the Spirit of truth. Heb 9:14 confirms that the Spirit is eternal. God has placed eternity in our hearts, a glory yet to be revealed. A glory we put our hope in. Until then, we have to live in time. By time I mean living in time past, time present or time future.

Some dwell too much on the past. You are reliving your past failures, regrets, sins, hurts, disappointments, time past is weighing you down. Now is the time to forgive anyone who has hurt or rejected you and let go of past. God wants you to be healed of your past. Identify what is holding you back, address it with God and surely and steadily and let things go. The things of your past are taking up valuable space in your heart. Don’t fill your heart with your past.

Some live in tomorrow. You worrying, stress and fear the future. You spend too much time thinking about tomorrow. You worry because you have a wrong view of God in your life. None of knows how many tomorrows we have left. Your living for tomorrow is also robbing you of valuable space in your heart. Let go of tomorrow and let God come in and fill those places too. 

The best time to live in is the Present. Leave the old self behind and put on the new self. Renew your mind, move forward and live each day with God. He has His eye on you, watching you. Fill your present space with Jesus. It is actually a place that only He can fill perfectly.

Living a Radical Life for Jesus means believing that God is Eternal

Our topic is addiction but not to substances or harsh things but to common, normal, average stuff.  So if you think this isn’t for you because you don’t have any serious addictions, think again.

A definition of addiction says, being enthusiastically devoted to a particular thing or activity, infatuated, obsessed, fixated, fanatical, abusing, or hooked on. The origin of the word means bound to someone or something. You can become obsessed with anything and it can take you out of God’s perfect order and shift the priorities of your life.  

The bible says in I Cor 10:12, “so if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall.” You don’t necessarily have to be seduced or enticed, you are just doing something so fun, then you fall into addiction, you absorb yourself in the activity, and you forget about everything else. 

We need to be aware of how things can influence us, deceive us, and lure us into addictive habits and behaviors. Don’t minimize an activity especially if you don’t know if you have a weakness in that area. It can start out innocently enough but then it can lead to a life of bondage to it.

To prove the point that you can be addicted to anything, Robin tells the story of how she became addicted to soap operas not once but twice. She says, “Fortunately, I have not been seduced a third time but I know I could be and it is an area I must carefully guard for the rest of my life. When I started, I had no idea this was a weakness in my life.”

Don’t assume that once you have dealt with once with addiction that you won’t do it again. If it is your weak area, Satan will tempt you again and will use any trick, big or small, to get us out of alignment with God.

The bible say that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. God built inside of us a desire for glory. Glory lives inside through the Holy Spirit. If you feel it has been so long since you’ve felt any desire for glory, then today turn back to God. Once you stop doing some addictive habit or activity you will find it was filling some space in you, it leaves an emptiness within you and you need to fill it with something. 

God showed Robin how to combat her cycle of sin and put things back in order:

1. Read the bible. God’s word needs to be there to teach, rebuke, correct and train us in righteousness. You will find promises to claim and verses to memorize to combat any temptations.
2. Pray. Talk to God and open up your heart to hear from Him. Confess and repent of anything you have placed before Him. Obey His direction and guidance immediately.
3. Go to church. Being in honest fellowship with other believers is a better environment. Be with like-minded people who are trying to live for the Lord too. You are influenced by the company you keep.
4. Use your gifts. I joined the choir and served which helped to refocus my attention on using my hands and doing healthier godly things. Singing filled my heart with praises instead of things I had filled my heart with.
5. Tithe. It is critical to keep money in proper perspective. Give of the first fruits of what you make. The bible says the love of money has lead people into many troubles in this world. 
6. Accountability partner. As with substance addictions, you may need a support group, counselor, or trusted friend to help you combat your addiction.

Identify the root cause of an addiction. It might not be easy but it is essential that you stop any addictive behavior. God says to let it go, not because He doesn’t want you to have fun, but because it is a weakness of yours and harmful to you. Are you willing to give it up for a walk with Him where your priorities are all in order and God’s perfect glory can be brought into your life?