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So, I’m writing this post after the second day of the ADAPT youth summitt, and I have to be honest, I’m feeling torn right now. I been involved in ADAPT for almost six years now, but I think it’s time I step back and take a break from ADAPT for a season. Robin and I are becoming foster parents and we are trying to start a family. I want to be the best husband and daddy that I can be, and latey ADAPT has been bringing out the worst in me. I been a hot-tempered person since I was a teen, and been working on it,praying,and trusting God to help me be kind, peaceful, loving,merciful,and graceful. He has used these last few days to show me things that are in my heart that i need to kill. I have had my buttons pushed by the trainers and there’s been times when i was quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger(James 1:19) but there’s been times that my temper got the best of me. I let my circumstances of flying alone to Chicago, finding a cab, and getting lost looking for my room steal my joy. But I prayed and got my heart refuled in scripture and no matter what my joy needs to be in my God and not my circumstances. He’s with me no matter what. He’s my peace! I need not to be afraid.
7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, [1] a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
No matter what happens for the rest of the weekend, I got Jesus. And He’s enough for me. People here can like me or hate me but he’ll never leave me or forsake me.
6 So we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?”- Hebrews 13:6
No matter what decision I make about ADAPT right now, the Lord is with me and will help me do the right thing. God Bless.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
We all sin, We all have negative thoughts at times, and there are times that we are blind to the things that are in are hearts. Life can weigh us down and we can lose focus on God. That’s why we need to be like David, and ask God to search our hearts. He knows us better then we know ourselves. There is nothing about our lives that is hidden from him.
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.- Psalm 139:1-3
The Good, the bad,and the ugly of our heart are laid out before him. He is acquainted with all my ways verse three says. Who else is best equipped to tell us what’s going on in our hearts? This should be a joy to us, and not lead us to dread. If your following Christ, you want to please him, but there will be times when you’ll get into sin, or the danger of falling into it, and God as a faithful friend and Father will come beside you to lift your heart to the things of God. Just ask him for help. I pray all the time for him to point out what may be hinding in my heart that could keep me from having joy in Christ. As of Late I have not had the right perspective about my job. I have not enjoy the circumstances surrounding my job, and my attitude at work reflected those feelings. I prayed, Asking God to shed light on the situation. He reminded me, that no matter what situation I’m in, I’m really serving him by doing my work to his glory, even in the worst enviroments. This brought me joy, and I been happier at work. Circumstances have not changed but my focus did ,because God help me see my heart. We who love God will echo David’s prayer “Lead me in the way everlasting!” We want a heart after God’s own heart and this takes us to be humble asking God to prune us. It hurts like hell, but it’s worth it. Jesus is worth it.
Prayer:
“Father, We believe,Heal our unbelief. Search our hearts and show us if there is stuff in our heart that offends you, and is keeping us from treasuring you above all things. In Jesus’s Name . Amen.”
The Resurrection of Christ
15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.-1 Corinthians 15:1-8
In 1 Corinthians 15, we find the great hope of our faith. The resurrection is addressed here by Paul. First, The Resurrection of Jesus, then the resurrection of the dead, and third he speaks of the resurrection body. But like Paul, I want to focus on the Lord’s resurrection, because if he is not alive today then are faith is in the teachings of a man who died over 2000 years ago on a cross, not the God-man who conquered the grave and is reigning today. How you view Jesus effects how you live for him. I pray, this post and the three to come will bring you great joy in the risen King. Let’s dig in to the Scriptures:
15:1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.- 1 Cor 15:1-2
In the opening verses of chapter 15, Paul is reminding the Corinthians of the good news they have belived. False teachers were spreading lies in the church that Jesus did not rise, and that there is no resurrection from the dead. This lie is still being proclaimed in our day, and like Paul we need to encourage people with the truth. And in verses 3 and 4 Paul exalts the gospel again. These verses sum of the message of Christ cleary, leaving no doubt what Christians believe:
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,- 1 Cor 15:3-4
We must believe the whole Gospel, not just that he died for our sins, because our justfication(being made righteous by God) depends on the death and resurrection of Christ. Romans 4:24- 25 says :
24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
“This means that by his death he paid the penalty for our sins and purchased our acquittal, our justification, our forgiveness. And since the achievement of the cross was so complete and the work of our justification so decisive, God raised Jesus from the dead to validate our forgiveness and to vindicate his Son’s righteousness and to celebrate the work of justification.”
- John Piper
Jesus being alive validates all the claims about him as our Savior. It proves that he had the power to die for our sins and he truly is the Son of God. He lives not in our imagination or in spirit form, people saw him in a resurrected body. Focus your heart on verses 5 through 8:
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
This proof is overwhelming and brings me great joy. He appeared to Peter,James, and Paul. But also to over 500 people. At this point you may be thinking, yeah but only as a ghost. No, It was in the flesh and bone. Here is what scripture says:
Jesus and Thomas (John 20:24-29)
24 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”
26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Jesus appears to the disciples and Eats (Luke24:36-43)
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them.
Even these disciples thought they were seeing a spirit, but Jesus assured them he was not merely a spirit but flesh and bones, and even ate with them.That is awesome news for us. It should bring you great joy that we worship and serve a LIVING GOD in Jesus Christ. This means:
We are not still in our sins(More on this next week)
He hears us when we pray
He loves and cares for us.
He is the source of eternal life!
He is God!
If Your a Christian be strengthen by the truth that He Lives. If you read this and had questions about if christianity can be trusted, I pray that you have been moved to desire the forgiveness that only a risen Christ can offer. To my friends in the disability community who have a hard time believing the idea of the “new body”, please stay tuned. I’ll adress those concerns in the next blog posts. But I want to encourage you to take your questions to Jesus. It’s in him where you’ll get answers. God Bless.
I want Jesus to have the Last Word:
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.-Revelation 1:17-18
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.- 1 Corinthians 15:3-4
This past weekend I had an conversation with a co-worker who also has cerebral palsy about God and heaven. There is so many lies and misconceptions about God going around in the disability community that I will deal with these and a four part blog series. This post is the introduction to the upcoming series titled “The Resurrection:God’s Truth,Our Hope”. I Pray you are encouraged and challenged by theses post. God bless and stay tuned.
5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.-Galatians 5:1
The temptation to be bitter about my cerebral palsy is with me everyday, but I don’t give in because I’m free in Christ. He has freed me from self-pity,my sin,and the since of entitlement. My plan for my life would call for easy living far from any hard times. But God plan for our lives calls us to trust him when the circumstances seem to much to handle. In the toughest times of our lives we learn to lean on God. There is great freedom in this. There are days when I’m sick of dealing with my cp but its in God’s strength that I find the freedom to press on. Being a Christian does not mean that Jesus will take away all our troubles, but he promised to walk with us in those troubles. One day I woke up and I was crying so bad. Robin was still sleeping. I was just not able to build up the courage to face the day. Things at work were on my mind, and I was hating my cp. The only thing I knew to do was run to scripture. God’s word is such a source of healing for his children. Here is what I read:
5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.- Romans 5:1-5
My circumstances did not change, but my focus did. After dwelling on these words my heart shifted from my circumstances to the hope of God. God is using my life to bring him glory and in the times of suffering, he’s shaping me into the man he’s calling me to be. And the more I dwell on scripture the Holy Spirit can remind me of God’s love easier because I have my heart ready to hear what he has to say. We need to be so lost in the Word of God that when we are in the pit, suffering will not be our master but a tool that God uses to bring us near to himself. When life is hard we feel like giving up and sin looks appealing. We will do anything to take our minds off of our circumstances. Run to God. Focus on the promises that our in Christ found in the Bible. For when you focus on Christ, you will find true freedom. God bless.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12 training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.-Titus 2:11-13
I have not posted anything for a long time, but as I was reading scripture this week I was inspired to write. Have you ever asked “why live a godly life?”
I know I have, and this past week was very hard to live the kind of life that brings glory to God. I was out of town at an advocacy event, and there was a lot of temptation around me.Thankfully, I can say I didn’t give in, but the tempation was very real. But why should Christians care how they live? Because of Jesus! Titus 2:11-13 drove this point home for me this week. It’s true we will battle our sinful nature untill we are in heaven, but its because of Jesus that we fight. As I wroked on this blog post I prayed that I would see Jesus greater then pleasures of the world. We live a self-controlled, upright,and godly life not to gain Jesus but because we have Jesus. We fight our sinful desires because we see him as greater then anything else. We don’t live godly to show people that we are better then them, we do it because Jesus loved us, saved us, and continue to love us every day. One day our great God and Savior will appear and I want my life to show that I knew him before I ever saw him with my eyes. God is healing me from the sins that I struggle with and is helping me to become the man he is calling me to be,therefore, its my aim to please him with my life. Why? Because of Jesus!
Made Alive with Christ
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. – Ephesians 2:1-10 (NLT)
Yesterday at the City Mission I preached on Ephesians 2:1-10. It was my 16th sermon in my preaching career. My title was “Going Back to Grace”. I said that when life gets hard and we are tempted to give up, we need to go back to God’s grace. There comes a time in every Christian’s life that we just feel crushed by circumstances and feel like God has forgotten about us,or we are not good enough for God. That’s why we can’t live on the feelings of our hearts because our hearts are deceiving. We need to build our lives on the Word of God and stand in the Grace of God. These verses speak of that grace. I love the way that the New Living Translation explains God’s grace to us in verses 8 and 9:
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it
And the verses before remind us where we were when God saved us. We were dead in our sins and transgressions. We all follow the cravings of the sinful nature,follow the world’s system,and obeyed the devil. Romans 5:10 says that when God saved us we were enemies of God. I know that I didn’t just wake up one day and chose to start loving Jesus, reading my Bible, and going to church. No, God open my heart and open my eyes to the cross. My salvation has nothing to do with me, its all from God. But why would God save you or I? We will disobey him through out our life as we contend with the sinful nature,we will hurt people in his name, and at times we will turn our back on our Father. Why the cross? Because he loves us. See what the text says:
But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)-Eph 2:4-5
We have God’s ill-deserved favor, that’s how to define grace because when you think about how we were living and at times continue to live, it pleased the Father to bring us to himself and give us life through Christ. So do we work to keep our salvation? No, good works are proof that God has done a great thing in us and is continuing to work in us to make us into the people he’s calling us to be.10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.- Ephesians 2:10
We our God’s beautiful messy masterpieces. He has his brush of love and grace upon us, and we won’t be complete until we are with Jesus, but we have hope that he never stops working on us. Therefore, press on and never give up, because God never gives up on you. Keep going back to grace.
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.-Philippians 1:6
Hello readers,
A few months ago I promise a study in the book of James. It’s still coming, but I’m still tweaking the blog a little. I’m looking for more guest writers to talk about the Christian faith, living with a disability, and civil rights for people with disabilities. If you would like to write something shoot me a email at cpoutlaw@hotmail.com. God Bless.
This was the devotional reading today from “Our Daily Bread”. The writer Marvin Williams did a great job with this. God has been reminding me all week why he placed me in the disability community. To read more devotions go to: http://www.rbc.org/odb/odb.shtml
You shall remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. —Deuteronomy 24:18
When Presbyterian clergyman Elijah Lovejoy (1802–1837) left the pulpit, he returned to the printing presses in order to reach more people. After witnessing a lynching, Lovejoy committed to fighting the injustice of slavery. His life was threatened by hateful mobs, but this did not stop him: “If by compromise is meant that I should cease from my duty, I cannot make it. I fear God more than I fear man. Crush me if you will, but I shall die at my post.” Four days after these words, he was killed at the hands of another angry mob.
Concern about justice for the oppressed is evident throughout Scripture. It was especially clear when God established the rules for His covenant people after they were released from Egyptian bondage (Deut. 24:18-22). Moses emphasized concern for the underprivileged (Ex. 22:22-27; 23:6-9; Lev. 19:9-10). Repeatedly, the Israelites were reminded that they had been slaves in Egypt and should deal justly with the underprivileged in their community. They were to love strangers (“aliens”) because God loves them, and the Israelites had themselves been aliens in Egypt (Ex. 23:9; Lev. 19:34; Deut. 10:17-19).
God desires that His people affirm the supreme worth of every individual by fighting against injustice. — Marvin Williams
Open my eyes, Lord, to people around me,
Help me to see them as You do above;
Give me the wisdom and strength to take action
So others may see the depth of Your love. —K. De Haan
Standing for justice means fighting against injustice.
Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
for soon my salvation will come,
and my deliverance be revealed.-Isaiah 56:1
I was reminded yesterday why working at TRIPIL is so important. Many people may not understand why we are willing to do what it takes to enable people with disabilities to live independent. Why we are so vocal in the press, why we hit the streets to raise community awareness of the issues effecting people with disabilities, or holding elected officials accountable. We do it not to seek pity,but because it’s the right thing to do. Doing the right thing is not always easy, but we can’t run from it if we want to become the people God is calling us to be. I can’t give details but me and seven of my colleagues who have disabilities were reminded of the discrimination that still is in America against people with disability. We were treated like we were less than human, with the only eye contact and conversation being made with a person in our group who didn’t have an apparent disability. I can’t put into words the feelings a person feels when others speak about or around you like your not there. We confronted this and was met with more disrespect but we had to. We couldn’t let this happen to someone else. As a Christian I believe Jesus is going to make the world right one day but until he does, his people are to keep justice and do righteousness. We are to give a glimpse of the kingdom to come where justice and righteousness will reign. In a world were evil seems is running free at times, people have to step up no matter the cost and confront it. Love is action!And love was played out by us confronting negative views of people with disabilities yesterday. I’m often torn between two calls in my life. Preaching the Gospel and being a civil rights advocate for people with disabilities. But I’m learning that God has called me to do both. Its not a case of either/or,for its all a work of God. I’m blessed to work at TRIPIL, and even though its not a “christian” organization they are doing the work of God. Every time wrongs are confronted with love and not repaid with evil the work of the Father is being done. God has used my time at TRIPIL to shape me in many ways but the greatest thing I learned is even if nobody stands beside me, I can’t be silent about the world’s system of hate,oppression,greed,and etc. God’s loves compels me to speak truth. Rather its the Gospel, or the rights of people with disabilities I can’t be silent. I won’t be silent. TRIPIL won’t stop fighting for justice, and I’m thankful to be a part of this fight. My fellow Christians may not understand to disability struggle, but I must press on for me not to would be disobeying the Lord.God bless
