"Yes" in Christ!!

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ. And so through him the 'Amen' is spoken by us to the glory of God. Now, it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." - 2 Corinthians 1:20-22

Wow, that is powerful stuff!!

As you read scripture, you read promise after promise after promise that God has made to His children. From Adam to Abraham to Jacob, Joseph, Paul, John, and to us, modern-day believers. The Bible is simply full of promises made by God, and sometimes I forget about the fact that all of these are answered in the end, by Christ, through His birth, His death, and His resurrection.

I don't have to sit back and wish that what God has told me will come true. Doubt should not enter my mind or heart. The promises have ALREADY been answered. Christ has ALREADY fulfilled each of the promises. CHRIST IS THE PROMISE!!

If that's not comforting, what is?

Verse 22 of the above passage -- man, is there a better description of our place in God's Kingdom in all of scripture? If there is, please pass it along to me in the comments section, or if you know of other passages that support this, please pass them along. I'd love to set them side-by-side and meditate on the truth founded in them.

As believers:

1) We are ANOINTED!!! Amen!! To be anointed by God, what more do you want? Do you fail? Yes, of course you do, but you are still ANOINTED!! Nothing you do can change that. If you are a believer, you are anointed forever. The anointing has already taken place, and you live in a constant state of anointment. And don't ever forget it.

2) God OWNS us!!! He has set His seal of ownership on us. And, know this isn't the type of ownership that has a negative connotation. This is the ownership of the Almighty Creator of the universe. We are His, forever and ever and ever. And, don't ever forget it.

3) His SPIRIT is in us!! God actually lives in us through His Spirit. He knows you through His Spirit. He heals you through His Spirit. He convicts you through His Spirit. We are His, He lives in us, and He is always with us for constant communion if we so choose. God is always available for us because of His SPIRIT. And, don't ever forget it.

4) We are guaranteed ETERNAL LIFE!! Because Christ has fulfilled the promise, because God has anointed us as His children, because we are His, and because He lives in us, we are guaranteed eternity with Him. And, don't you ever forget it!!!

When you are feeling "NO," when you are hearing "NO," when you are believing "NO," when you don't even care if the answer is "NO," never, ever forget that the answer has always been, currently is, and will always be "YES" because of Christ.

God bless,

Sean


p.s. Don't forget to get a copy of THE LETTERS at www.readtheletters.com. They are only $10, which is 60% OFF the COVER PRICE!!

What does God want?

I woke up this morning feeling horrible. No, I didn't have a cold, wasn't ill, didn't feel sick. I was just dead tired. My head ached, my eyes hurt, and I wanted to sleep about four more hours. However, duty called, so I got up and headed off to work.

In the past month or so, I have basically given up caffeine. Previously, I was drinking absurd amounts during the day. This has been an addiction of sorts that has probably existed for nearly 3 years, perhaps longer. I honestly can't recall for sure. Diet Mountain Dew is what started it. Then that shifted to Diet Code Red, which is simply a fruity version of Mountain Dew. Then, Diet Coke took over, and lately, it has been Diet Dr. Pepper. Yeah, it's diet, but it's still awful for you, and it really, really messes with your sleeping habits. So, a few weeks ago, I basically quit cold turkey. Sure, I've had a few here or there, but for the most part, it's been non-existent in my life for about a month.

That is, until this morning. I felt so dead tired, that on my way to work, I pulled into Sonic and purchased a Rt. 44 Diet Dr. Pepper. I actually felt horribly guilty when I did it, but I honestly didn't think I was going to be able to function at work without it.

As I was waiting on the server to bring me my drink, I pondered why I was so tired. "Pondered" may not be the right word to use, because it might suggest I didn't know and that I was trying to figure it out. Truth is, I knew darn well why I felt like death hung over -- I stayed up until past 2 a.m. watching U.S. Open tennis.

I'm not really even a huge tennis fan; however, I have come to really enjoy watching Rafael Nadal play over the past few years. And, in this match, he got down a set quite quickly, won the 2nd set decisively, and was battling in the 3rd set, which seemed like it would either solidify the win for him, or put him on the hot seat, possibly facing an upset by an unseeded player. So, I got interested in the match, and the next thing I know, it's after 2 a.m., I'm feeling zonked, and I have to get up way too early to be watching a sport I really don't care that much about. Yet, I couldn't turn it off.

So, this morning, as I was pulling out of Sonic, a thought hit me -- What does God really want from me?

And this image popped into my mind:

So, what exactly is that, you might ask? Well, to me, it's a representation of a set of parallel lines. Yes, I know, geometrically speaking, they aren't perfectly parallel, but for the sake of this blog, willingly suspend your disbelief, if you can, and assume they are in fact parallel, which means, by definition, that they will never intersect. At no point as far as they go will they ever cross.

And, that's how I feel in my walk with God way more often than I should. Imagine His will being one of the lines and my will being the other one. Never intersecting? That's horrible.

I mean think about it...think about how seemingly innocent my staying up until after 2 a.m. to watch tennis was. Was there anything outwardly "wrong" with it? On the surface, no, not at all. I was at home with my family. I was in bed next to my sleeping wife. And, I was simply watching a tennis match. Granted, it was late at night and I probably should have been sleeping, but in and of itself, the activity was as innocent as could be.

But, what was the result, and more importantly, what was the motivation?

The basic result is easy to see -- I was tired. So what, right? I'm tired often, as are most Americans. Did you know that in an ABC News report back in February, the CDC stated that an estimated 50-70 million people suffer from constant sleep loss or sleep disorders. So, in reality, I'm just like so many other people.

But, does that make it okay?

To answer that, let's look further.

Step 1: Tired.

Step 2: I didn't tell you this, but I didn't leave my house until almost 9:15. Now, I don't have a set time that I HAVE to be at my office, but 9 a.m. is generally accepted. So, leaving at 9:15 got me to work approximately 40 minutes late.

Step 3: I drank caffeine. Again, not really that big of a deal; however, I had been undergoing an attempt at discipline in that area and doing quite well, mind you. Done, gone, out the window! Forty-four ounces later (for the mathematically-impaired, that's approximately 3.67 cans of Diet Dr. Pepper), and I've now not only gotten a late start on the day, I've destroyed a small act of discipline, and on top of that, I have now ingested a week's worth of horrible soda in a mere few hours. So, in a sense, for this particular day, I threw my health out the window. (And, yes, I was way too tired to even think about exercising.)

Step 4: I spent virtually no time with God, with the minor exception being the slow, random thought that led to this blog. I didn't read the Bible this entire day. I listened to no worship music. I made no concerted effort to even reflect on God's amazing grace, mercy, and love. I did pray, just a little, but it was a great, great mental struggle. In short, I was too tired for God.

Now, granted, despite regularly having relatively poor sleeping habits, I don't usually feel this down-trodden. Somehow, I usually get enough sleep to feel mostly energetic, or at least empowered enough to get my regular life things completed mostly efficiently.

In fact, most of the time, my walk with God feels more like this image:


To me, I feel like I'm at least heading in the right direction most of the time. Sure, there are those "parallel days" or "parallel moments" or "parallel situations." You know, those times when it doesn't matter how much spiritual wisdom has been revealed to you, you're still gonna just do your own thing simply because you want to.

But really, I often read the Word, I often pray for guidance, wisdom, patience, etc., and I often attempt to make the right decisions. So, it feels like the picture above, that God's will and my will are somewhat heading in the same direction, and at some point, somewhere down the road, they will eventually intersect. It may not be today, nor tomorrow, or even next week, but some day, it will all click and my line will connect with God's.

Yet, it still just doesn't seem like enough. It's not enough to just hope one day for my line to intersect with His. There has to be more. There has to be a better way.

There has to be a way to make our image actually be like this one:


A lone, single line where our will is so like God's that you can only see Him.

That's an amazing picture, when compared to the will of God, if you ask me. There shouldn't even be two lines, parallel or intersecting. It's not about hoping that one day your will will meet God's at some distant point. It's about your will becoming that of His.

And, it's certainly not about staying up late, or watching tennis, or drinking caffeine. None of those things are bad, in and of themselves. What they are though, at least in my life, are representations of how I will often feed SELF, rather than seeking God and His will.

Could I have gone to bed at 10 p.m., gotten a full night's rest, awakened early, vibrant and alive, and still spent the day feeding self? Absolutely!! And, I often do.

But, the more time I spend focused on God and His will rather than the things of SELF that I normally waste my time on, the much more likely I will be to be driving along on the road to God's will.

You know, the single-lined highway of life.

If you haven't purchased your 1 copy of THE LETTERS, please do so soon. They are going fast, and I wouldn't want you to miss out. They are just $10, which is a whopping 60% OFF the cover price.

You can purchase them at: http://www.readtheletters.com/, and use our secure Paypal shopping cart.

I appreciate the tremendous response we've had for the book thus far, and I appreciate all the faithful readers of this blog. It's truly becoming a blessing for others and for me.

And, please, drop me a comment in the comments section. I'd love to know your thoughts on any of the topics I've discussed, or if you have any blog topic ideas to share, please feel free.

Thank you again, and God bless,




Sean Hanzelik

Another point of view...

So, God brought the Good Samaritan into my world again yesterday, and I was going to post a new blog then, but something stopped me. We'll be somewhat hopeful and call it the Holy Spirit, but it might have just been plain laziness and/or distractedness.

Either way, this morning, on my drive into work, I thought more about it, and something triggered a thought from a perspective different than I had ever really considered before.

When studying this parable, we always seem to focus on the work of the Good Samaritan and how he seemingly shunned the social mores of the time (Jews and Samaritans hated each other and went out of their way to NOT associate), went way above and beyond the call of duty to tend to the victim in this story, and basically epitomized Christ's call to "love your neighbor as yourself." For all intents and purposes, this is the classic example of what it means to serve others and to do everything you can to meet the needs of anybody and everybody, simply because we are called to do so.

But, what about the victim? Do we ever think about his role in this story? And, is there a lesson to be learned from him?

Those are rhetorical questions, so don't answer them...at least not yet. Instead, answer this:

When you have true life needs, are you able to let others either help you meet them, or maybe let them meet them outright for you?

If you are physically unable to do something due to an illness or injury, do you allow a well-meaning individual the opportunity to help you? Or, are you too proud or too self-sufficient to accept help? When you are in a financial bind, would you accept a monetary gift or financial assistance, or would you feel you should be able to make ends meet on your own, that it's your job to take care of yourself and/or your family?

Would your pride get in the way of allowing another person the opportunity to serve God by helping you?

You see, this Samaritan had such a compassionate heart for his fellow man that he couldn't just walk on by like the other two "religious" men in the story. He had a heart for people, and in my opinion, a true heart for God.

And, I believe when you refuse the assistance of another, you are quite possibly robbing them of the opportunity to serve the God they love.

Now, sure, the victim in this story was left for dead by the folks who beat him, so he wasn't really in a position to even tell this Samaritan to buzz off. I understand the comparison is somewhat of a stretch, but this morning, as I was driving to work, this is the side of the story that God wanted me to see.

That sometimes, when we are in need, by allowing others to meet our needs, we are actually affording them the opportunity to serve the God they love.

Regardless of how self-sufficient we think we are, or think we should be, there are often times we have needs of our own. And, maybe there is someone out there who is in close contact with God, and just maybe, God is telling that person to help you meet whatever need it is you have.

Are you going to be so bold as to keep them from serving God in their lives by being too prideful or self-sufficient to receive their help?

How dare you!!!
-----------------
As always, please check out my website: http://www.readtheletters.com/.

And, the book sales are going great!! I sincerely appreciate all the orders that have come through so far. If you haven't gotten yours yet, you are missing out. They are flying off the shelves!!

Lastly, I'd love to know your thoughts on my blog posts. I encourage you to post your comments. They can be supportive, encouraging, contrasting, or even antogonistic or contradicting. I certainly do not cast myself as some spiritual scholar, so I welcome any dissenting opinions, as long as they are presented nicely and politely. I wouldn't even mind a friendly debate.

Thank you for reading, and please keep checking back. I'm hoping to begin making more regular posts!! Please share this blog with everyone you know.

Oh yeah, if you love hand-made baby quilts, check out my wife's blog -- http://thebrowneyedpea.blogspot.com/ -- and order a quilt for you or someone you know!!

God bless,


Sean Hanzelik

Yo, Homey, wassup?

"Yo, Homey, wassup?"

Have you ever addressed God this way? Ever started a prayer in this manner? Ever just been sitting there, looking up at the sky (why do we do this, by the way?), and said, "Yo, Homey, wassup?"

Nah, I'm sure you haven't, nor have I, and I'm sitting here wondering why. Why don't we talk to God like he's one of our pals? or chums? or "homeys"?

Well, I'm sure there's some aspect of reverence involved, probably a fair amount of conditioning, training, and tradition, and perhaps even a feeling that it's just not right, but I suspect there's another reason as well, a deeper root to the problem. And, I think it's founded in relationship, or perhaps, lack thereof.

I know for me, personally, a lot of the time, I just don't feel that close to God, and certainly, I don't feel like he's all that close to me. Now, I know deep down that the latter is all my doing. I know God is right there, waiting on me to seek Him, wanting me to allow Him all the closeness in the world. I know this; yet so often, I do nothing to open myself to Him, nothing to bring Him in.

I've been thinking a lot lately about what a relationship with God really is. What's it like? What does it look like, or feel like? What kinds of things do you do when you are close to God? How do you talk to Him? What does He say to you? How hard or easy is it for you to even hear Him? Can you feel Him? Do you know He's present wherever you are? Are you more blessed? Or, do blessings even matter? Are you healthier, happier, more joyous, more pensive, more worshipful, kinder, gentler?

What exactly does it mean to have a relationship with God, or to be "in relationship" with God?

Well, this is what I've been pondering for awhile now, because, honestly, I really don't know for sure. I could give you a "book"-type answer, or I could give you a "churchy" answer, but something just doesn't seem right about those types of answers.

Sure, I could tell you, "Well, you know, when you are close to God, you want to read the Bible more, you pray more, you listen to worship music more, you feel tingly all over when something cool happens or something seemingly miraculous occurs."

Or, I could give you the always fun, "I don't know. I just know it. I just feel it. I can't describe it. I just know it."

And, you know what? I truly believe all of that is true, but it's not true in the way you may think. Sure, I believe the closer you are to God, the more you will probably read the Bible, and I believe you will most likely pray more often, and you'll probably be moved by spiritual things more easily or more often, you may be nicer and kinder and gentler, and you may not even be able to describe it in words, and your answer may actually be, "I just feel it."

However, I think the main difference is in the motivation.

I believe when you are truly "in relationship" with God, you simply want to spend time with Him, like you would with your spouse, your kids, your best friend, etc. You want to talk with Him (note I said "with" not "to"...there is a difference). You want to listen to Him. You want to truly worship Him. And, you want to get to know Him. Basically, you become consumed by Him.

You don't read the Bible to meet your quota for the day. You don't pray just to say you started your day with prayer. You don't listen to worship music just to feel tingly. You do these things simply because you want to be with Him.

Now don't get me wrong. If you have a daily reading plan, that is awesome, that is great. I commend you, because I spend way too little time in the Word and probably need to set one up myself, mainly just to be more disciplined; however, I would also encourage you to check yourself every now and then and look at your motivation. Are you reading because you have made yourself feel obligated to complete the task you set before yourself? If so, it's certainly better than not doing it at all, but I would ask that you make a concerted effort to loosen the restraints you are putting on yourself, and just immerse yourself in the Word so that you can simply spend time with Him, or so that you can learn more about Him, not to just "get your reading done for the day." Don't make it a chore, don't make it an assignment. Make it a dialogue between you and your Creator. Listen to His wisdom as you read, and feel free to speak to Him about it. Develop an intimacy with Him like none you've ever had. Seek to know all you can about Him, and sometimes, just read because He loves you and you love Him.

It's the same with prayer, in my opinion. Do you pray every day? Do you start your day with prayer? Do you say bedtime prayers, or pre-meal blessings? If so, great!! These are all awesome things to do, and I can't say I do any of them all the time, but only some of them some of the time. However, have you ever just chatted with God? Told Him how your day went? Asked Him what he thought? Do you ever come before Him in prayer without any requests? Do you ever just say, "Lord, I want to know you better? What don't I know that You want me to know?" and then just sit there and wait for Him to reveal it? Try it.

Do you have close relationships with other people that you don't know anything about? Of course not, because if you know nothing about someone, then they are basically a stranger. So, when you want to know something, what do you do? Typically, you ask them and then you listen to their answers. So, why don't we do this more with God? Why are we so enamored with asking Him for stuff, whether it be health for a loved one, blessing at work, guidance in a decision, etc, etc, etc, we always seem to be asking, asking, asking, asking.

And, you know what? In His infinite love, He wants to give to us. He wants us to seek Him for all of our needs, so again, these types of prayers are just fine. But, do they have to be EVERY ONE of our prayers?

Every now and then, just stop yourself, and say, "Lord, for today, I want for nothing. I need nothing. I just want to be close to you. Please show me how."

Yes, I know, asking God to show you how to be close to Him is technically asking Him for something, but it's different. Let's not play the semantics game, because you know what I mean. So, I encourage you, sometime in the near future, set aside one single day where you don't ask God for anything for you or for anybody else. Don't set out to accomplish any kind of self-motivated goal.

For just this one day, in all that you do, seek to know God better.

If you read the Bible, don't worry about how long you have read, or how many chapters, just seek Him. When you pray, just talk to him like He's one of your "homeys" with perhaps a little extra reverence thrown in, although this may not be necessary either. After praying, or even during, stop and just listen with your heart. What is God trying to tell you or show you? He may not want to show you anything. He may just want to sit with you. He may want you to see nothing more than how much He loves you.

Just spend time with Him. If you don't know what that means or how to do it, you are NOT alone. We are so accustomed to our "churchy"-type behaviors, that it is very difficult to just BE with God. I think we sometimes think we have to be doing something. Reading the Word, praying, worshiping, etc. But, sometimes, I think God wants us to just BE with Him. So, if you don't know how to do this, ask Him to show you how. Or, put on some soft worship music and just sit...sit and wait for the Spirit to move. Just acknowledge God's presence, because, yes, even if you don't necessarily "feel" it, God is there. Acknowledge it, and just enjoy being in it. Don't wait for a "feeling." God isn't about "feelings."

So, I don't know if any of this makes any real sense. It's difficult to put this kind of intangible thing into words. But, if anything, I can leave you with this all-encompassing wisdom:

When you've simply spent time in the presence of God, you'll just know it.

Ha, how's that for wisdom?

I hope you have a blessed day in the Lord, and as always, please check out: www.readtheletters.com and purchase a copy of my book, THE LETTERS.

God bless,


Sean Hanzelik