Get him out of the box.

Good morning to all. I hope you had a great weekend. I pray that this post helps you but also challenges you as it has me. I am going to be getting very personal with you this morning. I fail sometimes to do the very thing I’m going to be writing about this morning! If we were all honest many of us fail to do so.

You see we limit God sometimes! Jesus is bigger than anything, any problem we face, any unexpected bill we get in the mail, any sickness we may encounter or doctor report we may receive that did not go exactly like we wanted it to. So why do we “myself included” limit God in our lives.

In all the gospels we see a very familiar story about a little boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish. You see this boy had little to offer but when put in Jesus hands he made it a lot! We could look at this story in a lot of ways but one that sticks out to me is how little faith the disciples had. They had been with Jesus and seen him heal the blind, lame and sick but when they seen all these people following behind sit on the mountainside in Galilee, they questioned themselves how will we feed all of them. They looked at a problem instead of a solution! Jesus Christ was sitting right beside them probably resting because he had been teaching all day. Scripture says in John 6:9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” The disciples questioned themselves.

This is such a problem in our everyday journey through life. We serve a humongous God and he is all powerful and supreme! So why do we limit him? You see we as believers do the same thing the disciples done. We look at how big our problems are instead of how big God is! We all have done this at one time or another. If you say you have not you probably have a problem with lying. I’m convinced if the disciples had been concerned with feeding there spiritual hunger this problem would not have seemed so big. You see Jesus wanted his followers to seek him for himself, and not for what he could do for them. You see we serve an in control God in an out of control world! We all need to believe that through the lowest of lows we serve the highest of highs! In John 16:33 Jesus said in this life we will have trouble, notice he said we will, not we might! So when a problem comes your way look up and smile Jesus is with you DO NOT FEAR. Joshua 1:9 Have a Jesus Christ filled day! With Love Jason

Digging for dirt or gold?

I would like to start out today’s post with a question I think we all need to answer. Are you going for dirt or gold? Let me explain. Encouragement is a great thing; we all like it and want more of it. In a very negative world encouragement is hard to locate. It seems like everyone’s out to get dirt on somebody. We see it in Hollywood everyday, it also happens in the workplace and yes even churches all across this country. The fact of the matter is some people would like to see you screw up more than see you succeed. I know it’s sad but these types of people are not happy and they screw up so much they like to see you screw up just to make them feel better. (Pray for these types of people that Christ would change their hearts.) Thank God not all people are like this. There are still people out their willing to look past the dirt to what’s behind it.. GOLD!

You see gold miners often have to drill through tons of dirt to get to 1 ounce of gold. They are determined to find something great. Lets face it we are all not good people, but we all have positive attributes about us. So realize this, we all have gold behind our dirt but often people would rather see your screw ups than your success. Jesus Christ makes no mistakes and when he created you he created something beautiful and he has an incredible plan for your life. YOU HAVE A PURPOSE! So try today to look at the positives in each other; people you work with, family, friends etc. Look past the dirt we all have it and look for the gold we have it also, Gold is far more brighter than dirt!. 1 Thessalonians 5:11 says “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up….” We must encourage not discourage! Encourage one another and smile with love in your heart at someone today. Your smile may be the only one they see all day. With love to ALL. Jason Ashley

Feeling guilty? Let it go today!!

Good morning friends! I worked on this post for about a week or so. It is my prayer that this blog post encourages you and that if you are battling with guilt that you will give that guilt to God. He will take it from you and set you free from guilt. HERE WE GO! Let your guilt go! If you need a little extra boost to make that happen read this paraphrase of Romans Chapter 8 verses 28-39. Read it slowly, maybe even aloud. If this don't light your fire, you got wet wood! So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even point a finger? The One who died for us-who was raised to life for us!-is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? THERE IS NO WAY! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing. Now to God's word Romans 8:28-39. 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. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined he also called;those he called, he also justified;, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, than who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all-how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." Psalm 44:22. 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul is very clear that nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even GUILT! In closing I pray for you that you would trust Jesus to free you from any guilt you may be facing. One Love, Jason Ashley

In God we trust.

Hello! Trusting God is a great adventure. He initially ask us to offer up all that we hold dear and find security in, for the sake of following him. In Genesis 12 we learn this through 2 commands God gives Abram “Leave” and “Go”. Take some time to study Genesis 12 and pay close attention to what God told Abram! Was Abram disobedient or did he trust God enough to just do it? Did he give God the Heisman or did he do as he was instructed? Did he “Leave” and “Go”? Is there an area in your life that you need to leave or is there a step you need to take closer to God? Wrestle with these questions... I did and it rocked me! Enjoy your evening. One Love, Jason

Just walk.

Haven't blogged in a while. I'ts great to be blogging again. I pray this post helps you in some way. If you have asked God in faith to fill you with His Holy Spirit, you can be confident that He has filled you according to His promise. Now you are able to live everyday walking in the fullness of the Spirit He has given you. The Bible compares people to trees; the way to know a good tree is by its fruit, or by the actions of the person: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22). God wants every Christian to produce good fruit and has given you the Holy Spirit so that you can live a life like Jesus Christ, one of love and of power.
As a Christian, you must make a continual choice between walking according to the desires of your old self and walking according to the desires of the Holy Spirit. We are told in Galatians 5:16, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” You can learn to walk in the Holy Spirit as you read and obey God’s Word, give thanks to Him in all things, and continually confess yours sins to God and ask for forgiveness. If you want to live your life walking in the Spirit, tell God now that you want Him to teach you. Because it is what He wants for you, you can know that He will do it. One Love, Jason

He's right there!!

There are times in our lives where as Christ Followers we feel like Jesus is right there with us. There are also times where we wonder "Where God is?". Life is full of high points and low points. Have you ever felt like your on cloud nine? Then just a short time later feel like life is passing you by? Jesus said so many things in the scriptures about our lives as believers. He said we will have trouble in this life and on this earth, but he also said fear not I have overcome the world. Our lives are full of emotion, that's why we cannot lean on our emotions but rather lean on the unchanging word of God. When life is good everything seems to be perfect we throw our hands up and worship him, we serve him more, we feel like nothing can stand in the way of us having joy( By the way it can't, only if you let it.... will it!!). Why is it when things are bad everything in us wants to run away from him? I believe sometimes we could be basing our lives off of emotion instead of reality. Our flesh is crucial that's why it is so important to die to ourselves everyday. It's so important to pick up our cross and follow Jesus everyday, not just when its convenient. Sin is crucial!!!!! TRUTH= Jesus defeated sin on the cross, He said "It is finished" so why at times do we not hold on to that truth when we are in the valley. There is joy in the Lord, unexplainable joy even though sometimes we may not feel like we have it. What is it that steals our joy, leaves us feeling beat down and broken? Where do we turn for answers? How can we change our way of thinking? Those are just some questions I've asked myself when I'm going through the valley. Sometimes we may no get an answer from God. Sometimes it takes us being broken to see whats really important. I have been in ministry for 7 years and I have all kinds of questions. Some I may never have the answers too( That's where I choose to live by faith), others I may have had answered and really didn't want to hear the answer. Whether you have the answers or don't we must choose to follow the truth and Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life! If your going through a valley HE KNOWS! If your doing well HE KNOWS! I pray all of us as Followers of Jesus lean not on our own understanding, lean not on our emotions. I pray we walk in Spirit and in Truth. Realize that we are sons and daughters of the most high God. It's not easy but neither was the cross. Neither is our cross, at times it's heavy. I pray we pick it up and press on, persevere! As I close out this post I want you to know that whether your doing great or if your in a valley Jesus really does love you. Sometimes the best answer is one that we don't want to hear. One Love, Jason.

What is or isn't?

I write this post as a believer in Jesus that has struggled with forgiving people who have harmed and hurt me in ways you may or may not believe. I'm currently working out some of my own forgiving issues and just thought I would share with you what God is teaching me about forgiveness. I pray this post will shine light on one of the biggest problems we face in and outside the church in this nation and in the world. The church in America and across the world is full of people who have been hurt in some way, shape or form. Whether we were hurt by someone in the church or someone outside of the church it's painful and it can hinder our walk with Jesus. It can also shape and change who we are as Christ Followers in a great way. The issue I will be talking about if you haven't already figured it out is forgiveness. I am convinced that some people have unresolved conflicts toward a group of people or just one person and it has hindered their walk with Christ and it causes pain in their lives everyday. Forgiveness is a tough issue to write about. For some it may not be hard for you to forgive, but for others it may be very hard to let go and just simply forgive the person or persons that have hurt you. For some it may be a deep issue that you have tucked away and tried to forget about without forgiving but that NEVER works. It will ALWAYS resurface until you deal with the issue of forgiveness. Why is it so hard to forgive others? We serve a God who has forgiven us. He sent his son to die on a cross so we would be forgiven and made right in the eyes of God. Therefore you would think that it would not be an issue, but for some it is the very thing holding you back from being who Jesus Christ is calling you to be. So today I want to shine light on what TOTAL forgiveness is and what TOTAL forgiveness is not. I am currently reading one of the best books I have ever read in my life and the title of the book is TOTAL FORGIVENESS and the author is R.T. KENDALL. I encourage you to get this book and let it penetrate your heart and mind. Let it begin to help you work out the very thing or things that could be holding you back from being who you are in Christ Jesus. Jesus said in scripture if you have a problem with a brother that is unresolved to leave the altar and go work it out. So we as believers in Jesus need to work out things as we come across them in life. First lets look at what TOTAL forgiveness isn't. 1) Approval of what they did. 2) Excusing what they did. 3) Justifying what they did. 4) Pardoning what they did. 5) Reconciliation. 6)Denying what they did. 7) Blindness to what happened. 8)Forgetting. 9) Refusing to take the wrong seriously. and finally number 10) Pretending we are not hurt. NOW let's look at what TOTAL forgiveness is. 1) Being aware of what someone has done and still forgiving them. 2) Choosing to keep no record of wrongs. 3) Refusing to punish. 4) NOT TELLING WHAT THEY DID!!! 5) Being merciful. 6) Graciousness. 7) It is an inner condition. 8) It is they absence of bitterness. 9) FORGIVING GOD!!! 10) FORGIVING OURSELVES!!!! As I close I pray that you will take this and dig deeper into your heart and soul and deal with any forgiveness issues you may have in your life. IT'S WORTH IT.... BUT IT TAKES WORK SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY!! One Love, Jason Ashley