Dirty Cups

"Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also."-Matthew 23:25-26 NKJV

Is it me, or does it seem like the institution of the church has been losing its power over the past few years. Losing to the conscious movement; the age of knowledge which is the spirit of this day and time. The church has become a joke, and ineffective as a whole. Why is that? Could it be that we have failed to do our dishes? Let me explain.

Jesus states, be ye holy for I am holy. (1 Peter 1:16, Leviticus 20:26) Paul then tells us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto Christ which is our reasonable service. (Romans 12:1-2) In layman's terms, be set apart because He is set apart; in a class of His own. Unfortunately, a lot of people have equated holiness to looks, dress and behavior, but left out the heart. The heart is very important. It's so important that we are told to protect it because out of it flows the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23) And in the opening scripture in Matthew, where Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees, He is speaking of the inside of them. Take note, the Pharisees were men that knew the scriptures, the rules and the law. They knew all of the "churchy" things to say, the cliches' but their hearts....their hearts were filthy.

Picture this, you have a cup that is clean on the outside but dirty on the inside. Would you risk tainting the integrity of your beverage by pouring it into that cup for it to become dirty, which in turn could interfere with not only the presentation, but the taste or even how it's accepted? Of course not! But so many of us are just that, dirty cups. We look good on the outside, but need to be cleansed on the inside. Christ's righteousness has been imputed into us through faith, but we have failed to live up to the standard of holiness which has quenched the power of God from fully operating in our lives. And holiness is not so much a matter of rules, it's a matter of love; of the heart. Jesus said in John 14:15, if we love Him, we will keep His commandments.

I posed a question on Facebook asking people if they had to choose a cup, would they choose one that was dirty on the outside and clean on the inside or one that was the opposite. Some said they would use their hands, which wasn't an option and others said the cup that is clean on the inside. When we accept Jesus as our savior and Lord and are born again, God's spirit comes to dwell in us, but our willingness to be holy as He is holy dictates if He can REALLY use us. Don't get me wrong, God can use who He chooses. He used Rahab who was a prostitute and even used a donkey, but how much more of an impact can God have if those that claim to know Him would present themselves to be used by Him not just once, but continuously? And let me make this clear, God did not call us to be perfect but to be holy. Again, holiness is a matter of the heart. I know it used to be said a lot, "God knows my heart" and it used to be used as a scapegoat but really it should be a reality check. Yes, God does know our hearts but He won't be fooled or mocked! I'm almost certain the people who uttered those words didn't realize the magnitude of what was actually being said and it was used as an excuse for doing something they know they shouldn't have. God doesn't need our excuses, just our obedience. Holiness is committing to putting God in His proper place as Lord, loving Him as well as His people and living a life accordingly to Him however He sees fit for you to live it. That takes man out of the equation, with their opinions and traditions, and puts the focus on relationship with Him.

As I digress, to my original thought and statement of the state of the church, I personally feel that we, as a whole, have failed to do our dishes. We've equated church creeds, modest wear, clean speech and regular church attendance to holiness but have failed to do the real work. Holiness is an inside job and so many of us have failed, including myself. In an age where knowledge and reasoning is taking precedence over Christ and faith, the evidence of God's power being manifested through signs and wonders is a must! But, our cups are filthy and have comprised the integrity of God's power in us. My prayer is that we wake up from our comfort induced slumber, and do better. Our purpose and destiny as well as the souls of those that have fallen away and are lost depends on it. Good news is it's just a little dirt, just a little stain compared to God's redemptive power that can restore and makes us whole again because we're worth it. Click here to listen to "Worth It" from Lecrae's new album. 

Let's be like David, who was an imperfect man but he was a man after God's own heart. He says in Psalms 51:

"Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgement against me is just. For I was born a sinner-yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there. Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me-now let me rejoice. Don't keep me looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don't take your Holy Spirit from me Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you. Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves; then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness. Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you. You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit-with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings. Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar."  

Know Thyself

If you were like me, I had good parents but they didn't intentionally encourage deep exploration of self which may be because they were young or simply didn't know how to do this themselves. And as far as the church goes, they didn't do the job either. All that I can recall the church pushing was knowing God, who He is and keeping His commandments. I never heard anyone teaching on the importance of knowing ourselves and how that plays a major part in not only how we relate to others, but to God himself.

Relationship with self fuels our relationship with God. Often times we're told, either directly or indirectly, that the most important relationship we will have in life is with God. That in turn, sometimes, taught us to neglect ourselves. And I get that we are supposed to know God in order to know what God  has said about us and His will for us. I get it, but what does that matter if we don't know the reality of who we truly are at the moment? How do we know our inadequacies, our strengths and the reason why we need God in the first place? Then, when we're taught how to have a relationship with God, often times it's based on someone else's personal relationship--- the key word there is personal.

If we're made in God's image and want to get to know God we must have knowledge of ourselves in the process. I believe this is the reason why so many have been stuck in the box of religion and left feeling unfulfilled and eventually lose faith. Religion is a set of rules that ultimately formulate a system of group think. If we're all made in God's image, and He is the creator of ALL, how can we all be alike and think alike? A lot of times, we have people that get complacent in listening to what others say or doing what they have been told to do instead of them finding their own path and way that suits their individual temperaments. I believe that doctrine is a good place to start but it shouldn't be the place where we stay.  Proverbs 9:10 says, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the holy one is understanding."

A pastor friend of mine posted something on his Facebook page the other day that was so profound and real. I wish that not only pastors would get this but the followers of pastors as well. He said "The Word of God never tells Pastors to control the sheep. It says to FEED MY SHEEP. A pastor's job is to empower people to rightly divide the Word of God so that they can hear God for themselves and make wise Godly decisions. The pastor is not suppose to be a surrogate Holy Ghost." His wife backed him up and said, "I'll be honest some people want a pastor who thinks for them. I know bc folks don't read their bibles. It's easier to be a slave than to be free. So if I don't think for myself and do what pastor says I can blame he and God when my life isn't working." <----- That statement right there had me wanting to run, jump and holler because it's sooo true!

We must do better at helping those who have joined us in our faith to build their own personal relationships with God, while tending to their total being. There are A LOT of unhappy, mentally unstable and lost sanctified people a part of the "church." I know this because I have been one of them, wrestling with knowing who I am because I've been taught all of my life to be something that ultimately wasn't me....balance is key!

The Bible says that Jesus came that we may have life and life more abundantly! And it also says that He has given us EVERYTHING that pertains to LIFE and godliness. I believe it's time that churches, and particularly black churches, start teaching about life and not just life in regards to just scripture. We're losing and have lost many because we have failed to transition from tradition and our stagnant box of thinking. Evolution and a revolution is a must!

This post really just scratched the surface of the thoughts in my head. I hope and pray that this spurs some thinking and conversations that foster growth in your own lives.

Triggering Transformation

Romans 12:2 says, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

Often times, when this scripture is spoken of it is used to describe how the Christian is supposed to be set a part from the world; renewing one's mind from worldly lust and desires. But can we also say from the worldly institutions of religions that have been set up by men ie. traditions too? Holding on to traditions and mere opinions of men can keep us from knowing the good and perfect will of God sometimes can it not? Hmm. I'll leave you to ponder that.

Let's look at the definitions of renew and transform.
Renew: to make like new: restore to freshness, vigor, or perfection
Transform: to change in composition or structure, to change the outward form or appearance of; to change character or condition

A lot of times, religion has called us to conform to a particular set of thoughts accepted by a group of people or a doctrine that is partially true in nature. Then it teaches us how to transform the outward appearance (as mentioned in the definition above) through dress and action while our heart remains filthy and we're lifeless on the inside. Religion grooms us to depict the perfect picture of the fruitless fig tree in Matthew. Relationship is what brings about the change in character and condition. That is often missed because we have people in our ears telling us what we should and shouldn't do instead of leading us to a deeper relationship with God by teaching us grace and how to embrace His love.

For the majority of my graduate school studies I was blessed to be able to study a theory known as transformative (transformational) learning in depth. According to Patricia Cranton, it is a theory of deep learning that goes beyond just content knowledge and memorization of facts. "It is a desirable process for adults to learn to think for themselves, through true emancipation from sometimes mindless or unquestioning acceptance of what we have come to know through our life experiences, especially through culture, religions, and personalities may predispose us towards, without our active engagement and questioning of how we know what we know." Religion teaches how to quote scriptures and have all of the churchy cliches' in our repertoire (which means a list or supply of dramas, operas, pieces, or parts that a company or person is prepared to perform, how ironic). Relationship enables us to have a intimate experience with scriptures so that we not only have head knowledge but experience because we find meaning and connection in our everyday lives.

Transformative learning just doesn't happen on it's own. There's usually what the theory calls a disorienting dilemma, which is something that causes an extreme change or discomfort to someone such as: loss of a job, divorce, marriage, exposure to new culture). Some other reasons include recognition of one's discontent, self examiniations with feelings of fear, anger, guilt or shame, and a critical assessment of assumptions.

The things that triggered my own journey of transformation were attributed to all of those things. I had just graduated from college with my undergraduate degree and everything that gave me some sense of purpose or value was no more. As a result, I began to recognize how discontent I was with life and myself. Then I was exposed to a different "church" culture from what I was used to. Those individuals showed me a different side of being saved. I saw peace, happiness, joy and love being shown and I felt it as well. I wanted what they had. At this point in my life I couldn't stay where I was and I couldn't go back. I had no choice but to move forward or else I was going to die! It was a hard transition to make. I spent months in deep depression, guilt and feelings of anger while STILL attending church, dying on the inside.

During this time I found people with similar struggles and listened to their testimonies. The Bible tells us that we are overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. Testimonies give people hope which in turn gives them strength. It defintiely did that for me. The testimony of 2 well known people, Joyce Meyer and Mali Music helped me along with the lives of some ladies that I follow on Facebook. You never know who is watching you or heeding to what you say. It can make or break someone.

Click Here to view Mali's Testimony

What is your trigger today? Have you been all churched out? Have options become few? Do you desire more truth? It's not too early or late to start your journey from religion to relationship. The king is waiting with arms wide open...for you.

Click Here to listen to Tamela Mann's 'Take Me to the King"

For more information on the theory of transformative learning click here or go to http://transformativelearningtheory.com

Even Exchange Pt. 2

Hey you guys! Have you been waiting on me? I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Lol. I've had some technical difficulties i.e. unforseen health issues and I've been journeying a little further away from religion this week myself. I'll share about that in times to come. But I'm happy to be doing better and I'm ready to get this post out of my system.

Before you start reading, listen to this song by Kirk Franklin called Hero. Click Here

So, the other week I was talking about giving our all for His all. We're going to dig a little deeper with this. Romans 12:1 says, "I beeseech you therefore brethern, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." Let's disect this scripture.When we think of sacrifice we think of something that is given to be killed and its ultimate fate is death. Some definitions of sacrifice given by Merriam-Webster Dictionary say, "destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something; an act of offering to a diety something precious; especially; the killing of a victim on an altar." Jesus offered himself as our perfect sacrifice but He yet lives. The scripture says to offer ourselves as a LIVING SACRIFICE, not a dead one so leave the poisoned kool-aid alone! LOL! I'm sorry. Excuse my goofiness/corniness. As a digress.... we are to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, offering of ourselves daily to God which is our reasonable service...it's the least we can do.

Let's backtrack in Romans to the 6th chapter and 4th verse. "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Verse 5. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that they body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin." Ok, so this excerpt is saying that when we are baptized we are buried with Christ and when we come up out of the water, we are to walk in the newness of life. Lets focus on the likeness of His death and resurrection part. This is where the even exchange comes in. Our life (being buried with Christ through baptism) for His life (likeness of His resurrection). There's a transfer that happens.When Jesus got up out of the grave He defeated death and took away the fear of it as well. Before He died He had taken away the power of sin, the consequence of our sin (spiritual death), illnesses and the chastisement of our peace was upon Him (Isaiah 53:5) on the cross! The power that He had at his resurrection and still has is now given to us through His spirit, the Holy Spirit, through the sacrifice of our lives.

Offering ourselves as a living sacrifice is not a one time occassion. Just like a wedding is not considered a marriage. A lot of people get dressed up to walk down the aisle, spend ridiculous amounts of money and time planning but aren't really ever married...meaning living their lives as 1 unit; giving their seperate lives for each other for the greater good. God doesn't want a beautiful one day ceremony. He wants a marriage. He is the groom and we are the bride. When we live a surrendered life to God, we give room for the exchange of His love to consume us, His surpassing peace to takeover us....all that He is becomes us. Galatians 2:20 says "I have been crucified with Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Jesus needs those to be willing to give their lives to save others and to bring glory to Him. He said that the works that He does we will also do and even greater works than that (John 14:12). Religion has taught us to sacrifice to a cause, specific ministry, or man but not entirely to God.

When we live a sacrificed life unto Christ, we can say what Chris Brown says in this song (Click to Listen) or what Natalie Grant says in her song (Click to Listen). I've experienced the reality of these songs in my life. I'm not going to lie and say that it's easy to do all of the time (live a sacrificed/surrendered life) because our minds are a battlefield. We have to overcome that. Where the mind goes the body and everything else will follow.  Although it's not always easy, living a sacrificed life is not a heavy burden or yoke around our necks. It's a joy when it's all about God, His love and our love for Him. Jesus says in Matthew 11:30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

When we live a surrendered life to God and exercise our faith, then God can put His super on our natural and we can experience life more abundantly through Christ.

If you have any questions or comments, PLEASE feel free to share them. I hope that this post has blessed you in some kind of way. Let's continue on this journey to a deeper relationship with God and not religion, experiencing His freedom.

Vakeisa L. Jones

Even Exchange: Your All For His All

Hello! So, we meet again. Lol! I must say that I struggled with the post today. There were so many things floating throughout my head, and the rain didn't make it any easier. 

I took a roadtrip this past weekend and during that time I was able to hear a lot and do a lot of thinking. It's amazing the things that God shows us when we are sitting still all by ourselves. I popped in a music cd that I've had for several years but really hadn't listened to it in its entirety. The entire cd is comprised of songs talking about relationship with God. There is one song that stuck out to me that I want to share and speak on in depth. The song is entitled "Is your all on the altar" and it's by Yolanda Adams. Click Here To Listen. 

See, no one taught me how to put my all on the altar. I didn't know what my all was! All I knew was rules and regulations: what to say and not to say; what to do and not to do; to go to Bible Study, Sunday School, Sunday Morning Worship, evening service and special programs; to be busy doing something in church; to give my money to the church; and etc. No one took time to explain grace to me and the magnitude of God's love and His sacrifice. Romans 12:1 tells us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is our reasonable service. Some think that following rules and regulations is a sacrifice and in many ways it is. You're sacrificing your freedom, your time and life to the benefit of who? That is the question. Man-made mandates and systems have made what we know as Christianity into a life of bondage and boredom. Then as a result, we find thoughts of atheism, agnosticism and hyprocrisy creeping in our doors and faith diminishing because we've placed our faith in works of the institutionalized church and in the people in leadership instead of the God of the universe. We pray because that's what we've been taught to do. We fast because that's we're told to do. We give our money because that's what we've been told to do. You know, to sow a seed. We do all of these things to try to manipulate God's grace to find it to no avail because we have more of a relationship with methods than Jesus, the answer himself. 

Religion scares people into getting saved with talks of hell and brimestone. The message of grace compels people into getting saved because Jesus has more to offer than a place to go after earthly death. He offers a better life, an abundant life, peace that surpasses all understanding when all hell is breaking loose, joy unspeakable, true happiness...everything we may want and need in life. And God never told us that life was going to be fair or right all of the time, but He does promise to be the solution and remedy to every problem and issue we have. BUT we can only take part in these benefits when we lay our all on the altar meaning OURSELVES on the altar. Our money is NOT us, our time is NOT us, our willingness and ability to follow rules is NOT us. We are trichotomy: SOUL, BODY and SPIRIT. That is what God wants: our will, intellect, emotions, physcial body and spirit. You know just like in the natural, some people  find it easy to do what is asked of them or to give money than to give all of themselves. But the bible tells us to love the Lord with ALL of our heart, our soul and strength. Those aren't external things but internal.

As I digress: Jesus gave his life for us all. He was beaten, whipped, pierced with spears, spit upon and had hairs plucked from his beard so that we could have relationship with him, God, not religion. Religion was here before He came on the scene so why would He come so that we could have that which already existed? I hope I've given you some things to think about and ponder until next time. I feel a part 2 of this coming so stay tuned.

Embrace God and the blessing,

Vakeisa L. Jones

Introducing the Journey

Psalms 34:18 "The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit." 

Dueteronomy 4:29 "But rom there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Today is the national day known as Valentine's Day, Love Day, Heart Day etc., etc., etc. What a perfect time to kick this off right?! Yay! Lol! As I digress.... to some it's a day of romanticism and lovey-dovey mushy-gushy memory making. To some it's a day of dread, a trigger for memories of heartbreak and lonliness. Whatever today means for you, God's love is the same everyday and is the same for everyone. 

I posted two scriptures at the top that I believe convey God's heart and exemplify a facet of how relationship with God is. Psalms 34:18 tells us God is near us when we are broken hearted and when our spirits are broken. Dueteronomy 4:29 tells us that we WILL find God if we seek Him with our whole heart. Why is this? Revelation 3:20 lets us know that God stands at our door and knocks. He is concerned about us when we're broken. He hears our cries and is wanting in our door because He is the God of ALL comfort and He knows He can fix whatever it is. Afterall, He is the creator of all things; the ultimate intelligent being. And we will find Him when we search with all our heart, our passion and soul why? Distractions lose their power when we put our ALL into the search for Him. And on top of that, He's already there. He's at our door! So the equation is this: SEEK GOD WITH YOUR ALL + HE'S ALREADY THERE = A GLORIOUS COLLISION OF A HUG. 

Contrary to popular belief, we are not chasing God. God is ever so close to us. If anything, our feet are entangled in the lust and sin of our flesh, or we're running into walls set up by religion which brings me to the  introduction of the title of this blog,  The Journey Between Religion and Relationship. God's love is not this mystical thing we have to work for. Religion teaches us that. For God's love is freely given through grace. Relationship reveals that. I encourage you to join this journey of mine if you haven't already. Let's pursue a real relationship with God and not with religion. Yeah, they both start off sounding the same with the "rel" but they are drastically different. 

I hope you enjoyed the read. Stay tuned for more on this journey between religion and relationship. Until next time, embrace God's love and blessings.

Vakeisa L. Jones