Disconnecting God's Love from His Blessing

Today I am going to expand on the confusion many people have between God's love and His blessing. I believe the reason for this confusion is because for most, if not all, of our lives we've been conditioned to believe this kind of blessing equals love mindset. This way of showing love through blessing is literally built into most, if not all, earthly cultures where love is connected to behavior. So good behavior is rewarded with love and blessing and love and blessing are withheld with bad behavior. 

But what I want to propose to you is three things, that:

1. God's love for His creation/people is not connected to our behavior
2. God never withholds His love towards us
3. God's love is not connected to His blessing

God's love for His creation/people is not connected to our behavior

God is love (1 John 4:8, 16). This means that God's very essence is love which means that He cannot not love. This means that everything that God does is from a place of love. The way that helps me understand the difference between God's love and human love is through percentages. You see, God loves His creation/people 100% all the time. Because His love is perfect this means the quality and quantity of His love is always at 100%. This means God's love for you will never lessen, not even to 99.9%, but always stays at a constant 100%. 

I find this helpful because oftentimes we can project our own feelings of rejection, disappointment and unlovableness onto God and in so doing we believe that because we've done something wrong that He loves us less. This is common because that is how most of us were raised as children and taught as we grew up by our cultures and societies. But we must recognize that this way of conditional and inconsistent love that has been ingrained into us is not the way God loves. He loves us full stop and there is nothing we can or cannot do to change this 100% love He has towards us. 

God never withholds His love towards us

So, even as I am raising my own child, I have to resist the impulse to withhold love from my daughter when she misbehaves as I express my disapproval of her behavior. Because the easiest way for me to express my disapproval of her behavior is to give her the impression of withholding my love towards her which couldn't be further from the truth because I love my daughter full stop. But I need to be mindful of my interactions with her because this is what she may end up concluding. Now, I believe at the root of this desire to withhold love or to give the impression of withheld love is control. I mean what better way for me to control my daughter's behavior? 

But, this imperfect way of expressing love is completely human and far different than God's divine expression of love. God is not a control freak. He has given people freewill and He honors that in people. God is not out trying to manipulate and control people but rather honors people's freewill. Because if you take away freewill, you take away the means to a real and genuine love relationship. 

So when my daughter misbehaves, I try my very best to 1) not overreact (easier said than done at times), then 2) let her know that I love her (I do this by giving her a cuddle and telling her), and then 3) as gently as I can tell her that what she did was not nice, wrong or selfish (which ever seems to fit at the time). I've learned over the last few years of being her father that I need to be intentional and consistent about building a foundation of love, trust and security with her. 

When it comes to God's Divine love for us, He is perfect in the way that He loves us and He will never resort to any sort of controlling or manipulative tactics when we misbehave/sin because He truly desires to have a real and genuine love relationship with us built on trust and security. This means that He will never withhold His love from us, full stop because that would go against the very nature of who He is (1 John 4:8, 16). 

God's love is not connected to His blessing

Another example of one of my "amazing" parenting tactics is bribery (yes I am being sarcastic here). The easiest way for me to get my daughter to do what I ask her is to bribe her with some sort of blessing. For example, there are times where she refuses to sit in her car seat and so I will offer her different things that I know she likes to get her to obey me. Now, when I do this I know that I am only reinforcing behavioral conditioning where good behavior = blessing and bad behavior = no blessing. Because I also use reverse bribery (yes I think I just made this term up), but I threaten to not give her something (some sort of blessing) if she doesn't listen.

This way of behavioral conditioning is again common to the way many us were raised which continued on as we continued on in school where good behavior was rewarded and bad behavior punished. To use an extreme example of this, just look at prison systems, where good behavior is rewarded with time off a person's prison sentence and bad behavior is punished with solitary confinement and/or added prison time. But, if we really paused to look and see just how common behavioral conditioning is in our society, we will discover that it is integrated into just about every part of our society and just not on the fringes. 

Hopefully you are recognizing the great need to begin unlearning the way we have been behaviorally conditioned towards blessing and love. I would also add that working towards separating the two is vitally crucial because we will naturally approach God in this way. We will believe that as long as we are doing good and right things, He loves and blesses us and when we do wrong He withholds His love and blessing from us.

Now, I believe this may have been true through the Mosaic Covenant of the Law, but today we are under a New Covenant through Christ which makes the Mosaic Covenant irrelevant to us because Jesus has fulfilled the Law and we now stand with Jesus in this fulfillment. If we are to follow any commands of love I believe John 13:34-35 shows us the way: "So I give you now a new commandment: Love each other just as much as I have loved you. For when you demonstrate the same love I have for you by loving one another, everyone will know that you're me true followers" (The Passion Translation). 

I do want to highlight the dangers to a formulaic approach to faith which means when we start implementing formulas into our understanding of God's ways. If I do (A) + (B) then God must do (C) kind of thinking.  When we begin to rely on formulas we will either end up in legalism or in believing we can manipulate God. 

This is why I believe the sooner we disconnect God's love to His blessing towards us, the greater intimacy we will have with Him because too often, when we believe the two are connected this has the ability to drive a wedge between drawing near to God and fully living in His perfect love for us. 

Now hear me on this, I am NOT saying that God doesn't reward and bless us, what I am saying is that we should never allow our sense of His blessing in our life to be the measure of His love for us. If we are to have a measure, then the Cross should be the only measure we look to in understanding the greatness and fullness of God's love towards us (John 3:16) and never our life circumstance. 

I believe the main issues that hinder us from experiencing God's 100% love is our own personal barriers that we hold and that we need to breakthrough, so that we can know, understand and experience God's 100% love more comletely. A friend of mine has recently posted this on social media (thanks Joe K.) which I believe sums this up well: 

• God didn’t send Jesus to die so that He would be able to love us, He sent Jesus so that we would be able to love Him.
• His mind was never set against us, but ours against Him. He has never not loved us.
• Sin didn’t set God against us, it set us against God. It didn’t separate us from God in the sense of Him withdrawing, it turned our hearts against Him and so we withdrew.
• God didn’t send Jesus to die to satiate His anger towards humanity in its sin, but to satiate humanity’s anger towards God as a result of their sin.
• He is the Lamb who took away the sin of the world. He is the Lamb who dealt with the irrational hostility of humanity towards Himself by circumcising their heart of the sin nature.
• God didn’t reconcile Himself to us, He reconciled us to Himself.
• God isn’t the one who was hostile, we were.
• He loves us, and always has.
• “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans‬ ‭5:8‬ 

I hope you were encouraged by this and my prayer is that the Holy Spirit would continue to draw you closer and closer to Jesus and that your sense of His love for you would be firm and unshakable. God bless you! 

God's Top Four Priorities for His Children: Introduction

Have you ever wondered what God's priorities are for your life? I have and the journey to better understanding these priorities has not been an easy one. But, before I dive into this topic, let me say that I am still in process and am still growing in my understanding of God, Truth and Life and how these three realities intertwine together.  

Over the past 10 years I've had the privilege of connecting with people both inside and outside the walls of a church building and across 4 continents (North America, Africa, Asia and Australia). This has definitely had its challenges, but also some really precious and endearing rewards. Bottom line, people are beautiful. It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from, there is beauty in you. Believe it. 

So, as I begin to lay out what I believe are God's top priorities for people, I will submit to you that I am in no means saying that I have all the answers. But, only a helpful framework that has helped me and others in better discerning the movements of God in our lives. I was first taught this by a long time friend and pastor ministering in Taiwan (thanks Dave for your humility and wisdom).

Now, the way these priorities work themselves out in a person's life will be unique to each of us. Though we may at times have some commonalities between our stories, no two stories are ever alike, just as no two people are ever alike. 

My aim in posting this, is to hopefully better help you see the bigger picture, so to speak, so that you can then take this list as a sort of filter or magnifying glass that will bring some greater clarity as you zoom into the uniqueness of your own life story. So, here we go.  

I will first list what I believe to be God's top four priorities for His children (there is more you could add to this list, but grasping these top four is crucial) and then I will expand on them: 

1. Relationship (Salvation) 

2. Christlikeness (Transformation) 

3. Faith (Maturity) 

4.Blessing/Comfort (Prosperity) 

If we can grasp these four priorities in the right order, I believe we will truly experience the greatest happiness and fulfillment for our lives. To say it another way, when we understanding these four priorities in the right order, we will experience the abundant life Jesus promises His followers (John 10:10b)

Now, what I believe has brought great confusion to understanding God's higher priorities for people has been the "prosperity gospel" which in a nut shell emphasizes financial blessing and physical well-being as the main purpose and plan of God for a person. Wikipedia defines it as: 

"a religious belief among some Christians, who hold that financial blessing and physical well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one's material wealth. Prosperity theology views the Bible as a contract between God and humans: if humans have faith in God, he will deliver security and prosperity."

What the "prosperity gospel" has done is placed what I have listed fourth on the list as number two. It tells people, God saves you and then blesses you. There is little or no mention of becoming like Jesus (transformation) and trials and hardships are interpreted as disobedience and lack of faith. There is real danger in this because it is a distortion of the gospel. 

Now, hear me on this I am not saying that God doesn't want to bless us, I absolutely believe He does, He has and He will! I believe God is a good and generous Father who not only provides for His children, but also blesses and rewards them. What I am saying is that God has a couple higher priorities for us that will at times supersede Him blessing us materially and financially. 

As I have walked alongside people who hold to this distorted understanding of the Gospel, what I have witnessed is that when a trial or hardship comes their way, they almost immediate start thinking that they have done something wrong and will start repenting of every sin that they can think of and/or will oftentimes blame and condemn themselves for not having enough faith. Sound familiar?

But, when we begin to grasp that God has a couple higher priorities for us as His children, then when trials or hardships happen, we have a better understanding of what God might be doing in our lives. Maybe we haven't actually done anything wrong, but God has decided in these trials and hardships to either help us to transform more into the likeness of Jesus or He could be wanting to increase our faith and maturity. But the only way that we can even entertain these options is only if they are actually in our grid of the will of God for His people.  

To be continued....

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 23

I was a little slow in getting out of the street today after being away for almost 10 days visiting family in Minnesota. But, the day couldn't have started better. My friend Jeff (who lives in the building right across from where I am) came by and said that he was happy to see me. I told him "I spent a week in Minneapolis with family" and he said "That's what I figured, since last time you were away for about a week you were visiting family in Texas." He even mentioned that a couple people in his building were asking about me. Wow, I am just blown away that there were people I never met before wondering were I was. So, I told him to tell them to come by and say hi to me one of these days. 

Honestly, after Day 22, I needed some heavy duty encouraging and I'm thankful that God knew it and timed it so Jeff would cross my path when he did.  His words were like a ray of light to my overcast spirit. It truly warmed my heart to know that people are beginning to expect me to be out there. So, amazing the favor God is giving me on this small corner in the Wicker Park community of Chicago. Sometimes I wonder just how many people I've impacted by being out here. Regardless of the number, I'm looking forward to the day when I finally get to see Jesus face to face and hearing about how He used this little Mobile Prayer Station for His Kingdom. I'm also looking forward to meeting in Heaven all the people who were impacted through this prayer ministry. Very exciting. 


Today, there was a broad spectrum of people with whom I was blessed to pray with. I'll mention a couple. The first is Dan who must have been in his 50s and as we talked he shared his desire to work for a non-profit organization. He said he's been looking around but to no avail. From my sense of him, I'd say he wasn't a Christian but more of a good moral person searching for significance. So, I prayed for divine guidance, revelation of purpose and direction for him. It's cool when I'm prophetically praying the desires of a person's heart because there's this excitement mixed with tenderness that happens. It was very neat to see Dan's heart and spirit light up during the prayer time. I'm having faith for Dan that God will pave the way before him to not only find satisfaction in this world, but also eternal satisfaction within his soul. 


Next, Che kind of surprised me as I must have been in deep thought about something or just looking off into the distance because next thing you know I have this 6 foot  plus African American man looming in front of me. And the very first words out of his mouth was, "Can you pray that I would win the lottery?" At first I thought he was kidding, but he wasn't. I find this interesting because just the other day I was challenged to not judge or critique people's prayers. But, to be honest I have a bias about the lottery because I believe they prey on the poor by giving them false hopes and teaching them to put their trust in the quick fix, rather then teaching them to work hard and to spend their money on necessities. I especially saw this in the Dominican Republic where people living well below the poverty level were spending half their income on lottery tickets when they hardly had enough money for food and clothing. 


Anyways, I shared my thoughts with him and though he said I had a point, he countered that "If, someone is to win the lottery it's better to pray that that person be someone who would do a lot of good with the money, like me or you (I was flattered but little does he know of my secret desire to live on my own private island - yes I'm kidding), rather than someone else who would just blow the money or use it selfishly." I'd have to say Che had a point and I was humbled. I apologized for being critical of his prayer request which he graciously accepted. It was another neat prayer time. If there was one thing that stuck out to me about Che was that he was full of life and this really came out as I prayed that God breath even more life into him, that He would give Che favor in people's lives to encourage and impact them for good and that he would win the lottery. He asked, so I prayed. No judgement.


Today, was an all around good day. Afterwards, I went to Wicker Mic which is an outdoor open mic happening in WIcker Park. So after finishing with the Mobile Prayer Station I walked over and signed up to read a section of my poetry from a work titled "A Seeker's Return." I only read a portion of the work which gave a snapshot of the internal struggle and cosmic battle for my soul as Jesus' Kingdom of light broke into the darkness surrounding my life both internal and external. I've only read my work publicly say 5 times. So, I was a bit nervous because of this but also because I write very personally and honestly which maybe people don't want such a deep glimpse into my heart and soul. But, today they did if they wanted to or not. Overall, I felt the hand of God upon me and His compassion both for me and those I was blessed to talk and prayer with. God truly loves His creation and desires goodness and blessing for us. 


Thank you for praying for me. And please let me know how I can be praying for you! 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 13

Today I was given the opportunity to talk at length with quite a few people. Usually, my conversations with people has been limited to a few minutes. But, today Jose and I must have talked for almost a half hour about faith and life. He shared with me his amazing journey of redemption and I had the privileged to pray with him and for his family. I prayed favor and peace for Jose, but then the Lord moved me to break the generational curse of alcoholism in Jose's family. Something the Lord has been continually teaching and challenging me to do is to walk in the power and authority He has given me as His disciple (Luke 9:1; 2 Corinthians 10:3-8). 

Everyday I am confronted by the reality of the great cosmic battle between good and evil where the devil is constantly trying to steal, kill and destroy the life Jesus desires to bring into people's lives (John 10:10). What I've learned over the years of engaging in spiritual warfare both in my own life and in the lives of others is that the only way to stand up against the devil and his schemes is to do it in the authority of Jesus' Name (Acts 2:38; 3:6, 16; 4:10), in the power of the God's Word (2 Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:3) and in and under the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Luke 4:18, 19; 1 Corinthians 12:7; Ephesians 3:26; 1 John 2:27) which collectively means speaking the truth and life of Jesus into people's lives and releasing in greater measure the presence of God and the reality of His Kingdom. 

With each person I talked and prayed with today (Jose, Patrick, Denise, Rahelle, Bridget, Wesley and Greg) what they repeatedly ask for was blessing and what I was repeatedly moved to pray for as well  was favor. We are still living in challenging times and people are still struggling vocationally, financially emotionally and spiritually and God's heart towards His children, both found and lost, is one of goodness, kindness and love. But there are many, many people who believe that they need to work their way into Heaven and earn God's good graces. So, much of my conversations with people and the wording of my prayers with them is to help break through this distorted understanding of God's heart towards them. God gives freely with no strings attached. He gives us His unconditional love because He desires our unconditional love in return. The last thing He wants is to coerce us, that's why He has given us free will. He wants us to choose Him over the devil, the things of the world, other people, even ourselves. 

Sorry for going off there, but as you can tell I am pretty passionate about this. Maybe it's because it pains me so deeply to see people being deceived and lied to and in bondage and oppressed. When I know that God's not angry with them and that He's not waiting for them to step out of line so that He can punish them. God is not vindictive and petty, but I can't tell you how many people I've met who think He is. What I believe and what I believe the bible says about God is that His plans for us are good and not harmful (Jeremiah 29:11), that He is overjoyed when we call out to Him (Jeremiah 29:12-13; Psalms 34:17-18; 57:2; 147:3; ), that He delights in His creation (Genesis 1; Psalm 104; Zephaniah 3:17) and is eager to be in relationship with us (Luke 15). But the devil, the world, even our own earthly desires will do everything they can to keep us separated from God by deceiving and distorting our view and understanding of who God is and His heart towards us. But, Jesus has defeated the devil (Colossians 2:14-15), overcome the world (John 16:33) and has endured every temptation without sinning (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22). It is through Him that we have victory and through Him that we receive ALL the joy, peace, riches and blessings of Heaven. 

So as Jesus tells us: "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give" (Matthew 10:8 NIV). 

Mobile Prayer Station: DAY 8

I was once again amazed by God's grace today. So, my friend Nate joined me for about an hour today and while he was there we met two women, Lucy and Ana, who stayed in a nearby apartment complex that my church has been interested in blessing and serving. Not only did we get to pray with them, but Lucy was the woman who, up until a few years ago, organized the activities for the seniors who lived in the building which is exactly what my church has been interested in doing. After brainstorming ideas with her, Lucy gave Nate her contact info. Talk about a God orchestrated appointment. So cool! 

Even though the weather was so wonderfully warm today, some people I encountered still had storm clouds looming over their lives. Case and point, I give you Edwin and Ada who are going through quite a bit of financial stress and anxiety in their lives right now. They actually walked past me and came back around to me. After saying hi to them, the very first thing Edwin said to me was "I wish I could find $1000 on the ground right now." We talked for a little while, but mostly I just listened both to Edwin and Ada, but also to the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God helps to highlight which burdens I need to focus on in prayer and will oftentimes give revelation of what may be the underlying cause while also giving me pictures of hope to share. For Edwin and Ada, God let them know that He sees them and is concerned that they are distressed. 

A new comer today was Larry who complimented me on my burnt orange Converse high tops and asked me what I paid for them. We then proceeded to talk about where to find Converse Allstars at a low price which lead to him talking about why he loves wearing Converse low tops because of an old ankle injury that gets swollen from time to time. Seeing an opportunity, I told him why I was out on the street and asked if I could pray with him and ask God to bring healing to his ankle. He said "yes" and we prayed while bumping fists. I love the diversity of people's personalities and style. I also prayed for blessing and favor over Larry's life. There was no immediate healing that happened, but I'm still glad I asked God for healing for Larry because if we don't pray for healing, healing will never happen. But if we do there is a chance that God will heal. So, no matter the results, I never regret praying for healing for someone. 

Finally, my new friend Lao, the ice cream vender, was out today. We talked about faith while eating one of his very tasty ice cream pops. He said that he has no faith, but that he believed in a higher power. I told him I was a Christian and he stated that he thinks that people humanize God too much and that he has a problem with that. What I was discerning from Lao was that this "higher power" of his was an impersonal being, a nebulous intangible power. So, I ended up sharing my testimony with him and my own personally encounters with God. I shared that it's not only about reading about God in the bible, but also about personally experiencing Him; that knowing God is both understanding and experience. His eyes popped open and I could tell he was interested in encountering and experiencing God. So, I prayed with Lao, asking God "If you are real God, reveal Yourself to Lao." A very simply prayer, but one filled with revelation and power. I have a feeling that my conversations with Lao about God are only just beginning and am looking forward to engaging with him more on the things of faith and life.