Belonging

 

Belonging 

 

There’s a term in the pro wrestling world called “pulling back the curtain”.  I’m about to do that with my life.  As some of you know I was married for almost 11 years, and my wife left me and divorced me no explanation.  Recently I was talking to my fiancé Becky about part of that time afterwards.  I spent about 2 years after my divorce hurting a lot.  I told Becky that for part of that time I felt like God had abandoned me.  He never did!  I almost bought into several lies straight from the pit of hell.  The lies were as follows.  I thought my life was over with no more purpose.  I thought I mattered to no one.  I thought I could never be loved by a woman ever again.  Whatever women wanted I didn’t believe I possessed it.  The first day I met Becky, she told me she loved me and that I mattered to her.  For a long time, I didn’t want to be at church because I felt that most churches, I had ever been to treated people who had been through a divorce like they had committed the unpardonable sin.  In my case I didn’t choose to be in that situation.  I had even gotten to the point that I almost believed God could never use me again because of my divorce.  I had to go through two years of searching the Bible and bouncing from church to church before finding the place I was supposed to be at.  Church is not a building but people who are as hurting and sometimes are nearly as messed up as you seeking after God.  The church is made up of messed up people.  We don’t always get it right.  But when you find the one God calls you to, you will find a group that you need to be around.  Christians can sometimes get our focus so messed up and I’m about to show you an example in a song that drove that home for me.  See a lot of times when I went to church after all that I didn’t feel like I belonged.  This is a song with such powerful lyrics you may find yourself in it.  Either you were being judged, or you were doing the judging.  

 

You don’t belong here by Kim Hill

 

Hey, lady sitting by yourself 

I can hear them say

“You don’t belong here

If your man’s away.”

Cause they believe in a love

That has no end

So, you can either tough it out

Or live in sin

 

Just when I think 

They’ve got it all wrong 

That’s when I realize the truth 

Maybe they’re right

You don’t belong here

You deserve to be where

There are people who care

Instead of a world 

That shouts from the high road 

Saying we love like God

But you don’t belong here.  

 

Cause although we all fall short 

I guess they still believe 

Some people fall too far

For grace to reach

 

I’m not trying to decide what’s 

Right or Wrong 

I don’t think that job is up to me

But they’re selling passports 

To the gates of kingdom come 

Like they’re the ones who hold the keys 

And they’re not

 

Hey, man hanging on the cross

Is it really true 

When they say we don’t belong here

You’ve been there too

You were a friend to the prostitutes

You were a friend to thieves

For that your blood was shed

By the Pharisees 

 

Cause you don’t belong here 

You deserve to be where

There are people who care

Instead of a world 

That shouts from the high road 

Saying we love like God

But you don’t belong here.

 

Every last one of us as humans has been through hurt and judgement calls that we didn’t deserve.  We need fellow Christians in our lives who will see us as people and care for us.  I had to get back in a Bible believing church to see that and draw closer to God.  He still loved me and wanted an active relationship in my life regardless of what I had been through.  None of it caught God by surprise.  Like the people of Israel in Jeremiah’s time emotionally I was in exile.  God wanted me to return to him so he could change me.  In Hebrews 10:25 it says this.  “Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that.  We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.”  Every person you meet is going through a battle you can’t see.  God called us to love one another.  Stop acting like you’re selling tickets and get to pick who gets to go to Heaven and who doesn’t.  That’s God’s decision and he called you to love them and point them in the right direction not push them away.  I personally have lived through divorce, church members trying to decide what kind of music I could listen to, being told by church members how I should act or dress.  A lot of times the band Petra had it right because “Sometimes God’s children should be seen and not heard.”  Are you living out the love of Christ or just talking about it and making judgements against people you come in contact with.  

 

 

Romans 12:16-18

 

 

“Live in harmony with one another.  Do not be proud, but associate with the lowly.  Do not be conceited.  Do not repay evil for evil.  Carefully consider what is right in the eyes of everybody.  If it is possible on your part live at peace with everyone.”  

 

There’s a lot of hurt in the world don’t contribute to it but point people to God and try to help others heal.  

 

 

Seen and not Heard by Petra

You Don't Belong Here by Kim Hill

Battle Cry

 

Battle Cry

 

I want to start this blog by saying something.  This is not about Zac this is about glorifying God, and I do this in hopes that just one person draws closer to God. 

 

Often, I have said that the way to battle our perspective problems as a Christian is to get our focus off ourselves and back on God.  I’m going to introduce you to a song that lyrically has floored me.  If you study the Old Testament, you often find things like praising God being part of Israel winning battles.   The entire book of Psalms is praise to God.  Most of them start with listing our problems and then shifting our thoughts back on God.  This is called Battle Cry by Megan Pifer.

 

“Our Sovereign King,

You Reign eternal

To you we’re calling out

In the heat of battle, through our struggle

Still, we exalt you now

You raise us from the dust

You breathe in us

Even in the fray we exhale your name

Standing in your victory

Firm against the enemy

With our weapons lifted high

Our worship is our battle cry

Yours is the honor, everlasting power

We find your strength when we are weak

You’re watching over the highest tower

You will keep us from defeat

Brief and fleeting are these days

Merely glimpses of your majesty displayed

So we hold to what is yet to be

Standing in your victory

Our hope is in eternity”

 

I can tell you from personal experience that after my divorce one of the hardest things for me to do was to sing and praise God.  I was consumed by hurt.  But singing praise to God shifts us from our one-sided perspective to see that God is still in control and still at work in our lives.  There’s a verse in this song that says, “Our worship is our battle cry.”  Ephesians 5:19-20 says this.  “When you meet together, sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs as you praise the Lord with all your heart.  Always use the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to thank God the Father for everything.”  When we sing it shifts our thought process from our complaining and fixes it on the Giver of All Good Things.  There was a trend noticed years ago when I went to Real Life wherein people would show up late to skip the music portion of services.  But we need corporate worship because it is our battle cry.  Psalm 9:11 “You rule from Zion, Lord and we sing about you to let the nations know everything you have done.”  There is another thing I have seen on Facebook that I find troubling and that is when church members post this.  “It’s Sunday get your praise on.”  It always leads me to this question: “What have you been doing the rest of the week.?”  If you only sing and praise God on Sunday and not the other days you might want to evaluate your relationship with God because He is active all week.  Christian music is a big part of my life, and I will list some reasons why.  If I am not seeking God, I can be a very angry person to the point I don’t even like myself.  God has done so much in my life I need to thank Him.  I need to put Him first.   

I very much feel the need to share something that happened to me years ago in college to drive all this home as far as our need to praise God.  I’m going to take you back 29 years to be exact to 1996.  It was dark, I was on the beach on a mission trip with a group of college students for something called Beach Reach.  The Baptist Student Union sent a group to reach people on Spring Break with the gospel.  I was there with other students praying on the beach in tears asking God.  “What do you want me to do?”  In that moment as clear as could be God impressed upon me to praise Him.  I don’t share this lightly or often.  God has done so much for all of us in life that He deserves our praise.  Go look at the sunrise and sunset and see His beauty in creation.  Let this blog if nothing else motivate you to praise God.   

 

Praise Forevermore- Point of Grace

Battle Cry -Megan Pifer

I am on the Rock- Millennial Reign

What an Awesome God- Phil Wickham

We’re a Band- Audio Adrenaline and T Bone

At your feet

 

At your feet

 

We live in a world that exalts pride and dependency on self.  I was driving to work on Saturday, and I have quite the Spotify playlist of Christian music.  I was listening to this song called At Your Feet by Casting Crowns.  Just a beautiful song that reminds us of our dependence on God.  We get so caught up in the cares of the world and forget where we need to be focused.  I’m going to share with you the lyrics to this.  

 

“Here at your feet, I lay my past down

My wanderings, all my mistakes down

Here at your feet, I lay this down

Not in my strength, but in yours I’ve found 

All I need, you’re all I need

 

Jesus, Jesus, at your feet

Oh, to dwell and never leave

Jesus, Jesus, at your feet 

There is nowhere else for me 

 

Here at your feet, I lay my future down 

All of my dreams, I give to you now

And I find peace, I find peace 

Here at your feet, I lay my life down

For you my King, you’re all I want now

And my soul sings.  “

 

It’s a song but it’s also a prayer.  Get my focus off of me and back on God.  

 

1 Peter 5:6-7 

“So, humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.  Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.”  

 

In Luke 11:38-42 there is a story where Mary and Martha had Jesus over to their house and Martha became distracted by a big dinner while her sister Mary sat at Jesus feet and listened to him. That’s us moment to moment day by day.  We have choices to make about our focus.  There’s a picture I saw many years back in an Incredible Hulk comic and he’s facing a signpost with hands on it pointing all directions and it says Crossroads.  Are we choosing to seek God or other things?  I get distracted easily by video games and stress in life and I need to get better with my choices.  I need to be back at his feet.  On Father’s Day morning I sent a message to my dad thinking he was still asleep but he’s a pastor and it was Sunday so of course he was getting his sermon ready.  I want to share this conversation we had.  Why because he reminded me that I still have the tools and the toolbox for this blog thing that I haven’t done in some time.  

 

“Happy Father’s Day!  You once told me something that all at once humbled me.  You said someone asked you if I was going to be a preacher like you and your response was “If he chooses to I’ve given him all the tools.”  I never even knew I had the toolbox.  I may not always get things right but I’m happy because of the way you raised me.  You taught me to care for the people in my life.”

 

“Thank you. The only Tool that matters is the Lord Jesus Christ. 

If you don’t have Him nothing matters.”

 

I don’t do this blog thing because I might be someone special because I’m not.  I do this with my prayer and goal being this “if just one person draws closer to God because of something I shared then I have accomplished my purpose.”  

 

This is another reason why I do these videos.

 

In Isaiah 55:8-11 it says this.

 

“‘My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts’, says the Lord.  ‘And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.  For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.  The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth.  They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.  It is the same with my word.  I send it out and it always produces fruit.  It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”  

 

What that means for Zac is this.  I share God’s word and he does the hard part of changing people’s lives.  I can’t do that and don’t want the responsibility.  I simply trust God that His Word will not go forth without doing what he intended.  When people share His Word it changes people somehow.  

 

Make the choice throughout your day to be at his feet.  

 

At your feet by Casting Crowns  

Break the statistics

 

Break the statistics 

 

Two and a half years ago I was married and my wife left me.  I ended up being divorced.  I spiraled out of control for a long time and did things I regret.  I remember about a year ago I was at Second Baptist Church in Corpus Christi and Pastor Dana said something that floored me.  He read off a statistic about how most people who have been divorced don’t return to church ever. Now you have to remember something I put myself through counseling twice because of what I went through.  I still have good and bad days.    I will be the first to tell you if God can use my hurt to help someone else, I am fine with that.  So often after all that happened to me, I prayed asking God to give me a purpose and hope.  It’s two and a half years later and I don’t blog like I used to, and my mom will even tell you that my ex took a lot out of me.  I’m called by God to encourage, and I haven’t always been able to.  I love to write and haven’t always known what to say.  This blog just happened spur of the moment and I felt God calling me to share it.    Jeremiah 29:11-13 says this “For I know the plans I have for you”, says the Lord.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me

 

Two and half years later I find myself in a relationship with a woman named Becky.  Neither of us planned anything that happened to cause her to be a part of my life.  We met on the Facebook dating app and we talked for months before ever meeting in person.  My world and hers had both been shattered.  We both were convinced a person of the opposite sex couldn’t ever love us again.  She told me the first day we met that I mattered to her and she loved me.  I cried a lot.  Now we have a dog and a cat and 7 kittens.  Do you want a kitten?  I had no hope and neither did she.  We put God first and but we try our best to be better than the day before.  

 

I say all this to remind you that God created you and he has something special for you.  I don’t know what that looks like for you.  Get up seek God.  Answers may not always come easy but know that you are loved.  I was sitting folding laundry watching a documentary about WWE star Diamond Dallas Page using his exercise program to change people’s lives.  It reminded me that I can still be used by God to simply encourage people.  I don’t know what God has for you to do but you’re not alone and he can still use you no matter the hurt you’ve gone through.  You may say “But Zac, how do you know God can still use me with all I’ve been through.”  He uses me.  Plain and simple I’m just a person doing a Bible study blog when I can in hopes that if God uses it to change one person’s life, then I accomplished what I set out to do.  I’m not a great anything but if God can use me, he can use you.  I’ve been through hurt and emotional abuse. I’ve had some of the best and some of the worst days but if God can use that to help someone else by having me do something as simply as sharing a blog, then I want this to glorify God.  That’s all I want from my life is to glorify him. 

 

Galatians 6:9-10 says this.

“So, let’s not get tired of doing what is good.  At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.  Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone— especially those in the family of faith.”  

“Never give up!  At least not so early in the game.” 

 

Unexpected friends by Sandi Patty and Amy Grant

Anyway by Martina McBride 

Hurricane by Natalie Grant 

Words

 

Words

 

I haven’t blogged in quite some time.  I feel the need to though.  As a lot of you know I now have a girlfriend named Becky.  We were talking Friday night and we both talk a great deal about everything.  I told her I had been thinking.  Becky and I come from very broken past relationships.  I told her that she needs compliments and words of encouragement and affection as much as I do.  Because of our past relationships we have been through emotional and verbal abuse that no one should go through.  It falls on me as her boyfriend to build her up.  The first day we met she told me I mattered to her.  When you’ve been emotionally at a point that you feel like you matter to no one just hearing that can make you cry tears of happiness.  She did make me cry.  Each day we compliment each other.   You have people in your life who are dying emotionally and need some words of kindness.  God doesn’t bring them into your life by chance.  How you interact with people says a lot about you as a person.  I have another friend Erica who uses her Facebook page to try and build people up all the time.  You can build people up with written communication, spoken words face to face or just making someone feel like they matter.  

 

Proverbs 18:21 says this

“Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.”  

 

Romans 12:18

“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  

 

Use your words carefully people, don’t be the reason someone suffers verbal abuse.  

 

Words I would say by Sidewalk Prophets