We Need God, Then We Want God

Tom Crandall

Man has three basic spiritual needs.

  • Security – being loved and accepted
  • Value – being valued; desired; we need to be wanted
  • Purpose – A life of meaning, significance; if your life does not bring meaning to the lives of others, it is empty and grows tiresome.

Before I knew the love of God I tried to create value through purpose in order to gain security.

Before I knew the love of God I tried to create value (being something to someone), through purpose (my performance), in order to gain security (love and acceptance). Continue reading “We Need God, Then We Want God” »

Love is not something we get, it is something we receive

Tom Crandall

We don’t pursue love by “doing,” by “getting,” by “doing to get.”  Love is something we receive from God and we abide in it to experience the fullness of love.

 John 8:31, 32 “If you abide in My word, then you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”

 2 Corinthians 3:17 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

Continue reading “Love is not something we get, it is something we receive” »

Accepted In The Beloved

Tom Crandall

We all have a spiritual need to be loved–to be accepted.  When we don’t know God intimately through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we may seek approval in multiple ways:

1) Gain Approval
What can I do for you?

2) Win Approval
What can I do for me?

3) Demand Approval
Using force or control

4) Steal Approval
Through lies and deception

Here is the Good News—when you come to Christ you are reconciled to Father God and are accepted in the Beloved.  Eternally accepted and approved.
Continue reading “Accepted In The Beloved” »

Are You Poor In Spirit?

Tom Crandall

Poor InTo be poor in spirit is to recognize my utter spiritual bankruptcy before God.  It is understanding that I have absolutely nothing of worth to offer God.  Being poor in spirit is admitting that, because of my sinful nature, I am completely destitute spiritually, and can do nothing to deliver myself from the condition of my heart.

Jesus is saying that, no matter your status in life, you must recognize your spiritual poverty before you can come to God in faith to receive the salvation He offers.

  • I lack the compassion to be just
  • I am unfaithful to others and inconsistent
  • I judge myself by my intentions and others by their actions
  • My flesh is continually pulling me to exalt self
  • I am selfish, self-focused, self-absorbed, and self-obsessed
  • The purest of my motivations is contaminated by self

I need you, God.  I desperately need the Lord to set me free from my destructive, selfish nature–to deliver me from sin. Continue reading “Are You Poor In Spirit?” »

To Live Is Christ

Tom Crandall

Romans 7:4 “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.”

What does being “dead to the Law” mean to you?

To Live Is Christ

Your salvation is a liberation from Law and unification with a living Person, Jesus Christ—who, according to Romans 6:9, will never die again.  Which means your salvation is eternal and secure.

And the verse goes one step further and explains not only why we died to the Law—namely, to be joined to the living Christ—but also why we are joined to the living Christ—”in order that we might bear fruit for God.”  This fruit is love. Continue reading “To Live Is Christ” »

Come Out Of Hiding

Tom Crandall

Man is powerless.  He suffers in his own strength trying to make sense of it all–how did he come into being?  What gives life meaning?  How does he know right from wrong?  Where is he headed after he dies?

Man lacks the power to control.

Man lacks the knowledge to know.

Man lacks the compassion to be just.

Man is fickle, frail, and fragile; selfish and sinful. Continue reading “Come Out Of Hiding” »

The Power Of False Beliefs

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Before Christ came into my life I was a lost and broken soul, desperate to hide, cover, escape, and control my shame.  I couldn’t accept love from another human being when I believed I was unacceptable; I didn’t know how to receive love, I didn’t know how to give love, and it was inconceivable to me that Father God could possibly have anything but disgust and disdain for me.

How can a young man accept love from others when he “knows” he is unacceptable–when he believes he is unlovable, undesirable, unworthy, dirty, and defective?  He searches for a motive–he wonders… Continue reading “The Power Of False Beliefs” »

Man Has Two Problems

Tom Crandall

[Adapted from the The Works of Watchman Nee]

Man has two problems.  We—all of us—have two problems: sins and sin.  “Sins” plural, and “sin” singular.

“Sins,” plural, refers to the sins I have committed before God, which are many and can be numbered.  “Sin,” singular, refers to my sin-nature.  The sins I commit are the rotten fruit of my sin-nature.

I have two problems, sins and sin.  I need forgiveness for my sins, but I also need deliverance from the power of sin.  When God’s light first shines in our hearts, our cries are for forgiveness—our hearts are laid bare before God and everyone—we can see our offenses against God and the destruction they cause. Continue reading “Man Has Two Problems” »

Growing In Christ

Tom Crandall

Instead of striving to change your circumstances, let Christ change you through the circumstances you find yourself in.  Instead of walking out of your current circumstances, simply walk with Christ in your present circumstances.

My flesh, in a vain search for peace, has vigorously pressed me to to change my outward circumstances; to find “happiness” by changing my outward identity, status, and circumstances. I have been on and off of this treadmill so much in my life I become weary just thinking about it. Everything was constantly in disarray because I was always trying to move from kingdom to kingdom.

One of the strongholds the Lord sets me free from is my obsession with searching for greener grass–relationships, possessions, achievement, wealth, status, reputation, and better circumstances to make me whole–it is Christ who makes my life whole.  My entire life I have had a need to pursue “better” because I had false beliefs about myself, and along with “better,” came the prospect of inner peace. Continue reading “Growing In Christ” »