An Honest Look At Who I am

Gunshots on campus....3 dead.

Lone gunman goes to elementary school....over twenty shot and killed, mostly children.

Mother convicted of killing her 9 year old daughter.

And the list goes on and on and on.
The uncovering of our world so that the darkness seeps out into the light has been going on since Eve handed Adam the fruit to eat. But now it seems to be happening in epic proportions. Everyone has the answer to the problem, but no one seems to understand that the answers that are put on the table are but straw. They have no substance. They do not address the real issues.
What is the real issue? The human heart.
The center of will and intellect and intent or motive.
It is damaged. Everyone person who walks this earth was born with a will to do the wrong thing. Some would call it the "Depravity of man".
The longer I stay in the addiction field (bet you didn't know we had a field, did you?) the more I see the truth behind that statement. We can color it ever how we want to. We can put a spin on it to make it mean what we want to. But the truth is, the prophet Jeremiah hit the nail on the head when he wrote, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?"

We all think of ourselves as being basically good people. "I am a good person. I have a good heart" is the battle cry of humanity, but the evidence demands a different verdict. I have said on numerous occasions that I know that within me, dwells the very thing that would rise up like Peter and deny Jesus if I let it have its way. Every time I have made that statement, someone would come to me and correct me with..."But you are a child of God...you've been saved...you shouldn't say things like that." While I appreciate the kind words, they ring hollow and empty. The very idea that I possess the capability of acting such a way is what keeps me near the cross. It is the realization of my own humanity that causes me to chase this Jesus with a desperation that is always there within me.

Some of you may think, "Why thank you, Michael, for such a positive, uplifting posting here on the blog this morning." To me what could be more inspiring or encouraging than to see yourself as you really are. Strip away all the hype and falseness that we create in order that others would see us in a positive manner, and we are left standing naked before our God and Savior. From this place, I can receive true healing. From this place of living with nothing to hide, I can be empowered to move on in this life. The realization of the depravity of mankind fuels me to share my story with others. To tell them of the hope that only Christ can put within that dark heart. Hope that crushes and rises above every shred of evil that would seek to destroy you. Hope that is alive and rockets you into a relationship what will last throughout all eternity. The depravity of the human heart cannot stand in the face of the cross of Christ. It shrivels and lies dead on the ground when the blood of Jesus is applied to it. "O, Precious is that flow, that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus."

It is not very popular in this day and age to speak of such things as sin, hell and the depravity of man. Some think me ancient and antiquated. Out of date and out of touch. I am o.k. with such labels. But the truth of God is never outdated. It stands as a standard and reminder that no matter how high the achievements of humanity may take us, we all are in need of the Savior. If ever we needed Jesus in the history of this earth, it is now.
Thank you for letting me speak these things.
I hope that stir you to look within yourself and allow God to set right any wrong you may find.
Know that I love you, as does Jesus, and that we all stand on level ground at the cross of Christ. It is there we all can receive healing.

John 12:31 -  And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself."
Maranatha, Lord Jesus!

God on you...
mb