Hold on to this!

When reading the Bible we seee how there's power in the name of Jesus. From the healings that Jesus did, the casting out of demons, and the raising of the dead all done in his name, we have proof that there is power in the name of Jesus. That's a great thing to hold on to and to always know that we have access to that same power! In chapter 18 of Proverbs Solomon talks about a different characteristic of the Lord's name. This is what he says in verse 10:
¹⁰ The name of the LORD is a fortified tower;
   the righteous run to it and are safe.
After reading that I went to dictionary.com and it defines the word fortified as; to protect or strengthen against attack; surround or provide with defensive military works. Also to make strong. After reading this definition I think about how we as believers are attacked by the enemy and the forces of darkness. Many times pastors will say things like "spiritual warfare" or "we are at war against the enemy". So we get this sense that we are at war. Sometimes these attacks feel like they are too much to handle. We might feel like giving up because we can't win so our hope gets lost. According to this verse we don't need to ever give up this fight. First of all because we can call upon the name of Jesus and with that name comes power, but we also see that the name of the Lord provides safety for us. After reading that definition I see that it's not just a place to hide out from the enemy but it's a place that protects us from and will defends us from the attacks of the enemy. 
So where have you been turning for protection? I hope if you have been feeling like you're being attacked and can't make it, that we would take the wisdom of Solomon and turn to the Lord. One quick thing to point out, just because we are Christians doesn't mean that we are entitled to this fortified tower/protection. We see at the end of this verse Solomon writes the righteous run to it and are safe. Two things stick out to me, the first is that once again we are called to be righteous in order for us to recieve the blessings of the Lord. Second I see that there is another action we have to make. It says to run to it. When I think of this idea of running to, I think of making sure that we seek the Lord for protection. Even though God can protect us without us asking for it, I believe that we need to make sure we ask God for his protection and make sure we call upon the name of the Lord.  
So my prayer for us today is that we believe in the name of the Lord and allow him to be our fortified tower. I pray for the renewing of strength to keep on fighting the good fight. I pray that we would turn to the Lord for the help and protection from the enemy. I pray for strength and faith for us to continue to let God be God.

How's your spirit?

Hi everyone, hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!!! It's great to be back. This thanksgiving was probably the worst Thanksgiving I've ever had. Without going into details this was the first Thanksgiving I didn't get to spend with my whole family. Because of this I was pretty bummed out on Thanksgiving which led to a not so great weekend. It's funny how we can let one thing ruin an entire weekend. I like how Solomon puts this:
²² A cheerful heart is good medicine,
   but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Prov. 17:22)
Another way to translate this is a heart in good spirits is good medicine... After reading this today I can see how this is. Because I let my situation "crush my spirit", I did feel like my bones were all dried up. I just kind of felt lazy and really not in the mood to do anything. But how can this be? How can I say that I love Jesus and I'm so thankful for what he's done for me yet I still let a little situation like this ruin me? I'm not here to say that you can never feel sad or hurt but what I did was let something take the place of the joy that the Lord has given me. Instead of being thankful for what the Lord has done and have faith that he is at work in my family I allowed the enemy to rob me of my joy.
I know for some people the holidays are a tough time, that's what I'm dealing with at the moment. But there is someone that we have that can and will take away all the hurt and pain that we are feeling, his name is Jesus. Jesus will never fail you, he will always be there for you and he will always love you!!! The one thing I've have been learning in this season of my life is to just put all my trust in the Lord. By doing this I believe that this is the way we don't allow our spirits to be crushed. If we put all our hope and faith in the one who can't fail us then we will have nothing to worry about.
So my prayer for us today is that we cast all our cares, worries, stresses, and pains on the Lord. I pray for healing in Jesus Name for those of us who's spirits are crushed. I pray for the Lord to renew a right spirit in us and I pray that our hearts would be made cheerful. I pray for strength and faith for us to continue to let God be God. 

What I'm Thankful For.

So last night at church we had a few people share something that they were thankful for. That is what inspired this entry today. I have so much to be thankful for but I want to share what I'm thankful for after reading Proverbs 16. I'm thankful for the Lord's promises. I'm so thankful that we serve a God that just didn't save us, that would have been enough, but he also promises us blessings, comfort, peace, and a whole lot more. The one thing that I've been dealing with these past few months is the issue or idea of "what's next for me"? I thought I had everything I wanted and I also thought I had my future all planned out. Well things changed and I was left with doubt and I was also depressed. During this season in my life I hit a crossroad, I was going to either start all over and do things myself or do what the bible says to do, trust in God. Proverbs 16:3-4 says: 
³ Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
   and he will establish your plans.
 ⁴ The LORD works out everything to its proper end...
If it wasn't for a promise like this, who knows where I would be right now? I'm so thankful that I can take this promise and put all my hope in it. Because of a promise like this I am able to trust in God and not worry what's instore for my future. One thing that the Lord has been changing in me is the release of fear and the bringing in of excitement. Instead of worrying and stressing about what's next, I can put all my hope in God and be excited to see what's next because I know that God is in control of my future and his plans are WAY better then anything I could have done!
The greatest thing about God's promise, besides them being true, there are so many of them. Because they are true we can put all our hope and faith in what God has promised us. One quick reminder, God gives us these promises because he loves us but that doesn't mean that we are entitled to them. We need to make sure we keep our end of the deal which is living righteously for the Lord. I want to encourage you that if you don't have a promise that you hold onto you should open up that wonderful book, the bible, and find not just one but as many of the Lord's promises that you can. They will help relieve worry, pain, and stress. 
So my prayer for us today is that we find comfort in the promises of the Lord. I pray that through God's word we would find all that we are looking for. I pray that we would trade in our worries, hurts, and stresses for the comforts of the Lord's promises. I pray for safety and peace during this Thanksgiving weekend. I pray that we would be reminded of how blessed we are which would restore thankgiving in our hearts. I also pray for strength and faith for us to continue to let God be God.

Just giving you a heads up, I wont be blogging for these next couple days but I will be back at it come Monday. Have a happy Thanksgiving and be blessed:-)!!!!!!

He's always watching.

If you knew that someone was always watching you wouldn't you be on your very best behavior? I know when we are around our friends at church or people at work we act different. But as soon as we are at home all alone or maybe around certain people we become different people. We think that because we are alone or around those certain people we can act the way we want. I'll be honest with you, I'm totally guilty of this. I don't know why we do this, maybe it's because we think that no one is watching us??? Well after reading Proverbs 15:3 I was reminded of something that should put that thinking to rest. Prov. 15:3 says:
³ The eyes of the LORD are everywhere,
   keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
If you really think about that, it's kind of a scary thought. I just get reminded of things that I did, knowing that they were wrong but because I was alone or with certain people I let slide. Whether it was something I watched on T.V, or the way I acted or talked with certain people. That very thing just happened this morning with a guy at work. We started talking about things we use to do, (before I followed Jesus) and to some people it might be just sharing memories of the past but now that I think about it I was glorifying my past. I want nothing to do with that part of my past because that part of my life wasn't honoring to God and I don't ever want to bring glory to that. If I just would have remembered this thought I'm pretty sure that conversation wouldn't have happend.
I'm so thankful that Solomon would right something so important for us to always remember. God is everywhere and sees everything!!! I hope that this thought is always in your mind. So the next time you think that no one will see what your about to do whether it's what you view on the internet, what you and your gilfriend/boyfriend might do, what you might say, where you might go, or how you might act with a certain group of people remember: THE LORD IS ALWAYS WATCHING YOU!!!
So my prayer for us today is for God to give us a heighten sense of awareness of this. I pray that we would always remeber that God is always watching and because of this we would make the right choices that we are faced with. I pray that this would bring us a healthy dose of fear for the Lord. I pray for strength and faith for us to continue to let God be God.

Fear.

One occurring theme I've seen in the book of Proverbs is fear. In Proverbs 1:7 it says:  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge... I know we all want knowledge, but does this mean we need to be scared of God in order to gain knowledge? I'm sure there are many books and scholars that could explain this fear better then I can but I want to share with you how I see this fear. This type of fear isn't always being scared of God striking you down if you sin. To me this fear is a fine balance of fear and respect for God. When it comes to the idea of fear, being scared of God, that's something that we need to remember. What I mean by this is we need to remember who God is and what he's done. Read the Old Testament and find out how God would punish those people who sinned against him. It's pretty intense. We don't read that so we are constantly in fear of being struck down/punished, but we get the understanding of what God is capable of doing to us and also that he's not going to stand back and let sin rule.
The next part of this fear is respect. The best way I could describe this is how we looked at our parents when we were little kids. For me it's like when my dad would punish me. I loved my dad but I didn't walk around in fear thinking he was going to just always punish me. But knowing that he was my dad and that he had the power and authority to do so was enough to keep me from disobeying him. I think it's funny how we can have so much respect for parents and obey them because we are scared to get punished but yet we constanly disobey the ONE who is in charge of all. This is why this fear is so important. I believe we need to have this fear always in our minds because it will help us keep from sinning.
I want to leave with this, after reading Proverbs we see how fear is the beginning of knowledge so that why we should strive for it but it also make God happy. Psalm 147:11 says: the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
So my prayer for us today is that we learn how to fear the Lord. I pray that we would find out exaclty what this means so we could gain knowledge. I pray for strenght and faith for us to continue for us to let God be God.

Fabulous Friday.

Anyone in the mood to be rewarded with good things? That sounds good to me. Anyone want to take a guess how this happens, just think of the topic we've been talking about in Proverbs. Well here it is, the answer is walk in righteousness. This is how Solomon says it in Proverbs 13:21:
²¹ Trouble pursues the sinner,
   but the righteous are rewarded with good things.
I know I like my Fridays to be as easy as possible and to be filled with as little trouble as well. How about today we all make the decision to walk righteously and see what God has instore for us. Now I'm not saying that if today we walk this way that everything good will happen to us, but who knows it could. To me if we do that I get the idea of taking a step instead of walking. Walking requires more then one step, I will say that it is one step after another, so instead of saying I'm going to walk righteous today and then expecting good things to happen to you at the end of your day we should walk righteous one day at a time and then put your faith in Jesus knowing that he has blessings instore for those who walk righteous.
So my prayer for us today is that we continue to strive to walk righteously. I pray that we would take the advice of Solomon and make the choices we need to make to honor the Lord. I pray for protection over the weekend and I pray that no matter what we do this weekend we walk in righteousness and honor God in everything we do. I pray for strength and faith for us to continue to let God be God.

Are you stupid?

I know this is a pretty harsh title but this is a question I had to ask myself after reading Prov. 12. Right off the bat Solomon says:
¹ Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
   but whoever hates correction is stupid.
So as the title says, are you stupid? To be honest I believe that many of us fall into this category. I'm not trying to call anyone stupid, I'm just thinking about this whole correction thing and I can see how we, myself included could be labeled stupid. Isn't it easier to give instruction then to receive it? I have been blessed to be in a position that has me give people instruction on a weekly bases. The funny thing is most of the instruction I give is the stuff that God has instructed me to do and things that I am working on myself. I can say one of the worse feelings I get is when I give instruction to someone and then I go and do what I told them not to do. Talk about a crappy feeling, now that's being stupid.
I want to clear a few things up here. I know Solomon says whoever loves discipline... but let's be real, do we really love to be disciplined? I know I don't, it reminds me of my dad spanking me when I was a little kid. I think we might have this idea of discipline as something that is associated with pain. There's some truth to that but that doesn't mean it's always physical pain. The one thing I remember my dad telling me was that he didn't want to discipline me but he knew he had to. At the time I thought he was lying but now that I look back I can see what he meant. He would discipline me for my own good. I am a firm believer in discipline and I believe what Solomon is trying to tell is us that we should love to be disciplined or take correction that would benefit us. It's not like he's saying love to be punished but learn to love to accept correction that would benefit you. This is hard because we don't like to be told that we are wrong. We like to think that we are right and that we don't need anyone to tell us otherwise. Well I'm here to tell all of us if we have that mindset then we are stupid! We should always be opened for correction not because we are all wrong but because correction will help us see things that we might not notice. One quick thing, that doesn't mean that we accept every correction that is thrown our way, it just means that we should be open to correction. Here's something practical and it's also my prayer for us today. Ask God to break down our pride that would not allow us to recieve correction. Also when correction is received, ask God to give you discernment to know what corrections to receive and what to ignore.
I pray for strength and faith for us to continue to let God be God.

Seek Righteousness.

¹⁰ When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;
   when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. (Prov.10:10)
Which one would you like to be? We see here how gnarly of a comparison Solomon gives us between the righteous and the wicked. I don't know about you but I think that would be awesome if people would be happy for me when good things happen to me. I would hate for people to have bitterness and resentment towards me when good things happen to me. How crappy would that feel to know that people would shout for joy when you perish? To make this a little more clear I think of my pastor/friend/big brother PJ. He is so blessed. He has the wife, the awesome kids, a home, and a great ministry. He has everything I want and hope for. Some people might look at his situation and think he's lucky or ask why does he get all those things? I believe with all my heart that PJ has been so blessed in his life because he tries his best to walk righteously and blameless in the sight of the Lord. Just like the city rejoices, I know that I rejoice everytime PJ prosepers. Now I'm not saying that if you live righteously that your life will end up like his, I can't say that because I don't know what God has instore for you. But if you live a life of righteouness, when blessings come your way instead of people mocking you they we realize that you were just obeying God and your blessings will be well deserved!!!
So why should we really seek righteousness? We know that it's because that's what God asks of us but is there really any benefits that come from this? Of course there is, why else would I ask :-)? Here's what Solomon says about this:
¹⁹ Truly the righteous attain life,
   but whoever pursues evil finds death. (Prov. 10:19)
So if you've been asking God for an abundant life or just blessings in your life but feel that nothing is happening I would suggest that you stop looking at God and asking what's wrong with him and start looking at yourself and ask what's wrong with me? I know I'm guilty of this and this is something that the Lord is working on me during this season of my life. So my prayer for us is that instead of looking at God wondering where he is, we would look at ourselves and work on our walks with the Lord. I  pray that would wouldn't focus so much on the outcome of his blessings but we would focus on what we need to do in order to recieve the blessings. I pray for faith and strength for us to continue to let God be God.

How to get blessings.

¹⁶ The wages of the righteous is life,
   but the earnings of the wicked are sin and death.
²² The blessing of the LORD brings wealth,
   without painful toil for it.
²⁷ The fear of the LORD adds length to life,
   but the years of the wicked are cut short.
²⁹ The way of the LORD is a refuge for the blameless,
   but it is the ruin of those who do evil.
³⁰ The righteous will never be uprooted,
   but the wicked will not remain in the land.
In this Proverb we have what I call verses that people hold onto. I believe that holding onto to these verses is a good thing to do but I believe that believing and doing what these verses say is much more important. We see here in these verses that there are awesome blessings and benefits for those who choose the Lord's ways. But if we take a closer look we see that these things just don't happen to us because we believe in Jesus. In these verses they call us to righteouness, to be blameless, and to stay away from being wicked. I know I love to hold onto these promises but I'll be honest I usually only meditate on the outcome and not the work that I need to put in. So many times we get mad at God because these things aren't happening to us. We say that we read our bibles, go to church, and pray but life is still crappy. I'm not saying that those things aren't what you should be doing becasue you should, but if you look at these verses where does it say anything about reading your bibles, going to church, or praying? I believe that those things will help you to live righteous and blameless, also they will help you to stay away from evil. What I take from this Proverb is that God isn't asking us to live religiously, what I mean by that is living life with a "checklist". It's not about saying I lived righteous today or I resisted the enemy today so where's my blessings? It's more like making a choice to live everyday the way God has asked of us and not expecting anything in return but knowing that there are things instore for us who choose to live this way.
So my prayer for us today is that we make a choice to live today, then the next day, and then the next day, and so forth to live righteous and blameless in the sight of God. I pray that the Lord would pour out his blessings on us. I pray for continued strength and faith for us to let God be God.

The right invitation.

In Proverbs 9 we see two women that are inviting people to their dinner parties. They both are on the "highest point in the city" (3,14) and their menus both look the same. So what's the difference? Well the way Solomon addresses them is the first women is wisdom and the second women is folly.When reading about the first women we see how beneficial attending her party will be. In verse 6 we see that by attending her party (accepting wisdom) that we will live. I also want to take a quick look at the 7 pillars. This has nothing to do with the construction of her place, in the bible the use of the number 7 represents perfection. So by saying that she (wisdom) has these 7 pillars is saying that this is the perfect place to be. As we take a look at the next women's party we see that it's completely different. Instead of having life we see that this party leads to death.
After reading this I asked myself, which party would I choose? Of course I said I would choose the first one, who wouldn't? Then I started to think of all those times that I chose the other one. There has been so many times that I've chosen to accept the invitation to the party that the foolish person would choose. Anybody else in that boat? How is it that knowing what we know, that we would still choose to pick the things that lead to death? I'm not here to tell you that because you've picked the thing that leads to death that now you're doomed. I believe that Solomon is showing us what we need to stay away from. It's not that we don't know these things but these are things that are huge issues that we need to avoid. Have you noticed that Solomon has talked about the same things for these first 9 chapters, do you think it a coincidence? I don't. Remeber Solomon was the wisest man to ever live and these are things that he fell for. That's why he's so persistent about reminding his audience to choose wisdom.
If you are like me and have chosen the other party from time to time I here to tell you that you're not doomed. I will say that if you continue to walk down that road and not choose wisdom then you will be. Jesus came to this earth and died for you so that you can be saved. All we need to do is ask for frogiveness, repent of our ways, and do everything we can to make sure we live righteous and choose wisdom.
So my prayer for us today is that we choose wisdom. I pray for continued strength and faith for us to let God be God.

Fabulous Friday.

How would you like to access power that kings have, how would you like prosperity, does a full treasury sound nice? That would make a fabulous Friday in my book. So how do we do that? In Proverbs 8:12-21 we see how this could be done, the answer is Jesus. When Solomon is talking about wisdom, and how wisdom is what gets you here he's talking about Jesus. Jesus is the only way to wisdom. Now let's be clear, wisdom isn't the same as knowledge. We can all gain knowledge but wisdom comes from Jesus. This wisodm is from the one who knows all and controls all. In verse 14 he tells you that he has insight. Like I said before this kind of insight isn't like something we would get from someone who is an expert in a certain subject. This insight comes from the one who was there from the beginning, the expert of everything.
This is a Proverb that tells us that we should search for this wisdom, and when we find it we should do more then just be ok with having it, we should live like we have it. Solomon lays out for us the benefits of having this wosdom. What I want to leave you with is what he says about those who do not find wisdom:
³⁶ But those who fail to find me harm themselves;
   all who hate me love death.”
So my prayer for us today is that we are a people who want and find this wisdom. I pray that we would realize that we do have access to this and that we would take full advantage of this. I pray for the strength and faith for us to continue to let God be God.

Don't be fooled.

So in proverbs 7 we see that there is a man being lured into adultery by this women. She is enticing this young man and leading him down a path that ends in destruction. This is a classic struggle of flesh and spirit. This man has to choose whether to give into his fleshly desire or to honor the Lord and do what is right. In this story this young man give into his flesh. Now I know that this is talking about adultery but I believe that there's more behind this then just that one topic. I believe that this is calling us to resist any thing that leads to sin. Just as Solomon was warning this man to stay away from this temptress, we also need to avoid things that would ensnare us. I know saying that and doing that is easier said then done. Let's be real here, things that we need to stay away from are usually the things that are flesh crave the most. They are usually the things that are being plastered all over T.V, radio, the internet, and any other media outlet. The media does such a good job of enticing us to want to crave these things, it's like they are programming us to crave these things. Even though the media does this doesn't give us an excuse to give in to our flesh. Solomon shows us in this Proverb that these things will look good, feel good, and it will feel natural for us to want these things. Look how he describes what actually is taking place:
²¹ With persuasive words she led him astray;
   she seduced him with her smooth talk.
²² All at once he followed her
   like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer^[a] stepping into a noose^[b]
 23 till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
   little knowing it will cost him his life. (Prov. 7:21-23)
So how do we avoid these things? Well how about doing what Solomon has been telling us to do, Keep these commands within you(Prov 7:1). This whole book and the whole bible show us what we need to do. If you are struggling with this and feel like you just can't win then maybe you should examine how you preparing yourself for this battle. Are you reading God's word daily? How times a day do you talk with Jesus, are you asking him for help? If you're not doing this then don't expect to have victory in this area. The only way we can overcome this is with Jesus and Jesus alone. I don't care how smart you are, the only way to have victory is with Jesus.
So my prayer for us today is that we would ask Jesus for strenght in this area. I pray that would would recognize temptation and then resist it. I pray that we would search God's word and ask for help in this area. I pray for continued strength and faith for us to let God be God.

What bothers you?

I know what bothers me, bad drivers/traffic, stupid questions (my opinion), and being late just to name a few. I hate it when you're trying to get somewhere quick and you get stuck behind a bad driver. The stupid question thing happens to me all the time at work, and nothing makes me more mad then being late, whether it's my fault or someone elses. I don't know about you but when these things happen to me I usually get mad. Knowing that these types of things make me mad, I always try to avoid these things as much as possible. Sometimes I wish I could just tell people what bothers me, what I hate, and that everyone would just not do any of those things and life would be great. If you knew that something bothered someone so much, would you keep doing it to them? I'm not talking about trying to get a laugh out of a friend I'm talking about something that someone can't stand and detests, would you do it to them? I think it's safe to say that we wouldn't because we don't want to be a bad example to people. What if I told you that many of us do things that really make someone's blood boil? What if I said that we do things that someone hates? If you knew what we did and who it made mad, would you think twice about doing those things? I hope so. In Proverbs 6: 16-19 we see what we do and who it make mad.
¹⁶ There are six things the LORD hates, 
   seven that are detestable to him: 
    ¹⁷ haughty eyes, 
      a lying tongue, 
      hands that shed innocent blood, 
    ¹⁸ a heart that devises wicked schemes, 
      feet that are quick to rush into evil, 
    ¹⁹ a false witness who pours out lies 
      and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
Any of you do things on that list? I know I'm guilty. What really speaks to me is I have this picture of God just getting a little upset when I do something on this list. Almost like it bothered him a little but then it's not a big deal. After reading this I picture how I get when someone does something that I hate and how much it make me mad. Here's something to think about, when you get mad/ bothered, there's really nothing you can do about it. You can either suck it up and deal with it or you can start an arguement, get mad and let this thing eat at you. Now imagine what God could do to you if you keep making him mad? Read how he handled this in the Old Testament, it wasn't so nice. I'm not saying that if you make God mad then he's going to kill you, but I just think we should always have on our mind who God is, what he's capable of doing so we stay away from these things.
Now if you've done something from this list this doesn't mean that God hates you or doesn't love you. God always loves you no matter what you do. I just wanted to show you this list and make you aware of what God hates. Not to scare you but to open your eyes.
My prayer for us today is that God does open ours eyes and helps us to see what we may be doing that would make him mad. I pray that through this we would repent of our ways and ask God to forgive us. I pray that we would be given the strength to stay away from the things that God hates and I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

Stay away from sin.

So the title of this Proverb is called warning against adultery. Now I think it's safe to say that we all know what this means. This is something that ruins lives, I know because this very thing took a toll in my family. But I don't want to talk about why it's so important to not commit adultery because I believe we all know why. What was placed on my heart was the consequence of us not obeying God and giving into our flesh. Solomon warns us why we need to stay away from adultery, it leads to death (verse 5) because it's sin. What I remembered is that it's not just this sin that leads to death, all sin leads to death.(Rom.6:23) So many times we might justify why we sin. We like to think that one sin was worse then the other so therefore it makes that "lesser" sin ok, but I don't believe so. Even though Solomon is giving us the warning against adultery, because this struggle of sexual immorality ensnares a lot of people so be on watch, I believe that this warning would be for anything that would ensnare us. I believe that Solomon would warn us to stay away from things that would keep us from living a life that Christ has asked of us, Holy and Righteous. If you don't think that this is a big deal then read what Solomon writes that happens to a man that doesn't do this:
²²The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
   and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
²³He dies for lack of discipline,
   and because of his great folly he is led astray. (Prov.5:22-23)
I want to end with this, when we think of adultery we think of sex outside of marriage. That's what it is but I want to share with you what my professor taught us about this. To "adulterate" means to mix in something that is not Holy with what is Holy, once you do that it makes whatever that is not pure anymore.
So my prayer for us today is that God would open our eyes to the sin in our lives. I pray that we would take these warnings that God has placed in his word and take them to heart. I pray that the way we live our lives  would be pleasing to the Lord. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

What Path are you on?

Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
   or walk in the way of evildoers.
¹⁵ Avoid it, do not travel on it;
   turn from it and go on your way. (Prov. 4:14-15)
I'm sure we've all heard this before. This is a real important thing to keep in mind. This is something that if we follow will save us from hurts, worries, troubles, and tons of unnecessary problems that we could avoid. The tricky thing about this is this road that we are suppose to stay off of is the road that our flesh craves to be on. This is the raod that the world tells us that we should be on. This is the road that looks like fun, sounds fun, and to behonest is fun. The thing about this fun and this road is that first of all it's temporal and this roads leads to nowhere. These things that you will experience on this road might feel good and satisfy your flesh for maybe a day, week, month, or maybe a few years. But I can tell you that you will never be fully satisfied and you will always be wanting more. Even though this raod seems fun and you think this is great you have to remeber that this road has an end that will leave you broken.
The reason I feel so passionate about this is because I know what it feels like to be on this road that this proverbs warns us to stay off of. I took this path and I did everything that my flesh desired and the things that the world would tell you "is living". I got drunk and high all the time. I lived it up in Vegas pretty much every weekend, and without going into detail I never denied my flesh for the opposite sex either. I lived like this for a good amount of time. No matter how drunk, high, or "fun" things were I was never satisfied. I was always wanting more and when I wasn't doing these things I just felt empty and alone. Just like I said earlier this road ends in pain. I was left broken and in pieces. There was actually a point in life where I didn't want to live anymore, and if you know me that's not me but that's how bad it got. Then one day I just realized that this way wasn't the way to go, I realized that I  needed something else, I needed healing, restoration, and most of all a love and joy that would last more then a weekend. That's when I found Jesus and I started walking on the other road. All I can tell you is that this road I'm on is a road that is full of joy, peace, and a love that has never left me.
I don't know what road you're on, I'm not sure if you've even heard of the other road, the road that Jesus ask us to walk on. I want to leave you with this. If you have strayed from Jesus' road or have never knew there to be another road besides the road the world tells you to live then it's not too late to start your path down the road with Jesus. No matter what you've done or how many times you've walked away from this road, Jesus is there and is always ready to take you back.
So my prayer for us today is that we make the choice to get back on, start walking, or keep walking down this road with Jesus. I also pray for the strenght and faith for us to let God be God.

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart 
   and lean not on your own understanding; 
⁶ in all your ways submit to him, 
   and he will make your paths straight. (Prov.3:5-6)
This is probably one of the most known verses in the bible. This is a promise that a lot of people hold on to. What we have here is a wonderful promise that our paths would be made straight. I know when I read it I usually tend to focus on that last part and tend not to focus so much on the other part of the verses. They key here I believe is not that end part of the verse, but there are three things it takes in order for our paths to be straighten.
First we need to trust in the Lord with all our hearts. This is something that I believe we do a pretty good job at, but what I think we lack is that we aren't trusting him with all our hearts. If so, then why do we worry so much? Why do we fear and stress so much? I'm not here to bash on anyone, that's why I said we, but I feel that if we trusted in God with all we got then we wouldn't fear, worry, or stress about anything.
Next we have to not lean on our own understanding. This to me is something that is hard to do and sometimes really frustrating to me. How am I suppose to not lean on what I know? Does this mean I forget everything that I've learned? What I've learned about this step is that it's not about you understanding something, because if there's a situation that you know how to fix or resolve then go ahead and do it. I feel that this is talking about those times when you have no idea what to do or when you're in a situation when you have no idea why God would put you through something like your experiencing. In these times we try to think why and come up with an answer or solution. But what I've learn is that sometimes there's no sloution that we could come up with, only God knows why. So by not leaning on our own understanding we have to be ok with not knowing what to do, and just be content with trusting that God knows best and will take control of the situation.
Finally we need to submit all our ways to him. I believe if we do this then this is how we really stop fearing, worrying, and stressing about our everyday problems. How awesome would it be to just be able to dump off all our concerns, problems, worries, and stress off on someone else, let them take care of them? Well that what this verse is telling us. By submitting all our ways, (I like to think of it as submitting how we know to do/handle things) then we can not lean on our way of doing things and just let God take control over everything. The sweetest part of this is that we are dumping all our ways on him and then after he takes all that, he makes our path straight. What a Good God!!!
So my prayer for us today is that we live our lives like these verses. I pray that God would help us in whatever area in this verse that we would need help in. I pray for the strength and faith for us to let God be God.  

Fabulous Friday.

⁷ He holds success in store for the upright,
   he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,
⁸ for he guards the course of the just
   and protects the way of his faithful ones. (Prov.2 :7-8)
Want a fabulous friday? If so, there's a pretty good way to make that happen. We see in this proverb that God shields and protects us. This is a great promise to hold on to but you have to remember that we need to do our part. You notice our walks need to be blameless and we need to be faithful. Now don't think because you sin that your walk is ruined because it's no longer blameless. We all sin, no one is perfect. But what we need to do is make sure that we walk in righteousness, repent of our sinful ways, and always ask God for forgiveness. And if we want this protection that is promised here then we need to make sure that we are faithful. Verse 8 reminds me why I just keep following God. When times get tough and I just feel like giving up and doing my own thing, I remember that if I do that then I'm going to be on my own and things are just going to get harder. So instead of doing that I trust in God and remain fatithful, first of all because He is, and also because I know that he guards my course.
So my prayer for us today is that we would walk blameless and remain faithful. I pray that if we feel like giving up or straying from the path that we would be reminded that God will only guide us if we are faithful. I pray that we would understand and hold on to these promises. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

Attack or Advice?

So I'm going to be reading and blogging from Proverbs until I finish it. I will just be taking portions of each chapter that have stood out to me, challenged me, and even things I don't understand. Anybody want wisdom? If so I hope that you will follow along with me through the book of Proverbs on your own and I would love it if you commented on these entries or the thing(s) that stick out to you. I really feel that we would all benefit from eachothers prospectives. You can just comment on the blog or email me(gabetovar_25@yahoo.com) You don't have to but I think we would all benefit from this.
So as I was reading chapter one there were many things that stood out to me. The one thing that stood out to me the most was at the end of this proverb when Solomon talks about the fools. This is what the Matthew Henry Commentary says about the fool :Fools. Those are the worst of fools that hate to be taught, and have a rooted dislike to serious godliness. (He is describing the fools that Solomon is talking about in this Proverb) As I was reading that and thinking about this I started to think of how we may react to advice/criticism. I know that I really use to struggle with this. Anytime someone would tell me something whether it was good or something that we feel is negative I would think to myself "who are you to tell me this?" I've also seen this in many other people's lives. We aren't really good at taking criticism, we tend to get super defensive when it comes to this area in our lives.
 ²⁹ since they hated knowledge
   and did not choose to fear the LORD.
³⁰ Since they would not accept my advice
   and spurned my rebuke,
³¹ they will eat the fruit of their ways
   and be filled with the fruit of their schemes
These verses are what sparked this thought. I believe that God uses people in our lives to bring us insight. Sometimes the hardest thing is receiving advice/criticism when it's something that shines light on a area in our lives that needs to be changed. But I believe that wisdom can be obtained by accepting advice from others and not discrediting what people have to say because we feel what we think is right. I know this isn't so easy to do or accept but I feel that this might be inline what Solomon was talking about.Matthew Henry's definition of this kind of fool is someone who hates to be taught. How can we be taught about ourselves if we won't listen to anyone? Now I'm not saying that you need to accept everything that people tell us, but just like Matthew Henry said we should listen to people that bring godly advice(even the tough stuff). I'm not sure how this applies to you but it's just something that was placed on my heart.
So my prayer for us today is that we chose wisdom instead of knowledge. I pray that we would have a desire to seek after the Lord so our lives would be filled with wisdom. I pray that God would speak to us through these Proverbs and that we would gain wisdom and insight from his word and eachother. I pray for strenght and faith for us to let God be God.
(Don't forget to respond :-)

So last night I got to speak at my college group and I felt like the message was a challenging one. I covered Luke 9:51-62, what some bibles title this portion of scripture as the cost of following Jesus. I was kind of worried that this topic might have been pretty harsh and would really challenge us. In this portion of scripture two men tell Jesus that they will follow him and one man is asked by Jesus to follow him. Jesus gives each man a unique response that is pretty straight foward. He wanted each man to make following him their number one priority and it starts as soon as they said they would follow him. But they all make excuses or put something else in front of Jesus. We don't know if these guys followed him or what exactly happend to them.  I believe that the main point of these scriptures is that we need to put Jesus first no matter what, and that nothing should ever be placed above him.
Now I'm not sure about you, but this is something that I'm working on, putting God first. Now in these scriptures God gives what we might think as harsh responses to these guys and that might bum you out. When I first read this I thought that if God wasn't first and the most important thing in my life then he would just turn his back on me and just ignore me. But that's not the case. That's actually what I want to encourage you with. Even though God deserves to be number one, we are humans, we mess up. The great thing about that is God knows that and understands that. But lets clear something up, that doesn't mean that we don't try our hardest to put him #1. I want to encourage you by saying that God won't turn his back on you, God loves you that much. The greatest thing about our God is he's a God of forgiveness. Our God is a God of 2nd,3rd,4th,5th......chances. If you haven't been putting Jesus as the number one thing in your life don't beat yourself up. Repent of your ways and start making him #1. Don't allow yourself to buy into the lies that would tell you that you missed out on this, or that you don't deserve God to take you back. Here's something to help with that thought, NO ONE DESERVES FOR GOD TO TAKE US BACK, but that's the great thing. He loves us that much that he does. So let's not waist anymore time letting others things in our life be in the place of God. Let's make him #1!
So my prayer for us today is that we put God first. I pray that we would remove whatever it is that has been placed above Jesus and that we would ask for forgiveness and repent of our ways. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

What you want or what you should?

This entry is something that I'm actually struggling with. After talking with my sister last night and studying Luke 9, the issue of doing what I want to do and what I should do has surfaced. In Luke 9:51-56 Jesus sends some messangers to a Samaritan village to set things up for him. When they were there they were rejected, not welcomed. When James and John saw this they asked Jesus if they should "call fire down from heaven to destroy them." Then of course Jesus rebukes them. After reading this and talking with my sister I was really convicted by this. We see that James and John wanted to act like most of us would want to. It is so easy to want revenge on people that have wronged us. When we believe we are right in a situation we tend to have this attitude that it's ok for us to act like that. James and John thought they were acting right. In 2 Kings 1 Elijah called down fire from heaven on the kings evil men, but we see that Jesus isn't asking that from us. Let's be real here, do you think that they needed to called down fire from heaven when God is standing right in front of them, like he couldn't take care of that problem if he wanted to?
What I feel that the Lord is communicating to me and us is that we need to not be like James in John in the sense of wanting revenge for the people that have wronged us. This is super hard, like I said before I struggle with this. When talking to my sister last night we both have been acting a way that we know we shouldn't be acting but we have been because we feel, and rightly so, that we are right and it's ok for us to act the way we do. We actually have a strong case to act the way we do. But does that matter? The answer is no! Jesus would say take your facts and case and through it out the window because that's not what I've called you to do, and that's not what I've shown you to do. That's the point I believe God is sharing with us, we need to stop acting the way we want to and act they way Jesus showed us to.
I don't know if this is something that you struggle with. Maybe people have wronged you and you just stopped talking to them and just completely threw them out of your life. Maybe you took the revenge approach, I'm not sure where you are or if you fall into this? I want to leave you with some scriptures and you can decide for yourself what's to next:
 ¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. Romans 12:17
⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:9
    ⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor^[a] and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matt 5:43-45
So my prayer for us today is that God would change our hearts and minds if we are doing what we want and not what God wants. I pray that we would repent of our ways and that we would allow God's ways to be our ways. I pray against condemnation if we feel guilty if we haven't been doing this. I pray for strenght and faith to walk in this truth, and for us to let God be God.

Get it out.

So last night my friend and I had a catch up time. This is a friend that I've known for some time now and we haven't really had time to sit down and catch up on things. So we started talking and she shared a few things but when it came my turn the flood gates just opened. Everthing that I have been feeling inside came out. I don't think I left anything out. The funny thing is after I shed some tears and had nothing left to say I felt really good. I learned something new today from this. I've always been the strong person for my family, friends, and people that I mentor/disciple. So really getting out everything that I've been feeling wasn't something I've always done before. Because I felt that I needed to be so strong I didn't allow myself to show or vent all of these emotions. I felt that I couldn't show weakness. So I guess I've been bottling up a lot of emotions. But after tonight and a session I had with my pastor last week and a session with a really good friend the week before that, I've been learning the importance of getting these feelings, thoughts, and emotions out.
Remeber this, God never intended for us to do life alone. First of all we always have him, but we also have fellow believers and friends to walk through life with. God knew that we couldn't do it alone so that's why it's so important to have someone in your life to hash things out with you and walk through the flames with you. I want to suggest something to you because I believe that this will help you out a lot. First make sure you are always talking/venting to God. He's a great listener and believe it or not he loves you so much that he wants to hear all about your concerns/problem. But not only does he hear them he wants to help you with them. So make sure that if you're not talking to God that you start ASAP. Second I recommend that you have someone in your life that you can vent to, or what my pastor calls "doing life with". Trust me when I say this, if you try to tackle life by yourself you're not going to get too far. I believe that first of all walking and talking with Jesus is the first and most important step, but I also believe that you need to have atleast one person in your life who will walk in the trenches with you. I want to close with this, if you feel that you can't show emotions or let how you feel out, you are being deceived. Showing emotions doesn't make you weak, it's just means you're human.
So my prayer for us today is that we just get how we are feeling out. I pray that we would tear down all those walls that we put up that wouldn't allow us to just share how we feel inside with a friend. I pray that God would provide these people for those of us who might not have one. I pray that we would always realize that Jesus is always there for us not matter the place, no matter the time. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.