God's love

Even though the title has changed I'm still writing about what I'm being reminded of in the book of Psalms. I re-read chapter 6 and one verse really spoke to me. In verse 4 David asks the Lord to save him because of His unfailing love. As I started thinking about that I was reminded that everything God does for us is because of love. Whether that's forgiveness, healing, blessing, anything that we receive from God is because of His unfailing love. I know that sometimes we may think that our prayers were answered because we deserved it because we prayed a lot for it or because we read our bibles every day. God doesn't choose to bless us because we deserve anything, the truth of the matter is we do not deserve anything. We couldn't do enough, give enough, read enough, or even pray enough to truly deserve what the Lord blesses us with.
But that to me makes God even more incredible. To know that the God of the universe loves me enough to put up with all my crap and even though I am constantly failing Him he still loves me enough to save me because He loves me. Be reminded of the love that God has for you, it is something that could never be taken away and will never fail!

Being reminded day 6.

In Psalm 6 we see that David is in a place and time of deep anguish. In verses 6-7 he pretty much pours out his heart with all the pain and anguish he is experiencing. Many times we are like David in the sense that when things are bad we turn and tell God what we need. That is the right thing to do but I feel that many times we do not follow through the way David does. I know that I'm am very guilty of this. Instead of giving my problems to God and leaving them at His feet, I tend to say; "God this is what I'm going through and this is what I need so take care of this and until then I will hold onto these things". What that leads to is a continuance of worry, fear, pain, and all that other crappy stuff that comes along with that. In Psalm 6:8-10 I was reminded of how I should act in times of need. First we see how David vents/gives all his problem to the Lord (1-7), then we see how he believes on the Lords promises and will continue to push forward (8-10). 
I believe that we could all learn from David. David understood two very important facts that I believe the Lord would remind us of today. First He realized that in times of need God is the first person we should go to. And second instead of hanging on and dwelling on his problems he believes on the Lords promises and gives them up. I know that this is usually easier said than done but this is something that we should be striving for. By knowing and believing that God hears our prayers and is ABLE to deliver us from our trials, it makes it so much easier to release our problems to Him and instead of living in fear and worry we will live in the hope and joy that comes with knowing Jesus.

God is awesome day 5.

Yesterday I talked about how the Lord hears our prayers, today is kinda a continuation of the topic of prayer. What stood out to me today was how many times David asked for something for himself. In 12 verses he used the word my 8times, me twice, and I twice. I think it's awesome how in the chapter 4 David acknowledged how God hears our prayers and in this chapter he is literally believing on that and acting upon that. What I love the most about the way David is praying is how real and personal he is with God. Some people look at this as being selfish because he's only thinking about himself. I get why people might say that but I don't agree with that thought. A lot of people like to pray in the "generic" form like; "If it's your will God", "Whatever you have for me", or even "You know what I need God so I don't need to explain everything to you". Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying we shouldn't have a mind set or our hearts shouldn't be centered around that thinking, but I feel that we spend too much time being "generic" and not real with God. Yes God knows what we are going through and it is His will to be done but remember this; YOU ARE HIS CHILD AND HE LOVES TO HEAR IT FROM YOU. I truly believe with all my heart that God loves it when you are real with Him. No matter what it is. It could be your struggles, your fears, your anger, your needs, it doesn't matter how big or small you might think it is, Our God is bigger than all of that junk and OUR GOD IS ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF ALL THAT!!!
So if you've never taken the time to just talk/vent to God, do so at some point today. Be real with Him, just like you would be with your closes friend. Remember we are His children and He loves us so talking to Him isn't a pain, it's a pleasure for Him.

God is awesome day 4.

Ever feel like God isn't listening to your prayers? When you pray do you feel like why bother because nothing is going to happen anyways? I've been guilty of that. After reading Psalm 4 today I have been reminded that God does hear our prayers and that even if I don't think He is, I just need to trust that He is. In verse 3 it says; Know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself, the Lord will hear when I call to him. David didn't say that God might hear or if he was really well behaved God would listen to his prayers. David proclaimed this by faith and believed that God would listen to his prayers. Do you think David is anymore special than you? Yeah we know that David was a man after God's heart and was a great King but does that make his prayers anymore special than ours? The truth of the matter is that we too were separated for God and because of that God listens to our prayers as well. He died for us so that this could be possible.
Now I know that sounds good and all but how can we take this and apply it to our situations? I know it's very easy to believe this when things are going good but when they are bad we tend to forget this. We need to be reminded that if Jesus is our personal Lord and Savior and that we have made the choice to honor Him with our lives then we too are set apart and He hears our prayers. I also believe that we need to always know that God knows and has in store for us what is best. By being reminded of this truth it helps when our prayers don't seemed to be getting answered or the answer we get isn't the one we wanted. 
My prayer for us is that we trust God fully with our prayers. I pray that God would give us the strength and discipline to give Him our request and not try to control them. I pray that we would be reminded daily that God is in control and is always looking out for what's best for us. I pray that the Lord would give us peace and strength in our times of need. 

God is awesome day 3.

Need some encouragement??? From the Lord comes deliverance... Psalm 3:8. This is something I really feel that we need to hear. Many of us are experiencing some tough times right now. Financial problems, health problems, relationship problems, there are so many problems that people are facing I could list so many more. The fact of the matter is that we need to be reminded that if you trust in the Lord with these problems then you can find peace in knowing that God is there to deliver you from them. I love the how David shares how he will not fear the situation he is in. "I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side" Psalm 3:6. We see that David is in a really tough place. There are thousands of men surrounding him ready to attack him and overtake him. This seems like a very impossible situation to get past. The truth of the matter is it is impossible to handle. If David tried to do this all on his own then he would fail, he would get overtaken. It doesn't matte how great of a warrior David is, remember he killed the biggest and gnarliest man out there (Goliath). I truly believe David saw this as an impossible situation but what gave him peace was knowing that God was on his side and that God had his back. And knowing that God is on his side and is all powerful and in control he was able to look an impossible situation straight in the face and with joy take it head on.
I feel that the Lord would tell us that we need to be more like David. During this week I have just been reminded of just how great God is and to end the week let's be remind that God can and wants to bring us deliverance! It doesn't matter what you are facing or how impossible it may seem, OUR GOD IS ABLE!!! So be reminded that God is in control and that if we put all our hope and trust in Him then we will be delivered. Amen!!! 
Have a great weekend!!!


Quick side note: I would love it if those of you who read this, would mind sharing what they have been reminded of. You could comment on this page, facebook me, or even email me. I would love to hear what has been placed on your heart and what been stirring in your mind:) 

God is awesome day 2.

After reading Psalm 2 I was reminded that we can take refuge in Jesus( 2:12). This is going to be something I know that I'm going to have to hold on to. For those of you who do not know I am about 3 1/2 weeks away from moving to Texas. This is an awesome opportunity that God has blessed me with and I am super excited for. Even though this is a good thing it's still going to be tough and challenging. The reason for this is because I am leaving all my friends and family members in California. All my "go to" people, my support people, and a sense of security knowing that all the people I could count on are going to be in another state. I know I'm going to find friends and some other support systems but leaving 28years of this security is going to be hard. Even though I haven't emotionally dealt with all this I know, and have been reminded in Psalm 2 that I can take refuge in the Lord. It's actually better than just taking refuge in Jesus, it says that those who take refuge in Jesus are blessed. How awesome is God! Instead of just having the security knowing that Jesus is there for us we also receive blessing by doing so. It really seems one sided but that's how awesome God is. He loves us enough to not only be there for us, but He's also going to go above and beyond for us. Don't believe me, never forget this; HE SENT JESUS TO DIE FOR US JUST SO WE COULD ONCE AGAIN HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM!!!. 
Just as I was reminded that no matter what it is we are facing we have an ALL powerful, All knowing, and Living God we can take refuge in, I hope and pray that we would daily focus on this wonderful truth. 

Being reminded of How awesome God is day 1

In my last post I talked about how I was reminded of how good God is from the lyrics of songs and how that relit a fire in me. I believe that we should daily be reminded of how good God is so that we can have hope and peace during the struggles we may be facing or will face. So what I'm going to be writting about for the time being is reminders for us to focus on that are pulled straight out of the Bible. I know the reason those songs spoke to me were because the lyrics of those songs were all biblical. So I'm going to be reading one Psalm a day and I'm going to let Big G and His word speak to me and remind me of how good God is.
God watches out for me, us. In Psalm 1:6 it tells us that God watches over the ways of the righteous. Now that sounds good but we need to realize that there is something we need to do in order for this to take place. We need to try our best to be righteous. I know it's not the easiest thing to do but it's something definitely worth doing. Who better to have watching out for us then the Man who created everything. Even though this is like a challenge, it gives me hope knowing that I'm not living a life for Christ for nothing. This totally gives me a peace knowing that God has my back and my best interests in mind. What a GOOD GOD!!!

Be revived.

So last night I was fortunate to go to an amazing night of worship at the God is Able tour. I have been lucky enough to see United a few times but I have never been to a Hillsong concert/night of worship. Every United worship night I've been to has been amazing. I honestly thought we were going to see United again and I'll admit I was kinda bummed when I found out that is was going to be Hillsong. I know they are pretty much the same but I've always liked United just a little bit more because they are a little more upbeat in my opinion. 
So before worship started I just sat in my seat and asked the Lord to revive me, change my heart and my attitude. The reason for this is because lately I've noticed that I have been feeling a little blah. Don't really know how else to describe it. My walk with the Lord isn't necessarily bad or my faith any less than it usually is. I have just been feeling like my heart, attitude, and my mind needed to be refocused. I have been praying for this last month for the Lord to restore my excitement, to restore my passion, to sum it up to reignite a fire in me. I had been a little discouraged because I have been feeling like nothing has really changed. So last night before worship started I just asked the Lord to make this night the night that everything would change, and it did!
Last night wasn't just an amazing time of worship for me, it was a time of healing and refreshing . It wasn't because the worship was amazing because when you worship with thousands of people the feeling of God's presence is indescribable. It wasn't because the worship set was incredible because it was. I truly feel the reason for this time of healing and refreshing was because I was just reminded of all the wonderful things God has done for me. It's so incredible how we can get caught up in the supernatural things of God. I'm not saying those things aren't worth getting caught up in, but I believe God works without these supernatural events. Going to this event I was hoping God would speak to me through an amazing word by the Hillsong pastor or that one of the singers would have had an amazing word or prayer but it didn't happen that way. All I did was be reminded through the lyrics of these songs about how great and awesome Jesus is.
I was revived by simply being reminded of how good God is. It wasn't a supernatural crazy event, it was taking the time to be reminded of what a great and wonderful God we serve. I share this because I believe that this is something that we should do not just at a concert or church service but this is something we should always do. By doing this we could be freed of all the worries, all the anxieties of life, and all the junk that is holding us down and taking away our joy. So my prayer for us today is that we would be revived by remembering and focusing on how great and wonderful our God truly is. I pray that we would daily renew our minds so we could be freed from the chains that are holding us down, in Jesus name!!!

Have a tough decision to make?

So last night my professor was talking about how in the book of Acts the Spirit stopped Paul from preaching. (Acts 16: 6-7) Now that might sound weird that the Spirit would stop anyone from preaching. We really didn't get into why the Spirit stopped Paul but more of how the Spirit stopped Paul. The majority of the class responded to the idea that it just wasn't time for those people to hear what Paul had to say and that the Spirit closed the door. These ideas could be true, we really don't know but my professor asked us how did Paul know not to preach? He believes that Paul probably didn't have an inner peace, Paul just knew and felt that things were not right. As soon as he said that I was encouraged. A few day ago I made a decision that I felt that I had to make. It was a tough one and I knew I would hurt someone but I couldn't see any other way around it. Before I called off a relationship I was in I had this feeling inside of me that couldn't be ignored. I prayed and sought out guidance from God and my support team. As I thought about this decision that needed to be made it just felt like my Spirit wouldn't be at peace until I did what I had to do. So I trusted in the Lord and believed that He wouldn't lead me down the wrong path. After I made the decision to call off the relationship I had a peace. Even though I felt bad because I hurt someone this peace that really didn't make sense at the time was filling me. As this was happening I was reminded of a scripture that I want to share with you:
Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
I know that this is what I just went through but I believe that many of us are facing similar situations whether it be work, school, or any thing that is requiring you to make a tough decision in your life. There's a saying that evryone knows; trust your instinct. I believe that but this is how I look at it. I trust my instinct because it's the Holy Spirit in me that is leading me to do so. Remember in the Gospels Jesus calls the Spirit the helper so let the Spirit help you with those tough decisions in your life and gage your decision by that perfect peace that transcends all understanding. Here's the easy way to put it. If there's peace then you are probably doing what God would want you to, if there's not peace you probably should reconsider your decision.
So my prayer for us today is that we would allow the Spirit, the helper, to help us with our tough decision in life. I pray that we trust in the Spirit and not ignore the Spirit in our decisions. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

You are worth more than grass!!!

Now I know that this seems like a weird title but this is what the Lord put on my heart which I believe is for all of us to be reminded of. As I was reading in Luke 12:22-34 the Lord reminded me of how important we are to Him. It says that God takes care of the grass of the fields and that it's going to be cut and thrown into the fire. As I read this my heart was pressed to read a commentary about this, so I did. As I read this verse in the commentary the commentator made a great point that I believe that the Lord would say to us today. He said if God cares this much for something that He created that lets be real here really does nothing, how much more do you think He cares for something that He created and sent His Son to die for so we can be saved? Talk about a foot to the chest.
I don't know what you are going through or how bad life might be for you right now, but what I do know is God truly does care for you. I know it might be tough to see that when things all around you are falling apart but remember this, if He provides daily for a little piece of grass then He will totally provide everything you need. Don't believe me, then why would He send His only Son to die for you and not a piece of grass?
So my prayer for us today is that we would continue to trust in God no matter what we are facing. I pray blessings and deliverance from any situation we might be facing. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Why we shouldn't do life all by ourselves.

I'm sure we've all heard that we weren't meant to go through life all by ourselves. We Know that God created women for man so he wouldn't be alone, the Bible always talk about being a part of a unified body of believers, and you can even say that Jesus didn't do things on His own that's why He had disciples. I believe those are all valid statements but when I was reading today I now can say I know the reason why we shouldn't go through life all by ourselves. In John chapter 5 Jesus makes two statements; I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself (19); By myself I can do nothing.(30) These are words that came out of the mouth of Jesus. He acknowledges that He needs the help of someone else, Jesus needed the help of the Father. Now if Jesus, the perfect and powerful God knows that then why do we always try and tackle life on our own? What makes us think we are better then Jesus?
This comes to mind because yesterday during our growth group one of the people there shared their feelings about being the only Christian in their family. They talked about the pain, struggle, and emotion effects it was having on them. In the middle of sharing this person started to talk about how they need to be strong, they need to be a light, they need to be an example. These statements are true but what I see is how when we try to bare all the weight and burdens on our shoulders we can easily get brought down. As this person was sharing another memeber of our group and I were prompted by the Spirit to let this person know that they do not have to do this alone. This statement may sound weird but I believe this is so true, it's ok to realize that you are weak and that you can't take on all your situation by yourself. When we realize that we aren't as strong as we think we are then we will realize that we do need help. And where do we get that help? The same place Jesus got it, the Father. Yes we have good Christian friends, and accountability partners but these people will never be able to do what God can. I'm not saying we shouldn't go to them because we should all have people like this in our lives. I'm just saying that we need to realize that admitting we can't do this on our own isn't weakness, it's being smart.
So if your a person that thinks they can do it all on their own, I'm guilty of that, then my prayer for us today is that we would put our pride aside and ask the Lord for help. I pray against all the lies the enemy would throw our way to try and discourage us from the truth. I pray for protection over our weekends and for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Faith like a servant.

This kind of faith like a servant isn't something that we are use to thinking. What I mean by that is were are suppose to serve because of our faith but what I'm talking about are these servants that are in John chapter 2. This is the story of Jesus' first recorded miracle in the Gospel of John which is Jesus turning water into wine. I'm sure we've all heard this story before but have you ever realized how obedient these servants are? I know I haven't. When I was reading this I was shocked how these servants just did what Jesus told them to do. What made me see this so much better was I put myself in their shoes. Imagine being a server at a wedding and you noticed the wine is all gone, depending on your ethnic background that could be dangerous:-) So you are not sure what to do now. Then some lady tells you to do whatever the man next to her tell you to do. Pretty weird but maybe this guy had a stash somewhere. Then this guy tells you to fill up 6 20-30gallon jugs of water and then says go give this to the head hancho. I know I would have thought that this was a joke because all that were in the jugs was water and I know that the head hancho isn't going to be happy with just water. I would have atleast made sure that this guy was going to take the blame if this goes wrong. But that's not what I see here. These servants just fill up their jugs and served the master of the banquet.
Now I'm not saying that these servants knew exactly who Jesus was and the power He had because we don't know if that's what they were thinking. They could have just took Him at His word because there was nothing else to do. After thinking about this all I could think about is would I do the same? Would I just say yes and do whatever it is that Jesus asks of me? This might sound harsh but I believe that these servants make us believers look bad. They did what Jesus said and didn't even know who He was. We on the other hand know who He is and what He's capable of doing yet many times we don't say yes to what He asks of us. I won't lump everyone into that category but I'm guilty of that. I know we are not perfect and we all mess up but that doesn't give us any excuses not to strive for this type of obedience.
So my prayer for us today is that we would be yes men/women to whatever it is the Lord asks of us. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Do we really know Jesus?

So today during my devotion time something I've read before totally spoke to me in a way that it never has done before. I was reading John chapter 1 and I was reading about John the Baptist. The part that stood out to me the most was how John knew what his job was, preparing the way for the Messiah, but really didn't know exaclty who He was until it was revealed to him that it was Jesus. I was reading a little commentary note in my Bible and is was talking about truly knowing who Jesus is. At first I didn't see how they made the connection between Jesus and John until the commentator said that Jesus and John were related. He said that even though John lived in the wilderness he probably knew who Jesus was because they were relatives. So to say that John knew Jesus but didn't really know who Jesus was is a fair thing to say. Then of course in John chapter 1 Jesus was revealed to John by the Spirit. As soon as I read that the first thing that popped into my head was the idea of know who Jesus the person is and knowing who Jesus my personal Lord and Savior is. I believe there is a difference of know who Jesus the person is and knowing who Jesus really is. The portion of scripture that comes to mind is found in Matthew 7:21-23 when Jesus tells people that He never knew them. That's a real scary thought to think that we might think we know Jesus but maybe we might be like those people who He told He never knew?
So what does this mean for us, the only thing that comes to mind is we better make sure we know who Jesus is! We need to make sure that we develop an intimate relationship with the Son because He's the only way to the Father. I believe it's super easy to just say we know Jesus and because we do then that's all we need to do. In Matthew 7 the people that Jesus told I never knew you to were people who were actually doing things that were good things yet they weren't good enough. So if you are wondering what it takes then to be known by God then I suggest that you pick up your Bible and find out. Also how about asking the One who knows what it takes:-)
So my prayer for us today is that we don't get comfortable just knowing God the way we think we do. I pray that we would daily want to find out more and more about Him. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Is God's way really better?

This question might be a question that some of you might have thought before or maybe even struggling with now. The question of is God's way really better came to mind because of what My Pastor said on Sunday and what I read yesterday. My pastor was talking about how God isn't always going to sit back and just keep letting our society and our morals stray further and further away from what He said they should be. I've thought before that I know that God is going to have the final say and judge the world for their sins but when looking at all the people around me thriving and living "good" lives yet there are in so much sin is kind of a hard thing to swallow. I've asked the question; why am I not as successful as those who don't follow you when I've devoted my whole life to God? When that thought runs through my mind I've also thought that maybe I can just live the life the way my flesh wants to and once I get to where I want to be then I live the way God wants me to. That kind of dumb thinking is caused by seeing all those people around me that reject God yet are still living the "good" life. Now here's what separates us from the rest, we know that God can and will bring judgement to those who reject Him. We know that He's not going to extend mercy and grace when that time comes. The hard thing about this is we don't know when He will do all that, but the fact of the matter is we do know it will happen.
So the reason why this question came up beside of what my pastor said is because of what I read in my devotion yesterday. I read Leviticus 26 and in that chapter God lays out what will happen to those who chose to obey Him and what will happen to those who chose not to. After reading that my answer to the question is simple, YES!!! God's way is better. Right now we may see that things aren't going our way or that people aappear to be living a better life but that's all smoke and mirrors. They have happiness in things that will get old and lose their flair, but we have joy in things that are eternal. I challenge you to read Leviticus 26 and see how gnarly of a difference their is between the two choices and I bet you will come to the same answer I did, not because I'm smart but because God's way is.
So my prayer today is that we would chose God's way. I pray for guidance and direction for the Lord's path. I pray for faith and strenght for us to let God be God.

Being refilled.

So it's been about a month since my last post but now I'm back, excited to see what God speaks to me which I can share with you. The reason why I haven't posted anything is because to be completely honest with you I had nothing to say. When I first started this blog the Lord was spekaing through me in so many different ways. It was easy to log on and just write what God was speaking to me. But then I started to notice that as I was ready to log on and start writing, I couldn't think of something to write. And that's when it hit me, I started to think what to write. When I first started this blog, the entries where just things that where placed in my head and needed to get them out. I didn't have to think or figure out what would someone wanted to hear, they just flowed out and that's what made this experience so awesome. So that's why I took a break from the blog. I wanted to give myself some time to get refilled so I could be poured out again. That's what this entry is all about. If you feel like your empty then chances are maybe you are. Maybe you just need to recognize that you need to take the time to get refilled again. I'm not sure what that means to you but things that could help with this are reading more of God's word, spending more alone time with Him, I know this might sound not very "church-like" but maybe you need to take some time off from serving if that's all you do. I know that might sound wrong but I've seen people just get burnt out because they never take the time to get refilled again. Answer me this, how can you pour something out if you got nothing left to pour?
So my prayer for us today is that we ask God to show us how we can be refilled. I pray that we would put in the effort to do what it takes to get refilled. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

The importance of reading God's word.

So in our college group we are going to start diving into spiritual disciplines which are things like, solitude, fasting, praying, and reading God's word. Yesterday a text message brought to light to me one reason why God's word is so crucial to our faith. There are many reasons why it's so important but I want to share the one thing from yesterday. So I had a friend text me to tell her something good. So I responded "Jesus loves you:) " then her response was what triggered this thought. She responded by saying that she knows and it's not because the Bible tells her so:) Now I know that she knows that Jesus loves her and that she loves Him right back with all her heart. As I started to read that again that response wasn't sitting right with me. Just so you know I know she was being funny with her response and that she meant no wrong in it but I couldn't help what was going through my head. I thought to myself that the only reason why we know that God loves us is because the Bible tells us so. Anything we know about God, the ways He loves us, cares for us, and all those other wonderful things about God, we only know them because that's what the Bible tells us about God. I'm not saying that God doesn't give us understanding on issues but I do believe everything we know and need to know about life and God are in His word.
I want to leave with this, I believe that reading the word isn't mandatory it's only a benefit. Look at it like this; every try putting something complicated together without the directions? You can take all the pieces out of the box, lay them all out then throw the directions away and go at it. Half way through it you get stuck, frustrated, and are ready to give up. Then finally hours later you have it all together but you notice there are pieces left over and now your not sure if its going to hold up. God's word are those directions to this complicated thing we call life. Yeah we can get through it but it would have been way easier to just follow the directions which would have saved us struggle, frustration, pain, and wanting to give up. So if your tired of barely making it through life or not even sure how to get through life then pick up the instruction manual and see what God has mapped out for you.
So my prayer for us today is that we would discipline ourselves to read God's word daily. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Very detailed.

So I was reading Exodus 25-26 this morning and I believe the Lord spoke to me through these chapters. I've read these chapters before. These chapters are filled with God giving specific details for building the Arch of the Covenant and the tabernacle of the Lord. God was so detailed in His directions for building these things. It just wasn't where to build them but it was how they should be built and exactly what it should be made out of. Every dimension and every material God told them how to build these things. At first when I read this I kind of just thought of how boring it was to just read detail after detail but then I believe my mind was opened to see how God can and does operate. I know that we ask God for to reveal His will for our lives or we might ask God to show us the ways we should go. I know for most of those times God doesn't reveal these things with such detail but then again there are those times that He does. I believe that this spoke to me because I have been asking God to guide me in certain areas of my life but I've kind of been just expecting God to just help me through these areas but not really expecting clear detailed things. Maybe you are in the same boat as me? Maybe we are waiting for God to give us direction and maybe it's going to be very detailed, who knows? This is one thing that I hold onto and you should too, whether God gives you specific details or just kind of helps you navigate where to go, His ways are always better. I believe this portion of scripture was just renewing my faith when it comes to the area of trusting in God to show me where to go and what to do. I'm super thankful that God is so good and so faithful.
So my prayer for us today is that we would just continue to place all our hope and faith in the Lord. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Is God your Lord?

I looked up the definiton of the word lord and one of the definitions said someone who has power or control over others. Today I read something in my devotional which was talking about Jesus being Lord over our lives. I know its easy as Christians to just say yes to that question without even thinking about that answer. But my devotional really got me to think about my answer. Is Jesus Lord over my life? A better way to put this; Is Jesus Lord over everything in my life? When it comes to saying Jesus is Lord over my life it's easy to just say yes because we know He's Lord over everything. But this idea of Him being Lord over everything in our lives isn't something that just automatically happens. By saying Jesus is the Lord of our life we are saying that we made a conscious decision to allow God to fully reign over our lives. What I read today broke this down better. It was talking about giving all the keys to our hearts, souls, minds, and all the rest of the areas of our lives. When can't just give God some of the keys, He needs them all. I know the thought of submitting everything to Him is a scary thought but it's the best thing that we could do. God know's exactly what we need and He knows what best for us.
So my prayer for us today is that we would give God total control of our lives. I pray that we would release all our hopes, dreams, and concerns to Him and let Him work everything out for the better. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Why did God do that?

Todays entry is something that I have been thinking about these past couple days because I have been reading the account of Moses and Pharaoh. The thought that has been running through my head was how come God hardened Pharoah's heart some many times? I understand the concept that God would harden his heart so that God's power would be known but then I thought to myself why some many times? The things that God did to Egypt were pretty gnarly and I'm just thinking out loud but I think they would have gotten the point after the first few things God did. Instead God repeatedly keeps hardening Pharoah's heart. As I sat with this question these past couple days, now I'm starting to come up with an answer. My answer is the same answer I get when it comes to gnarly questions like this which is I Don't Know!!! I really have no idea why God would choose to do this. The coolest thing that has happened when thinking about this is I believe God is trying to tell me something which I want to share with you. I feel like God is telling me don't worry about what or how He does something, just know that He's in control. Now that might sound harsh but it's so true and actually to me it's freeing. I know I could just waist so much time on wondering why God would choose to do something I have no idea why. This first thing that pops into my head is the story of Job when Job is complaining and wondering why God would do this to him then God puts him in his place for like 3 chapters. I feel that's what God would say to us too. I believe when it comes to this idea of wondering why God would do something that doesn't make sense to us, we need to be put in check just like Job. We need to realize that God is in control, His ways are not our ways, and that He has our best interests.
So my prayer for us today is that we would be more trusting in the Lord. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

He is STRONGER!!!

Last night at church our pastor shared about how we shape our theologies/what we believe by the sufferings, shame, and all those hard times we go through. My pastor wasn't saying that you are wrong if you do that because that's just how we humans do things. The question I had was how do I get away from thinking like that? I mean there are things that happen to us that we just can't wrap our heads around and because of that our minds just start wondering. Things like, God are you there, God do you ever care, why is this happening to me I didn't do anything wrong? I personally believe that those thoughts are perfectly normal but I also believe that we need to not get hung up on those questions. I say that because those types of questions should only consume someone who doesn't know God. Notice I didn't say understand God, I said know Him. I don't believe we could ever fully understand God because our humans minds can't handle it, but I do believe that we can truly know who God is. The Bible is full of stories that reveal who God is. By knowing who our God is will help us to not think those types of questions anymore. I'm not saying you are going to find answers to all your question but if you do know who God is then those questions I listed before will answer themselves.
So who is God? I really don't have the time to lay it all out for you but I want to share one detail of who He is. We sang a song last night that is titled Stronger.(Hilsong) There's a part in the chorus that says:
You are stronger, Sin is broken, You have saved me...
Our God is a strong God! He is stronger then anything. This touched my heart because we need to be reminded of exactly how strong God is. I know people who are held down by fears, failures, shame, guilt, and so much junk that they can't experience God's love or joy. God is stronger then all those things, in fact He died and conquered death so you would no longer be held down by those things. Don't believe me, then try it for yourself. My pastor ended the service by telling the congregation to release all their cares and burdens on Him. Not because they deserve to but because God wants them. So if you're struggling in any of these areas and are tired of feeling like this then do yourself a favor, give all your worries, hurts, heartaches, pain, and anything that you are tired of dealing with to God and watch the Lord restore you and make you whole again.
So my prayer for us today is that we be reminded of how strong God is and by knowing that we would be released from all our fears and worries. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Being willing.

So my last post I talked about how we don't need to be great because ultimately it's God that needs to be great through us. Even though we know that, that doesn't mean that we can't be great because God can and will do great things through us. Last night at growth group we talked about how awesome it is that God will use just average people to do great things. The Bible is full of stories of how God uses these what me might call not so great people to do amazing things. One area I talked about in my last post was how it is ok to just be you. We don't have to be someone we aren't. The thing that is on my heart about this area of being used in great ways by God is the area of being willing. Just because we know that God can use you and wants to use you doesn't mean that He's always going to use you.We talked about this last night and one thing that stood out to me in this discussion was how we might miss out on things because we weren't willing to do what God asked of us. I can't help but think about what I could have done if I didn't walk away from the Lord for a good chunk of time. Now I'm not saying that we should be bummed out and always think about what we might have missed out on, I'm just saying that we should always have that thought of maybe missing out on something great which should make us willing to say yes to whatever God asks of you. I want to close with this; God doesn't need us to do His work, He's perfectly fine without us. When God asks us to do something it's not because He needs us, it's because He loves us enough to allow us to partner with Him.  So my prayer for us is that we would be willing to be used by God no matter what it is He asks of us. I pray for protection over the weekend. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

I don't need to be great...

The idea of being great isn't a bad thing, it's actually something that I hope I can be for the Lord. Ever since I was 12yrs old I was told that I would do great things for the Lord. When I first heard that I was super excited but as the years went by and as I started to think of what I've done since then and where I'm at now, I don't feel like I've done anything great. I have been fortunate to be apart of some great things but overall I really don't feel like im doing anything great. By having this mentality that I'm not being great can really be a stumbling block in becoming great, let me explain. We all have our own ideas about was greatness is and what we might need to do in order to achieve greatness. What I was doing was trying to compare my ministry with other geat ministries. Because we see great ministries like Joel Osteen, Hilsong, and any other "mega" ministries out there and when I see these ministries that what I see as greatness. I see these "mega" ministries and then compare my ministry to theirs and I can't help but think that I'm no where near greatness. By comparing these ministries with mine all I'm doing is putting unnecessary pressure and unreal expectations on myself. This past Sunday the Lord really spoke to me and lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. This idea of being great and having an unreal expectation of greatness was changed for me. First off I realized that only God says what's great and what's not. I'm not saying that these "mega" ministries aren't great, but these ministries are only great if God says they are. It doesn't matter how big or small a ministry is, we shouldn't judge them by numbers or human standards, we should just make sure we are doing them to bring God glory and we need to let Him be the judge of greatness. The thing that really took all the weight off my shoulders was knowing that I don't have to be great because the only thing that will make me and my ministry great is God being great through me. I will never be great if I'm trying to be great, all I need to do is walk in righteousness, obedience, and allow God to be great through me.
So you want to be great? Then stop trying to be great, just let God be great through you. I'm not saying that we shouldn't do anything, remember we always need to keep our ends of the deal up. So my prayer for us today is that we would let God be great in our lives. I pray that God would relieve us of any unnecessary pressures we put on ourselves because we are trying to do it all on our own. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.  

Where did God come from?

So today at work my friend asked me a question that many have asked and it's even a question I've thought about. The question is where did God come from? She was reading Genesis and we know that God was there before the creation of everything but knowing that there had to be someone or something before everything in order for these things to be created then our minds might wonder then who was before God? Well here's the answer that I've come up with....(drum role) I don't know. I know this idea that God was just there before anything and that nothing created Him is kind of mind blowing. Even though I can't really explain it to someone this is what I do know, He was there before everything, He's still here now, and He will always be. I told my friend that God just always being there is what makes Him God. There is no beginning to Him and there is no end either. He is the source of everything. I know that we as humans always want to know where everything came from and how everything is made. To be honest if God thought that we could handle all the mysteries about Him then He would reveal them to us. But since we can't this is something that we just need to have faith in and be ok with just knowing that our God is and will always be. I relate this to those difficult times in our lives when we aren't sure exactly why things are happening. Life is full of situations that we really don't have answers to. The only piece of advise that I can give you is that no matter what we might be going through, we need to seek the Lord and if He doesn't answer we just need to always know that God is good, faithful, and that He is and will always be.
So my prayer for us today is that God would free us from these questions that don't have answers to. I pray that if these questions do have answers that God would grant us the knowledge to understand these answers or give us the patience to wait for these answers. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

Just enough.

The message that my pastor shared this week was the story of Elijah and the widow. If your not too familiar with the story it's in 1 Kings 17 and it starts in verse 7. To give a rough summary God tells Elijah to go to Zarephath and that he's going to dwell with a widow and she will provide for him. So he goes and finds her and he tells her to go make him something to eat with what she has but she responds to him pretty much saying I ony have enough for me and my son to eat and because it was so little they wouldn't have enough to survive and they would die even after they ate what they had. Then Elijah knowing what God told him told her to do it and God would take care of everything else. (Rough summary) So God came through and the flower and oil didn't run out. The way I use to think of this story was how awesome that God blessed them so much. But not trying to take away from the awesomeness of God, but he really didn't give them much. Yes He provided but it wasn't like He blessed them with meat, wine, and better bread, He gave them just enough. Last night at our growth group something new from this story spoke to me. When it comes to the area of God blessings for our lives I believe many of us tend to expect what I call "super abundant blessings" to be poured out on us. I'm not saying that we shouldn't want that, because I believe God can pour out an abundance of blessings on us but that's not how He always does things. Let's be real here we get super excited about the "super abundant blessings" but not so much for God giving us just enough. What spoke to me in this story was how much just enough really was. After talking with the group last night it was pretty clear that when we hear the phrase "just enough" we think of the bare minimum. But in this story we don't see that. When Elijah first asked this widow to make him the cake to eat and she replied that there was barely enough for her and her son to eat but it wasn't enough to even keep them alive, after God provides just enough I now see that God's just enough is more then the bare minimum. They went from having pretty much nothing to having enough for three people to eat. After realizing that we talked about how we need to realize that God just giving us enough is more then we need.
I know we want the "super abundant blessings", I know I want that. I just think that instead of putting such a high expectation/value of the big blessings we need to know that no matter how big or small God choses to bless us, it's way more then enough. So my prayer for us today is that we be super thankful and realize just how much God has blessed us. I pray that in times of trouble and hardship we would take sometime and reflect on all the goodness God has blessed us with. I pray for safety and protection over our weekends, and I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.
Have a great weekend, see you back on Monday!

Let's prosper!

Today I read about Joseph, the one in Genesis, and I just couldn't help being kind of jealous of how blessed and favored this guy was by God. I know it started rough for him, (sold by his brothers) but in chapters 39-40 we see how God blessed him. At the end of 39 he was in prison but it said in verse 23: because the Lord was with him; and whatever he did, the Lord made it prosper. How awesome for Joseph but then I start to think why not me? I want everything I do to prosper. So how do we get to that place, what do we need to do for everything we do to prosper? Gee I wish there was a book that would tell us how to do that.... :-)
¹ Blessed is the one 
   who does not walk in step with the wicked 
or stand in the way that sinners take 
   or sit in the company of mockers, 
² but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, 
   and who meditates on his law day and night. 
³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, 
   which yields its fruit in season 
and whose leaf does not wither— 
   whatever they do prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3)
I have to admit something, as I thought about how can I prosper like this I felt pretty dumb. The reason for this is because if I just looked at the inside of my arm I would see this portion of scripture and be reminded of this awesome promise, that is the reason why I tattooed it on my body. So I'm going to go out on a limb here and saying that we all want our lives to be prosperous, right? Well we see that we can as long as we put God first and do our part we can live a prosperous life.
So my prayer for us today is that we would start living a life worthy of being prosperous. I pray that God would give us the discpline needed to walk righteously and meditate on the Lord day and night. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Do you know who your God is?

Last night my friend Reed talked about the hope we get when we know who our God is. People might think that they know who their God is so what's the point of this topic. So the question I asked myself is; Who exactly is my God? Well I know my God to be all powerful, all knowing, the creator of the universe, my redeemer, my savior, the healer, my refuge, the list can go on and on. I hope you agree with this list but after thinking about all these great characteristics of God another question popped into my head, if I say God is all these things then why do I get bummed or doubt when things aren't going the way I want them to? Two things, either what we say we believe we really don't buy into it 100% or God is a liar and isn't all these great things He claims to be. Now I think we all know which answer is the right one, but I'm not hear to call anyone out when it comes to the area of buying into these great things we say God is. I know things get tough and our faith sometimes gets on the low side, but all I want to do today is remind you to remind yourself about who your God really is. This hope and excitment that my friend was talking about can only be experienced by knowing exactly who God is. The Bible is filled with tons of stories that give us insight about who God really is. After reading and studying about God I can tell you that He's bigger and better then we probably give Him credit for. The God of the Bible, our God, knows, cares, and loves you more then you can imagine. No matter where you are or how far you've walked away from Him, He still loves you. There's nothing that can keep you from God's love. If you want to find out who God is pick up a Bible and start finding out who He is. By doing so you can have a hope,peace, and experience a love that can't be put into words.
So my prayer for us today is that we take the time to find out who our God really is. I pray that by doing so we trade our worries and concerns for the peace and hope that is found in knowing who God is. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Who are we doing things for?

This was something that hit me like a ton of bricks last night as I was sitting in class. The idea of who am I doing these things for pricked my heart. I'm in a busy season in life with school, work, and ministry and things have been kind of feeling like it's just one big routine. When you have a routine for sometime you can start getting tired and start wanting something different, something new. Feeling that way isn't what I would call a bad thing but it's something that can really derail what you are involved in. By wanting something new or different might cause you to lose focus on what God has you doing right now. I know that as I started wondering about what's next in my life I could notice that my hunger and desire for the things I was involved in were slowly fading. Because of that I wasn't giving my all in these areas. What I was reminded of last night was who am I doing these things for? Am I going to school for my personal gain, am I involved in ministry because it looks good? As we started talking about Jesus in class and how He went to the cross for us, not because He wanted to, (remember what He prayed for in the garden) but because that was the will of the Father. Jesus did everything that the Father asked of Him. His sole purpose in life was to be obedient to the Father no matter what the cost. Jesus understood who He was doing these things for.
As I was driving home I was so convicted and had a long talk with God. I realized that I was doing things for God and myself. Once again it's not always bad to do things for yourself but I don't want to do anything except what God wants from me. I understand that I go to school to further my education and hopefully my degrees will help with a career but I don't want that to be my main foucs. I want to always remind myself that with this education I can be used more effectively by God and hopefully do my best to advance His Kingdom. I don't want school to be the only thing, I want to live my whole life for God. Everything I do I want to do it for the Lord. As I started to ask God for forgiveness and to help me to live my life solely for Him, I could just feel that fire being stired up again and all that excitement that comes with knowing God is allowing me to partner with Him to advance His Kingdom.
I don't know if anyone feels like I do, whether it's feeling like you're stuck in a routine or maybe you haven't been doing things for God like you know you should be but my prayer for us today is that God would change our hearts desires. I pray that He would give us the hearts to serve and the desire to make our lives living sacrifices to Him. I pray for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

Staying patient.

Man it's been tough for me lately being patient. I've just been so ready for things to change, to get better, and just see where God is going to take me in my life. Anyone in the same boat? I'm not saying that having this feeling of wanting to go now is a bad thing but it's something that we need to make sure that doesn't consume our life. Last night I was talking with a friend about how life is going and how I was doing. It was a good conversation and as I think about what was said the one thing that I believe the Lord is speaking to me is patience and remembering that God is faithful. Sometimes I just can't help but think of when God is going to get this show on the road? When is He going to start fulfilling those promises? The funny thing is how easily I forget that His timing and plans are not mine. I know it's natural for us to want these things to happen but we have to step back and remember that He has everything in control and that He is faithful. That's what I love about the Bible. There are so many stories and examples of how faithful God is. The stories I love the most are the ones where God promises something to someone but doesn't fulfill it right away. The reason for that is because we can relate to that. I think of the story of Abraham. How he wanted a son and God told him He would give him a son. Now it's not like as soon as God said He would Abraham had a son, he was around 100yrs old when it all happened. There are others I can share but what God has been speaking to me these past few weeks is to just trust Him more and more. The one thing that I hold onto is the fact that if God says He's going to do something then He will, no if ands or buts. The trick to it all is letting Him do it and having the patience and faith and making sure we keep our ends of the deal up.
So my prayer for us today is that God would give any of us who might be struggling in this area more patience and faith to trust in God's perfect timing. I pray for strenght and faith for us to let God be God.

Reach for Jesus.

You ever feel like things aren't getting better? Feel like there's no hope insight? I know there has been many times in my life where I would say I didn't completely feel like there was no hope but I did feel like giving up because things weren't moving as fast or the way I wanted them to. So what do we do in times like this? Should we just sit around and remind ourselves of the promises of the Lord or should we do something about them? First I want to say that we do need to be reminded of the promises that God has set before us but I also believe that instead of just sitting there and thinking about them, we need to walk in faith and take action. In Matthew 9 there is a story of a women who was bleeding for 12years. Imagine the lack of hope this women had. I know if things don't happen my way within a month then I start to worry and I can tell my faith starts to decrease. I'm sure that the thought of never being healed crossed her mind many times. What she does next is what I believe we need to do when we find ourselves in situations that just seem impossible. She goes to the one who is the only person who could help her, Jesus!
I know that we see how her faith was awesome but I'm not sure we really understand how awesome her faith was. We might say to ourselves that of course she would go to Jesus, who wouldn't? Remember this, she didn't know Jesus like we do. We have the luxury of knowing who Jesus is by all the accounts in the Bible. We know that He is the Messiah and that He died and rose again. She didn't. This lady might of heard word about Jesus but there's no way she knew what we do, she had no idea of what He would do on the cross. Even though she didn't fully understand who He was she still said "If only I may touch His garment, I shall be made well" (Matt. 9:21) This lady recognized that there was something special about this man and she put all her hope and faith that Jesus would heal her and He did. After reading this I got gut checked. I know Jesus, I love Jesus, and I have the luxury to read about Him and study Him but yet my faith lacks in troubled times. I know it's hard to have such great faith when things suck all around you but that's still not an excuse. I don't want to bum anyone out but maybe we just need to ask ourselves how great is our faith? Do we really trust in the Lord in our what we call impossible times and are we going to have the faith to persevere? No matter what you are going through Jesus is there to help, heal, and get you through these rough spots in our lives. All we need to do is trust in Him and let Him do all the hard work.
So my prayer for us today is that God would give us strength and faith for us to let Him be Him. I pray that we would cast all our cares on Him and that He would restore any lack of trust that we might be having. I pray for help in our lacks of faiths.

Going the extra step.

Today I read the story of Rebekah, how she was the one choosen to be Isaac's wife. Abraham told his oldest servant to go get a wife for Isaac. So he did and he asked the Lord very specific details about this women. He was at the well and all the maidservants were drawing water and he said that the wife for Isaac would be the one who would draw water for him and his camels. Rebekah was the one who did that and the rest is history. What stood out to me was how Rebekah took that extra step. I know that this was the Lord at work but just think of the hard work that she had to do. Drawing water is a pain in itself but drawing water for camels as well is way over the top. Camels drink tons of water. I personally believe that God didn't force her to do that, I believe that was just the kind of person she was. And because of her character she would be blessed for that. The reason why I think this stood out to me was because I witnessed something like this last night. A new girl came to our college group and she was sitting all by herself and people said hi and introduced themselves but one of the girls took the extra step to make this girl feel welcomed. Instead of just introducing herself and then leaving she had her sit with her and hungout with her the whole night. She made this new girl feel like she was part of the group. What I take from Rebekah's story and what happen yesterday was how important it is to put others before ourselves. How important it is not just for us but for others to go that extra step. This totally rubbed off on me today at work. I wasn't doing because I wanted to get something out of it, but because I know that God would have me do that. Hello the second greatest command is to love others.
Now you might be thinking that going the extra step is a waist of time or it's not as important as I'm making it out to be. But by going that extra step to say hi to someone, love on them, even just seeing how they are doing can really make a huge difference in someones life. I end with this, one of the greatest feelings I've ever experienced is being apart of making a differenece in people's lives. It's an unexpessible joy. Joy isn't the only thing you will experience, I believe just as Rebekah was blessed so will you when you go the extra step to put others before yourself.
So my prayer for us today is that we would start seeing people the way Jesus did. I pray that our hearts would change so we would want to put others before ourselves. I pray that we would take things one day at a time and for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

What are we willing to sacrifice?

As I was going through my reading plan this morning I read the story of Abraham and Isaac. Now I've read this story before and heard pastor preach on this story. I'm not saying that I've never received anything before but after reading it this time this story stood out way more to me. We see how Abraham had gnarly faith in God because he was going to sacrifice Isaac. We see how obedient Abraham was because he didn't even question the Lord's gnarly request. As I was reading this (Gen. 22) when I came to the part where Abraham and Isaac were by themselve and Isaac asked his dad where is the sacrifice was, I put myself in Abraham's shoes. I asked myself could I follow through with that? I love the Lord with all my heart but I don't know how I would act if God told me to sacrifice my first born son. That hit me hard because I can't wait to be a dad, I want a son soooo bad. I'm super in love with my niece Brielle, I could only imagine how in love I'm going to be with my own kids. Having a family is a prayer of mine just as it was for Abraham. Imagine praying for years to have a son and nothing happens for a long time but you just keep praying until it happens. Then when it finally happens and your so relieved and super happy then God says "ok I want it back", how bummed would you be? Besides being super bummed, would you give whatever it is back with no questions asked with total faith and trust in the Lord?
Now I'm not writing this today to make you feel bad if your faith isn't at this level, I don't know what I would do if I was ever asked to do something so gnarly as Abraham was asked to do. I believe what I got out of this story is that no matter what God asks of us we need to be willing to do it. No matter how gnarly it is. I will say this I don't believe God will ask of you something that He knows that you can't do. I believe God knew the level of faith that Abraham had so that's why he would ask that of him. The greatest thing about this story was we see how the Lord blesses obedience. The Lord blessed Abraham and provided a sacrifice for them. I do believe that God will ask of us to sacrifice things that we hold dear, not because He's mean or needs them, but because He wants to see how much we will trust Him. And just like Abraham was blessed we to will be blessed for our obedience to God.
So my prayer for us today is that God would help us to trust in Him more each day. I pray that we would say yes to Him no matter what is asked of us. I pray for us to take things one day at a time and for faith and strength for us to let God be God.

So I dont know really how to title this entry but this entry has to do with the topic of worry. Yesterday my pastor said something in his message that has really been helping me today. He said that God is only going to give you the strength to get through today. By saying that he was trying to get the point across that we don't need to worry about tomorrow, Jesus said to let tomorrow worry about itself so what my pastor said was accurate. So as I left service I was feeling good about the day then as soon as I got into my car I started to worry about this upcoming season in my life. School starts today and I'm going to be busy with a lot of ministry so the thought of me juggling my school work and ministry time is really stressing me out. The funny thing is I know that God can give me the strength to do all this but the thought of "how" is really what's killing me. I think what do I have to give up, am I going to have time to hangout, and am I going to sleep less because of all this? Even today I'm stressing about the rest of this week. But what's been helping me is what my pastor told me and I believe we can all find peace in all our chaos, we need to take things one day at a time. I know that is so cliche but it's so true and we always look at the days ahead of us. My pastor wasn't saying that we should plan things out but we shouldn't worry about tomorrow. The reason I love the idea of God only giving us strength for today is because it causes me to stop looking foward for tomorrow. I know that I need God's strength to get through my days and if I know that I'm going to need Tuesday's help tomorrow but can't get it till Tuesday then I wont bother worrying about it until I wake up Tuesday!
So my prayer for us is that God gives us the strength to trust Him more. I pray for an increase of faith and less worry. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

Fabulous Friday.

I think I wrote about this before but this was put on my heart after reading the word a few days ago. In Matthew chapter 5 Jesus says that we are the salt of the earth. Now I'm sure that doesn't seem like such a great thing to be, who wants to be known as salty? The thing about salt is it can be used for so many things. It melts ice away on roads, it preserves, and it can also enhance flavors. Now this all seem like great things but remember that too much salt can ruin things. The way this spoke to me was we see that salt can be used for good or it can ruin things. Two questions came to mind, first off Am I salty? Second, if so am I making things better or ruining things? Depending on which one you might answer to we have to remember this and I believe this is what Jesus was talking about, salt can only have an impact whether good or bad if it's applied to things. Salt can't ruin things or enhace things if it just stay salt all by itself. Same for us, we want to be the good qualities of salt but if we are not doing anything then what good are we?
So my prayer for us today is that we would be salty today, and for that matter that we would always be salty. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

Can we hide from God?

I hope this entry isn't all over the place. After reading a few days ago about the fall of man in Genesis 3, one event takes place that's been stuck in my mind so I want to share it with you and who knows maybe it sparks something in you and it sparks something in me too. So after Adam and Eve ate the of the fruit from the tree God told them not to they heard God walking in the garden and then they hid. I do believe that most of us would do the same if we just disobeyed God and heard Him coming. What strikes me is what God does after, He calls out to Adam and says "where are you". Now I know God is all knowing so He had to have known where they were, so if that's true why didn't He just say come out of the bushes because I know you're there? After reading a footnote on this the commentator said that it's so wonderful how God comes after us even when we sin and were disobedient. I get that and I'm super thankful but I still can't help but think why God needed to do that? I don't believe that it's a bad thing to wonder about things because I'm not saying that I don't think it's right, it's a great thing because it makes me wonder more and more about our God.
The thing that I just started to think about just now is the idea of hiding from God. I believe we forget that God can be everywhere and anywhere when He wants. What pops into my head are the times I sin but I don't do it infront of someone or I do things when I'm all by myself, what an idiot!!! How easily we forget that God sees everything. I will say that Adam and Eve don't make me feel that dumb because God was walking with them and they were the only two on earth and they still thought they could hide from him :-D But the fact of the matter is knowing that God can be everywhere at anytime and I think I can sneek one by him makes me just as bad.
So my prayer for us today is that we would be reminded that God is always watching us and by that we would be aware and make the effort to walk pleasing in the sight of the Lord. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

Let's keep it simple part 2.

So as I was doing my daily reading this simple thought came to me, it's a thought that many of us know but yet we don't put that much importance on it. What I'm talking about is simply obeying God. Now I know that seems kind of simple (that's the title :-) but I believe that's the point. So many times in my life I want to know what to do or how I can do things that would bring glory to God. Which is totally fine but I believe we concentrate on things that aren't as important as just simply obeying God. Now I'm not saying that ministry and loving on people are bad things because I do believe that they are super important but what I'm talking about are the things we place infront of obeying God. I guess an easier way to put this is these things are the stresses and worries we place on ourselves that we think make us better Christians or things that please God. They could be anything from how much we read our Bibles, how much we are involved in church, how much we pray, and how we live. These things are all good but so many times  people put such a huge emphasis on these things like how much they read, how long they pray, and even set a bar so high in their walks that it becomes unrealistic to achieve. By setting these standards we can expect to face failure because let's be real no one is perfect but because we set these standards we feel that if we don't live up to them then God will be mad at us and that we are failures. The funny thing God knows we aren't perfect and He doesn't hold us to rediculous standards.
The idea of keeping it simple by losing those unrealistic standards and focusing on just simply obeying God came from reading Genesis. We see that God created Adam then Eve and they had it made. They walked and talked with God and life was good. God even gave them dominion over everything. But we all know what happens next, they disobey and God takes it all away and now they must face the consequences. A few chapters later Noah comes on the seen. God tells him to build an arch, Noah obeys God and he's blessed for it. The cool thing about Noah's blessing is it wasn't just a pat on the head with a good job attached to it, God gave Noah the dominion that Adam had. So I know that this was a quick overview on these 8 chapters (read them and find out more ;-) but there is such a great comparison on what happens when you obey God and when you don't. Once again I'm not saying that we shouldn't strive after things to advance God's Kingdom, I'm just saying we should focus more on simply obeying God and not stressing on all those little details.
So my prayer for us today is that God would give us the strength to obey him more this year. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

Let's keep it simple.

This entry was sparked by a conversation I had with a friend today, so if your reading this I think it's awesome that God could use our conversation :-) My friend had a question from an outline they got at church that they didn't understand. So we just took a few minutes to discuss what we thought. You could tell that my friend was stressed because they didn't understand what the question meant. After a few minutes it was clear what my friend was doing, it was something I use to do a lot and I believe that many people do, my friend was just confusing themselves. My friend was trying to understand what this meant by our human mind but I believe that in order for us to understand the scriptures we need to let the person who helped write the Bible do all the teaching, The Holy Spirit. So many times we want to know the "deep theological" meanings of the scriptures. That's a good thing but I think by doing that we can get hung up on certain things which makes us lose sight of what God is trying to tell us. Searching the scriptures in a scolarly way is great, that's what I go to school for, but I do believe that if that's the only way we read the scriptures then we can miss out on a lot of things.
So how do we keep it simple for this new year? I want to share with you something a professor shared with me that I can say is the best thing I've been taught at Vanguard. He told us to "marinate" in the scriptures. What he means by that is taking the time to read a short portion or chapter of a book in the Bible and after just let the Holy Spirit speak to you. Ask God to tell you what he wants to speak to you about. That's what I told my friend today, that instead of reading the God's word with the mentality of "what's the deep theological meaning behind this" we should read it with the mentality of "what do you want to speak to me today Lord?" Remember this, we can do all the studying and research we want to find out about God and his word but we can only learn/know what He allows to.
So my prayer for us today is that instead of putting such a huge emphasis on what the Bible says, we would be more concerned with what God is trying to speak to us through His word. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.

A fresh start.

Happy New Year everyone!!! This is the time that people get super excited about a fresh start. The idea of a new year makes people see that we have a clean slate for this up coming year. I don't know about you but I'm super excited for this up coming year and have great expectations for 2011. The thing I want to talk about today is the idea of the enemy trying to rob us of our excitement for a great year. I'll be honest there were things that I did last year that were wrong and I wish I would have never done them. I made sure to ask God for forgiveness and repented of those things, but so many times the enemy would love to tell you that there's no way that God could forgive you for the bad things you've done. Even though we know the truth he's really good at twisting things around. I'm starting to read the Bible all the way through this year and we see how Eve was easily tricked in Genesis. So many times the enemy will get in ours heads and tell us that what we did was too bad or that God will only forgive us a certain amount of times. One of the things I pray for you all is that God would open our eyes to the lies and plans the enemy would try on us. The truth of the matter is that God is willing to forgive us if we confess our sins to him. "IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS, HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS, AND TO CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." (1 John 1:9)
Now even though we know this, it doesn't give us the green light to keep on sinning. The thing I want to leave you with is something that a professor pointed out to me which I overlooked but it brings great comfort. When it comes to the idea of God being so mad at us because we messed up or disobeyed him is true because I believe that it upsets God when we sin, but that doesn't mean He will just leave you/give up on you. Now I'm sure we all know the story of Adam and Eve, they disobeyed God and He scolded them but did you ever notice what He did after that? In verse 21 in Genesis 3 it says that God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. Now if God was super mad and wanted nothing to do with them then why would he clothe them? If He was such a mean God and if He's strictly someone who only punishes people for doing wrong then why would he take care of their needs? That's why our God is so great, yeah He will punish us for what we've done but not because He's a mean God but it's because He loves us that much. Also God isn't going to hang our sins over our heads, the Bible says he remembers our sins no more. God loves us so much that even though we will fail him and disobey him He is still there to love us and take care of us. But here's something to think about, just because He's always there doesn't mean He's your personal genie. You need to make sure that you do your part by honoring God in everything you do.
So my prayer for us today is that we would be filled with an excitement for a great new year. I pray blessing and favor for this new year. I pray for strength and faith for us to let God be God.