Following Jesus should not Cost us Anything...

It should cost us Everything!!

At first, the title of this post was going to be "Following Jesus Should Cost us Something", but after careful consideration, I decided this wasn't exactly a good statement. Now, while it is true that if we are not losing anything by following Jesus than we are probably not REALLY following Jesus. However, we are not just called to give up a few things here and there, nor only the things that are most important to us, but we are supposed to give up everything.

There is a man in the book of John whom I greatly appreciate. His name is Nicodemus. We first see Nicodemus in chapter 3 when he comes to Jesus at night. It would seem quite simple to overlook this tiny detail, but, it's always the minute things that seem to bare the most importance. Jesus was out in the city squares preaching quite often, Nicodemus who was a prominent Sanhedrin would have had more than ample opportunities to have a chat with Him in the day time. He was a little bit sheepish, it would seem. Nicodemus has had a great education in the Torah. He was held in high regard by the Jews, and the community, and yet, Jesus makes it clear that this isn't enough to have eternal life (v3). Jesus tells him what he has to do to be born again. But by the time we get done with chapter 3, we are left wondering what Nicodemus is going to do. But don't worry, he appears later. In chapter 8 we see him again. The Jews have become jealous of the popularity Jesus has gotten, and since part of their job description is to judge false prophets, they start scheming as to how they can silence Jesus. And who else comes to Jesus' defense? None other than Nicodemus (v 51 "Does our law condemn anyone without hearing him to find out what he is doing?") Now it may not seem like much, Nicodemus doesn't actually state that he believes Jesus, but he is risking his status as a "higher up" to defend Jesus. How does the counsel respond? "are you also from Galilee?" now this might not seem very harsh, but you have to remember that there was a saying back then. "Can anything good come out of Galilee?" Galilee was a very small town, not very significant at all. This was meant to be a very harsh insult.

On one more occasion do we see Nicodemus in Scripture. After Jesus' death he is one of the men who takes some spice (about 75 pounds, which would have been VERY expensive) to wrap Jesus' body in. This is actually quite the gesture, not only would it cost him a great deal of money, but there would be no hiding the affection he had for Jesus any longer. We don't hear about Nicodemus any more in Scripture after this, but historical records show that he would later be martyred.

Jesus held nothing back from Nicodemus, for Nicodemus to follow Jesus would, in the end, cost him. This seems to be a theme throughout Scripture. Moses couldn't follow God without standing in front of Pharaoh. Noah couldn't follow God without building an ark that would bring ridicule from his neighbors. Daniel couldn't follow God by praying to him alone without being thrown into a lions' den. Following Jesus isn't something you can do at night where no one notices. It's a twenty-four-hour-a-day commitment that will interfere with your life, and that's a guarantee.

Our society is getting worse and worse, no one is willing to admit that they are a follower of Jesus. they know that if they do, they will be despised, and rejected. But we are no longer are own. We have been bought with a price, and it is no longer us who inhabits are souls, but the Lord Jesus (1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

Luke 9:23 is one of my favorite verses of all time: "And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.""

Denying yourself, have you ever tried that? It's not something we do often, nor is it something we like to do. Why? Because due to our nature we suffer from the "It's all about me" syndrome.

Yet Jesus makes it very clear that if we have any desire to follow Him, we have to give up the "Me syndrome" and take up our cross.

So what can we expect if we are truly followers of Jesus?

1 John 3:13 "Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you."

Let Go, and Let God

Already this start to a new year has had its struggles. God didn't promise a life without pain, but He does promise to be there through the tears. God didn't promise a life without difficulties, but He does promise a comfort to get through them. Sometimes it's hard to be thankful in hard circumstances. This is probably one of the hardest things for me to handle as a Christian. And yet, as I look back on all my past struggles, it's amazing to see what God has done through them.

Right now I am in the midst of something where I think I know what's best, and yet it would seem the complete opposite is happening. Right now when it seems like things are starting to fall apart, something inside of me can't wait to see the end of it, and see what wonderful thing God will do.

We all seem to think we know what's best, but sometimes the best thing we can do is to let go, and let God. Let God do what He wants to, He always knows what's best, even if it seems like circumstances aren't how we like. God exists outside of time and space, it's hard to comprehend in this small brain of ours, and yet, it's so amazing to think about. God is the end and the beginning, He already knows what our course is, and what the best way for His children is.

Provers 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding; in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Attitude of Gratitude

One of my favorite times is coming up rather quickly, Black Friday! It was this realization that stirred my heart. It is rather sad that I am more excited for a day full of shopping for the best deals around, trying to beat everyone else to that awesome deal on that wonderful...whatever it is, and yet I decide to ignore the oh so important day before.

One of the things I fail to realize sometimes is just how much God has blessed me. I have an amazing Christian family, an amazing group of Christian friends, a job, free college, and most importantly, I am redeemed by the blood of the lamb. I am surrounded by God's amazing blessings, I couldn't even be able to do a sufficient job of counting them.

Paul gave a very simple instruction in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Give thanks in all circumstances...as simple as it sounds, it's actually kind of difficult. Maybe not when everything is going just fine, and you couldn't have a care in the world. But what about those times when God seems far away, when we have lost a loved one. We are still supposed to give thanks. I think the reason is provided in Romans 8:18 "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us." When I think about all of the hard things I have had to go through, all I have to do is think about an eternity spent with Jesus Christ, and those trials just fade away. Oh that wonderful day when I will get to be with my Lord and Saviour, those hard times don't even matter anymore.

At the heart of it all, when I find myself wanting something, or thinking how terrible my circumstances are, all I need to do is think about what Christ has done, and that the best is still to come, and I am filled with an attitude of gratitude.

"I had no shoes and complained, until I met a man with no feet."


Do you have an attitude of gratitude?

Entrapments

1 Peter 5:8 has never meant more to me than it does right now.

"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

As I am sitting here right now, I have the TV on. I have been watching a DVD on the emergent church and mysticism, and why it is so dangerous. In one of the sessions it talked about a motivational speaker named Anthony Robbins. The name struck a strange bell, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I saw a few pictures of him, and I couldn't get this feeling out of my head that I had seen him somewhere before. Then it hit me, a video was shown, and the people in that video was wearing a lanyard, not unlike one that I have. I am involved in a student organization called BPA (Business Professionals of America). During their national conference in Washington D.C. last May, they had Anthony Robbins as a keynote speaker. That is where I had seen him before.

The DVD session went on to explain how this Anthony Robbins gets his ideas from mysticism. I will be completely honest, this scared me. I recalled last May as I was sitting there listening to him speak and thinking "yeah, this is really cool, I am starting to really like this guy."

Whiteout even knowing it, I nearly got caught in a very ugly trap. I was convinced that this guy really knew what he was talking about. I was so close to coming home and doing what this guy said. I can only thank the Lord that I didn't. Something stopped me, even to this point I can't directly say what it was, something just wasn't right.

This has taught me quite a valuable lesson. Even without knowing it, it is super easy to get entrapped by something evil. The Devil and his minions are around, watching, waiting for their chance to strike. We cannot let them have that chance. We need to rely on Jesus Christ...and only Jesus Christ.

So many things can feel right or sound good, people can even throw the name of Jesus in with it just to make it sound good. Jesus was telling the truth when He said that many would come in His name (Mark 13:6). There are even some prominent Christian figures who have started endorsing what is called Christian Mysticism. I have heard of so many Christians that have started doing Yoga.

The world is so full of these evil things that are made to look so good just for our benefit. We need to carefully watch what we are getting ourselves into.

Luke 21:8 "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming 'I am he' and 'the time is near'. Do not follow them."

Tell me the Story of Jesus

How many times have you heard the story of Jesus? I hope and pray that you will never cease to hear it. It is such a sweet story. Let me elaborate on that word. I am not necessarily talking about the word that would be synonymous with the word cool, awesome, radical, etc. Although those words do apply, I am talking about a different kind of sweet. Have you ever had honey? Mmmmm, I can almost taste it now. I am talking about that kind of sweet. The melt in your mouth sweet. Now, it has been said that too much of a good thing can be a bad thing, but somehow I don't think that applies to hearing the story of Jesus. A Hymn has been going through my mind these last couple hours, can you guess what it's called? "Tell me the Story of Jesus" is it's title.

Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard. Tell how the angels in chorus sang as they welcomed His birth. "Glory to God in the highest! Peace and good tidings to earth." Fasting a lone in the desert, tell of the days that are past, how for our sins He was tempted, yet was triumphant at last. Tell of the years of His labor, tell of the sorrow He bore, He was despised and afflicted, homeless, rejected and poor. Tell of the cross where they nailed Him, writhing in anguish and pain. Tell of the grave where they laid Him, tell how He liveth again. Love in that story so tender, clearer than ever I see: Stay, let me weep while you whisper, Love paid the ransom for me. Tell me the story of Jesus, write on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious, sweetest that ever was heard.

What an awesome story! I don't know about you, but that is the sweetest story I have ever heard. And I don't care how many times it is retold to me...I could hear it over and over and over again.

Ephesians 1:13 "In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise."

Searching: For Love

The very first thing I want to happen before I start, is for you to read 1 Corinthians 13.

This is going to be the last post in my "searching" series. The reason why I haven't posted in a while is because I didn't know what to write about. However, after a 9 day inner city mission trip, reading a book, and reading 1 Corinthians 13, I finally settled on Love.

I will be focusing on how, if we ever expect to be able to minister to others, we have to love them first. At the end of 1 Corinthians we find out that Love is more important than even faith. At the beginning, we learn that even if we give our bodies to be burned, but have no love, it doesn't profit us anything(v 3).

Everyone going through life is looking for Love. Ever wondered why a dog his considered man's best friend? It is because of the Love and loyalty the dog has for it's owner. We have been given an incredible gift called Love. God sent His son to die for us, a terrible and nasty death that isn't even described in the Bible. Why should the people around us not hear abut it? What is stopping us from sharing this incredible love with others?

This is what God put on my heart in the past month. We can do all the right things. We can go to church, pray, rad the bible, even go on a mission trip. But if we don't have Love, it will do us no good whatsoever.

John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends"

Romans 5:7 "For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die."

Searching: For Fulfillment

All of us are searching for the same thing, almost all the time. We are looking for someone or something to fulfill us. What we don't realize, however, is that there is one and only 1 who can really fulfill us. His name is Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

This summer, I haven't really had a lot on my mind. I haven't been keeping very busy as of late. It seems I am always looking for something new to spend my time on. What I don't realize (or, maybe I do realize it but just don't want to take note of), is that these things won't really fulfill me.

Whatever you have been using to try and find fulfillment in, I'd wager that you didn't get exactly what you were hoping for. There is nothing that can get rid of the empty feeling that we have when we get done with whatever it is we were doing.

On the flip side of that, there is no better feeling we can experience then when we let Christ have complete control in our lives. This fulfillment is Awesome! I experienced this for the first time in a while last night. I had just gotten done with VBS preparation and was in my car on my way home. I turned on the radio to my favorite christian radio station and just sat there, silently, worshipping God. This truly was an amazing thing. God really touched my heart. I experienced an inner peace unlike anything I have ever felt before. All my worries had simply drifted away, and I truly felt like I was right there in God's arms.

My challenge to you tonight, is to let God have complete control of your life. Let Him rule. Stop trying to find fulfillment in other things, because I will guarantee you, it will never happen. The only place where you will find real, true fulfillment is in the hands of God.

Psalm 24:3-5 "Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? Or who may stand in His holly place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation."

James 4:7-8 "Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Searching: The Scriptures

Alright, before reading this, you should take a look at the first 11 verses of Acts chapter 17.
This is an interesting story. First of all, in this chapter, we are following Paul and Silas as they travel. They end up at Thessalonica after traveling through Amphipolis and Apollonia (verse 1). While there they start preaching the word, and Jesus as Christ, and they persuaded some (verse 4). But then trouble comes. The Jews see this and they get jealous and they form a mob. Things are starting to get a little ugly. They go in search for Paul and Silas and since they can't find them they decide to go after Jason. Eventually they end up releasing Jason; however, Paul and Silas slip away by night and head out for Berea.

A very brief background. Anyhow, the key verse for this post is verse 11. The people of Berea accepted the message. "Now these were more noble-minded than those in Tessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."

First of all, they received the word with "great eagerness". They were thrilled, excited about hearing the word. How many times do we wake up Sunday morning and thing to ourselves "man, the last thing I want to do today is get up and go to Church this morning, I just want to sleep." I'd wager it happens quite often.

Second, they examined the scriptures, or in some other versions, they SEARCHED the scriptures. Not only did they search the scriptures, but they did so daily. Every day, or any new thing that Paul and Silas would preach they went straight back to the Word of God to see if what thy were saying lined up with Scripture. Are we doing this? If not, we need to be, and I greatly encourage you to start.

So many times our thoughts and views aren't based on what they should be. We have our viewpoints, or we allow other people to persuade our viewpoints, and we just accept them for the truth. Even our pastors can be wrong, they are only human after all.

We need to be like the people in Berea, we need to be searching the scriptures all the time. Not just when we hear something to go and check it out, to make sure that it lines up with what God says but, also everyday to see if our thoughts and actions are pleasing to God.

So, next time you are reading a spiritual book, go back to the Bible, and see if what the author is saying is correct. Next time you go to youth group, turn back to Scripture and make sure that it is right. Next Sunday when you go to Church, make sure that the pastor is speaking from the Word of God, and not just his own thoughts.

It's not what our friends, family, teachers, or pastors say that matters, it is the ever Holy, ever pure, ever right, ever sweet words of the one and only most awesome, eternal God.


Psalm 119:103 "How sweet are Your words to my taste, Sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

Searching: Introduction

I have felt led to start a series, the first one I have ever done, and I am 100% pumped for it.

As I have been reading my Bible and going through life, I have noticed that we, along with everyone throughout history, have something in common; we and they have all been searching. Whether it be searching for someone, something, or searching through something like a book, we have all done it before.

According to dictionary.com, the adjective form of the word searching means "examining carefully or thoroughly: a searching inspection. This is the form that my next post will be focused on. If you would like, take a look at Acts 17:1-15, this is where I will be coming from.

Luke 11:10 "Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened."

Awesome Experience

On Sunday, I just got back from a trip to Washington D.C. Now, for anyone who hasn't been there, this is a very big city. I mean, I thought Minneapolis was big(the biggest city I live by) but D.C. is huge. One of the things I liked most about D.C. was the different kinds of people that were there. There were people form all the different races, and different classes. As I was walking down the street one day, a thought struck me, God loves all these people, so why don't we?

How many times do we go walking down the street, by so many people, and we don't even give them a second thought. Has it not occurred to us that God is concerned for every single one of these people. Why then do we choose to ignore them?

One of the experiences I had was getting to talk and pray with a homeless man on the side of the street. I had just stopped for lunch at one of those vendors you see on the side of the street. I had just bought some food when a man came up and asked me for spare change. He proceeded to tell me that he just got back from the hospital. I reached into my pocket and found the change I had gotten from the money I had just spent on my lunch. I gave it to him, but with a stipulation. I will give this to you, but I would also like to pray for you to, I said. He loved the idea, and thanked me very much for praying with him. As much as I would have loved to stop and talk with him more, I had to go before I lost the friend I had with me.

If you ever get a chance to talk with someone on the street, take it. In D.C. if there is a homeless person on the side of the street, you are told to ignore them and not to even give them a second glance. How often do we fall into this same trap, not only in big cities, but in everyday life. As we walk down the hallways at school, as we pay for our lunch, and ignore the people in line right behind us, or the cashier about to check us out at the store. Even smiling at them and telling them to have a good day may change their whole day.

God loves them all, how then shall we act do anyone, and everyone around us, no matter what walk of life they come from?

Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify the Lord."

Is God in the Center of your Life?

Around a month ago I went and visited a Bible college that I have been thinking about attending after I graduate. And while I was there, I heard a very interesting message from a pastor there. That is what has inspired this post.

We all get so wrapped up in life that sometimes God can just become a part of it. What I mean by that is, sometimes we allow God to simply become just a piece of our life, rather then our whole life.

Picture this:
You have two pies, this is what the first one looks like. It is divided into five pieces, each piece has a different word within it. The smallest one is Work, the next one which is, about the same size is School, the next one, getting a little bit bigger is friends, the next one, that may or may not be the same size, depending on who you are, is family, and the next one, the biggest one of all, is God.

Here is the second pie, this time there are only four sections of the pie, the one "missing" is the one titled God. This is because God is in the center surrounded by the other four.

The first pie is a prime example of where we tend to put God into the "pie of life". He is only a piece of our lives, when he wants, and requires, the Whole thing.

The second pie is a perfect of example of how it should be, but rarely ever is. God is at the center of our lives. Everything else we do revolves around what God says, whether it be through His word, the Bible, or through the Holy Spirit which he has given us as a guide.

So, my question to you is, Where is God in your pie? It is my hope and prayer that He is at the center, and if he isn't that He very soon would be.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart,and lean not on your own understanding; in all of your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Strange Prayer Request, #2

After returning home from a day spent in the cities with my mom and sister, I was fairly exhausted. However, I quite quickly got very energized by a letter that was sitting in a stack of our mail. I recognized the handwriting from about a year ago. Enclosed was a letter, not unlike the other one. It read the exact same thing: "Pray for Ethel Thomas, Gordon C. Gladden."
The question still begs itself, is this a hoax, or is it real? I have no idea, but I will still continue to pray for these two individuals, and I am hoping you will do the same.

To Know Him

What is knowing God really about? What does it require of us? If we really started to know God, what kind of a change would we experience in our lives? I have been pondering these questions for a while now.

As I was writing a paper for school, I decided to listen to some music as I did it. I decided to go with Casing Crowns. It was a cd that I hadn't listened to very much, and so I wasn't all that familiar with the songs on this particular cd. The song "To Know You" started playing. The line of this song that really hit me was towards the end of the chorus. "To know you is to want to know you more."

I stopped everything. I almost dropped my computer. I have never really thought about this before. To know Christ is to want to know Christ more. If we are truly in love with Christ, then the one thing that we are going to want to do is to know Christ more. We should be so in love with him that all we want to do is read the Bible, pray, and spend precious time in fellowship with him.

So then, why don't we? I think Mark 14:38 gives us a hint. "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
We do truly have this burning desire within us to be with our Lord, but there is a battle going on in the inner most parts of our souls. We have this spirit that wants to worship Christ and be with Him all the time, 24/7. But we also have this fleshly lust for everything that is unholy.
I direct your attention to Romans 7: 15 - 20. "For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me."

Wow! So then, if we want to spend all of our time with Christ, and be holy as he is holy, why do we not? We are given the answer. We have sin in our lives! And the one way to get rid of this sin is to nail it to the cross with Christ. This isn't a one time effort, either. Luke 9:23 - 26. "Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels."
The key word in this passage is DAILY. Repenting isn't just a one time deal, and then were done. Indeed, hardly that, it is something we need to do DAILY. Not just when we feel like it, but every day.

Once we start doing this, I believe we will see huge things happen in our lives. Imagine it, the thing that is keeping us from knowing Christ more is Sin. If we don't repent of this Sin daily, then our flesh still clings to it. So rather, we daily repent of these sinful desires, allowing our spirit to pursue Christ, without the flesh clinging to that sin. Wouldn't that be such a refreshing feeling? It truly is incredible! I have been there. It is not something you want to miss. If you want a spiritual high, don't feel like you have to go to church just to get it. Don't feel like it only happens once a year when you go to your favorite Bible Camp. This can happen daily. What we have to do is this. Daily pick up our cross, and follow our savior, Jesus Christ, up Calvary's mountain. And there, nail our sin to the cross with Christ, you will be a totally new person. And I promise you, the feeling will be absolutely amazing!

So what will this look like? We will be living our lives in total surrender. Surrender to Christ, and be willing to do absolutely anything for Him. NO EXCEPTIONS! NO EXCUSES!

I would like to close with a quote from a really good book. It's called "The Cross of Christ" By John R.W. Stott.

"We can stand before the cross only with a bowed head and a broken spirit. And there we remain until the Lord Jesus speaks to our hearts His word of pardon and acceptance, and we, gripped by His love and full of thanksgiving, go out into the world to live our lives in His service."

Valentines Day

It really amazes me what people are doing for valentines day. I wold have to say that next to Halloween, Valentines day is my least favorite holiday of the year. Let me explain why. We specifically set apart a "special" day to spend with our significant other. This got me thinking. on this day most specifically, although most days are included, we are trying to find ways to spend time with the people that matter most to us. But how about Christ. How come there isn't a day set aside specifically for Him. Why can't we be wanting to spend a whole day just adoring Christ, who He is and what He has done for us? That's what I would like to know. This is probably why Valentines day is one of my least favorite holidays, if you can call it that.

So what is valentines day? Well, here is what you would find if you looked on wikipedia: Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions." So what happened that "intimate companions" had to be 100% earthly? How come the focus is so much on a girlfriend or boyfriend? My goal with this post is to hopefully get you thinking. What would it be like if you took all of the time that you would have been spending with a significant other, and turn that into time with God? That would be truly amazing!

Here is a question that has been haunting me. Why do we set apart a day to buy flowers, candy, balloons, and whatever else we feel like throwing in there, and spending time with a certain someone, and yet there is no day set apart to just consider God? Have we really stooped so low as to push God so far to the back of our minds just because that is what society has told us to? I think this needs to be changed. Why don't we turn valentines day into a day to spend with God. Or even if you do decide to get together with a significant person in your life and study God's word together? Or how about spending time in prayer? Why is this such a problem for us?

Did you know that valentines day was named after a martyred saint named John Valentine? Did you know that the original intent of Valentines day was not to buy candy for someone? Did you know that Valentines day wasn't paired with romanticism until some middle age writer decided to put them together?

That is why I don't really enjoy the aspect of Valentines day. Maybe if it was set apart to remind of us of why John Valentine died I would enjoy it a little bit more.

Hopefully after reading this you have a burning passion within you to go grab your bible, find a nice quiet spot, and have a nice long time alone with your Maker. And I trust that this has provided some motivation for you.

1 John 4:10 "This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

Are We Too Distracted?

The inspiration for this post comes at a point in time when most college students are dealing with finals week. It is my first time with this experience. All of a sudden, when I look at what I have to do for the week, it seems like it has doubled. I thought I was busy before, but this, this is crazy! And since I have twice as much school work to do, that means that I will be twice as busy. This also means, that I will have to work harder to make time for God.

What is it in your life that seems to be distracting you? Because not everyone is a college student, not only that, but there are a whole ton of other distractions that we have other than homework. I struggle to get my homework done because of these, which makes it twice as hard to make time for Devos.

But, believe it or not, there is a remedy, but I have to warn you, it won't be easy.

Mark 9:43a: "If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off." If you read a little bit more it says the same thing about your foot and your eye, saying it is better to have life and one hand, leg, and eye, rather than to go to hell with both.

The answer is to get rid of whatever it is that is holding you back. To "kill it".

The hard truth about this is that it is through these types of things that the Devil holds you back, keeps you from the true prize. And believe me, you do not want him to get the upper hand.

Another thing that you need to do is Pray. Now a warning, don't think that all you have to do is say"God, please don't let me fall into the traps" it is a two way street. You will be able to find a lot of help through God, but you, you personally also have a HUGE part in it.


Here is an excerpt from a book I really enjoy. "Wrestling Prayer", by Eric and Leslie Ludy.

"Evaluate your sleep habits. Can they be changed to create more opportunity for prayer? Evaluate your leisure activities. Can they be changed, or altogether abandoned, to create more room for intimate time with your Lord? Evaluate your work schedule. Can it be altered to make prayer a great priority? If not, can you find a different job, a new career? Are there moments in your day that currently are being wasted on trivialities that could be transformed into something more sacred and eternal?
Most of us constantly battle with the fact that God seems distant, intimacy with Christ seems difficult to obtain, and our prayers don't seem to be heard. But God says, "You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV)
We aren't finding Him because we aren't searching for Him with all our hearts. We are too preoccupied with watching reality shows, too busy downloading the latest songs on iTunes, and too enamored with Hollywood's newest production to let our whole being be poured forth in constant and unreserved devotion in the service of the Lord who died to save us.
Most of us feel we don't have enough time for prayer and seeking God. But we don't even consider giving up our nightly TV time, our weekend movie fests, or our YouTube fetish in exchange for spending time in His presence.
First Timothy 5:6 says that those who live in pleasure are dead while they live. Are we living for pleasure, or living for Him?" (pp 121-122.)


Now if you know me, you know that I don't have Facebook, and I don't like the fact that people have one, because I think they waste too much time on it. Well, I have a confession to make: The thing I spend the most time on is either playing games on my computer, or watching TV. And that is no different from spending time on Facebook. Over the past few years I have been trying to to tell people that they are wasting their time on something, even though what I do/have been doing is no different. And even when people would try to point this out to me, I would ignore it, act like it didn't matter because it's not Facebook. In a way, I was hiding behind Facebook. "Well, it's not Facebook, so it's actually not that bad." That's what I would tell others and myself. I'm a hypocrite. I am guilty of trying to remove the speck out of my Christian brothers and sisters eyes, without taking the plank out of my own (Matthew 7:4-5)


We all have some work to do, myself, I have the most, even though I have been "preaching" to people for so long. Things are going to change for me, and I encourage you to change as well.

In closing, I have another quote from the same as above, and two bible verses.

"If you want an earth-shattering prayer life, be willing to do whatever it takes. No matter how much your flesh may scream in protest, seek Jesus Christ with all your heart. when you do, I can guarantee you will not be disappointed." (P 124.)

1 John 2:15-17: "Do not love the world, or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life - is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever."

1 Thessalonians 5:22 "Abstain from all appearance of evil."

Right now! Now is when you go, you go pray, you go worship Him! Shut off your computer right now, and go do it. Spend time with Him. The One True God. Your all in all. We would all be nowhere without Him. How can we give Him anything less, then our everything! Our all! ... Our whole life.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me."

FROG

Who/what are we relying on these days? Well, no matter what it is, whether it be a job, or a girl/boy friend, or even your parents. Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you. Everyone and everything sometime in your life is going to fail you, except for one, it's the sad truth. However, you and I both know that the one on whom we can rely will never fail us. Psalm 59:17 "You are my strength, I sing praise to you; you, God, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely." My only questions, why don't we rely on God?
Isaiah 31:1 "Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help,who rely on horses,who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD." How many times in our life do we start relying on the things of earth to satisfy us, or for our dependability? How many times in life do we encounter a problem and we keep telling ourselves we can do it. Kind of reminds me of the little engine that could. "I think I can, I think I can." My advice to you today is take it to God. It's His problem, and He will get you through, Him and ONLY Him. We were never meant to go through hard times on our own, in fact we can't. But if we can't then how come we try? In the Isaiah verse mentioned above, it says woe to them who stop relying on God, and yet we still try to do it ourselves.
Now, about the title of this post. I don't know if anyone has ever heard this acronym, but it's a great reminder. Fully Rely On God. So today, I encourage you to FROG, I know it sounds kind of funny, however, we all need to do it, no matter how hard life gets.

1 John 4:16 "And so we know, and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in them."


Don't forget, FROG!

The Holy Name of God

Back in bible times, the name of God was often referred to as Elohim, or in the old testament Yahweh. However, if we look in the bible today, neither of those names appear. But if you have ever read the book of psalms, you might have noticed that, sometimes when the name LORD, or GOD appears, it is in all capital letters, as it is now. Whenever you are reading the bible, and God's name appears in all caps, it is referring to Yahweh. I had never known this before, and I found it quite interesting.

Allow me to stop here and paint a picture for you: back in bible times, no one really even uttered the name Yahweh, it was just that HOLY.

Now, if that was how it was back then, what happened? What changed? Now people just throw it out there whenever they feel like it. And I am sure that some Christians do to, or maybe people who call themselves Christians but really aren't, I don't know.


When I look at this comparison, I get kind of angry. And perhaps we should. Back then, they adored and feared their God, Lord and King, so much, that they wouldn't even dare utter His name, and now we take it in vain all the time. Shouldn't that make us angry, or at the very least very disappointed? I can't quite figure this out, what changed us so much that we could go from fearing the Lord so much, to not even caring about his Holy and Awesome name. I don't know about you, but every time I hear the Lord's name in vain, it makes me cringe. I'm not gonna lie, I really want to go ...explain to them that it is wrong. I guess you could say it really gets my goat.


So, to some this up, what happened that we went from fearing and respecting our God so much, that we dare even utter His name, to just throwing it out there whenever we feel like it? This is a great mystery that I cannot figure out. But for now, let's just work at not using the Lord's name in vain, and just maybe even consider working on our respect. God's name is HOLY, and not supposed to be used with such disrespect. So let us not do it, and learn to honour his Holy name all the more.

"Gabriel has the Trumpet to his Lips"

Just in the past few weeks here, I received an e-mail from my Grandma. Enclosed in this e-mail was the story about a woman who is a strong christian, and goes to church over in Wisconsin. This is how the story goes: She was driving down the freeway, and saw a hitch hiker up ahead. She didn't know why, but all of a sudden she just felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to pick him up. So she does, and they begin to chit-chat back and forth. After a couple minutes, the man out of the blue says "Gabriel has the trumpet to his lips." And then he disappeared into thin air. Well, of course like you and I would be I'm sure, this woman was really creeped out by such a thing, and she begins speeding and swerving. And of course a cop pulls her over. She tells him what happened and the cop responds to this by telling her that he should give her a ticket, but he would not because in the last hour 5 others had given him the exact same story.



Now, it says in the bible that no one, besides the Father in Heaven knows the day or the hour of His return, but somehow I get the feeling that it is getting very close. So please, brothers and sisters; do not get tired of doing good; and never stop preaching the word. We just may have the eternal future of people's souls in our hands, and that's not something to be messing around with. We have been given a very serious mission, and one that it seems we are failing at. Please, don't be caught sleeping.


1 Thessalonians 5:1-6 :But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. 2 For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. 3 For when they say, "Peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. 4. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. 5 You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. 6 Therefore let us not sleep, as others do, but let us watch and be sober."

Meditate on These Things

Today I would like to take a look at Philippians 4:8-9. "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy==meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these and the God of peace will be with you.

Have you ever taken the things you like to do, or the music that is on your ipod, etc; and ran it by this sort of, well, check-list so to speak? Is it True? Noble? Pure? Lovely? Of good report? Is there any virtue in these things? How often do we ask ourselves this question? Well, I don't know about you, but for me, not very often. What do we meditate on? Let me back up a step, what does the word meditate really mean? I like the first definition on dictionary.com - To engage in thought or contemplation; to reflect - So, what are our thoughts engaged in? What do we reflect on? Colossians 3:1-2 "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." OK, so what if these things on our minds aren't the best, what do we do with them. Let's skip ahead to verse 5 "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." We are told to put them to death. Now, this doesn't mean, try our absolute hardest not to do them, and then just give in when we don't feel like working at it. This verse tells us to put them to death. Let me put it this way, it is like when there is an old worn out dangerous path. On the trail there are signs saying Do not Enter. Instead of just putting up signs saying don't do it, we are supposed to, just get rid of the trial, so there is no possible way to get back on it. Now, I'm not saying that it's going to happen just like that, in the blink of an eye, it is something to work at. Right now I am reading the book: A Sinners Guide to Holiness, by John Chapman, here are two quotes from it that really touched my heart - "If at any time or in any circumstance the thing or activity gets in the way of growing like Christ, it is , at that time, or in that circumstance. to be discarded." "Make sure that the good is not robbing you of the best." Even if we are doing something that is fun, or even "good", it can still be robbing of us of our holiness. Have we ever thought about that before?

Let me end with another verse and another quote, the quote being from the same book as above. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; it is not longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
"The more I grow like Jesus, the more successful I am. The less like Jesus i am the more I have failed in life. It has little to do with how much money I make, what my career is, how the family is. In the end, the real thing in life is "Are we holy as God is holy?""

Please, brothers and sisters in Christ, start meditating on THESE THINGS; today.

Noah and his BIG Boat

Have you ever wondered what it would have been like to be Noah? I certainly have. Now, before I really start going, I would just like to put this into perspective. First off, starting in Genesis 6:5 and going through verse 7, we see that Man was continually wicked. "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. The Lord said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them." Ouch! God was SORRY that He had made them. That does not present a very good situation.

Now, Here we go. Verses 8 and 9 "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God." So, at least here we find some good news, that there is one man who is blameless before God.

Now, we might be starting to think, "well, it can't be too hard to have faith like that, all we need to do is walk with God, even if others go astray." But, here is where the unbelievable stuff starts happening. Picture this. You are in Noah's position, and you have been alive for 500 years, and the Lord tells you to go build this big, not not big, HUGE boat. Now the bible says that the Ark is supposed to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide, and thirty cubits high. Now, back in Noah's time there was only one form of a cubit; that was the same when he got off the ark, however, no one knows exactly how long this was. After Noah, a cubit was typically the distance from your elbow, to your fingertips. Anyways, we will approximate and say around 18 inches. Now if you do the math, here is the size in feet. 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high. What do you suppose Noah would have been thinking? OH, one more thing, IT HAD NEVER RAINED BEFORE!!!!! So, the Lord tells Noah to build an ark 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high because he was going to send a flood. It has never rained before, and you haven't seen water on the land before. Put yourself in Noah's position, what would you be thinking? Ah, now I bet that would be a little bit difficult to believe, don't you think? But, if we read verse 22"Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did." And yet Noah still did it. Now this only half of it. It took Noah approximately 100 years to build the ark. Wouldn't you and I get tired of building an ark that big, for 100 years, and we still haven't seen any water on the land yet? Now, 7 days away from the rain to start falling, and God tells Noah in chapter 7 verse 4 "for after seven more days, I will send RAIN on the earth forty days and forty nights; and I will blot out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made." Now he hears from God that it's going to rain in seven days. May I remind you that IT HAS NEVER RAINED BEFORE!!!!! But still, verse 5 " Noah did according to all that the Lord had commanded him." Noah does it anyway. Now that is what I call an awesome faith. But this isn't the end, not yet.

While Noah is building this huge boat, what do you think his neighbor's are thinking? I mean, they haven't ever seen water on the land either. They haven't seen it rain. I bet they were giving Noah a VERY hard time about his big boat. But still, he did everything that the Lord commanded him.

Now picture this, where do you suppose all those animals would come from? Suppose God had told you 7 more days and I will bring rain, and you still don't have any animals. What would you be thinking? You are supposed to have two of every kind of animal, and you look around you, and maybe, just maybe you see a couple birds. I bet by this time you and I are getting pretty worried, and are maybe starting to consider giving up on the whole thing. Verse 6 on through 9 "Now Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water came upon the earth. Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him entered the ark because of the water of the flood. Of clean animals and animals that are not clean and birds and everything that creeps on the ground, there went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah." AH, there went into the ark TO NOAH... They came to him. Doesn't that just blow your mind away. Let us remember that always God has a plan.

Now the rain starts falling(that must have been an incredible sight to see it for the first time after being around for a LONG time), the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened, that would be a lot of rain. WE read in verse 12 "The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights." Now, you are in this huge boat, with all the animals, how much work do you suppose it would have been to feed and take care of all of the animals. for forty days, with nothing to look outside to but rain falling, falling, falling. Now, if you skip ahead to verse 24 - "The water prevailed upon the earth one hundred and fifty days." Now instead of looking outside and watching the rain fall, the rain may, or may not be gone, or might be gone from time to time, but there is water everywhere, no matter how far you look, or where you look, all you see is water. 150 days, nothing but water. It would seem like a pretty hopeless situation. But, 8:1 "But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided." But God remembered Noah. Isn't that great, it may seem hopeless for you, you stuck on this huge boat, with a whole ton of animals, there may even have been plenty of quarreling between family members. But, God remembers you. verse 3 - "and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased." Now you know how the rest of it goes, the ark lands on top of Mount Ararat, Noah sends out a raven, who you never see again, then a dove, who comes back with nothing, I don't know about you, but I would be pretty disappointed, then the dove again (after seven days), who comes back with an olive branch. Can you imagine the celebration that they must have had, there is actually land somewhere out there. But, it only gets better from here. After another 7 days you send out the dove again, but she finds a place to hunker down. We read in verse 13 "Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up." That must have been felt so great to look out and after 150 days of nothing but water, you see dry ground. verses 15-20 Then God spoke to Noah, saying "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar." what a great response from Noah, he doesn't just decide to neglect worshiping his creator, he offers sacrifices on an altar that he built. Verse 21 - The Lord smelled the soothing aroma; and the Lord said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account o f man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done." skipping ahead to chapter 9 verses 11-16 - "I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." Now if I were in Noah's place, that would be wonderful "music to my ears". After I had seen all that, I didn't have to worry, it would never happen again. Not that Noah would have had to worry about what would happen to him, simply because the Lord takes care of his people. 1 Peter 5:7 "cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you."

Wow, no wonder Noah is counted among the faithful in Hebrews 11. Isn't that an amazing story, not only of Noah's amazing faith, but of God's amazing power, and the knowledge that no matter how hopeless things may seem, God is always there for us; no matter what.


"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. And have mercy on some, who are doubting; save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh. Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with exceeding joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." Jude 1:20-25