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Monday, November 29, 2010

You Won't Relent

You Won't Relent
Misty Edwards
You won't relent
Until You have it all
My heart is Yours

I'll set You as a seal upon my heart
As a seal upon my arm
For there is love that is as strong as death
Jealousy demanding as the grave
And many waters cannot quench this love

Come be the fire inside of me
Come be the flame upon my heart
Come be the fire inside of me
Until You and I are one

I really like this song, singing and playing it. It wasn’t too long ago that I finally really listened to the lyrics and just let God speak to me through them. I just realized how amazing our God is because after you and I have messed up time and time again, he is still coming and running hard after us to know us better and to have us have a relationship with him. That he will not relent until he has everything that our life is just blows my mind. The creator of the stars and the universe that is so vast and so great wants to know me and have a relationship with me, a small human being. We were created in his image but still why would he want you and me? He created us to be with him in heaven for ever and to bring him glory and honor with our life. I want this so bad but it seems so many times I start out and then fall flat on my face after taking a couple of steps. We could never do enough good to cancel out our sin; we can’t do any good to cancel any sin. “For the wages of sin is death….” So why live life if we know that we can’t make it through without sinning and messing up? What is the point of trying? God gave us his son, his perfect son, to die in our place. He came to earth and lived a perfect life so that you and I would only have to turn to him and then we would have everlasting life. He conquered death by raising himself up from the grave and then ascending to heaven. We don’t have to be perfect because he is perfect. He has given us the chance to have a relationship with him, it is a free gift. He doesn’t promise that things will get easier and neither will I, but he does promise to be with you every step of the way whether you know it or not. He does promise you everlasting life with him in heaven. All he wants from you is your life and everything that is involved with your life, and a willing heart to serve and grow with him. He is waiting for you, are you going to run to him or walk away once again?

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Too Full..... Or Too Empty?

Well, Thanksgiving is gone all too quickly it seems. So is the break from school. Tomorrow everyone heads back to the work force and school to brave out the week. It just seems as if the weekend flew by and we now stare Monday straight in the face. It just seems so hard to take a break from what you have been doing and enjoying. For the next couple of weeks I have to do just that though. I got over my head with involvement in the church and my health took a beating because of it. It just is so hard though not to go up to church and be involved in an event almost every night especially because that is all that I knew for the past couple of months. I had to decline worship band for this Wednesday because I need to get completely caught up with school and I needed a break so I could rest physically. I also did not go to church tonight for our late night contemporary service which is normally one of the highlights of my week. I enjoy doing things so much in the church and I enjoy serving but sometimes you just need to get out of the way so that God can do his thing. You also need to have control over what is on your plate and not have a extra full portion that you can’t eat. I had way too much on my plate and I think it just finally broke me down physically. I need to get back to the basics and what God wants me to do instead of just doing everything. You have to get to a point where you know that you need to say no to the activities that come your way. I challenge you to look at your life and your plate and see if you need some adjusting. Maybe your plate is to full and some things need to come off of it so that you and God can fully communicate and you can be ready to do what he asks. Maybe your plate is pretty empty, and you know that God is calling you to do something and you are ignoring him. Tonight, ask God to give you the right portion and for wisdom to make the decisions to give you the right portions. You could be amazed at the results that follow.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Fear of Daily LIfe

Have you ever found yourself scared of something, maybe it was the dark when you were a little kid. Well, for school I had to write a school paper that forced me to look at fear and describe it. I knew I had a problem when I used the word fear about 26 times in the first two pages so I decided to go online and find some words that I could replace fear with. Here is what I came up with: anxiety, concern, cowardice, despair, dread, fright, horror, jitters, panic, scare, terror, timidity, trembling, unease, and worry. As I read this list and though about the words and how I could use them I came to a scary realization, that this is what had described my Christian life at the high school and middle school for much of my life until recently. I continued thinking about it and tired to think about why this was and why as Christians we seem scarred of our faith and what others think about us. No matter where you are whether in school or in a work setting we have to deal with this aspect of life. This is what I came up with. When the world hears the word Christian they associated that with perfect, and happy and having everything together when in fact we know for sure that this is not the case at all, we know that we are anything but perfect and that we are far from this. Because of the title that we are given though we feel like we have to live up to this and if we don’t that everyone will hate us even more. In all reality there is only one thing that separates us from everyone else in the world. It isn’t the church we go to, or the way we view life, or the pastor that we listen to on a Sunday morning. It is the God that we worship daily and that created us with perfection and is living in us daily. When you have God in your life, your life should be different and your life style should be different from that of the world but that doesn’t mean that you have to have everything all together and not have any problems. What this does mean though, is that when you do face the problems and hardships in your life you will be able to overcome them and stand through them on our rock and salvation.   

Monday, November 22, 2010

Fire

I’m really not sure on what I am going to make this post about. I just wanted to make one though because I hadn’t posted in a couple of days. I’ll tell you, I am pretty tired from the just past day. I am so glad we only have two days this week because I am not so sure I would make it past that. Anyways, I was reading in Hebrews today, and I came across chapter 10. This chapter just seemed to really stick out to me because it was talking about sacrifice. Now that might seem weird on how that had anything to do with me, but just hang in there with me. I was reading about how they had two tents and one was for the sacrifices and the other was the holy of holies that only was entered once a year. Then it when on to say that when Jesus, our sacrifice died on the cross, they no longer needed the priests of the day to offer the sacrifices for the people. Jesus had been the final priest and offered himself as a sacrifice that was the final blood spill for man’s sin and there repentance, and now we could have a personal relationship with him.  He tore down the curtain blinding the common man from him. He enabled us to become as one with him, to when people look at us to see God instead of you. It is something so hard to grasp sometimes in my own mind but God gave me this body, it is his, and I want to live as if I don’t own it, as if I no longer posses any of my mind but that it is totally devoted to him and what he wants for my life. I want God to burn inside of me, not my own will or passion, not my own wants or needs. I need to realize that every other fire that is inside of us will fizzle out and will not succeed, but that God will reign and triumph over all. And when judgment comes, and believe Him when He says it is coming, I want as many people to be ready to stand up and to be called into his kingdom with him forever. Shouldn’t this be our ultimate goal anyways? Think about it.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Priorities in Life

What is number one in your life? Well, the Sunday school answer would be God, right? But truly look at your life and tell me what is number one. Is it your car, house, kids… or maybe it is a friendship or other relationship? Why isn’t God first? What could you do to change that? God needs to be priority and you need to run to him and go after him with everything that you have, and anything that hinders you should be cut off. Maybe this means to literally get rid of it, and to discontinue it in your life. Or maybe you need to take a break from it to cast all your attention on God and his plans for your life. I am striving to make sure that God’s plans are the plans that in my life I follow and that it is his wisdom I seek, not man’s. If you can’t run this life’s race going after God and you let other things hinder and distract you, you may find yourself running the course the wrong way. So I guess my question for you is, are your priorities straight, and are you running after God with him first in your life? That is my goal, to follow him with everything that I have and to do his will. What is your goal?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Spiritually Sick

Well, things just seem to be going from bad to worse as far as my health may be concerned. As weird as this might sound for a teenage boy, I want to go back to school. I am sick and tired of being sick and doing nothing all day. I know though, that if I go back I would never have enough energy to get through the day. I just hope that when I go to the doctor tomorrow, that all that is needed is a stronger antibiotic and that it isn’t something worse. I just know that I need to trust in God through this situation and just allow him to take over.
Enough of that, I’d rather use my time to blog about something important. While being sick I have lost a lot of my physical strength. Just from not eating as much and being somewhat dehydrated. I got to thinking though, can we be spiritually sick? And if we can, will it slow us down and have us make less of an impact around us? I guess to answer that question we have to decide what being spiritually sick would look like. Maybe it’s the thoughts that you think or the things that you say, or maybe it is the lack of God’s word in your life or prayer. All these things affect you and your spiritual walk with God. If you don’t read God’s word, which could be compared to food and drink, you can lack strength when the devil tempts you or threatens you. This could make you vulnerable to his attacks and the thoughts and deeds that he brings with his attack. I guess in all of this what I want to say is to stay strong in your walk with God, especially when reading his word and going through your day. Glorify him with your words and attitude because it is him that gave you this day and it is him that could take it away. Stand strong my friends and be careful not to fall spiritually ill.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Tough Decisions

Have you ever had a really tough decision to make? One that you knew was going to hurt you and another person or other people? I had to make one this week and it wasn’t easy. I didn’t want to do it and I didn’t want it to happen but I realized after prayer and talking to other people that this was the best thing. I realized that I wasn’t strong enough to continue to the situation and to continue forward so I stopped it. Now I have my doubts though, like if I should have done it. I know it was right but is it wrong to doubt a decision that was made? I don’t regret the time and the energy that I put into this situation, the situation was a good thing that I have no regrets about. I guess it was just too close and too dangerous to continue and now that it is over I look back at it with satisfaction, knowing what I gained from it. I am glad that I made the decision and that the conversation was had, but there is still some doubt and longing still holding on somewhere deep inside of me…

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Not Letting Satan Have His Way

Have you ever felt that if something could go wrong it would go wrong? Or that Satan knows that something good is going to happen and so it seems he does everything possible to make sure it doesn’t. Like take tonight as an example, the homecoming dance we are doing for kids to have a clean atmosphere. I got pneumonia.  One of the other band members fell ill last night, unsure on whether she will come or not. The last thing I did to myself was bruising my finger from playing too much guitar. It is black and blue and swollen. Now I am icing it but I just wanted to ask for prayers that everyone gets through tonight. I know that God has something amazing in store for tonight and I can’t wait to see him move in amazing ways!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Monster

So I just finished learning how to play “Monster” by Skillet. I really got to thinking about the song as well. When you think about it, we all have a monster that is inside of us. Whether it be anger, lust, greed, selfishness, or a combination of other things, we all should be able to indentify our monsters. I guess the whole point of me writing this is that I want to make sure that your monster is dealt with. You see, if you leave it inside of you and no one finds out about it then it just really makes you miserable and forces you to put on a mask all the time. I am sick and tired of putting on masks for other people and I really just want to be myself and just not have to worry about what others think. If you were to indentify one area in your life in which you are putting a mask on an inner “monster”, what would that be. How are you going to deal with it? Are you going to lock it away inside or let it out so that the world can see and it can be dealt with?

Monster
Skillet

The secret side of me
I never let you see
I keep it caged
But I can't control it
So stay away from me
The beast is ugly
I feel the rage
And I just can't hold it
It's scratching on the walls
In the closet, in the halls
It comes awake
And I can't control it
Hiding under the bed
In my body, in my head
Why won't somebody come and save me from this?
Make it end!

I feel it deep within,
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I feel like a monster

My secret side I keep
Hid under lock and key
I keep it caged
But I can't control it
Cause if I let him out
He'll tear me up
And break me down
Why won't somebody come and save me from this?
Make it end!

I feel it deep within,
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I feel like a monster

It's hiding in the dark
It's teeth are razor sharp
There's no escape for me
It wants my soul,
It wants my heart
No one can hear me scream
Maybe it's just a dream
Or maybe it's inside of me
Stop this monster!

I feel it deep within,
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I feel like a monster

Thursday, November 11, 2010

My Week.....

So I am making up for my lack of posting in the last week. This past week for me has been absolutely crazy.  First of all, we had the After Life Event at my church on Saturday and I was there on Friday from 4 to 9. Than on Saturday, I was there at 2 o’clock in the afternoon and didn’t leave till around 11:30 that night after the concert. Oh, and by the way, the concert ended at ten. Then I went to church on Sunday morning at 8:30 in the morning and then went home at 7:30 at night. Just slightly crazy. So as you can see my last weekend I lived at my church and maybe that’s what helped me get sick, I’m not really sure. Then our school on Tuesday started a Bible Study that went really well. I really think that God is going to take the Bible study and the people in it to just grow and show his love in the school. I can’t help but think of the song “God of this City” that Chris Tomlin sings.
You’re the God of this city
You’re the King of these people
You’re the Lord of this nation
You are

You’re the light in this darkness
You’re the hope to the hopeless
You’re the peace to the restless
You are

Chorus:
Greater things have yet to come
Greater things have still to be done in this city
Greater things have yet to come
Greater things have still to be done in this city

You’re the Lord of creation
The creator of all things
You’re the King above all Kings
You are

You’re the strength in the weakness
You’re the love to the broken
You’re the joy in the sadness
You are

Greater things have yet to come
Greater things have still to be done in this city
Where glory shines from hearts alive
With praise for You and love for You in this city
Greater things have yet to come
Greater things have still to be done here
What does he have in store for your life and the people around you? Have you ever thought about it? It might be time to start thinking about it before life passes you by………..

Tired, Exhausted, Sick, But Still Pressing On

So I went to the doctor’s office today and found out that I have pneumonia. Although I do miss school tomorrow, it kind of stinks as I can’t sleep through the night well. This weekend though, I have to run lights and play at a clean homecoming that our church is putting on for high school students that want to honor the Lord with their actions. I have to be drugged up and on plenty of Tylenol which dosen’t like me when I have to take it more than once in a day. I normally get pretty tired and out of it so running the light board for that night should be plenty fun. To make matters more complicated I have to get through a band practice and I have to play for worship to close the night. All I can say is that I better do a plenty of praying before I go up on stage. I think everyone else ought to pray as well, because it could be a very interesting night. I am so tired and it is only seven o’clock. I have to wait for my other medicine first before I can go to sleep though. Homework? No, not till tomorrow, I am much to tired and would rather focus on God tonight with the little energy that I have.