Musings about Recent Books I have Read

Have you ever been let down before?  Most recently I started reading a series of books.  They were an allegory to the Christian life.  Honestly, as I read them I felt closer to God than I had felt in a long time. After finishing the first book, I just couldn't wait to get my hands on the next one in the series. 

You see, something that you should know about me is that I enjoy reading and when I come across an author that I really enjoy, I want to find as many books by that author as possible.  So naturally when I looked up a recent author, I wanted to find out other books that they had written.  I wanted to discover more into their life, and their Christian journey.  

Yet after delving into this most recent author, I decided to do research on their life.  I discovered that they were a missionary to Jerusalem. I was so excited to learn more, but when I learned about the end of their life, I was disappointed to discover that they had fallen into pantheistic and new age beliefs about God.  I can not tell you how much this hurt me.  It stung.  I was so much into what this author was saying, and I could see so many parallels in my life to what they were saying and even to their own personal life.  

How could this be?  I had been drinking in this author's words, and they agreed so much with Scripture, but then to find out that the one writing the book, had gone off the deep end was almost too much to bear.

Now, friends, I am not making any judgments about that person's salvation, they may have or may not have come back to Christ, who am I to say. Yet, to realize that someone that I enjoyed so much went astray in their thinking, hurt very much.  In a sense I almost felt like I had been betrayed by a Christian role model, and in a sense I was.  

So where does this leave me now?  This is a great question.  I am coming to the conclusion that there is only One who I can truly follow, and that He will never let me down.  He has written a book, called the Word of God.  That author did not go off the deep end before He died.  He stayed on the blood stained path until it was finished.  As I type this, a verse that comes to mind is: 

John 10:8, which says: "All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them."

So a lesson that I have learned is that God's Word is the ONLY true and safe guide through life.  Man's opinions, and writings, though flowery and nice, are not safe to put my trust in.  I need the Good Shepherd to lead me.  

Maybe you have faced something similar to what I am talking about, if so, why not leave a comment, and share that experience.  Share how God is helping you get back to His Word, and to putting your trust solely in Him.  

Proverbs 3:3  Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart: 
Proverbs 3:4  So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. 

To the Other Side

Have you ever had one of those moments where you felt like you were a huge failure in life.  I know I am currently going through one of those moments as my fingers press these keys down to make this blog entry.  Currently, I have a family of 5 that I am trying to provide for, and the needs of providing for them are starting to increase.  Unfortunately,  I only make so much money.  Sometimes it seems like the money is just not going to be enough to provide for all of them.  Indeed, when I look to this world, and myself to provide, this is an impossible task.  Looking at myself I see a burning desire to be a success in life, no matter what!

I want to be that dad who provides in spades for his family, and has a great job to do so.  I have tried starting an online business, but the progression of events in the process have been very wearing on my family.  Not only that, but I learned first hand that I probably am not an expert web designer.  There are hundreds of people that design web pages for people all the time, and probably would do a much better job than I.  I have my IT associates degree, but no one wants to hire someone with only an associates in IT.

Then there is that desire to succeed in programming.  I've heard that programmers can sometimes make a six figure income.  That would really pay off my school debts, and help my family become a success, I think.  Yet I am met quickly by the cold choke of reality around my neck that says, "You don't have the skills necessary, and your family can't afford the strain it is going to take for you to learn them or invest in a better job.

Right now I feel ship wrecked.  I started going to school to be a pastor, but that did not work out.  I had a hard time concentrating due to my medication for a malady that I have.  Finally, I got married and got out of school, but in 2010, went to school online at South University Online to get an associates degree in information technology.

I can still hear the recruiter's words over the phone "Yeah, having to pay off that debt is difficult.  What I think you need to do Brandon, is to go back to school, and get a degree, so you can get a better job than pizza hut and pay off your student loan debt."  I hungrily ate up the words and made the decision to go back to school.

Unfortunately,  what I learned there did not really benefit me in the long run.  Instead, I found myself only deeper in debt.  Indeed, I had heard the idea that "if you are in debt, digging a deeper hole is not the way to get yourself out.  Yet I grabbed that shovel and just kept on digging.  Now fast forward to today, and I can't find a job, except working for my dad.

All of these ideas sounded so good, but I have fallen short big time.  So how do I turn this around?  Can I?  I don't think that it is possible for me to at this point.

The swirling and foaming reality of debts, and failed attempts at providing for my family, have all but sunk the ship that I am in.

I've heard the phrase before:  "You are the captain of your own ship"  Maybe you yourself have heard that one as well.  I would like to announce today, that this is a bold faced lie. The idea of being in a ship is true, but the idea of being the captain is an illusion.  I am the captain insomuch as I choose who I am going to let steer my ship, but that is it.  The destination is either the bottom of the sea or the other side.

So what is this "other side" all about?  Where am I going?  What is my goal?  What am I trying to get to?  I want to be a success and that, to me, is getting my debts paid off and providing for my family, and being a success in the work world.

Now after this brief look back at my life, I have a partial perspective on where I am, but it isn't good enough.  I need a much better one.

Where do I turn to for that?  When I started this blog entry tonight, it was because I had tried to do a video blog, but it fell apart right towards the end.  So I decided to write about it.

So, to get a better perspective of things, I'm going to look at the Word of God.  There is a lesson to be learned here.  Let's see what it is:

In the gospel of Mark chapter 4, there is a story about Jesus and His disciples.  Jesus gave His disciples a command:  "And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side."

There is the other side.  A goal that is given.  A simply command, and to be honest, if I were the disciples and had as much experience as they had crossing lake Galilee, I wouldn't have been a bit afraid.  To me, it would be routine.  Afterall, these are expert fisherman. They have crossed this lake many times.

This is how things started out for me getting out of high school.  I was ambitous and full of life.  I had one goal and one goal only.  I wanted to become a pastor, and reach many people for Jesus.  I thought that somehow I had good things to share with people.

Oh the twists and turns my life took when I got to college, it would take a thousand or more blog posts to explain everything.  The "other side" was only 4 years away, and I didn't make it. Indeed I have realized that every step of the way on this sea is going to be a battle and a struggle.

Yes, Jesus is in the boat, and yes He is with me, but I keep forgetting He is there.

Notice what happens next in the story:
"And there were also with him other little ships."

Do I somehow think that I am alone in all of this?  I'm sure that you yourself (the one reading this) have found yourself in a similar situation.  Indeed, I think that we all are on the same lake, and going the same place.  Are you there yet?  What about your life?

I want to know, please feel free to put it down in the comments, also, is there a Bible story that appeals to you in all of this?

"And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full."

Honestly, I feel like my life is full right now of discouragements, and failures to the point where the boat is about to sink.  Perhaps, I am at a point where I need to cry out to Jesus.  Yet it's so much easier to try and "save myself".  After all, if I can keep up the illusion that I am ok, then I won't have to be embarrised about my problems.  I can keep trying, and then "no one can call me a failure."  Yet what is all of this trying getting me?  More wind, more storms, more callouses, more blisters, more pain, and only a bigger building sense of failure.

What do I do?  Jesus is still in the boat.  He has not left.  Maybe I should awaken Him, especially in the situation that I'm in.  I'm so fed up of being a failure, but what's the use of struggling to pretend that I'm somehow going to become a success.

***Now at this point I want you to know that this is really my rationale as I write.  As I am putting the Bible texts into this blog, there is actually a battle going on***

So what does the next verse say happened?  "And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?"

The question of the day for me.  How can I humble myself enough to ask, but ask I will by God's grace.  Even though my life is a wreck I will cry out to the One who fixes wrecks: Jesus Christ!

What is His response?

"And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm."

so I must notice Jesus response here.  Friends, as I have typed this very thing out, I have just experienced peace in my life about this very situation.  I have experienced a calm in my life.  I can testify to you tonight, that Jesus can still calm storms.  How did He just calm my ravings?  I don't know, but to say: He spoke.  You see friends, His Word is still powerful, even today.  He can say to all of our problems, including my desire to be a success in life: "Peace be still", and it will calm down.  

Are you having a difficult time?  Please take your trials to Jesus.  We must give these things to Him, because He promises to take them, and then give us peace.

Finally let us notice what Jesus says to the disciples, and to me with my worries of absolute destruction, and what He says to you as well:

40And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith? 41

"

Starting Over

Lately, there have been several things that have been bothering me.  The first one is the fact that I was supposed to be a pastor.  That was what my calling in life was.  Now I find myself in construction, and computers.  The second thing that bothers me is a lack of "calling" in my life.  However, yesterday, all of this changed.  What led to me dropping out of college?  Well, I wanted to get married, and so I did.  This was back in 2009.  Now in 2016, 7 years later, I have four children, and although this is great, it is still different than what I believe God had in mind for me.  Yesterday, my mind was bubbling over with the "what could have beens" as far as working for God.  It seems that whenever I wanted to really "go all out" for God, that my family would need attention.  With four children though, that is to be expected.  There is a whole world though, that does not know about Him.  They need to be told that He is coming back soon.  They need to know that He loves them. All of this was on my mind yesterday morning as I sat in church waiting for the sermon to begin.  In my mind I prayed that God would speak to me through the message.

What He said was at some point comforting and at some point hurt very deeply.  Like a surgeon with a skillful scalpel, He had to cut away at a lot of the cancerous tissue of regret that surrounded my deep boil of hopelessness.  This boil had to be popped, before any relief could be found from the pain that was affecting me.

It all started as I was sitting upstairs in the audio visual room at church and talking to God.  My prayer was simple... "Dear Lord, please speak to me in this message.  Please show me, where I'm to go from here in my life."  I eagerly waited for the Lord's reply.  The service had been good up to this point.  There was great Christmas songs, and a great children's story.  Yet I knew the best was yet to come.  So sitting down I held my 3 year old son in my lap and began to listen.

The pastor's sermon was a series on the life of king David.  Maybe you have heard the story, and maybe you haven't, but for those who haven't, I want to encourage you to watch the sermon I have posted below, because this was the sermon I heard earlier.

In a nutshell, God had told me that, yes I had made a mistake, and that it would forever change the course of my life. He had great plans for me to be a great worker for Him, but that now I would have to work in a more humbler field. In other words, my life would not go in the direction that I was wanting it to go.  Yet, He has not forsaken me.  Before me is plain hard work.  Construction and lots of it as well as working on my dad's company website. Oh, it hurts, but there is One who walks with me along the way.

Friend, maybe you feel this way right now.  Maybe you feel like you have really blown your dreams for your life, and God's dreams for your life, but the good news is that God has another plan.  No, it's not what He ultimately dreamed for you, but it is a plan to give you a hope and a future!  You are not alone, please know that.  If there is anything I hope this message will give you, I hope that is hope.  Hope to replace the hopelessness that may be surrounding your life. Please watch the video in this blog entry, to see the church service and sermon that I recently experienced, and take hope once again in the powerful Name of Jesus Christ!

Faith in God

This evening as I was studying my Bible, I was doing some thinking. Thinking about the importance of sharing Jesus with others. However, a question came to mind: " how am I going to share Jesus when I am far away from everyone around me?" Just then an idea came to my mind. What if I were to do an audio recording of myself preaching? So I got my phone out and began  with prayer and to share the Word of God. I must admit that when I started I was quite discouraged. I didn't feel like reading the Bible. However instead of giving up the Lord helped me to read His word.  the personal blessing that I received is incomprehensible I was blessed in so many ways. my encouragement to you friend is to read the Bible and share the good news of Jesus whether you feel it or not. His Word will help you.

The Reporter

Have you ever wanted to get more out of your Bible study but are unsure how? Then this post is for you!

The Bible study method that I am talking about here I will call the reporter method. This method is really easy and simply involves looking at a Passage of Scripture and then asking questions about it to God in prayer as you go. In a sense you are having an audience with God. First start with prayer asking for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Read the story surrounding the text. Then go back to that verse and answer the questions by the story or information.  surrounding that verse.

Questions could start with:

1. Who
2. What
3. When
4. How
5. Where
6. Why

At this point see the story again in your mind and use your imagination. For example, if it is a story you could try and figure out the characters, pick one and then imagine:

What must have been going through their mind.

How might they have felt?

How were they involved in the story?

What could have been their thoughts about other characters in the story?

For thoughts that are recorded, Why did they think this way?

The list could go on and on...

Next ask how these questions relate to you using the starter questions.

Record the answers in some way! God will guide and direct you!  Want to share with someone?

Pick out three of the lessons learned and discuss them with your friends. Ask questions and see what they have come up with in their own personal study. Share your findings on Facebook, YouTube or in a blog like this one. Again these are just suggestions.

Have more ways? Post them in the comments below so we all can grow! Always pray for God to guide you in the study of His Word :)

The Bush Still Burns

Today I would like to examine a passage of Scripture found in Exodus chapter 3 verse 3. The Bible says: " And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt." The first question that may come to your mind as you read this is: Where is he going with this? Indeed from a surface reading this text may seem out of place. What is missing here is context. What is that you ask? Context is the story surrounding the verse that the verse is embedded in. To better understand this verse in the Bible we need to have an idea of what surrounds this verse. Before we do that though maybe there are some questions we can ask about this verse. So let's take a closer look. Here is the verse again.
" And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt."

Here are some questions that come to my mind, and yours might be different, and that is ok.

1. What is Moses doing when he says this?
2. Why is a Bush burning?
3. When did this happen in the story?
4. How far was the Bush from Moses?
5. What happened when Moses turned aside?
6. What does this tell me about God?

Each question will help to give us better answers about the verse in question.

Next is application.
Application can happen as a result of questions as well.
1. What can I learn from this about having a relationship with God?

Didn't Get What I Wanted But What I Needed

9Tonight did not turn out the way I wanted it to. Before I get into that it's important for me to give some background to this situation.
Tonight I wanted to go over to my brother's house. At that Point I had a thought in my head that I didn't like, but I knew it was the right thing to do. I needed to ask God what He wanted for me. How did I come to this conclusion? While I was preparing to go to my brother's tonight, I noticed a torn page laying on the  bed in the guest room. Examining it a little bit closer I discovered that it was a page ripped out of the Bible. My wife told me that one of the kids had ripped it out of a kids Bible. Picking up the tattered page I began to read. The Bible Story was very clear to understand. The children of Israel would wait for the pillar of fire to lift from camp before they moved on. At this point I was pricked to the heart. I knew what had to be done, but didn't really want to do it. The unrenewed human heart is that way:(

Getting on my knees I prayed for God's will to be done. A few minutes my wife was on the phone with my brother's wife and their kids had gone to bed. I was disappointed but relieved at the same time. I was relieved because Jesus had done for me what I never could have done in my own strength! Though I was disappointed I realized that God knew best! He is so amazing!

Psalms 37:4 KJV

Delight thyself also in the Lord ; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

It's been too Long!

This evening I've been taking inventory of my life.  Looking back lately, I realize that God has done so much for me today, it's incredible.  Today was the Sabbath day and God showed up in some incredible ways.  The night previous I was in prayer with God, wondering, why things weren't seemingly working out in the way that I wanted them to.  He has so many ways of speaking.  So as I was waiting for a reply I turned on a radio program called "Amazing Facts" and the program was about finding out God's Will for your life.  I'm now 31 years old.  My life is moving on its, way, but Jesus has not changed!  He is still my forever friend!  He loves me so much.  So do you know what He did for me last night!  He spoke to me.  I was trying to determine what God wanted me to do with my life at 31.  He pretty much told me that He wanted me to work on the work nearest, and that is my dear children!  He wants me to be a good dad to them, and to spend time with them.  He wants me to be faithful in the small things. The next day was the Academy Graduation.  As I looked at them walking down the Aisle, I was taken back to the time when I walked down that same aisle to the front.  During that time I was unsure of what my future would hold, and honestly, I still am, but I know who holds the future!  He is incredible!  So as I watched student after student walk down that blue carpeted aisle, I could see nothing but pure potential walking down the aisle.  As I looked at them, I saw what they had, realized what I had, and to be honest felt somewhat envious.  That is until the Children's Story at church came along.  The Children's story is a time where all the children go up front and are told a story, it's like their mini sermon.  This time the person giving the children's story was a graduating Academy student.  He told a story about a Marathon, and about running a race, and then he compared that to life.  Instantly, I felt like God was speaking directly to me, and indeed He was, not only was He speaking to me, but He was speaking to every single person in the church, because He always does speak through His Word.  As this graduate told of his marathon run, I was intrigued.  I knew where he was going with the story, but what I didn't realize, was where God was going with it, until I looked around me and saw my three children, and pregnant wife. Because at the moment he began to read 1 Corinthians 9:24, 25:


²⁴ Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
²⁵ And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

I realized then and there that God was telling me that my most important work was to my wife and children.  Yes, it would be a struggle.  It would be no easy feat to raise 4 kids in the fear and admonition of the Lord, and the way would definitely be steep, but this is my calling.  To not accept it, is to deny the very children God has entrusted to me, and that is a horrible thought.  As I thought about the graduates, and the life that I wished I could have had, I realized that what mattered most had not happened yet.  Jesus has not returned.  The very thoughts that I was thinking about my past were perishable.  I was not a failure.  The true race, continues on in Jesus.  After all, the education that God wants to give us, does not end!  He wants to show us more and more of Himself.  On this earth the race may be long, but God is in charge.  As we ask for His Will to be done in our lives and surrender to His plans, then it is at this point that God's purposes can be realized.  This graduate, ended his talk with another incredible verse that really spoke to me, and convinced me that though my life was not turning out the way that my "flesh" would have wanted it to, that He had a bigger plan for me!    Here is the verse:

Hebrews 12

1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
² Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

"You Shall Worship The Lord Your God and Him Only Shall You Serve"

Today, was an incredible day, that the Lord Jesus taught me an incredible lesson.  I pray that I keep this constantly in mind.  So what is that lesson you ask?  Well, before I answer that question let me ask you one.  Do you like being controlled by another person?  Do you like to be told what you can and cannot do?  Sometimes humans can be very domineering, when they shouldn't be and get out of line, trying to "direct" and control the life of another person.  Before I go on in this description of my understanding of being controlled, I would like to admit that I have played both parts.  Sometimes, I do it because I want something so bad for the other person, and end up stepping across the line.  God, however, did not intend for this sort of thing.  I can remember one time, giving a friend bad advice, and then trying to manipulate him into listening to me.  Unfortunately, I "persuaded" this person to take my advice, and in the process, caused them much grief.  We were not meant to be people's slaves.  Take a look at the Book of Exodus, and it becomes clear that we were not meant to be forced to serve people.  Now, notice, I am not talking about service from a willing heart and choice, but rather, I'm talking about "forced" service.  Each person has to make a choice on what he or she is going to decide, and that choice needs to be their own! 

There are many different directions that I could go from here, but I want to focus on a direction that God has impressed me on, and that is the area of sin.  Do we actually serve sin?  Well, let's notice what the Lord Jesus has to say about this in John 8:33-36, so let's take a brief sound bite here from Scripture, and then we will look at the surrounding area, and unpack things, piece by piece. 

Starting with verse 33:

 33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

So just upon reading this, we can learn a lot about the situation, but some obvious questions come up in verse 33.  Who is the "they" being talked about in verse 33?  Whoever they are, they are claiming that they are free. 

How many times, I find myself doing the same thing.  I think, that because I have been with Jesus for a little bit that I am safe, and start to make myself the person in charge of keeping me out of bondage, but the result of this is never good.  My own power, pedigree, or whatever you want to call it can never set me free!  Never.  At this point you may be thinking: "Where is this going"?  I understand that, so let me back up.  Freedom is not something you are born with.  Even though this sounds odd in the Great USA, where we have outward freedoms. 

According to Jesus, Freedom is a gift.  A beautiful gift, that is given to us at the cost of His Life.  Only Jesus has the power to set us truly free from sin.  Notice Jesus Words here in verse 34:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever. 

Have you ever sinned before?  Have you recently sinned?  Unfortunately, I must shamedly raise my hand here, because I am not proud to admit it, but I am a horrible sinner.  I must agree with Paul who says that he is the chief of sinners.  So continuing on with the verse, what Pedigree do I have?  I am born a servant to sin.  Sin is a very powerful master, and orders me around.  My flesh responds and does what it is told.  I'm in pretty bad shape on my own.  

Now we are back to control.  So in the past I have been controlled by sin, and again, I want to re-iterate that you are reading the blog post of a live sinner.  

So at this point, if this was about me, this would be a pretty miserable story, but I am happy to say that this is not the case. 

Last night I was discouraged, because of failures in my life.  I knew I was nothing like Jesus, and so I began to get discouraged.  In the morning, I barely had the energy to open the Bible and read a chapter with my wife and children.  After worship and breakfast, I headed out the door.  As soon as I got outside the cold air greeted me.  Getting to my car, I had a heavy burden on my heart: "I had blown it, and I knew it.  I had hurt God, and now He was probably miles away, after all, I didn't feel His Presence".  As I drove to work, I couldn't listen to any music, because the radio was broken out of the car.  In my mind a real war raged my thoughts went something like this:  

"So, you failed last night.  You seem to be doing that a lot lately.  Do you actually ever think you are going to get better?  Why don't you just give in and give up?"  At this point I was very discouraged, but continued driving to work.  The temptation to give up was so strong, that I actually heard my sins replaying themselves in my mind.  Then, all of the sudden, something incredible happened.  The day before I listened and watched the Resurrection Scene of Jesus, and I was encouraged by the song.  The Song was entitled "Arise My Love". (I will post a link at the bottom of this post so you can see and hear what I heard).  

The voices of failure that were screaming in my ear were suddenly drowned out very definitely by this Song.  "Arise my love, Arise, my Love, the Grave no longer has a hold on You!  No more death's sting, no more suffering", and then I heard it:  "Sin, where is shackles, death, where is your sting, hell has been defeated, the grave no longer holds the King!" As I heard those Words, immediately, it was like a lightening bolt of protection, blew every negative thought in my mind to smithereens.  My discouragements were vanquished.  Later that day while at work, I realized that I couldn't make myself better, and asked Jesus to!  I need to do this more often, and stop trying to make myself better.

This brings us full circle to Jesus very Own Words:   

35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Who can make us free?  The Son, and He abideth ever.  Notice what Jesus says about the servant. The servant does not abide in the house forever, but the Son abideth ever!!!!  The next part is the clincher:    36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

At this point, I don't care how strong I think my connection with God is, I need Him every second, and this verse needs to be constantly put into my head.  

Only Jesus can make us free!  

He has conquered, but you and I have a choice, we can choose to ask Him to do this for us, or we can try and live on our pedigree of how good we think we are!  I need Jesus and I need Him right now!

So how about you?  Do you need Him?  He's the only True Way out of this sin trap that we are in.  Let us accept His Free Gift of Salvation and freedom to Serve Him!  

Here is the link to that song and video:  Please be blessed: 

 and please remember His Words:

  36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

The Life Changer

Are you struggling with temptation, or have you ever struggled before.  Sometimes the overpowering force of temptation can be a lot like an undertow.  I can remember going to Panama City Beach when I was younger, and standing by the water coming in and out of the ocean.  That day, the yellow flag was out, which meant that the water was unsafe to swim in, and that there was a rip-current.  At that point in my life I was not sure what that was, so I didn't pay much attention.  The water looked inviting, and that was all that mattered to me. I decided that I was not actually going to swim in the water, because that would be too dangerous, but that I would simply go up to the edge of the water and stand where the water was about up to my ankles.  As I waded, into the water, I stood there with the water almost to my knees, thinking to myself: "This is a safe distance, I should be fine here."  A few moments later, as I was standing, I felt such a pull from the ocean that almost knocked me off my feet.  I almost feel over it was so strong.  Right then and there I realized the true force of the ocean.  Somehow, by the Grace of God, I managed to get back out of the the water without being knocked down, and I was done for the day.  I realized the danger and wanted nothing to do with the pull of that current.

Something I am discovering, is that playing with temptation is a lot like going out in the ocean when the yellow flag is out.  From the looks of things, it's ok, and nothing could go wrong.  A good time seems in front of me, and I find myself seeing just how close I can get without falling in.  Unfortunately, this is a dangerous move because the water is deceptive, and the undertow is strong, I find myself getting sucked into a vortex, and being pulled into sin.  Was the temptation my fault?  No, no more than the ocean having rip currents is my fault.  I cannot control things outside of me, but I can stay out of the ocean when the yellow flag is out.

If you ever find yourself dealing with this, just know that many people have dealt with temptation throughout the years.  The key to dealing with temptation is not to give in, or start to give in.  Check out what the writer of Proverbs has to say about this in Proverbs 4:14-19:

 14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil [men]. 15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. 16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause [some] to fall. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. 18 But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19 The way of the wicked [is] as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

I would like to first of all point out Solomon's first way of avoiding temptation.  Verse 14 says that we are not supposed "to enter into the path of the wicked" Solomon continues by saying: "and go not in the way of evil men".  So let's pause and think about this.  The first thing we need to do is stay away from the path of the wicked.  What does that path look like?  That path is anything that is against the Law of God and God's Holy Word.  The people that do that are evil men.  Continuing on, verse 15 says:

15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

Notice that there are four admonitions that Solomon gives here.

1. Avoid it
2. pass not by it
3. turn from it
4. pass away

  The first is avoidance.  So for me, I would look at this and ask, is there something in my life that I need to avoid?  The answer is many unequivocal yeses, my things to avoid are probably different than yours, but they are no more less dangerous, because the only one who can make the decision to accept Jesus for me is me!  That's right, not my pastor, not my friend, not my neighbor, not my wife.  No one except me.  Now, these people can be used to be a blessing in my life by God, but ultimately where I end up is going to depend on my choice.

The second is to pass not by the path of the wicked.  So that means I don't go in for a closer look, in fact, I do everything I can to stay out and away from sin.  So what is a way that I can not "pass by it"?  By following Jesus, and when I come to Him, He is going to lead me in the Paths of Righteousness.

The third thing is to turn from it.  This is very important, because even though I got into that water at the ocean which was a horrible idea, and even though it was very difficult to get out, and I almost got pulled under, I did not have to give up at that point.  By God's Grace I was able to struggle out.  So if you find yourself on the path, you can still "turn from it".  Get out while you still can, that undertow is strong!  Once you are out, the fourth step comes into play:

Pass away.  So many times, I have been out, and then thrown myself right back in.  The only problem with that theory is that the undertow is stronger and stronger, and eventually it will drown you.  I can remember a story of a little boy who had a baby python and would take the snake out of his cage to wrestle with it, and then put it back into the cage.  When asked to stop by those around him, he replied "I can beat this thing, it's not stronger than me" and he would continue wrestling it.  Pretty soon, though, that snake began to get stronger, and soon the snake was stronger than the poor little boy.  The boy lost the fight with the snake and lost his life in the process.

The Warning in Proverbs from God through Solomon to us is clear: Don't tamper with temptation, it will destroy you.

What happens when a person looses control themselves?  They become agents to tempt others.  Verse 16 continues:

"16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause [some] to fall." 

When we are being tempted and fall into sin ourselves, it is almost impossible not to try and drag other people into sin with us.

17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

When we do this we end up eating wickedness and being violent.  Wickedness and violence are the sure result of messing with sin.

But, Solomon does not stop here.  He wants to make an incredible contrast for you and I to see.  Notice what he says in  18, and 19:

18 But the path of the just [is] as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19 The way of the wicked [is] as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Notice verse 18.  The path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.  The Bible continues "The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

So after reading all of these verse, this bring us to an interesting conundrum.  We in and of ourselves are powerless against temptation and sin.  Powerless to break the chains, and to be set free, but there is One who can set us free.  I was just reading about Him in my Devotions in fact.

Notice John 8:12:

 12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

When we follow Jesus we have light in our lives.  Also notice what John 1:1-4says:

 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

Following Jesus is the way to have light in our lives.  Reading about Jesus in the Bible sheds light into our lives.  As we spend time with Him we are changed from our old selves into a new creation.

Notice Jesus Words here in John 8:33

 33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: [but] the Son abideth ever. 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

Also again notice what Jesus says about the devil who is tempting us to sin: ... He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

Whatever the devil has been telling you about the impossibility to get free from sin is a lie!  Because the devil is the father of lies.  he is only trying to keep you in bondage.  Don't listen to him.  he does not care about you, and only wants to see your destruction.

Jesus has the ability to pull us out of our pit of discouragement and dispair.  As you spend time with Him and ask for His help He will set you free!

I want to encourage you to spend time with Him day by day in the Gospels.

Check out this link about Jesus for more encouragement:

http://www.bcove.me/om7kj3u7 

In this link you will find a Bible Study on Mark 1 and on the Power of Jesus Christ!

Also check out this incredible take on the Resurrection of Jesus by Southern Adventist University:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/8ZrHeJb5ZhM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

What do you seek?

What happens in life's seemingly dark moments.  You know what I'm talking about right?  Those times where it seems like you are the only person alive on the face of planet earth?  Despite all of these feelings, I would like to re-assure you tonight, that based on the Word of God these feelings are a lie.  There is a being in Heaven who cares more about you or I than we could even dream.  Above the chaos and constant confusing blur of feelings is One on His Throne, who KNOWS WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH THIS VERY MOMENT!!  Don't stop reading, because what I am about to say to you right now, could change your life.  It is no accident that you happened to stumble upon this blog post.  Maybe you were just scanning through the different entries on the internet and searching.

Now the question I must ask from here is:  What were you looking for?  If you are anything like me you were looking for encouragement and help.  You were probably discouraged and lonely.  But the amazing truth that I want to share with you right now is that you are not alone.  I know that I'm repeating myself here, but I believe that this bears repeating.  Yes, you!  The one typing at the keyboard this very instant are not alone.  He has been waiting to hear from you for quite some time.  Why haven't you talked to Him?  Out of all the moments in your life, where you pushed Him out, why not stop and listen to what He has to say to you!

Maybe you have a Bible sitting next to you right now, if that is the case I want you to pray and ask Jesus to help you this very instant.  Repeat after me in your mind if you don't know what to say:
Dear Jesus, please help me!  I know that for a long time I have not listened to your Voice, but I want to listen now.  Please come into my heart and help me!  Please don't leave me!  Thank you for dying on Calvary for my sins, and please help me to understand what I am about to read in Your Word.  In Jesus Name,
Amen.

Once you have done this, open your Bible to the book of 1 Peter.  If you have not read the Bible much then you can find the list of Bible books at the beginning of your Bible.  Once you find 1 Peter, go to chapter 5.  Then go all the way down to verse 7.  Now go ahead and read it.  What did it say?  If you don't happen to have a Bible, I will go ahead and show the verse on here:
  7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Now did you notice the "Casting" part.  Jesus really does care about you!  This is not some passing feeling this is a ROCK SOLID truth!  He cares for you.  Now, go to the book of John in your Bible, and read through John Chapter one.  I'll go ahead and show you a few things to help in your study.  The first thing you did, and that is something we should always do before we read God's Word.  We need to pray and ask for Jesus help.  The second thing that we need to do is read.  Stick to a single chapter.

 The neatest thing about reading the Bible is to allow the Bible to Interpret itself.  Every passage in Scripture is actually interpreted by the rest of Scripture.  In fact the process for understanding the Bible can be found in Isaiah 28:10
 For precept [must be] upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, [and] there a little:5 
Scripture builds upon itself. 
So the first verse in John 1:1 is:  1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Who is the Word is probably a question that comes at the very beginning, or maybe you already know the answer.  Well, don't stop there, stick with your reading, and as you do you will be blessed.  The story will grow as you read.

For example, this evening I was actually going through John 1:29-42.  A part that I really like is when John sees Jesus and says "Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.  How does He do this?  You must read on to discover what He does, to take away our problems.  The next part that sticks out is verse 37.  The Andrew and John are going after Jesus, and Jesus stops and asks them a question:  What do you seek?

Jesus didn't say, I'm glad you found me, let me show you.  He asks them what they are looking for?  What are you looking for?  Or are you looking for Who?  If so, Jesus is the answer to your search.

Check out this great website

http://crossconnection.hopetv.org/video?id=2129385279001

and follow JESUS :)

Disappointment: The end or a New Beginning?

For some reason, disappointments seem to be one of the hardest things to face in life. Whether it's the simple realization that a person gets when he or she realizes that they are not going to be able to go to the park, or maybe it's the cold understanding that grips you when you realize that the person of your dreams, who you thought was going to be your partner for life turns you down. Some things in life are just difficult to swallow. 

 

So what is it about disappointment that makes it sting so bad? Is it the crushed dreams, or expectations, or is it something deeper. As a 29 year old male, I have had a lot of time to experience life and one of the conclusions that I have come to is that it is full of disappointments. Those moments where we realize that we just didn't fit the grade, or didn't have what it took to succeed. Our dreams seem to be dashed, and before us lies a cold reality of life after failure. 

 

To better understand what a failure is all about let's look a real life incident. I can remember it as if it were yesterday. There was a girl that I really liked, and she had promised me that we would meet after supper, and go out for an evening as friends. I can remember the joy I felt as I went through that day. Things weren't going the greatest, at that time, but at least I would have someone to spend time with. 

 

It was six O'clock, and I had just finished supper. Rushing out the door of the cafeteria with my backpack still on my back I waited at the flag pole. This was the event that was going to pull me out of my doldrums and disappointment that I had been experiencing all that day, indeed I had hung all of my hopes for the day on that one moment. I waited, and continued to wait. Light rain started to fall, and still I waited. I waited even longer, it was a half hour now, but still I waited not wanting to allow the realization of yet another disappointment to grab me. Finally after an hour, the rain picked up in intensity, and I just stood there, realizing that I had been disappointed yet again. Quickly I made my way back to the guys dorm that night and found some friends to talk to. Life had changed.

Disappointments are something that hurt. However, to simply say that they hurt is not good enough. We need to dig deeper. We need to peel back the layers, and determine what really caused the pain. The real pain in disappointment is the fear that something could be wrong with us. Deep down inside we long to be complete and whole, and to be people that others like to be around. When someone turns us down suddenly some questions can immediately bubble to the surface of our lives.

Depending on how we handle these questions we will either discover a better future, or become more depressed, and wallow in our self-pity, and begin to poison those around us. So what are these questions and why do they matter? 

 

The first question is: What did I do to deserve this? Many of us have probably asked ourselves this question at one point or another and have looked for a flaw or mistake that we have made in order to determine why something happened to us, and indeed, sometimes we do discover an area to improve upon, but other times, the answer is: nothing. When reading the Bible we come across an amazing story on this very issue. At the beginning of John Chapter 9:1, Jesus has just left the temple and notices a man who was blind from his birth. Evidently the disciples notice that Jesus is looking at him, because they ask Him a question found in verse 2: “Master who did sin, this man, or his parents that he was born blind?”. 

 

At a cursory reading of the passage, the point seems clear: Who sinned?. The greek word for sin here is: hamartano and has three definitions in the Strong's Concordance:

1. To miss the mark (and so not share in the prize)
2. (figuratively) to err
3. (especially morally) to sin

For some reason when the Disciples saw this man who was blind the first question that came to their mind was: Where did he come up short? What error did he or his parents make that put him in this predicament. The disciple's minds have been revealed at the beginning of this chapter, but what about Jesus mind on the matter? In order to discover that we will have to read on, but it is an interesting thought that the first thing that is said by the disciples when they see someone suffering is: who sinned? So right now, we can move on in our reading of the story, but if we do, there is a chance that we will miss something very profound here. Something so profound it blows the lid off of question number one on disappointment. What is it that is so profound? Glad you asked. In verse 3, Jesus gives a response to his disciples about the man on the wayside's condition. He answers them: “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents:....” Hold on a second, hit the pause button right there! No one sinned? Surely there must have been a sin in their life, that could have created such a horrible condition in this man. Bad things don't happen to people who don't sin do they? 

 

The response of Jesus starts to go head to head with our reasoning to the first question that we asked in the beginning: What did I do to deserve this? There is a chance that the answer is a startling: “nothing” to this question. Should this be the case, we would be miss of we forgot to mention the next words of Jesus in this story. In fact, if we were to leave them out it would be a crime, because just because there was nothing that anyone did to deserve what happened to them, does not mean that it was for nothing. 

 

There was a purpose in what happened and it can be found in the rest of what Jesus said: “but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” So this answer, means that the works of God should be manifest in him.” What does that mean. Well, the Greek word for manifest is: phaneroo, and is a verb that means: to render apparent. So our answer to this question is so that the works of God can be rendered apparent in the man. 

 

That means that nothing was wrong, but God wanted to reveal His works in the man. Let's look at that last phrase again: “but that the works of God should be made manifest in him”. Did you notice the last two words of Jesus statement about the man? “In him”. Now normally it would make sense to say that they were made to glorify God, but the word in Greek for in is actually: en and has three different definitions:

1. in
2. at
3. upon
4. by

So God would be glorified by the man, but how would this happen. To discover this, check out the rest of John Chapter 9. The main point of this passage is though that God's works would be manifest in him. Does this shed some light on the first question? The next time that you or I find ourselves asking ourselves a question about a disappointment, and find ourselves saying “where did I go wrong” and we search and cannot find an area, then it is best to rely upon Jesus Words: “Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” What are the implications here? 

 

No longer do we have to be constant victims of “What did I do to deserve this”ism We are now able by God's grace to look at this, and see that God has a purpose in our disappointment. The next question that may come is: What if I don't know what that purpose is? This brings us to our next point and why we stopped at verse 3 instead of going on. At this point that information is hidden. We could read on to get to the partial result of this in the rest of the chapter, but then we might miss the beauty of faith! 

 

Here in a situation where we don't know what is to happen next, it's best to put ourselves in God's hands. Did He work for the best in the blind man's behalf? Should the answer be yes we are now able to ask the same question about Him working in our own lives. 

 

Often times we believe that the disappointment is going to affect the rest of our lives in a negative way. We have a negative misbelief that gnaws at our mind and causes us much pain. Who hasn't spent years and years going over the “what could have beens”. 

 

The road has come to a fork, and God has taken us in a different direction than we thought we would have wanted to go. The direction to the left looked so much better. There were trees, and squirrels and birds, and a gentle flowing creek, with a nice walking path, but this one is much more bumpy and rugged. “Was that a mistake? Why would the Guide take us this direction?” We sometimes begin to wonder? The other way looked so much better. This bring us to our question of: Who's really writing our story? My Bible tells me in Proverbs 3: 5,6, that if I trust in the Lord with all my heart, and lean not unto mine own understanding,but in all my ways acknowledge Him, He will direct my paths! This is great news! This means that Jesus is still directing our path even when we don't understand why a disappointment happened to us. 

 

So with the first question being obliterated by the Word of God, let's turn our minds to the second one. What happens when a disappointment has happened and it is our fault. I can remember being younger and wanting to go with my parents to Tennessee, but not being able to go because I got put in isolation. Not only was I disappointed, but it was my own fault. This was almost more than I could swallow, but God had a purpose in it for me. Just like the first question, I came to the proverbial fork in the road, I saw the flowers and beautiful things that I had missed, and realized that it was my own fault I had missed them, but there was grace for me! 

 

Little did I realize that the second path would not be all that bad either. Instead of going to Tennessee I got to go to the Indy 500 with my grandpa. God was able to work something good out of something bad. So, when things don't turn out the way that you or I want to, because of our choices or because of God saw a better way, we can rejoice in that! 

 

Did this happen in the Bible? Instead of listing out a story, I want you to take a look at the hall of faith, and see if you can find some people who made mistakes, but that God turned them around for His good! There is one obvious one. Sampson. Check out this story to see how God turned a mistake, into a victory through Sampson's choice to turn back to God.

With both of these questions now answered we can now come to the obvious conclusion that a “mess up” or re-direction by God is not the end of the world but only the beginning of a side of life you or I have never seen!  Afterall, what makes it the best, is it not the presence of our Heavenly Father, Jesus and the Holy  Spirit?

In closing I want you to think about this verse with me:

“Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21).

He Goes Before Us!

Yesterday morning for my devotions I was reading about John 10, and Jesus being the Good Shepherd.  In John 10:4-5 there were two verses that stuck out to me right away!

John 10:4-5 (KJV)
And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

There were a couple of questions that I had about this verse right off the bat!  For a long time I had been struggling with God's guidance, and still find myself needing to learn more to this day.  However, yesterday, I had a major breakthrough thanks to the Holy Spirit and Jesus in understanding this text a little better.  Here were the questions that I had about the verse:

• What does it mean when the verse says "he (Jesus) goeth before them?
• How does He go before them?
• How do they know His voice?
• What is this part about a stranger all about?

As I continued to read the chapter these questions weighed heavily on my mind, and had weighed on my mind for quite some time before that.  There was a meaning for my own personal life, and I wanted to better understand!
  "he (Jesus) goes before me"
  The first question was a big one.  Jesus goes before us?  Over time, I am learning that somehow Jesus goes ahead of us and smooths the way to open doors for us in no matter what He calls us to!

An example of this was when I was colportering with a friend. It was my first time to go out and knock on doors, and I was a bit scared to do it!  In fact, I had noticed that I was having a hard time getting any books out or having any encounters with people.  My friend, decided to come along with me, and he reminded me of something I had forgotten a long time before this incident, that it was important to pray before I went to the door, and that Jesus would make the way.

So, he and I quickly said a prayer asking Jesus to prepare the heart of the person we were going to visit, and as a result, the person was friendly and more open to what we had to say!

This incident really helped me better understand what Jesus was talking about when He said that He goes before us, and in a little more how He goes before us as well.  Prayer had been the way to ask Him to go before me.
 "How does He go before me?"
When I prayed and asked God, things happened!  They might not have been things that were easy to see at first either, yet they were there.  Sometimes Jesus would do things that I could not see until later in my life, and He is still doing things that I cannot see, and may not see until He comes again and we are all in heaven!  However, when I took the time to talk to Him, He always answered, and continues to answer me.

In order to better illustrate the point of how He has gone before me, I will tell a quick story of a time I was passing out Steps to Christ at the door.  This was almost a year after colpourtering.  I had been going to college at Southern Adventist University, and was starting to want to give Jesus control of my Sabbaths more. After church there was a group of young people going to pass out Steps to Christ.  I quickly volunteered to go, because I felt that this was Jesus call in my life.  So about half-way through the process of passing out Steps to Christ, I discovered that I was having a hard time getting books out.  Why was this?  Then I remembered what my friend had told me about prayer!  So on the way to the next house (and there was a long stretch between houses) I began to pray that Jesus would use me including my failures to His glory.  Up until this point the sky had been full of clouds, but I asked Jesus if He would have the sun shine through the clouds.  As I looked into the sky, I noticed a small crack in the clouds begin to form, and a shaft of light begin to burst through the clouds, and with it some warmth against the cool day.  When I arrived at the next house, I was ready, I had asked Jesus to go before me, and in-spite of my faults and failures to use me in His service!

As I knocked at the door, I could hear a vacuum going in the background and a lady opened the door, but did not turn off the vacuum.  She said that she was busy.  So, knowing that I had asked Jesus to use me in-spite of my faults and failures, I opened the Steps to Christ book in my hand and began to read the first thing I saw, and this is what it said:
"There is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition to God.  There is nothing that can prevent us from lifting up our hearts int he spirit of earnest prayer". (White, 99, para 1). 

As a result, the lady responded:  "I'd probably better read that" and she took the book"!  Jesus had done it in spite of my failures, mistakes, and inability to properly communicate!  There is nothing too hard for the Lord!

This story better brings out the point that Jesus goes before us in ways that only He can!  When we pray, Jesus makes a way!

How do I know His voice?
As I write this, a better part of this has become more understood to me.  Up until about yesterday, I was really struggling to understand what the Bible means when it says that they know His voice.  My wife and I had to make a decision on something and did not know which way to turn.  We prayed about it, and knew that Jesus would go before us, but we did not know how He would communicate with us.  Then it happened!  Jesus did communicate with us.

As my wife was going through the pros and cons of making a decision, something amazing happened!  One of the cons was actually that if we did this thing we would be breaking one of God's commandments!  I couldn't believe what I had just heard!  Jesus had done it!  His Word says:  "To the Law and to the Testimony, if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them"

Now the opportunity was not in itself bad, but rather as we thought on taking advantage of that opportunity it would be bad because in order for us to do so we would be breaking a commandment!

My wife and I had not asked anyone but God for advice at this point!  I was thinking it was going to take someone else to answer us, but God had answered us Himself!  Jesus does answer when we call out to Him for help and advice!
What is the part of the stranger all about?
Any advice that is given that is against God's Word is from the stranger!  This does not mean that the person who gave the advice is from the stranger, but that that the stranger has used them.  I know that I have been used by the stranger numerous times!  I have caused so much pain, to other people, because they listened to me, and my words, and my words were not the words of the Good Shepherd! :(  How sad! :(  However, there is mercy and grace for even a sinner like me at Calvary! Jesus paid that price as the Good Shepherd!  He went to Calvary!  In fact in John  10:11 Jesus says:


John 10:11 (KJV)
I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

Jesus not only goes before us, smooths the way, but He went before us to Calvary and paid the ultimate price so that we might not perish but have everlasting life through Him!

Friend, have you messed up in your life?  Have you given bad advice?  Have you hurt those closest to you?  Have you done it on accident?  Have you had times where you have listened to the stranger?  Calvary is still available for you!  The Good Shepherd wants you in heaven with Him!  Will you accept Him and His offer of love?  We don't have to listen to the stranger's lies in our lives, we can go to Jesus just as we are, and He will cleanse us and make us new!  Jesus says

John 6:37-39 (KJV)
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

Ask, Seek, Knock

This morning I came to my devotions and there seemed to be high wall between God and I. I couldn't seem to find out why this was the case.  Before I had my devotions this morning, I had a quick prayer, asking for God to show me Jesus, and His love, and to keep me from distractions, and then proceeded to open the Bible and read.  The story this morning was from John Chapter 9.  Now, I had read this story so many times, and so I thought that I had exhausted everything from it.  Still, there was a thought that showed up to me as I read, and that was the fact that the man was blind.  I knew I was blind and needed Jesus, but didn't know what God wanted me to do as a result of the story I was reading.  Discouragement set in, and I then went to Calvary.  I read the story of the crucifixion in Matthew 27, and the Resurrection in Matthew 28.  At the end of my reading a verse jumped out at me, and it was the response of the angel to the women who had come to the tomb to see Jesus in verse 5
" 5 But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here, for he has been raised, just as he said. Come and see the place where he was lying."

As I read this verse a realization hit me!  I was not reading the Bible to find Jesus simply in the Bible, but I was reading the Bible to find Jesus in my own life, in the reality I was living in that very moment!  As the song says, I began to realize that: "I serve a Risen Savior, He's in the world today!  I know that He IS living whatever men may say!"

At that next moment, another verse came to my mind:

Matthew 7: 7,8

 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

As I read this statement, my question was answered.  When I come to the Word of God to get a blessing, and then don't follow through with the conditions that Jesus laid out, it's little wonder that I don't find that God is speaking to me.
So often I find myself only wanting God to do the talking as I read, and me to just listen.  I want to sit at His feet like someone would sit at the feet of a wise sage!  But the truth is, that Jesus is not calling us to Himself to simply impart wisdom to us, He is calling us to be in relationship with Him!  He doesn't want to simply give us a set of instructions.  He wants to give us Himself, and in return, he wants us!

I like how Ellen G. White Puts it in Steps to Christ:

"By faith you became Christ's, and by faith you are to grow up in Him--by giving and taking. You are to give all,--your heart, your will, your service,--give yourself to Him to obey all His requirements; and you must take all,--Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to abide in your heart, to be your strength, your righteousness, your everlasting helper,--to give you power to obey"

There are three steps to Mathew 7:7 that jumped out at me!

1. Ask
2. Seek
3. Knock

In step one it is important to be honest with God about what is going on in our lives, so that we are prepared for step 2, which is seeking Him in His Word, in seeking Him in His Word, we may and probably will end up asking more, and seeking more.  Finally at the end of devotions, we are able to knock, by following through with Jesus instructions.

When however I try and "do", or want to "know" the "Will of God" without asking or seeking or knocking, I'm going to find myself discouraged every single time!


So let us, ask Seek and Knock! 

Getting Together with God!

This is huge topic in the Christian Church today.  So many times we want to live for Jesus, but then have times where we fail.  This morning I was awaken at 4:51 am.  I noticed immediately that it was still dark out, as the light was definitely artificial that was coming through the venetian blinds in my room.  Quietly, I started talking to my Heavenly Father, and noticed that my wife was still asleep.  Getting up, I knew, I needed to spend time with Jesus.  So I quietly got out of bed, and meandered my way through a messy hallway, with my feet running into clothing in a messy hallway, at different intervals.  I finally made it to our dining room, and then kneeled down in front of the window, and began to pray.  As I prayed, a flood of memories came back to me of my early twenties.  Things were different then, and I often found myself lonely, over issues about appearance, and whether or not I was popular, but those thing faded into the background as a Man named Jesus met me!  He showed me that He cared so much about me!  He took the time to listen to me as I talked to Him.  There were many walks, and incredible experiences and miracles that I had, so much so that I would later entitle the ground school I attended "The place of Miracles", but this is for another blog entry at another time.  Thinking back fondly of those memories of physically getting out and going for a walk with Jesus, created a desire to once again, go out and walk with Him. 
The Bible says that Enoch walked with God, and my pastor encouraged me that I needed to get out there and walk with Him to, and tell Him what was going on in my life.  Again, this advice happened when I was 19 years old.  I now found myself 29 years old, and things had changed.  Somehow, someway walls had been built up between my Best Friend and I.  There was the desire to spend time with Him that weighed heavily on me, but the other things just pulled me in the other direction.  Finally as I knelt this morning in Prayer, an overwhelming desire came over me to get up off my knees and go and walk out in the cool morning.  After all, Jesus got up early in the Morning and communed with His Father. Mark 1:35 says: “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.”
Finally I could take no more, and got up. I got dressed and then headed out into the early just before dawn air. The sky was a dark blue, with patches of darker clouds that filled it. There were little cracks in the clouds, and the light glow of the moon could be seen through them. Before I continued my walk, I remembered that I had left my Bible out our van. I quickly walked over to it in the parking lot, opened the sliding door and grabbed the Bible out of the front seat. I couldn't see it clearly, but I could tell by the feel of what I was grabbing. Closing the door behind me, I began to apologize to Jesus for all my failures, especially in not coming to Him more often. As I walked over to the sidewalk with lamps still on in the early morning air, I opened my Bible. There little sanctuary that the light made, I was able to read the text. What I read, shocked, encouraged, and strengthened me at the same time. The passage was from Hebrews 6: 13-20.

“13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, 14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. 16 For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. 17 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:3 18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.”

I had a hard time coming to grips with what I had read. There was Jesus with arms outstretched, showing me that He wanted me to have strong consolation. When I came to Him, He forgave me of my sins and neglect. I had asked Him earlier, and He had again forgiven me and given me a new lease on life! 1 John 1:8-10 says: “ 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”


When I came to Jesus, He not only forgave me my sin, but cleansed me of my sin. A once famous preacher put it this way: When I go to God and ask Him to forgive me, He justifies me. What happens if I make the same mistake. So I go to God and say to Him, in dispair: I did it again, I'm sorry, and He responds: “Did what again?” You see, when God forgives me of my sin, He does something incredible. Jesus says in Ezekiel 31:34:
“ 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

When God justifies me, it is as if I never sinned in the first place! I have a new lease on life! So, failure does happen in the Christian life, but we have a Savior who takes us back, and restores us, the past is forgotten, and we are truly free! Jesus has said in His Word: “36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”


I may mess up a hundred thousand times in a day, but as soon as I go to Jesus and ask Him to forgive and cleanse me, He does! As I continued my walk, it was as if I had been transported back to the good old days when I was going to a ground school! My heart was light, and I walked with my Best Friend all the way back to the apartment and had a great conversation!