Matthew 20-23

Jesus entered the temple area and rove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changes and the benches of those selling doves. -21:12

I love what my Pastor pointed out one time, emotions comes from combining e, which means out, and motion, so emotions are supposed to make us go out and do something. Therefore, a righteous anger is one that will make us do something to fix the problem. Angry with the state of the world? Do something about it.


"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went ot the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'
'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go."
     -21:28-30
Too many of us are the second son, we can talk the talk so well, but we're not walking the walk. I'll write more on that later..


" 'Love the Lord your God will all your heart and will all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." -22:37-40

Pretty straightforward.. but think about this. One of my favorite songs right now, "Awaken my Soul" sung by Mumford & Sons says, where you invest your love, you invest your life. Want to give your life to Christ? Give your love to Christ.


"But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." -23:3

When we talk the talk without walking the walk, we're Pharisees; plain and simple.


"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." -23:25-28

And again.. talking the talk. Another verse to think about..
"All a man's ways seem right to him, but the LORD weights the heart." -Proverbs 21:2

Next Read

Next read... Matthew 24-26. Sorry I didn't get to 20-23 today :( I'll double up tomorrow! 

Until then... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt59GR64Ivk

Matthew 15-19

Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?" -15:3

This reminds me of a verse Paul wrote that really stuck out to me in Colossians 2:8, "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." That's why I want to challenge you, don't take anything for granted. All the traditions that we practice as Christians, explore the motivation behind them. Are they glorifying Christ or are there ulterior motives?


He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
"Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted."
            -15:26-28

I've never really understood this passage, if you understand I'd appreciate your explanation!


Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done." -16:24-27

A really important passage to pray about.. I'd like to point out one thing. Jesus says, "reward each person according to what he has done." At first I was going to talk about the importance of this verse because it says what he has done and not what he has believed; because it's not just enough to believe, if someone truly believes their life will show it in what they have done. But looking at it again, maybe it could be taken another way... maybe Jesus meant he to be the Son of Man(himself), because essentially, their is nothing we can do to be worthy of Christ's love and forgiveness except one thing: accept it. Let me know what you think.


"I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." -17:20-21

Such a powerful verse...


"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." -18:19-20

Don't forget the importance of fellowship and group prayer, you can't do it on your own; trust me, I've tried.


Make sure you take time to understand the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant (18:21-35) and remember how insignificant the things that we struggle to forgive are compared to the forgiveness God has given us through our Savior, Jesus Christ.


"I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." -19:23-24

Notice He doesn't say relatively rich to the rest of America... we tend to use Bill Gates and Donald Trump as excuses for ourselves. Before we can truly live our lives for Christ, we have to come to terms with this concept, we have so much more than we need. We spend so much time and money worrying about meeting our wants, we forget that there are those out there that can't even meet the bare minimum of their needs. I love how Dave Matthews put it in his song "Seek Up," for the price of a coke or a smoke, I could keep alive those hungry eyes. 




"With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." -19:26

Wow.

Next read: Matthew 20-23

Matthew 11-14

"You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgement for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." -12:34-37

You know the saying... would you say that in front of your grandmother? How about a new one.. would you say that in front of God, the creator of the universe?


"For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother." -12:49-50

I love this.. Jesus is the Son of God; therefore He is saying that anyone who does the will of God is one of God's children.


"But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." -13:16-17

Our knowledge of God and His perfect love is the greatest gift we could have, don't waste it.


"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path. The one who received the seed that fell on rocky places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown." -13:18-23

You've heard the good news, which seed will you be?


"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it." -13:45-46

Would you do anything for God's kingdom?


Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. -14:29-30

Imagine your life if God didn't exist, would anything change? So many Christians today, if we took the time to truly evaluate our lives, we'd realize we live inside of the boat. We don't actually trust God with any part of our lives. Take time some time to pray today, what would your life look like if you stepped out of the boat?

Next read: Matthew 15-19

Matthew 6-10

"So when you give tot he needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." -6:2

Do you live your life for the rewards and the reputation of this life or for the rewards in the next? I know that's something I struggle with.


"For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." -6:14-15

Such a convicting verse...


"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up from yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there you heart will be also." -6:19-21


A friend of mine brought up a great point one time... If a  man was going on vacation for a couple days and everything he bought there he couldn't bring back with him, it would be completely pointless for him to buy things so fleeting. Except when you compare eternity to our lives on earth, our lives are more fleeting than a couple days on vacation.


"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." -6:33-34

If you are truly living your life for Christ... He will provide.


"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." -7:12

Sound familiar?


"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." -7:24-25

If you're reading this, I'm hoping that means you're diving into the Word. But it's not enough to just dive into the Word, you have to live the Word, be the Word. Something I did at one time, I would write verses I want to concentrate on living on index cards and carry them around with me. Whenever I feel like I missed a chance to live out the verse I'd take it out and read it to myself again and say a prayer. I might pick that back up actually...


Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We're going to drown!" He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. -8:24-26

I love the image of Jesus here. I love imagining Jesus rubbing his eyes, just got up from a nap, looking at them like what's the matter with you guys, don't you trust me? If only we could learn to trust Him like He wants us to, our lives would be so much easier.


"But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' " -9:13

Just something to think about..


Lastly, take the time to read Matthew 10 again, as if He is directly addressing you. One of my favorite passages of the Bible, gets me so fired up every time I read it.


Next read: Matthew 11 through 14

Matthew 1-5

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." -1:21
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" -- which means, "God with us." -1:23

I love the perspective on Jesus that these verses give us, simple but so powerful.


As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." -3:16-17

Such a beautiful image..


Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' " -4:4

If don't feel satisfied with how life's treating ya right now, answer this: Have you spent enough time diving into the Word? True prosperous life is one that lives by way of the Word.


"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me." -5:11

Truly living for Christ isn't easy, which is precisely why we're taught to rejoice in suffering and that we're blessed in suffering for Christ. I've got bad news, if we're not suffering, we're not doing it right.


"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." -5:13-16

Is your life shining His light?


"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. he causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." -5:43-48

When I read this I remember something I read one time, Contrary to popular belief, you have to love somebody before you can like them. You might not like someone and they may rub you the wrong way, but God made them with a purpose just as He made you with a purpose. How can we not love on God's work?

My Pastor Steve put it in good perspective for me one time... Imagine someone throwing darts at a board with your kid's face on it, that's how God feels. Every time we're gossiping about someone or talking about them behind their backs.. it's like throwing darts at one of God's children.

Thank you so much for reading! Next read, Matthew 6 through 10.

CHRISTmas

And so it begins, within the next 26 days we will read all 4 of the Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, then John. It'll be a great way to take time in the Christmas season to remember what Christmas is supposed to be about, the birth of Jesus Christ.

I hope that you will make the commitment with me, 15 minutes out of every day until I head back to Wake. 15 minutes out of every day to get to better know our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I plan on posting about at least my favorite passage or two from every section, maybe even more in the chapters I really like.

First read: Matthew chapters 1 through 5.

Don't have a Bible... here ya go :) http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1&version=NIV

Can't Hear it Enough

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCunuL58odQ

I know I showed this not too long ago, but we can't hear it enough.

He loves us, let us not take it for granted.

I'll start to go through the Gospels tomorrow night, I'd love if you joined me.

1 Corinthians 29-31

so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God -- that is our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

Nothing we can do compares to our amazing God's unfailing love, so why boast in ourselves when we could be boasting in the everlasting God.

1 Corinthians 1:26-28

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things -- and the things that are not -- to nullify the things that are.


It's kind of crazy to think who I was before I accepted Christ into my life.... and from my experience, I'd like to reinforce what Paul is writing here. If the only thing holding you back from giving your life to Christ is thoughts you aren't worthy, you've got it all wrong.

Remember, God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Philemon 1:6

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.


After we've come to fill our own void as Christians by way of Christ's love, it's time to share the good news to others. If we've truly come to know and accept Christ's love for us, we'd be living with the greatest gift in the world; the best part about it, there's enough to go around for everyone.

Who in your life needs to hear the good news today?

Romans 1:18-32

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature -- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator -- who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.



Unfortunately, Paul couldn't have put it better, the state of the world isn't a good one. Because of that, we're digging ourselves a deeper hole. We're replacing the void we've made with superficial relationships instead of true relationships. We're replacing the void with fleeting happiness instead of eternal joy.

And that's why I'd like to share this verse again, because if Christians spent enough time praying this with Paul, the world would be a better place.

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." -Ephesians 3:17-19

If the world came to accept this perfect love, we would "be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." The void would be gone.

Ecclessiastes 11:9-12:1

Be happy, young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgement. So then, banish anxiety from your heart and cast off the troubles of your body, for youth and vigor are meaningless. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, "I find no pleasure in them"

I know I said I was gonna through the Gospels.. but I'll be starting that Sunday when I get home for Winter Break. Anyway, this verse is so overlooked for youth these days, just as the importance of our youth is overlooked. And just as the importance of our youth is overlooked, the importance of urgency is overlooked.

I'm sick of hearing the excuse, "It's just what college kids do." A light shines brightest in the darkest places. This is our greatest place to shine as Christians.

Most everyone in college is looking for their identity, looking for the person we're going to be for the rest of our lives. It's pretty clear, peer pressure is greatest on a college campus. We are all more open to influence now then we will be for the rest of our lives.

Therefore, it's the most opportune time to turn someone to Christ, and display the joy that we have in Christ.

I'm asking you and I'm praying you will accept the urgency to live for Christ today; because if you truly believe God is giving you an eternity in heaven, giving him a hundred years on earth comes easily.

Shine Your Light On Us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jib8_vjLvmY

As you can tell, it's 3:30 and I still have a lot of work to do. But I just listened to this song, and I'm completely refreshed. Next time you're struggling, give it a shot.

Blow Away with the Breeze

Theres a world we've never seen
There's still hope between the dreams
The weight of it all
Could blow away with a breeze
-Jack Johnson, "All at Once"

In these weeks of stress, finishing up the semester and studying for exams, don't forget how fleeting this stress is. Don't forget the eternal joy we have in Christ.

Jesus Thoughts

A friend of mine, currently a sophomore in high school, just started this Youtube channel. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jesusthoughts

Matthew 4:4

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"

The Word of God is as essential to our lives as food. Do our lives show that?

Luke 8:22-25

One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let's go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger. The disciples went and woke him, saying "Master, Master, we're going to drown!" He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsisded, and all was calm. "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.

One of my favorite stories of the Gospels.. I love thinking of Jesus in this situation. Imagine.. he just got up from a nap, rubbing his eyes, reaches out and calms the storm, turns to his disciples and he's just like, "Chilllll where's your faith?"

Our Savior is so awesome. If you haven't taken the time to get to know Him, you should. Read the Gospels. In fact, I'll read the Gospels with you. I'm gonna go straight through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, writing about some of my favorite verses, and I'd love if you read through them with me, just two or three chapters a day. First one's tomorrow, get reading!

Happy Thanksgiving!

"But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it." -Matthew 13:16-17

As difficult as it makes life sometimes, I'm thankful that I know of Jesus Christ and his grace. We spend too much of our time looking at the tangible gifts God has given us, and we forget to thank Him for the most important gift of all. That we know Him and that we see what He has done for us. That's the greatest gift of all, take some time to thank God for your faith today.

Isaiah 58:6-10

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves sin behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday."

A Sin is a Sin is a Sin

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, "Do not commit adultery," also said, "Do not murder," If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker.

There is no such thing as a "size" of a sin in the eyes of God. A sin is a sin is a sin. Therefore, it doesn't matter if you're a murder or if you lied once about where you'd been; we're all imperfect and we all fall short of being worthy of God's perfect love. That's where the grace of Jesus Christ comes in, Paul put it best in Ephesians 1:8, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God."

I don't care if your Osama Bin Laden or Mother Teresa, we all need his grace. Don't take it for granted.

Isaiah 40:28-31

The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary, and increase the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Jesus in Action

http://www.thejourneysproject.com/

Check it out.

Revelation 21:1-4

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, preapred as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

Ephesians 2:10

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

There is a reason I'm here. There is a reason you're here. There is a reason the homeless guy we drive by is here.

God has a purpose for every single one of us, don't throw that away. If you feel God's made your purpose clear, I challenge you to do something towards it today. If you feel God hasn't made yours clear yet, pray about it. And most of all, delight in the fact God has a purpose for you and I.

"Is this life that we live just the world's accident? Not a chance, so I move on with a smile."
      -O.A.R.

Matthew 6:33-34

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

If you are truly living for Christ first and foremost, why would you ever need to worry? You've got the Creator of Heaven and Earth on your side.

Luke 7:46-49

Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.

We can talk the talk all day, saying we believe in God. But if we truly believed, if we truly did what He said, it would be beautiful. What does truly living out his words look like for you today?

Be the Change you Hope to See

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." -Matthew 7:3-5

So much of our time is spent waiting on the world to change and brainstorming the huge ways to change it. We waste our lives talking the talk but we can't walk the walk.

What if we quit spending our time analyzing politics and started analyzing our hearts?
What if we quit spending our time and resources protesting and started giving them to the unfortunate?


Remember what Dave said, To change the world, it starts with one step.

I challenge you to walk the walk. Changing yourself is your one step. If we all took our step, we could change the world.

This quote put it best..

"I want to ask God why God allows poverty, famine and injustice when God could do something. So what's stopping you? I'm afraid God will ask me the same question."

Be the change.

Matthew 25:33-45

"He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The king will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

"They also will answer, 'Lord when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

"He will reply, 'I tell you the turth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'"

250 million people have died of hunger-related causes in the past quarter-century — roughly 10 million each year.


700 to 800 million people, perhaps even as many as a billion, don't get enough food to support normal daily activities.

We're having problems of obesity while others starve. That's gotta change.

Galatians 2:21

"I will not treat God's gracious gift as pointless."

James 1:26

If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

Ephesians 3:17-19

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCunuL58odQ

The Creator of the Universe loves you.

Don't take it for granted.

Matthew 22:36-40

"'Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?' Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'"

Unfortunately, most of us live our lives self-centered. We're in the middle, and everything else is just a circle around us. Friends, family, God, everyone is in that circle. That's gotta change. It directly contradicts the two greatest commandments. We can't love God like we should if He just blends in with the circle around us, and it's impossible to love others as ourselves when we're in the center.

I challenge you to step out of the center and live God-centered. Unless your life revolves around God, you can't love Him with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. And if you're in the circle with everyone else, it comes natural to love others as yourself.

It starts with one step, take your first step to a God-centered life right now. Where's your Bible?

Romans 8:38-39

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

There is nothing you can do that will make God love you less. Quit worrying about the fleeting success and failure of the world and live with the constant joy that comes from knowing the Creator of the Universe unconditionally loves you.

Just when I thought God ditched me..

School has been kicking my butt lately.. and with two quizzes that went horrible today it really was the lowest I've been since I got here. Especially with some of a book to read, a paper to write on it, a math writing assignment, another book to finish, a paper to write on that, research to do, and studying for two midterms all in the next six days.

A few minutes ago I hit my maximum stress point, completely overwhelmed with the tasks ahead of me. I was looking forward to get to sleep, rushed through my work and hit my checkpoint for the night. As soon as I did, my phone beeped with a text message from Matt Carter, a friend that sends out mass texts of bible verses almost daily.

"No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it." -1 Corinthians 10:13

O God, you never cease to amaze me.

WWJD

It's a phrase we've become numb to in Christianity, but probably the most important.

I challenge you, starting now. In everything you do, ask yourself, what would Jesus do?

Doctrine 5

Philippians 4:6-7 "Don't worry about anything; instead. pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard you hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I believe God hears our prayers.

Doctrine 4

I believe that the Holy Spirit is the urges we get, feelings we have that we can't explain.

In Acts, Paul is explaining why he went into the house of uncircumcised men(Acts 11:3) which was strongly forbidden at the time.

Acts 11:12 "The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them."

I believe God is always placing urges on our hearts that we can't explain, but we've been trained to think intellectually and with our brains. We've been trained if you can't explain exactly why you're doing something with well thought out reasoning then you shouldn't do it. And that's precisely what's destroying the Christian faith today.

Faith isn't steering your boat, its putting up the sails and seeing where the wind, or in this case the Spirit of God, will take you. Put up your sails today and pray about accepting the Holy Spirit into your life.

Doctrine 3

I believe God has a great reason for having two perspectives of creation in Genesis.

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." -Genesis 1:27

"the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." -Genesis 2:7

It sets up one of the most important themes of the bible. The paradox of power and humility. We must live our lives accepting the responsibility that we are the light of God.

Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hiddne. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

But we must live our lives accepting that we come from dust, there noone too low for us to serve.

Mark 10:45 "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Which leads me into my next point, even God lived by this paradox. God is all powerful that's a given. But God and humility?

Luke 2:7 "and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

Let me remind you, God came to earth in a human form through Jesus Christ. Not only did he come in human form, he chose to quietly come into Bethelem, a town noone heard of that didn't have room for the Son of God in the inn. He made the ultimate act of humility, the all powerful invincible God that doesn't feel physical pain, made Himself into a completely dependent baby, that was covered in cloths to keep warm.

So remember, through making yourself humble your making yourself great. Paul puts it best, so I will leave you with this.

Philippians 2:1-16 "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his life, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conciet, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed- not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life-- in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing."

Doctrine 2

Take the time to read the first chapter of Genesis, from the beginning through verse 31.

Now I want you to notice something. Verse 31 says "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."

All throughout this chapter God would do something and he saw it was good. But when you put all God's works together, its very good.

I believe we can take 2 things from that.

First, you don't have to do it all. God's got a purpose for you, no matter how big or small, it's good. It's not our job to be very good, but be good. If we each do our job, we're very good. So although you don't have to do it all, you need to find your niche, your purpose. Pray about it if you haven't.

Secondly, everyone is made to be good. Love everyone that way. Hate the sin, love the person.

Doctrine 1

I believe we are all made in the essence of God (Genesis 1:27) and that the essence of God is love (1 John 4). Therefore, we are each love. It's just a matter of how we direct ourselves. Loving ourselves over others, by putting others down to lift up ourselves, or loving others as ourselves, by lifting others up to lift up yourself as well.

What's your religion?

Your religion consists of two parts, your beliefs and your actions. The next few days I want you to pray about what you believe. Write down your thoughts. I'll do my best to do this with you over the next few days on here. Its kind of important to know what we believe....

Prayer

1 John 5:14 "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."

He's waiting for you. Pray tonight.

Glorifying God

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." -1 Corinthians 10:31


Think back over your day. Did you do anything today that wouldn't show the glory of God? Did you do anything today that shows the glory of God?

Think about tomorrow. What can you do to show the glory of God?

Matthew 10:19-20

I've been preparing to have a tough talk with a friend and it has not been going well. I was diving into the bible, flipping through the pages hoping God would give me an easy answer. That's when I read this.

Matthew 10:19-20 "But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you."

How comforting is that.. if you put yourself in situations to love boldly like were called to do, God will handle the rest. There's no set thing I can say, I just have to take the step to initiate the conversation, God will take over the rest. What a cool guy. Thanks God.

Psalms 36:5-6

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.

Lighting a Fire

So I've spent my first few days here at Wake Forest and I've found one recurring theme. "Don't make your education a checklist but lighting a fire."

The church and our relationships with God has become checklists. Check off going to church, praying at meals, praying in the morning, praying at night, reading the bible and then were done.

But if we lit our fires with church, praying whenever we feel the need, and reading the bible to fuel the flames, we wouldn't stop there. Our flames would shine like the light were called to be for the world.

Matthew 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Micah 6:8

He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.


If your reading this right now, chances are you've heard of God's life-changing goodness. I dare you to live out His goodness. Be the light of His goodness and change lives.

God's gifts

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of workings, but the same God works all of them in men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines."

The Holy Spirit gives us all different gifts, what are your gifts? How could you give them to God?

The Goodbyes

For those of you who don't know, I'm heading off to college in 2 days. Tonight was a rough night for me, I had to say goodbye to a couple good friends, one of them being my best friend for 8 years. I wasn't handling it to well. I just got home and opened up to Psalms, and it wasn't a specific verse that hit me. But it was the fact that the Psalms are the same now as they were before, and they will be the same when I go to college. Just as God and His love for me, its the same now as it was before, and it will be the same when I go to college. Many things will come and go, but God and His love are everlasting.

Wheres your citizenship?

Philippians 3:20 "Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven."

One definition of citizenship - the character of an individual viewed as a member of society; behavior in terms of the duties, obligations, and functions of a citizen.

How do you live? Is your citizenship of a broken world without truely unconditional love, or is your citizenship of heaven, a world made complete through accepting God's love and letting it overflow through us?

1 John 4:12 "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

Romans 12:1-4

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-- his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Philippians 2:1-4

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Acts 16:34

The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God -- he and his whole family.

Everyone wants to have faith in such an awesome loving God, even those who don't admit it or act like it. Sometimes those trying hardest to repel your faith and love are the ones that want it most, just like the jailer who had Paul and Silas locked in prison because of their faith.

Luke 18:27

Luke 18:27 "What is impossible with men is possible with God."

So what would you do if you couldn't fail? If God's on your side, you won't fail. Anythings possible. So do it.

Think..

What would you do if you couldn't fail?

Think about it and I'll give you a verse tomorrow.

Samuel 16:7

The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

Psalm 30:11-12

You turned my wailing into dancing;
you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing to you and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.

How do you treat God?

Psalm 18:31 "For who is God besides the Lord?"

As Christians we believe in one, holy, God. Now, imagine what your life would be like if our one, holy God didn't exist. Did anything change? If not, you've got a problem.

Do you treat God like a God?

Psalm 9:10

Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.

Romans 12:8-21

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitatlity.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written; "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the lord. On the contrary: "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Slaves to All

Mark 10:43-44 "Instead, whoever wants to become great mong you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all."

In Mark 10 Jesus calls us to be slaves.. in Colossians 3 it tells slaves how to live.

Colossians 3:22-24 "Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will recieve an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

To truly serve others we must do it with all our heart, not just to be seen. Look for something good you can do today without them knowing it was you.

Colossians 3:12-14

"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."

Our Weaknesses

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak then I am strong.

It's a very common Christian idea. When you're struggling just lean on God because he's got all the strength you would need. But that just didn't cut it for me, I felt like it didn't give that idea justice. That's when God laid this on my heart.

Think of our weaknesses as holes in ourselves. Places that our human strength cannot fill. Christ fills those holes in. So instead of our normal everyday human strength, we have Christ's extraordinary strength living in us. If we truly believed that we would be rejoicing just like Paul does about his weaknesses.

Remember though, God can only fill in those holes if you let him. So think about how you could do that today.

Be Perfect

Galatians 3:26 "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus."

Jesus did have one advantage on us, he was the Son of God and Man. We are also born of man, and with faith in Jesus we can be born again through God, sons of God.

If we truly believe as Christians that we can live through God and God can live through us by the Holy Spirit, why can't we be perfect?? If we believe God is living through us were insulting God by saying we can't be perfect.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is IN Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"

It's possible to live exactly like Christ, let Christ live through you. No more excuses.

Jesus Poops

Philippians 2:1-8

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look out not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, Did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death -- even death on a cross!


I don't know if you've heard, but God is kinda the man. He's pretty all powerful and almighty and all loving, it doesn't get much better than God. For some reason, He decided to make himself into nothing. He made himself into a human, that feels pain, thats restrained by his body, that has to take time out of running the universe to poop. Did that make Him any less awesome?? No! Jesus was the freaking man! He lived like no other!

But what I want you to take away from this, is Jesus did it. Jesus did the "impossible." He lived His life completely for God in a human body. And yes, he was the Son of God. But he was also the Son of Man.

Jesus proved it is possible to live exactly like God in the human form. Sure, we may not be perfect like Jesus. But it's possible!! I'm sick of people making excuses all the time.

"We're naturally sinful so whatever"
"I'm just human"

What have we.. given up on ourselves?? I don't get it. Genesis says we were made in the essence of God, 1 John 4:8 says God is love. We're not just human! We're the essence of God! How cool is that. Is the essence of God naturally sinful? No. It's not. So shut up, quit making excuses and be the awesome amazing loving person that God made you to be! It's possible to do it. No longer think of yourself as just human, but the essence of God. No more excuses.

Understanding the Perfect God

John 14:5-10
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know hiim and have seen him."

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are no just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work."


We have an awesome and powerful and loving God, but He's so other and perfect that it's confusing and mysterious to us. Almost impossible to comprehend.

Jesus is God and He is human. So it's actually pretty simple. It's hard to comprehend a God thats so other and so perfect so thats why He humbled himself into a human. He made himself into one of us, Jesus Christ. Not only did it give us the tangible love of God through Jesus to experience and to clear up confusion, but it showed that anythings possible as a human if you let God live through you.

Many of us, myself included, do not value the first four books of the New Testament for what it's worth. It shows who God is, how He handles himself, how He treats others, how He teaches others, and how He loves others all through Jesus. And since the goal of our relationship with God is to learn to live like Him, we learn who we are, how to handle ourselves, how to treat others, how to teach others, and how to love others all through Jesus.

What else do ya need?

First Day of the Week

I just want to forward you a simple, fundamental but powerful idea that my Pastor shared today in his message.

Church isn't on the last day of the week, it's on the first day of the week. It's on the first day of the week so we go out and we live out what God tells us at church that Sunday.

Don't take church for granted.

Half-heartedness

Half-heartedness never won a battle. -William McKinley

For those of you that don't know.. I just graduated from high school and man have I been busy with graduation parties. Tonight was a pretty big one in my friend's coldesac and as soon as the sun went down the DJ started blasting some music and the dancing began.

Most of my friends were all in one big clump in the coldesac right next to the DJ stand. But a couple of my friend and I were having a good time and we got ambitious. So we started going all out doing the most ridiculous dances you've ever seen. The funny thing is, somehow they kept catching on and spreading like wildfire through the "moshpit."

That's when it hit me, you can lead people to do almost anything if they see you going one-hundred percent at it. If they see you going all out, they want to experience the freedom you have and tag along.

The biggest problem with Christians today is that to world standards it is weird. It's weird to put others ahead of yourself. It's weird to love others like Christ loved us. It's weird to be friends with all different people from all the "social classes." You're supposed to get in your spot in line and stay there.

Since it's so weird to worldy standards and worldy standards have become all we know, we can't love like Christ without being half-hearted. We can't love like Christ without going through the motions. Attending church every Sunday, singing in the choire, and donating some money to charity everyonce in a while.

To lead others to Christ, and to lead others to realize the power and love of Christ, we must trust Christ whole-heartedly. That means we must be completely open about our faith that saves lives and live out our faith by loving unconditionally even when we're shunned by the world. Because if we do it whole-heartedly, the world will notice. The world will become curious. And the world will ask questions and start tagging along.

So be brave. Get out and live like Christ whole-heartedly. Don't go through the motions.

"I don't wanna go through the motions. I don't wanna waste another day, without your all consuming passion inside of me. I don't wanna spend my whole life asking, What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?" Matthew West - Motions

Misunderstood Grace

Unfortunately, some people understand grace as a loop hole in the Christian faith to do whatever they want because God will forgive em anyway.

Jude 1:4 "For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord."

Grace isn't a get out of hell free card. Grace isn't a free ticket to heaven. As weird as it sounds, grace does come with a "price."

That price is faith in Jesus. Faith in the love of Jesus and faith that the love of Jesus covers all sin. Aka grace.

Here's when some might say, "I do have faith in Jesus and I know His love covers my sins, that's why I can do whatever I want."

Then you don't have a real faith. A real faith in Christ is a faith that acknowledges how awesome and amazing our Savior is and makes you want to strive to be like our awesome loving Savior Jesus Christ.

John 1:5-7 "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

If our faith in Christ has us living in the light, it's a powerful light that swallows all darkness, a powerful love that purifies us from all our sin.

Grace and Truth.. continued

Philippians 3:12-14 "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

We have to grasp the concept of grace and truth for ourselves as well.

We must forget our past, good or bad. If we stay in the good past, we spend too much time boasting and not enough time loving or striving to be better. If we stay in the bad past, we spend too much time moping and not enough time loving or striving to be better.

We must not worry about the future, God's got it handled. If we stay in the future, we spend too much time thinking and not enough time loving and acting in the present. We miss too many oppurtunities that way.

A quote I found.. "You can see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way."

You can only see what's in front of you, so see it good. Make sure you live and love in the moment because there's no way to erase the past and there's no way to predict the future.

Grace and Truth

John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

I told ya to think about this a couple days ago. This is what I think. I think grace and truth is the best way to summarize the Christian faith.

Faith in Jesus is accepting God's grace, a grace which forgives, not forgets, all of your past. Forgetting would undermine the beauty of this grace. It's a grace that knows what you did but doesn't care. It's a grace thats so pure of love that it covers your past, your sin, like the car paint I talked about in the car wash post.

Faith in Jesus is accepting the truth. The truth is that God made you for an awesome reason. He made you for an awesome purpose and you can make a difference and He has an awesome life planned for you if you choose to accept it.

Christianity is about putting your faith in Jesus to accept God's grace that forgives your past and God's truth that He has amazing plans for you in the future.

So basically... God's got your past and your future covered. How freeing is that? So live in the moment. Life is a gift from God. Don't waste it. Times ticking.

tobyMac says in City on our Knees, "If you have to start somewhere, why not here. If you have to start sometime, why not now."

Do it here. Do it now. Accept God's grace and truth and start living your life for Christ.

Your Direction

1 John 4:8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

In the book of Genesis at the beginning of the bible when God is creating man it says that god made man in his image, in his essence. So we are all the essence of God. We are all love.

It's just our decision of how we direct our love. Loving ourselves or loving others.

When we steal, we love ourselves more than who we take from.
When we cut someone in line, we love oursevles mor than who we jump in front of.
When we make fun of someone to their face or talk bad about someone behind their back, we put them down so we can love oursevles.

When we give, we love others more than ourselves.
When we notice someones in a hurry and we let them in front of us, we love others more than oursevles.
When we talk good about someone to their face or behind their back, we are loving others more than ourselves.

Where are you directed?

Coincidence?

I heard this song today on my carride home from a friends and I really liked it so I came home and looked up the lyrics and listened to it again.

Getting into You - Relient K

When I made up my mind
And my heart along with that
To live not for myself
But yet for God, somebody said
Do you know what you are getting yourself into

When I finally ironed out
All of my priorities
And asked God to remove the doubt
That makes me so unsure of these
Things I ask myself, I ask myself
Do you know what you are getting yourself into

I'm getting into you
Because you got to me, in a way words can't describe
I'm getting into you
Because I've got to be
You're essential to survive
I'm going to love you with my life

When he looked at me and said
I kind of view you as a son
And for a second our eyes met
And I met that with a question
Do you know what you are getting yourself into

I'm getting into you
Because you got to me, in a way words can't describe
I'm getting into you
Because I've got to be
You're essential to survive
I'm going to love you with my life

I've been a liar and I'll never amount to
The kind of person you deserve to worship you
you say you will not dwell on what I did but rather what I do you say
I love you and that's what you are getting yourself into

I'm getting into you
Because you got to me, in a way words can't desribe
I'm getting into you
Because I've gott to be
You're essential to survive
I'm going to love you with my life

He said, I love you and that's what you are getting yourself into



Ya.. great song.. but at the part where it talked about the doubt it really got to me. So as soon as the song was over I did the same thing, asked God to remove my doubt. My ipod was on shuffle, 3565 songs, and the next song was "Trust You" by Brandon Heath. Maybe my favorite Christian song.

Here ya go.

Trust You - Brandon Heath

I can't walk without watching where I'm going
I can't speak without knowing what to say
I can't love and have any hesitation
Cause I know that you don't work that way

I can't reach without something to offer
I can't come now I am so ashamed
I can't hold out from you any longer
Cause I know that you don't work that way

I'm not gonna fight you anymore
Not gonna try to lock the door
You took your life and gave me yours
There's no reason why
I shouldn't trust you with mine

It's never easy changing my direction
It's so unnatural to loosen up my grip
Are you growing weary of all my good intentions
Cause I know that You don't work that way

I'm not gonna fight you anymore
Not gonna try to lock the door
You took your life and gave me yours
There's no reason why
I shouldn't trust you with mine

Some days
This wait upon my shoulder
Is my shame
I know I should know better
Cause you say
That I must now surrender
There's no other way

I'm not gonna fight you anymore
Not gonna try to lock the door
You took your life and gave me yours
There's no good reason why I shouldn't trust you

I'm not gonna fight you anymore
Not gonna try to lock the door
You took your life and gave me yours
There's no reason why
No good reason why
I shouldn't trust you... With mine


Believe what you want, but that wasn't a coincidence.

2 Corinthians 6:1

"As God's fellow workers we urge you not to receive God's grace in vain."

Think about it

John 1:14 "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

The goal of Christian spirituality is to live like Christ, to love like love. Christ is full of grace and truth. To love unconditionally we must be full of grace and truth.

What do those mean to you?

Think about it.

Take off the Lid

Ephesians 3:17-18 "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ."

A couple days ago I posted this and I said what else needs to be said? But I finally got an analogy that works, for me atleast, and I hope it does for you.

God is love. Love is the water. God is the water. So, we're all cups. The goal of Christians is to refill others cups with the water/God/love. But we can only do much before we need to get a refill of God for ourselves. The trick is, we're all at the bottom of the ocean with our cups covered by a lid. Take off the lid. Accept God's wide, long, high deep love. Accept His love and you won't need refills. Heck, you won't even have to refill other cups. Your tiny little cup will be overflowing with the ocean around it. You can't help but fill other cups with such a great amount pouring into your own. You can't help but love everyone when your receiving such a great love yourself.

So take off your lid. Your missing out.

Love and Faith

Timothy 1:5 "The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."

As you might have noticed, I'm all about love. I've been getting criticized that love is a lot easier to believe in than God. Although it really upsets me, I've always just blown it off because I didn't know how to reply to that. That's when I realized exactly what this bible verse says, love comes from a sincere faith. To truly love someone the way we're meant to love them, we have to have a sincere faith. A sincere faith that God made every person. Not only does He make every person, He makes every person for a reason, an awesome purpose. Until we come to terms with that idea, we can not love others unconditionally. That's why loving unconditionally requires the strongest faith of all.

Working at the Car Wash

1 Peter 4:8 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."

I was washing my car the other day and there were the black spots I just could not get off. I've got a silver car so black spots just don't look good. They're always there and they always tick me off. I wash my car and then I go back over it specifically to scrub very hard on those spots. The worst part is, they never go away. But if I scrub hard enough, they turn into red dots. I can't explain it but I'm just telling ya what I see.

Anyway, it got me thinking. Maybe those dots are like sins. We've trained ourselves to think that if we scrub hard enough they will all go away in the end. That's not how it works. That's not in our power. What is in our power is to love. Our love is like perfect silver paint. We can cover the dots. They are still there, but they don't matter one bit. So quit trying to make up for your sins or scratch at the sins of others, leave that to God. Until then, love. Lover covers a multitude of sins.

The Death of Sarcasim

James 3: 9-12 "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praisea nd cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both a fresh water and a salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."

As a Christian we constantly work towards living out our lives pure without any hypocrisy. But for some reason we all make excuses for our mouths. We all come up with exceptions for things we say. "It's a just a joke" "They know I don't mean it" No. We've got to cut that out. If we want to be pure, we must be pure in every aspect. No more sarcasim. No more jokes at others expense to gain attention or respect for ourselves. Love others with everything you have, including your mouths.

Snowball Effect

A quote from Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller. Awesome book. Get it.


"What happened was that I realized I was not alone in my own surroundings. I'm not talking bout ghosts or angels or anything; I'm talking about other people. As silly as it sounds, I realized, late that night, that other people had feelings and fears and that my interactions with them actually meant something, that I could make them happy or sad in the way that I associated with them. Not only could I make them happy or sad, but I was responsible for the way I interacted with them. I suddenly felt responsible. I was supposed to make them happy. I was not supposed to make them sad. Like I said, it sounds simple, but when you really get it for the firs time, it hits hard."

If we brighten someone's day, they could brighten someone else's day, and they could brighten someone else's day and so on and so forth. The exact opposite is true as well. If we ruined someone's day, they could ruin someone else's day, and they could ruin someone else's day and so on and so forth. With this snowball effect, we have the power to make a difference in alot of peoples lives in just one day, even people we don't know.

Make the choice to at least truly love one person tomorrow, brighten their day and by doing that you're loving others, maybe even those you haven't met before.

Romans 12:10 "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."

Start the snowball today. You're in control.

Be a Lifesaver

James 5:19-20 "My brothers, wif one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins."

Let's all be lifesavers. Let's all be prepared to share our faith and explain it whenever someone needs to see the light of Christ.

1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."

Who needs you to save their life?

God's love

Ephesians 3:17-18 "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ"

Do I really need to say anything else?

Numbers Game

James 2:1-4 "My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Supppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourself and become judges with evil thoughts?"

When we treat others in that way we are essentially assigning everyone a number. Let's pretend we're playing the numbers game. Everyones a number.

That means whenever your with people of better ranking you either brown nose or you don't live up to your standards because you except the fact that they are better than you. That means your not living to the potential God has for you.

It means whenever your with people of lower ranking you either treat them like your stepping stone or you don't acknowledge them at all. That means your not loving them.

Besides those two problems, when you play the numbers game, everyone is just a number. You subconsciously live to fit the part your playing or the number your filling. Your more than a number to God. God doesn't play favorites he loves everyone just the same.

And whats the number one goal of Christianity again... o ya. Living like God aka loving like God.

Love everyone the same, don't play favorites.

It starts with one step... today, let's step out of the numbers game.

Living like God

James 1:19 "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,"

As Christians our number one goal should be to live like Jesus, which also means living like God.

I want you to think.. how often is God listening? God listens all the time to all our prayers and thoughts and conversations about him.

How often does God speak? We hear God alot less than he hears us. That's because God's love for us is the perfect love, the flawless love. There is no love greater than His love for us. Of course he listens to us more than he talks.. he cares so much more about us than we do about Him whether or not we'd like to admit it or not.

What about God's anger? God's anger is always a selfless anger. It's a righteous anger that is for the good of others. We are imperfect humans, most of our anger is selfish anger. Angry at the guy who cuts us off in line at the grocery store, on the highway, in conversation. That's why we must be slow to anger. We're mostly angry for the wrong reasons and this type of anger usually leads us to sin. Although if you can attain the truly selfless anger of God it can be one of the most beautiful things in this world.

This verse in a nut shell is telling us to love like God. So just a few more things to help you love like Jesus..

Listen alot - Proverbs 18:2 "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions."

Slow to speak - Proverbs 10:19 "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."

Slow to anger - Proverbs 29:11 "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control."

If your struggling with one of those... write it on an index card and keep it with ya for the next couple days. Make your first step to loving like God.

God is Love

1 John 4:8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

I believe almost everything, if not everything, in Christianity comes down to one thing. Love.

I hope you come to notice that as I post on this blog.

I wanted to move on from my old blog cuz I couldn't change the url and it wasn't a url i wanted to keep for college.

chuckjohnbob.blogspot.com ... if you haven't seen it check it out for all my old posts which were a bit different. I want to make this blog more bible based so I'm confident that it is God writing through me.. I don't want this to be a religious blog but one based on bettering our relationship with God and how we can let God live through us in love.

Thanks for stopping by :)