Update.. It has been quite a while

Hey guys,

It has been quite a while since I have posted on this blog, so many things have happened since then. Over the next few days, I plan to post about a few different topics that I have been mulling over in my mind for some time now. Recently, I have been reading the letters of Paul to the churches. It is amazing to me, no matter how many times I read them, I always learn something new and valuable to my daily walk with Christ. The passage that struck me the hardest was Colossians 3, where Paul talks about rules for holy living. It is a pretty simple passage, but it holds sooo much meaning!

In this paragraph, I am just going to list the rules that he states and break a few of them down a little bit.

1. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
2. Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
3. Do not lie to each other.
4. Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
5. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.
6. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
7. And Over all of these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
8. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.
9. Be Thankful.
10. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
11. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Now, all of these rules are important, but I want to focus on #7, 10 and 11. As you read through Colossians 3 your head could start to spin, because it seems like Paul is throwing a lot of rules at us. It seems a little much for the human mind to process all at one time. Well, I have a few suggestions for you. First, Look at number #7. Paul is basically saying, " if you do nothing else, learn to love another". What he is saying makes sense, because if we learn to love one another, we will want to make all of these sacrifices for one another. "Above all, love one another, as Christ has loved you". #10 is also great because I feel like, a lot of times, we just read the Bible and what it says because we are forced to or feel pressure to. Stop(I am talking to myself, too), if we let the word of God come in and change our lives that will overflow and also affect other people's lives. # 11 is probably my favorite because it is fairly similar to 1 Corinthians 10: 31, which states, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." It is very important for us, as Christians, to, always, live for Christ, in every situation. You never know who is watching and being impacted. You may be the only Bible anyone ever reads!

Finally, like I said above, I know how much information is in Colossians 3, about rules for holy living. My goal is to take on rule each day and try to apply it to my life. Each day, take one of the rules that Paul gave and burn it into my mind, heart and soul. I know... I may need to take extra time on some of these :-). I encourage you to do the same; take one each day and apply it to your life, if you would like. I am definitely not trying to tell you how to live your life.. I have enough trouble with my own!! Sidenote: If you guys would like to leave a comment about this post or just say hi that would be great! Also, by leaving your name, I can pray for you! Thanks for reading!

It's been a while....

Hey guys, I know I haven't posted in a while... It has been a really busy last couple weeks.. A certain topic has been on my mind for a while now, and I plan to talk about it a bit later. So, hold your pants on! Thanks! :-)

Personal Time with God

After reading the title, you are probably thinking, "oh great.. another one of those devotions talks... wonderful", or you may be saying, "here he is, acting all high and mighty... " Well, I am here to inform you that I am not here to bash you, make myself look better or anything like that. I want you to know that I am a perfect example of a guy that screws up all the time. If God were not gracious I would have been in hell about 21 years ago... Yeah I know, I am 20 years old. Ya Get my point?

My personal time with God has been a struggle for me throughout my Christian walk. To be very honest, there have been times that I have thought about it and said "nah, I would rather do other things", and then there were times that I didn't think about it at all. I am ashamed to say it, but it is true. God showing me unmerited favor has been a reoccurring theme in my life. Praise Jesus it is unlimited. Time with God has been a series of mountains for me, highs and lows, consistencies and inconsistencies... You know the drill.. there have been some days where the devil has tempted me to do other things and just, ya know, skip one day. What's the harm, right? WRONG!! Don't do it. No matter what keep striving towards Godliness! When you don't feel like it, push through! On those days, I don't feel like doing it, God has taught me the most. It is incredible. "Don't give up. Don't ever give up."- Jimmy V- Throughout all of this, God has been building something up in me. Through all of this, He has brought me to the place where I can say, "I am truly nothing without God, and I need him every day". He has taught me discipline and devotion in my relationship with Him. He has brought different people and situations into my life that have been very instrumental in my journey towards Godliness. Some of you know who you are, some of you do not. Some of you may find out some day ;-). It has been an exciting process!

In this last paragraph, I want to share a little tidbit of what I have read over the last two days in my book, Morning and Evening, by Charles H. Spurgeon. Morning and Evening is a devotional book that has a morning and evening devotional for each day of the year. Over the last two days, spurgeon issued a challenge to the reader; he challenges us to, first, ask God to prepare our hearts and to teach us things during the time we spend with Him. And to, second, not make it an empty formality, but ask God to make it a time of redemption in our lives. So... enough of my words.. they stink compared to his! The highlights of the devotional for the evening of June 17: "This evening let's ask that the scripture we have read, and our devotional exercises, may not be an empty formality, but a channel of grace to our souls. O that God the Holy Spirit would work in us with all His mighty power, filling is with all the fullness of God... Let's then, move quickly, awaken ourselves to seek Him in whom are all our fresh springs. The highlights of the devotional for the morning of June 18: To us our gracious Lord communicates the spotless virtue of stainless character; to us He gives the meritorious efficacy of a devoted life... He makes the unsullied garment of His life our covering beauty; the glittering virtues of His character our ornaments and jewels; and the superhuman meekness of His death our boast and glory... All His thoughts, emotions, actions, utterances, miracles, and intercessions were for us. He trod the road of sorrow on our behalf, and has given over to us as His heavenly legacy the full results of all the labors of His life... Christ everywhere and every way is our Christ, forever and ever most richly to enjoy. O my soul, by the power of the Holy Spirit, call him "Your redeemer" this morning. Soo, as you can see, Spurgeon was a brilliant and Godly man. And as you can see, there is a great need for each one of us to be committed to God through our personal time with Him.

I don't know who reads these posts, but I will be praying for you all in general. If you think about it, pray for me, too. I would appreciate it very much! Feel free to leave comments about posts, also. I would like the feedback! Thanks, and God bless!

Ha..

Yeah... as you can tell, my grammar isn't that great at 4:30 in the morning. I apologize! :-(

Some random thoughts at 4:30 A.m.

Well.... Gotta work at 6:00 A.M. today.. Not really looking forward to that at all. The reason I am writing this now is because I was out pretty late tonight at a friend's house until about 3:00 A.M. Ha, I am not complaining at all; I really enjoyed myself!

Tonight was the first night that I attended the "Quest" group at Immanuel Baptist Church in Maple Shade; I got there late because I had to work until 7:00 P.M. For the limited amount of time that I was there, I really enjoyed it, because it was a laid-back setting where the leader, Bart, just shared from his heart and told of his own experiences and wanted input from all of us. It was great because I got to witness first-hand what the people around me were going through! Most of the time I do not have the luxury of this because all of my friends go away to school and I am left here to rot (haha jk). But seriously, it was very refreshing to be able to participate in a group like that! Afterwards, a few of us went over to Bart's house to play rock band, eat and talk. That was even better because it was even more casual, and we could talk about whatever was on our minds. It was great to be able to spend quality time with some of the oldest and best friends that I have in the world :-).

As I was riding home, I came to realize that God does really listen to our prayers and answers them according to his will for our life. He constantly reminds me that He is faithful to me, and unfortunately, I constantly forget that.. I feel like such an idiot sometimes... The most amazing part about his answers to prayer is that I can see where He has brought me to and the different circumstances/situations that I have been in. Some of the work He has done in me has been years in the making, since the seed was planted. God uses the trials in our lives like the water that we would fertilize the seed with. During the trials it doesn't feel like anything good will come of it, but after they are over it is fairly easy to see what God has done! *AND WHAT HE WILL CONTINUE TO DO* We need to come trust him and following him no matter what happens! Praise be to God, and thanks for reading!

Blessed are the "Paupers"

"We will have yearnings and desires for certain things, and even suffer as a result of their going unfulfilled, but not until we are at a limit of desperation will we ask... A pauper does not ask out of an reason other than the completely hopeless and painful condition of his poverty. He is not ashamed to beg- blessed are the paupers in spirit." (Chambers 187). It makes perfect sense, those who are wealthy do not beg, and they certainly do not need charity. But on the other hand, people who are poor (paupers) beg for help, from people who have more than they do. How often do we, in our sinful nature, feel like we are all right. We got it all together, because we are making good money, just bought a new car, got a new girlfriend/boyfriend, or an infinite number of other pleasures that this world supplies. We need to live with the mentality of a pauper, someone who is destitute and needs constant help from Christ to survive.
Believe me; I know, this world and everything in it is an endless roller-coaster of highs and lows. One minute you have it together, the next, you don't.. It is tough! For instance, in earlier posts, I have talked about different things that I am and have been praying for. Also, in earlier posts, I have said that I do not know where God is leading... Soo... Those things sometimes feel like they are coming together, and other times they feel like they are not even a possibility. Ha... It is a sad process.. It is also a great example of the roller-coaster ride. I just have to keep trusting and praying that God will bring everything together in due time. I just hope that "due time" is soon.. I often have growing feelings of impatience... :-0.. Jeremiah 29: 11-14 has become one of my favorite passages.
Sooo, what does becoming a "pauper" mean? To be honest with you, I don't know.. It is a hard thing to fully grasp. There are so many different things that we go through every day. It is hard for me to humble myself in every situation. When I do something good, I get high on myself and think I am all that. But when something bad happens, I do not hesitate to turn to God and beg for help. So, I think that when something good happens we need to automatically turn to God and give him the glory for it, and at the same time, ask for guidance, even if everything is going well. It is a tough thing to do!!!!
P.S. I have no idea who reads these things. Ha, I don't know if anyone does. But if you do and would like to talk about anything with me, I would be happy to do that.. Thanks for reading!

Fair Weather Children

I coined this phrase from the old phrase, "fair weather friend". If you do not know what this phrase means, it means being friends with someone when the going is easy, but when the ride gets rough, you abandon ship. So, i designed the title, Fair Weather Children to mean that when the going is easy we seem sooo committed to following God, but when the going gets tough, we are nowhere to be found or are running away as fast as we can. Over the last couple days, I have been led to a couple different Biblical stories that go-along with this phrase. They are Peter betraying Jesus 3 times, the story of Job, the many times in the book of Revelation where it says that only those who overcome the hardships will inherit the kingdom, John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." and finally in the book Morning and Evening by Charles H. Spurgeon. I want to focus on what Spurgeon says about being a Fair Weather Child and then look at John 16:33(above).

The evening devotional for June 6th is based on the passage of 2 Corinthians 11, specifically verse 22. In this passage, there is argument over who is a true Israelite and who is not, based on blessings and good things.. The apostle was fighting with the other people because he knew his claim was indisputable. After Spurgeon laid out the foundation of the passage, he expanded on it, and he critiqued it in a way that we could apply it to our lives. He goes on to say, "... there are many persons who have no right to the title who yet claim to belong to the Israel of God." Spurgeon suggests that, before, we make these claims and confess it in-front of many witnesses we truly think about what we are doing and commit ourselves. He suggests that we search our hearts and let God work in them so that He can help us through difficult situations, this is where the Fair Weather Children come in. Many people lift their hands towards heaven when they sing a worship song, or say "amen, praise Jesus" when they hear a good thought in the sermon. But when the going gets tough, they are nowhere to be found. In the New Testament, Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruits." How many times are we the Fair Weather Children? When everything is going good, we are as happy as clams and are praising Jesus just about as fast as we can breathe, but when the going gets tough, we throw a pity party for ourselves and invite all of our friends. We need to ask God to change our hearts, and give us the mentality of praise no matter what the circumstances.

John 16:33 is a great passage because Jesus is confirming with us that we will face trouble in this life-time, but He also says that we shouldn't fear anything we face because He has already overcome everything that this world can throw-at a person. John 16:33 is a great encouragement to me, because it reminds me what my true character should be like. If we let it, it will affect every facet of our lives, because our attitude and the way we treat others are big parts of our lives. If we truly are committed to God, then people will truly see that commitment. This is a great way to be a witness to non-believers.

One final, short thought.. think about the story of Job and everything that happened to him.. His reaction to the bad things that happened to him was, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised."In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." -Job 1: 21-22

What is your reaction during hard times? I know mine needs a lot of work! Thanks for reading

Old Friends are the Best Friends

Tonight, A bunch of my old friends from high school and I went out to celebrate Josh Bier's birthday.. I'll tell you what... I can't remember the last time I had so much fun.. It is not even like we did anything super special.. It was just very good to be able to reconnect with people that I spent a lot of the years of my life with. Throughout the night, many different memories came to mind.. Memories from all over the place. 1st grade, 7th grade, 8th grade and all throughout high school. It all started just standing out in the parking lot and watching everyone walk through the parking lot.. To be honest, it kind of felt like another life because, over the last two years of school, I haven't had any close friends to shoot-the-breeze with or anything like that.. It has been a pretty lonely time. I am not trying to feel sorry for myself here; on the contrary, I am more stating how much those people mean to me and how many memories I have with them. God truly has blessed me in that area. Lately, I have been praying for increased joy, because, a lot of times, in my mind, I feel like I have a daily check-list that I have to complete and once I complete that I can shut down for the day.. Whenever that happens, I am always led to the numerous times that Christ talked about Christians possessing and displaying joy and living life to the fullest.

To be honest with you all, I don't even know where I am really trying to go with this entry.. To sum it all up, I can honestly say that God does listen to prayer, and God is for each one of us. He wants us to have joy! Like I stated in other entries before this one, I have been praying for certain things in my life for a long time, and I do not know how God is going to lead me. I have a plan in my mind that I would like to happen, but I do not know where God is going to lead me.. With certain things, I can see how God has developed the situations over years and years and has brought me to this place. I know that the feelings that I have towards certain situations God has put there! More than anything, I want his will to be done, and more than anything, if my will isn't his will, I pray that He will give me joy and satisfaction with whatever the circumstances may be.
Great Passage: Psalms 5:7-8 "But I, by your great mercy, will come into your house; in reverence will I bow down toward your holy temple. Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies-make straight your way before me."


Thanks for reading!

Mighty Is the Power of the Cross

What can take a dying man
And raise him up to life again
What can heal the wounded soul
What can make us white as snow
What can fill the emptiness
What can mend our brokenness
Brokenness

~Chorus~
Mighty
Awesome
Wonderful
Is the Holy Cross
Where the Lamb laid down His life
To lift us from the fall
Mighty is the power of the cross

What restores our faith in God
What reveals the Father's love
What can lead the wayward home
What can melt a heart of stone
What can free the guilty ones
What can save and overcome (overcome)

~Chorus~

It's a miracle to me
And it's still a mystery
It's a miracle to me
The Power of God for those who believe



--- Mighty is the power of the cross!

Luke 9:23- Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

Galatians 6:14- May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Hebrews 12:2- Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

--These are all great verses about the cross, but I want to focus on Hebrews 12:2. What a great verse!

What happens when you fix your eyes on something? That means that you are focused on that one thing and all of your attention is in one place. If we focus on Jesus, his cross, and the grace and righteousness we have been given through his death, I believe our lives would be dramatically changed. Why? Well, most of the time, we have our eyes focused on ourselves... as you well know... that is never a good thing!

A Calming Effect

Well, my time in Maine has just about come to an end; I leave for NJ in about 6 hours.. As I sit and reflect on my time here, I am very thankful for the opportunity to come and spend time with my family and be in God's beautiful creation. Many, many times during this trip I have been led to the first few verses in Psalms 19 where it states, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." It is dumbfounding to hear about and talk to people that do not think there is a God who created the world. How could they not?! The end of verse 2(above) really smacked me up-side the head when I thought about it a bit. Sitting on a lake, fishing with my Dad and just talking about the different things in my life that I would like to happen was amazing. It was truly a priceless time for me. Nature displayed knowledge to me because it led me to its creator, and in a way, I felt like I was having a conversation with God. This was possible because He led me directly to scripture. Specifically, the verses were Psalms 19: 1,2(above), Jeremiah 29:11-14 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you..." , and finally, Psalms 23: 1-3 " The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake." I have these verses highlighted, bolded and some even enlarged because they have been the means by which God has been speaking to my heart.

As I have been discussing with my parents, I feel like I am approaching a very important time in my life, where critical decisions need to be made. I have been thinking very hard about certain things, that cover a wide range of topics, and, some of them, I have been thinking about for a very long time. I have wants and desires for my life, certain things that I am praying for, but I am praying that God will lead me where He wants me to be. I am praying that the desires that I have are the same desires that God has for me. Let me tell ya, some of the things that have been brewing in my heart are things that have been a long time coming(years). I feel as though the desires I have are desires that God put there, and I am praying for God to keep them there, if they are his desires. And if they aren't, I am praying that He will lead my heart elsewhere. All I want for my life is for it to count for God.

As often as I can remember, I am praying for you guys that God will lead you where He wants you to go; I also pray that you will having will hearts to follow wherever God leads you. If you think about, pray for me, too. I would appreciate it! Thanks for reading!
P.S. That's my boat of the future up there. A Four Winns Horizon 200...... Oh yeah!

John 15: 9-15

9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

Casting Crowns- In Me

If you asked me to leap
Out of my boat on the crashing waves
If you ask me to go
Preach to a lost world that Jesus saves

I'll go, but I cannot go alone
'Cause I know I'm nothing on my own
But the power of Christ in me makes me strong
Makes me strong

'Cause when I'm weak, You make me strong
When I'm blind you shine Your light on me
'Cause I'll never get by living on my own ability
How refreshing to know You don't need me
How amazing to find that you want me
So I'll stand on Your Truth, and I'll fight with Your Strength
Until You bring the victory, by the power of Christ in me

If you ask me to run
And carry your light into foreign land
If you ask me to fight
Deliver your people from satan's hand

I'll go, but I cannot go alone
'Cause I know I'm nothing on my own
But the power of Christ in me makes me strong
Makes me strong

'Cause when I'm weak, You make me strong
When I'm blind you shine Your light on me
'Cause I'll never get by living on my own ability
How refreshing to know You don't need me
How amazing to find that You want me
So I'll stand on Your Truth, and I'll fight with Your Strength
Until You bring the victory, by the power of Christ in me

To reach out with Your hands
To learn through Your eyes
To love with the love of a savior
To feel with Your heart
and to think with Your mind
I'd give my last breath for Your glory

'Cause when I'm weak, You make me strong
When I'm blind you shine Your light on me
'Cause I'll never get by living on my own ability

when I'm weak, You make me strong
When I'm blind you shine Your light on me
'Cause I'll never get by living on my own ability
How refreshing to know You don't need me
How amazing to find that You want me
So I'll stand on Your Truth, and I'll fight with Your Strength
Until You bring the victory, by the power of Christ in me
The power of Christ in me
The power of Christ in me

Question: If Jesus were going to return tomorrow, what would you be doing, at that moment, when it happened?

This is a great self-evaluation question because it reminds us that we should always be serving Christ with whatever we do. If Jesus were going to return tomorrow, I want to be serving him in some way. It doesn't have to be teaching a Bible study or leading a lost soul to Christ. It could be a simple task like taking out the trash for my parents or mowing the lawn for my grandparents. I just want to have the right motives behind what I do. I want to continue develop my "But"(referencing earlier post) for Jesus. Everything we do needs to be done for his glory, and we need to do it joyfully!

Unsung Heroes

Today is Memorial Day. It is a day when we, as a nation, remember those who have given their lives, in death, for our country. It is not often enough that we remember those who have willingly done this for the longevity of our nation. It is heart-wrenching to see the number of casualties and POW/MIA men and women who we, as a whole, forget about. This Memorial Day, I am doing my best to remember those have willingly given their lives for my continued freedom;Also, I think it is important to remember those people who have answered the call and were willing to pay the ultimate price if they had to. The pictures above are close friends of mine who are marines, who have and are willing to serve their country during a time of war, as active defenders of what our country stands for. I think it is important for us to remember, thank them, and thank God for the unselfishness that they have shown to us and for us. Remember them and say a prayer for them! They need your support! Thank you Gentry, Dan, Jaryd and everyone else who has willingly served our country. We are indebted to you!

Do you have a "But"?

You, just taking a glance at the title, are probably thinking, "of course I have a butt everyone has a butt." But if you look more carefully at the title, I am using the conjunction "but", not b-u-t-t. The but I am speaking of is referring to Philippians 3:7 where it states, "BUT what was whatever to my profit, I now consider a loss for the sake of knowing Christ..." In the preceding verses, Paul lays out many facts for why he has reasons to take confidence in his flesh, for example: circumcised on the eighth day, born of the tribe of Benjamin, and many more. Paul is stating, very matter-of-factly, that if anyone has reason to take confidence in their own flesh, it is him. He is a "man's man". He uses the word "but" to institute a change from self-glorification over to God glorification . Later in the verse, he states, "I consider them rubbish", translated from he hebrew word for.... umm... poop. In this verse, Paul is setting an example for us to forget all of our worldly accomplishments, and he challenges us to do everything for the glory of God- sorry for that long example. Didn't mean to preach there-.

My challenge to you(and myself) is to do everything for the glory of God, in Colossians it states, "whether you eat or drink, whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." My challenge to you is to develop a "BUT" in your life, that you can use in every situation to bring glory and honor to Jesus because that is our ultimate purpose for being, here, on this earth. I'm coming back to Jersey on thursday. Let me know what is up! Thanks for reading!

A SCANDALOUS FREEDOM

I am doing this post a bit earlier today, because I just started reading a book that my Dad gave to me. It is called A Scandalous Freedom, by Steve Brown. Read it! I am only on Page 15 and have already had to stop 3 or 4 times and think deeply about the topics he wrote about. It is a truly incredible book! The thing that he discusses deeply in the first chapter is the concept of freedom. Now, you think, "Oh, he is talking about freedom, what a wonderful topic!" Well, that is true, but if you think about it, 95% of the Christian world do not associate the true meaning of the word freedom with the Christian(followers of Christ) faith. Most Christians believe freedom to be, "the ability not to sin", and that is definitely true but it is soooo much more. The word Freedom means free! John 8:32 states, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." You are free to do whatever you want! God does not reward us and give us good things based on what we do. In Chapter 1, he proposes a question: What if I do something bad? Would God still bless me and answer my prayers? His answer- " Yes He will. What God does or does not do in your life rarely has anything to do with how good you are. Your teacher acts like that, not your God. In fact, I preached some of my best sermons when I was doing bad stuff. God wanted to show me something very important. He demonstrated that his fondness for me depended on his love and the cross of Christ, not on my earning it." Romans 5:8 states, But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

God does not base his love for us on how good we are, or if we ate our wheaties for breakfast this morning. God bases his love for us on grace, which is undeserved favor. God has truly set us free and we do have the option to do whatever we want, but like Paul states in his epistles, " For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence." Look up the definition for the word freedom in the dictionary. That is you! Do not think that God will bless you based on what you do for him. You cannot earn God's favor! We all sin and fall short of God's glory, but you can never fall out of the reach of his grace! Never forget that! Do your best to glorify God with your actions, but do not get down on yourself when you screw up (which is guaranteed). God's love and favor are unconditional! Remember! Thanks for reading!

Creation helps

Well.. Today was pretty uneventful because it rained for most of the day. So, I played Call of Duty 4 on Xbox Live on Xbox 360 pretty much all day, but after dinner, we decided to take a ride to a very small town called Kokadjo. It is about a 20 mile drive through the woods. We went there to check-out the great scenery and to also check on the piece of property that my Dad is looking at.. I had been there many times before but my grandpop and sister (they are visiting this week along with my grandmom) had never seen it. Along the way, we saw a lot of wildlife: a snowshoe hair(which we crushed with the car) and 6 moose(one of them is pictured above.) As we approached our destination, the woods became thinner and thinner and the mountains grew taller and taller(as seen in the top photo). As we viewed the scenery, it was great to see, first-hand, the power that God possesses. Soo, as I do, I got to thinking. If God can create mountains, trees and lakes like these, he can, and does, have control of my life. Genesis 1:26 says, "Let Us make man in our image..." While viewing this wonderful scenery, I was reassured of the fact that God does love and care about me, and He will guide my steps if I ask him to. Proverbs 3:5 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." So, as I sit right now, I do not know what the future holds for me (as I'm sure many of you do not). I do not know what I will be doing, and I do not know where I'll be. I have some ideas of stuff that I would like to do, but who knows if that is where God will place me. So, even though I do not know all of these things, experiencing God's creation reassured me of the fact that God is in control, and that He will lead me, if I allow Him to. So, my challenge to you is- Find some of God's creation somewhere. Sit, and let it soak in. It may not be the endless mountains of Maine, but God's beautiful creation can be found anywhere! When experiencing that creation, you will realize that God loves you soooo much more than that thing you are looking at, and God wants to be the director of your life. Will you let Him? Thanks for reading!
P.S. Read Psalms 23

Been thinking..... A sermon and a reocurring theme

A few Sundays ago, I soaked-in a sermon about the greatest commandment (if you didn't know), it is, "Love the Lord your God with all heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second is like it, Love your neighbor as yourself." Now, I don't know how many hundreds, possibly thousands....... nah probably hundreds of times of I have heard this statement and have turned my brain off completely. Yes I know. I should be ashamed of myself :-(. But recently, on my rendezvous to Maine, I have began to think about my life- the great experiences I have had, the hard ones, what I have learned--- but mostly, about my friends- what I have learned from them and how I have made many mistakes in regard to them and have hurt them. So, that is where the The greatest commandment(is your brain turned on?) comes in. Jesus said, "... Love your neighbor as yourself." Ha, well I'm selfish, and I tend to like my self 99.999% of the time, but the problem is that I have not lived-out this commandment. Like I said before, here in Maine, I have been doing a lot of thinking about my friends. First off, I just want to thank all of you for being friends with me, and from the bottom of my heart, say that I love you all and have learned something from each one of you. Seriously, each one of your names could be mentioned, and I could think of at least one thing I have learned from you. Now to get down to business - As I have been thinking, many different situations of how I have wronged you have come to mind. As unintentional as they may have been, they happened, and I need to take responsibility for them. Matthew 5: 23-24 states, "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift". So finally, I am deeply sorry for each and every situation that I have put myself in, and I take full responsibility for each one of them. I think most(if not all of you) know that I would never want to intentionally cause you pain, grief or frustration. This is one of the hardest things for me to deal with inside my own skin. Honestly, there is a constant motor running about these things, and it really bothers me. Please, If you would like, I would love to talk to you about them. Please lay down your pride and come talk to me. Recently, I have been led to the quote, a true person of character offers others the grace they seek, in order to restore the relationship they need." Also, if there are any situations that I am unaware of please let me know! Thanks for reading.