It's pretty crazy what God's been doing in my life lately. He's definitely been throwing a lot of stuff at me (it caught me pretty off guard), but it's been good. I know that He has a plan in all of this, and as great or as tough as it may be, I know it's for my good. And the good of others'.
"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." - Romans 12:2
This verse has probably been a theme of my life recently. In all honesty, it's been hard to hear God's voice sometimes--and it's been easy for me to make decisions or think certain things based on my emotions, or what I think God is saying. It's times like this that the enemy likes to come in and mess with your thinking. If he can mess with your thinking, then ultimately, he can mess up all of you.
In the craziness of my life, and after much prayer and consideration, I felt like God was telling me to give Him one week. 7 days. One week to really focus on Him, put all distractions aside, and pursue Him. Go deeper with Him... see what His will is for my life. As hard as the next week will be, I know that I'll make it through it. God gives me the strength to endure anything, and He doesn't allow me to deal with more than I can handle.
So... here goes.
One week.
I have a huge feeling that God's going to speak mighty things, move in mighty ways, and really reveal himself to me, and hopefully I'm not the only one on the receiving end of His movement and blessing. Which, I'm sure I won't be.
That's something else He promised me.
I hope this encourages you. Just know that whatever you're going through, whatever situation you may be in--God is always there, always wanting the best for you, and always speaking. Always moving. We've got to get to a point where we give up our desires, our emotions, our whatever--and let Him take control. Give Him the steering wheel. Can it be tough? Yes. Can people get hurt by it? Sure. But God has all of this in mind. He's not going to let anything bad happen that you can't handle.
Remember that He's worth it. He's worth the pain, worth the sacrifice, worth the waiting.
He's worth it.
He's worth the wait.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
God Is Good
My youth group went on what we call an "Encounter" last weekend, and it's basically a youth retreat where God does some crazy stuff. People get healed, our passion and love for Him is stirred up, and overall it's a pretty awesome weekend.
I think for me, what God did in me this last weekend was that he reminded me of His calling for my life, who I am in Him, and He definitely rekindled a passion for Him. All I can really say is, I'm excited for what God's doing at my school. We had over ten kids show up for prayer at lunch yesterday, and that was definitely encouraging. To see kids getting passionate for God and not only see but live out the truth that He's worth it... it's amazing. It's something as a leader that I love to see. That's one of the things that give me joy... seeing kids getting passionate for God. More than some emotion, more than a feeling, more than any temporal thing this world can give. We'll reap so much more when we pursue God and His kingdom; this world won't last forever.
It's amazing how far God's taken me, just in the past couple of weeks. Give Him a chance to do something in you... cause you never know what He'll do, and how great of an impact He can make on you. Not only to change you, but to change others. Change the world.
I think for me, what God did in me this last weekend was that he reminded me of His calling for my life, who I am in Him, and He definitely rekindled a passion for Him. All I can really say is, I'm excited for what God's doing at my school. We had over ten kids show up for prayer at lunch yesterday, and that was definitely encouraging. To see kids getting passionate for God and not only see but live out the truth that He's worth it... it's amazing. It's something as a leader that I love to see. That's one of the things that give me joy... seeing kids getting passionate for God. More than some emotion, more than a feeling, more than any temporal thing this world can give. We'll reap so much more when we pursue God and His kingdom; this world won't last forever.
It's amazing how far God's taken me, just in the past couple of weeks. Give Him a chance to do something in you... cause you never know what He'll do, and how great of an impact He can make on you. Not only to change you, but to change others. Change the world.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Ready for Revival
Do you ever have those times were you "randomly" get excited about what God's doing, and you can feel the Holy Spirit beginning to fill you up? I definitely love those moments; in fact, I'm having one of those moments right now.
I like how God is so faithful to us, He's there to meet us wherever we're at, and He, above anything else, loves us. Being a few weeks into my senior year I've gotten caught up in homework, work, and sports, among other things, and to be honest, my prayer life and time in the Word hasn't been that great for the past couple of months. I think it's easy for us to lose the vision that God's given us; lose sight of what He spoke to us and has planned for us. My prayer for myself and for you is that you hold onto the visions and promises that God has given you. Just as He is faithful, we need to be faithful. Faithfulness brings forth fruit.
I know for me personally, I'm more than ready to see revival at my school. With "nothing" happening (in a natural perception), it's easy sometimes to think, "Okay, God, where are you?" But I think we need to quit trying to "find" God, because He's there. It all comes down to His timing, and our obedience and patience, and waiting on Him. I'm not sure when things will start "booming" at my school, but I know by faith that things will get there. People are going to be saved, people are going to be healed, and God's glory will be shown. That's a prophetic statement, and also a promise from God that I know I can hold onto. It just takes one step of obedience at a time... and waiting on Him.
I like how God is so faithful to us, He's there to meet us wherever we're at, and He, above anything else, loves us. Being a few weeks into my senior year I've gotten caught up in homework, work, and sports, among other things, and to be honest, my prayer life and time in the Word hasn't been that great for the past couple of months. I think it's easy for us to lose the vision that God's given us; lose sight of what He spoke to us and has planned for us. My prayer for myself and for you is that you hold onto the visions and promises that God has given you. Just as He is faithful, we need to be faithful. Faithfulness brings forth fruit.
I know for me personally, I'm more than ready to see revival at my school. With "nothing" happening (in a natural perception), it's easy sometimes to think, "Okay, God, where are you?" But I think we need to quit trying to "find" God, because He's there. It all comes down to His timing, and our obedience and patience, and waiting on Him. I'm not sure when things will start "booming" at my school, but I know by faith that things will get there. People are going to be saved, people are going to be healed, and God's glory will be shown. That's a prophetic statement, and also a promise from God that I know I can hold onto. It just takes one step of obedience at a time... and waiting on Him.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
God, Grace, & So Much More
I wasn't quite sure what to title this blog, but God's been speaking a lot to me, and definitely doing a lot in me, and with the new school year having started, I figured it was time to write a new blog. So here goes...
Looking back on this summer, it's crazy to be out on "the other side" of all the difficulties, challenges, and victories I went through, and to see now why God allowed to happen what happened, and to see the drastic changes He did in me. I know one of the biggest things He did in me was teach me to be more dependent on Him. I know how easy it can be to become dependent ourselves, another person, or the world--many of us are financially stable, have both our parents, and are pretty well off. Know my heart when I say this, but some of us don't "need" God.
Crazy thing is... we do need Him. No matter how blessed, provided for, wealthy, taken care of, we are, we need Him. Everything isn't always going to be okay, and some day, we very easily could lose everything to our name: our family, our house, our possessions, our wealth, and so on. We need Him. And despite His not needing us, He wants us. Crazy, eh?
God's been showing me lately what it means to be in a relationship with Him. What it truly means. I read in a workbook called "Expericing God," that "Our relationship with God doesn't come from a quiet time with Him, but our quiet time with God comes from a relationship with Him." I didn't quite understand that until tonight... I spent some quiet time with God, in worship and in prayer, and you know what? I haven't had a decent "quiet time" in weeks--but when I took the time to spend some time with Him, He was faithful to be there. I spent time with Him because I knew that we had that kind of relationship. God doesn't come to us with an agenda, a set of rules, an expectation-- "Well, you have to read your Bible every day, and you need to pray for at least 60 minutes every night..."-- no. God's not like that. He loves us and appreciates any time He can get with us. And since He's always with us, well, aren't we always spending time with Him? Think about it. When you spend time with your brother or sister, for instance, you aren't always doing the same thing. Sometimes you watch TV, sometimes you go out for dinner, sometimes you play catch, whatever--you're not always doing the same thing, and it's not that way with God either. Sometimes you're praying, sometimes you're reading your Word, sometimes you're praying for someone, sometimes you're simply watching TV--and God's right there with you.
So let this be a challenge for you. Spend time with God--bring Him into everything that you do: sports, work, school, homework (yes, it is possible), working out... He's always there. And if you happen to not read your Bible one night, or spend time in prayer, don't beat yourself up. God doesn't. He doesn't put pressure or condemnation on us, so why should we?
Looking back on this summer, it's crazy to be out on "the other side" of all the difficulties, challenges, and victories I went through, and to see now why God allowed to happen what happened, and to see the drastic changes He did in me. I know one of the biggest things He did in me was teach me to be more dependent on Him. I know how easy it can be to become dependent ourselves, another person, or the world--many of us are financially stable, have both our parents, and are pretty well off. Know my heart when I say this, but some of us don't "need" God.
Crazy thing is... we do need Him. No matter how blessed, provided for, wealthy, taken care of, we are, we need Him. Everything isn't always going to be okay, and some day, we very easily could lose everything to our name: our family, our house, our possessions, our wealth, and so on. We need Him. And despite His not needing us, He wants us. Crazy, eh?
God's been showing me lately what it means to be in a relationship with Him. What it truly means. I read in a workbook called "Expericing God," that "Our relationship with God doesn't come from a quiet time with Him, but our quiet time with God comes from a relationship with Him." I didn't quite understand that until tonight... I spent some quiet time with God, in worship and in prayer, and you know what? I haven't had a decent "quiet time" in weeks--but when I took the time to spend some time with Him, He was faithful to be there. I spent time with Him because I knew that we had that kind of relationship. God doesn't come to us with an agenda, a set of rules, an expectation-- "Well, you have to read your Bible every day, and you need to pray for at least 60 minutes every night..."-- no. God's not like that. He loves us and appreciates any time He can get with us. And since He's always with us, well, aren't we always spending time with Him? Think about it. When you spend time with your brother or sister, for instance, you aren't always doing the same thing. Sometimes you watch TV, sometimes you go out for dinner, sometimes you play catch, whatever--you're not always doing the same thing, and it's not that way with God either. Sometimes you're praying, sometimes you're reading your Word, sometimes you're praying for someone, sometimes you're simply watching TV--and God's right there with you.
So let this be a challenge for you. Spend time with God--bring Him into everything that you do: sports, work, school, homework (yes, it is possible), working out... He's always there. And if you happen to not read your Bible one night, or spend time in prayer, don't beat yourself up. God doesn't. He doesn't put pressure or condemnation on us, so why should we?
Sunday, August 22, 2010
We Say That We Want It, But Why Don't Our Actions Reflect It?
Something that just hit me pretty recently (actually like 5 minutes ago), was the realization about myself that in my prayer time, I'll pray, "Lord, I want to know You more, I want to be pure, holy, and I want all that I do to reflect You..." and so on, yet when I have free time to be in the Word, to pray, to simply open myself up to experience Him, rather than do any of those things, I do "useless" things like go on Facebook, text, or other stuff that probably isn't very worthwhile. This kind of reminds me what I wrote about in my last blog about the inward battle we experience: doing things we don't want to do and not doing the things that we want to do.
Some may say that being in the Word, prayer, experiencing God comes by discipline. Some may say it comes by discipline alone. But if we lived our lives, if we based our relationship with God off of solely discipline, then it wouldn't be much of a relationship, would it? It's so much more than that. Yeah, discipline's good, and important... but even more than that, I pray that I'd get into the Word, spend my free time in prayer, opening myself up to experiencing Him in all that I do, out of a love for Him. It definitely seems weird to pray that: "Lord, I want to want You..." but it's a legitimate prayer. We can't love God without God.
The fortunate thing is that even though we're not perfect, God's grace covers us, and He sees us as if we are. And that's the thing that's hard for most if not all of us to understand. We need to see ourselves as He does, see the world as He does... and that's when things will start changing around us.
Some may say that being in the Word, prayer, experiencing God comes by discipline. Some may say it comes by discipline alone. But if we lived our lives, if we based our relationship with God off of solely discipline, then it wouldn't be much of a relationship, would it? It's so much more than that. Yeah, discipline's good, and important... but even more than that, I pray that I'd get into the Word, spend my free time in prayer, opening myself up to experiencing Him in all that I do, out of a love for Him. It definitely seems weird to pray that: "Lord, I want to want You..." but it's a legitimate prayer. We can't love God without God.
The fortunate thing is that even though we're not perfect, God's grace covers us, and He sees us as if we are. And that's the thing that's hard for most if not all of us to understand. We need to see ourselves as He does, see the world as He does... and that's when things will start changing around us.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
A Divided Heart
"For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me." -- Romans 7:15-20
Something that I've really been noticing lately is the reality that we have almost two different sides to us--one side, which wants to do what's right, and God's will, and the part that knows God, and the other side that almost seems like a completely different person. It's the part of us that leads us to think things we don't want to think, do things we don't want to do, and takes control of our emotions. I know in my own life it's led to much frustration--an incident occurs that makes me mad, or depressed, or triggers me in some way, and I get mad that my heart's even going in that direction. What's crazy is how it's almost like you can't help it... and that's where God comes in. That's where we have to leave it up to the Holy Spirit to correct us, guide us, and lead us in all truth. We've got to let His love take control of every facet of who we are. And personally, I think this is one of the hardest things to deal with in the Christian walk. Learning to speak out in faith what isn't, learning to give God praise and still have joy even when your life is crumbling before you. It's definitely not a mindset we're used to in this day and age. Most people, and correct me if I'm wrong, but they give into their pain. If they feel sick, what do they do? "Yeah, I'm sick," and they embrace it as a part of themselves. When in reality, that's never been God's will for us. His will has never been for us to be sick, depressed, angry, or in sin.
So I pose a challenge for you... next time you're feeling down, you just messed up, or things just aren't going your way, give praise to God; He's still good and worthy of praise. Doesn't matter the circumstances. And realize the truth... His truth. Even if you just messed up, if you've repented, move on. God does. You are renewed, restored, and made whole. Crazy, eh? Well, it's a process, and one we may never fully get down while we're on this earth. But give it a shot. I guarantee you if you really put your heart into it, God'll come through. He's always faithful to do so.
Something that I've really been noticing lately is the reality that we have almost two different sides to us--one side, which wants to do what's right, and God's will, and the part that knows God, and the other side that almost seems like a completely different person. It's the part of us that leads us to think things we don't want to think, do things we don't want to do, and takes control of our emotions. I know in my own life it's led to much frustration--an incident occurs that makes me mad, or depressed, or triggers me in some way, and I get mad that my heart's even going in that direction. What's crazy is how it's almost like you can't help it... and that's where God comes in. That's where we have to leave it up to the Holy Spirit to correct us, guide us, and lead us in all truth. We've got to let His love take control of every facet of who we are. And personally, I think this is one of the hardest things to deal with in the Christian walk. Learning to speak out in faith what isn't, learning to give God praise and still have joy even when your life is crumbling before you. It's definitely not a mindset we're used to in this day and age. Most people, and correct me if I'm wrong, but they give into their pain. If they feel sick, what do they do? "Yeah, I'm sick," and they embrace it as a part of themselves. When in reality, that's never been God's will for us. His will has never been for us to be sick, depressed, angry, or in sin.
So I pose a challenge for you... next time you're feeling down, you just messed up, or things just aren't going your way, give praise to God; He's still good and worthy of praise. Doesn't matter the circumstances. And realize the truth... His truth. Even if you just messed up, if you've repented, move on. God does. You are renewed, restored, and made whole. Crazy, eh? Well, it's a process, and one we may never fully get down while we're on this earth. But give it a shot. I guarantee you if you really put your heart into it, God'll come through. He's always faithful to do so.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Weakness = Strength
By the title of this blog, you're probably thinking, "What?! This guy's crazy. How is weakness the same as strength?" Well... it does. When it comes to God, it's the very essence of His grace.
"Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." -- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NLT
Make a little more sense now? I know for myself, the whole concept of grace completely messes me up. The fact that no matter how "righteous" we are, we're never more deserving of God's grace than when we were in the midst of our sin and rebelling against God. Weird concept, eh? No matter what you do, you can't earn God's grace. His grace gives you strength in your weakness... and allows Him to reveal His strength and His glory to not only you, but those around you. When your life's going to Hell and you're not giving up, holding on strong and giving Him praise, people around you are going to be wondering, "What's this guy's/girl's deal? Their life's going down the toilet and they're happy? What's going on here?" I'm not saying that you have to be happy all the time, at least not directly. We were made to worship God, to give Him praise. Technically speaking, we're all found guilty--we have no reason to not worship Him. Worshiping Him comes out of the overflow of His love in your heart. It's interesting how this all ties in together, huh? So for now, just ponder over His grace. We'll probably never fully understand it while we're here on this earth, but it doesn't mean we don't have to try. God's always there for us to give us answers, to draw us closer to Him. So what are you waiting for?
"Each time he said, 'My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.' So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong." -- 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, NLT
Make a little more sense now? I know for myself, the whole concept of grace completely messes me up. The fact that no matter how "righteous" we are, we're never more deserving of God's grace than when we were in the midst of our sin and rebelling against God. Weird concept, eh? No matter what you do, you can't earn God's grace. His grace gives you strength in your weakness... and allows Him to reveal His strength and His glory to not only you, but those around you. When your life's going to Hell and you're not giving up, holding on strong and giving Him praise, people around you are going to be wondering, "What's this guy's/girl's deal? Their life's going down the toilet and they're happy? What's going on here?" I'm not saying that you have to be happy all the time, at least not directly. We were made to worship God, to give Him praise. Technically speaking, we're all found guilty--we have no reason to not worship Him. Worshiping Him comes out of the overflow of His love in your heart. It's interesting how this all ties in together, huh? So for now, just ponder over His grace. We'll probably never fully understand it while we're here on this earth, but it doesn't mean we don't have to try. God's always there for us to give us answers, to draw us closer to Him. So what are you waiting for?
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