Don't know what's going on
The world is spinning around me
Feeling like I've lost control
Nothing seems to astound me
Those close now seem far away
All I've got left to do is pray
I need to find a way
A way back home, I can't go astray
As hard as it is to get by
I'm not going to sit around and cry
For my God is worthy of all praise
Through the good and bad, the worst days
God, you are so good, so faithful
You never leave my side
No matter what I go through or what troubles I face
I pray that You would take me into Your embrace
Take me Lord, take me in
I want to know You more, much more
I'll put myself aside, my fears, my desires
Fill me with Your Spirit, Lord
Fill me anew and refresh my soul
Continue to be with me, Lord
Don't leave me or forsake me
You comfort me in all pain and anguish
You fight for me when I've got nothing left
I thank You, Lord, for this day
I thank You, Lord that I'm still going the right way
Don't let me be led astray
To You alone Lord, do I pray
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Knocked Down & Brought Up
This past week has been literally crazy... and don't worry. I say that in a completely good context. After all, sometimes it takes things getting crazy to bring out the worst in us, so that we can deal with that part of us, and be set back to where God wants us to be.
It's funny how we think that we don't deal with something, we think we're good in that area of our lives, and then we get completely knocked down from that place. Everything we thought we once had gets taken from us, we get humbled, and only in that place of humility are we rebuilt into something even greater. Think about Hurricane Katrina, and all the homes that were destroyed. The storm came through and wiped out millions of houses. In the years since the hurricane as New Orleans has been working towards recovery, would it be reasonable for them to rebuild their homes the same way as they were before? Definitely not. They're going to build them even better, make them stronger, make them tougher.
I've been in a place where I thought I was fine in certain areas of my life. It wasn't until trials came along, and the enemy brought up my past, that I started realizing some things were wrong. Was being in this place wrong? No, not necessarily. I wasn't seeking to do what God had asked me not to do. Simply put, my eyes weren't open to the things set before me. I praise God that He finally revealed them to me, they got dealt with (with the help of some awesome, godly men in my life), and now I'm in an even better place than I was before. I can tell you one thing; I feel even more free now than I did even a week ago. I'm so thankful that God allowed certain trials to befall me in the sense that I got to grow from them, and now I'm an even stronger man of God than I was before. And that's how our relationship with Him works. Ain't that awesome? I definitely think so.
So for now, be challenged. Continually pursue the things of God, and ask Him what areas of your life need work in. Because I can guarantee you, until the day the Lord comes back to take us home, you're always going to have something to work on. You're always going to have to depend on Him, but what's so good about that is that the reward is so worth it in the end. Dependence is not a bad thing. Not when it brings you to a deeper place, a holier place, and ultimately, when it draws you closer to Him.
"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hopes does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." -- Romans 5:3-5
It's funny how we think that we don't deal with something, we think we're good in that area of our lives, and then we get completely knocked down from that place. Everything we thought we once had gets taken from us, we get humbled, and only in that place of humility are we rebuilt into something even greater. Think about Hurricane Katrina, and all the homes that were destroyed. The storm came through and wiped out millions of houses. In the years since the hurricane as New Orleans has been working towards recovery, would it be reasonable for them to rebuild their homes the same way as they were before? Definitely not. They're going to build them even better, make them stronger, make them tougher.
I've been in a place where I thought I was fine in certain areas of my life. It wasn't until trials came along, and the enemy brought up my past, that I started realizing some things were wrong. Was being in this place wrong? No, not necessarily. I wasn't seeking to do what God had asked me not to do. Simply put, my eyes weren't open to the things set before me. I praise God that He finally revealed them to me, they got dealt with (with the help of some awesome, godly men in my life), and now I'm in an even better place than I was before. I can tell you one thing; I feel even more free now than I did even a week ago. I'm so thankful that God allowed certain trials to befall me in the sense that I got to grow from them, and now I'm an even stronger man of God than I was before. And that's how our relationship with Him works. Ain't that awesome? I definitely think so.
So for now, be challenged. Continually pursue the things of God, and ask Him what areas of your life need work in. Because I can guarantee you, until the day the Lord comes back to take us home, you're always going to have something to work on. You're always going to have to depend on Him, but what's so good about that is that the reward is so worth it in the end. Dependence is not a bad thing. Not when it brings you to a deeper place, a holier place, and ultimately, when it draws you closer to Him.
"More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hopes does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." -- Romans 5:3-5
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
A Broken World
I think the more I go through life, the more I get out and see the people of this world, the more I realize how broken people really are. The crazy thing is that while some of us may be turned off and annoyed with peoples' obnoxious behavior, deep down it all comes out of being broken. And God is weeping over every, single one of them. He loves them so much, just as much as He loves those that do know Him and pursue Him with everything that they have. Talk about crazy love, eh? I'm sure if most of us (I can say this for myself) were in God's place, there'd be a lot more people without hope, and there'd be no way they'd be going to Heaven. So it's definitely good that God's the one in control.
I know that God wants to see my school on fire for Him. In fact, I'm proclaiming it right now: This school is going to be set on fire for God. Every last person is going to know Him, is going to see His glory, going to see Him move in mighty ways. God's waiting for breakthrough, waiting for those that do know Him to reach out and do something for Him. God's always ready... He's been ready. So it all comes down to us, those that do know Him. What are we going to do? Are we going to sit, kick back, and relax, knowing that we're going to spend a great eternity with God while many around us are headed towards eternal separation from God? That's definitely not God's heart, and that shouldn't be ours. It's time we step out in faith, step out and reach people whether actually going and talking to them or praying for them. There's power in prayer, and it's the least we can do for those that are broken. It's time. It's time we see this generation saved; it's time to unleash the power of God on this broken world.
I know that God wants to see my school on fire for Him. In fact, I'm proclaiming it right now: This school is going to be set on fire for God. Every last person is going to know Him, is going to see His glory, going to see Him move in mighty ways. God's waiting for breakthrough, waiting for those that do know Him to reach out and do something for Him. God's always ready... He's been ready. So it all comes down to us, those that do know Him. What are we going to do? Are we going to sit, kick back, and relax, knowing that we're going to spend a great eternity with God while many around us are headed towards eternal separation from God? That's definitely not God's heart, and that shouldn't be ours. It's time we step out in faith, step out and reach people whether actually going and talking to them or praying for them. There's power in prayer, and it's the least we can do for those that are broken. It's time. It's time we see this generation saved; it's time to unleash the power of God on this broken world.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Walk By Faith, Not By Sight
Today was yet another day where God proved to be so faithful. It's amazing how He can use us no matter where we're at in our spiritual walk, and no matter what our circumstances may be. What happened today was no different.
Yesterday towards the end of the school day, God started putting someone on my heart, as in to share a word with them (that God had given me). I tried catching the person after school, but after I'd gotten on the bus I realized that they did a sport, so I wasn't able to catch them. For the rest of the day and throughout all of today until I talked to this person, the spiritual warfare got pretty intense. There would be times where I'd get sick to my stomach and nervous, but other times where God's peace would be prominent. This morning was probably the slowest morning at school I have ever had. I wanted time to go faster, so I could talk to the kid--the suspense was killing me. Once lunchtime came around, I prayed, "God, if it's Your will, let me run into him at lunch." As I was walking to the cafeteria, I "so happened" (with God there are no coincidences) to turn just as the kid walked into a classroom. I walked straight there and walked in, and came upon him and his friend eating lunch at a table. I told them "hi" and the kid's friend responded back, but the situation felt kind of awkward so I ended up leaving (don't worry, the story's not over yet). I went to the choir room where a friend of mine was playing the piano, and it had been made pretty clear that I hadn't talked to him yet. In a way she kind of "rebuked" me (in an encouraging way though; don't get the wrong idea, haha), which was what I needed. (I thanked her later for it.) So before I'd even taken one bite of my lunch, I went back to where the classroom was, but I stayed outside and paced for a while, praying as the spiritual warfare continued. Eventually God gave me the courage to go in, so I opened the door, walked in, and said, "Hey, can we talk outside for a second?"
"Sure," he said. So we went outside the classroom and here's where God took over. I won't say what the word was that I got for him, just for personal reasons and privacy. After I got done telling him the word I'd gotten, he responded, "Thanks for the word... I'll be thinking about it."
He walked back into the classroom, and I went back to tell Makayla the good news of what God had just done. The awesome thing about it was that all the doubts and things that the enemy was trying to tell me obviously weren't true. In my head I was imagining what it'd be like if I'd gotten a bad response, but God totally worked it all out for the good. Over the past few days I (as well as many others) have been praying that God would open up his heart, and that he would see God's love above anything else. And I believe that that's what happened today.
I titled this blog "Walk By Faith, Not By Sight" because that pretty much sums up what happened--it took faith and boldness to share God's Word with someone. In the natural, it looked like a bad and awkward situation, but in the spiritual, God knew exactly what He was doing. I believe that a seed was definitely planted, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for this kid. I know that God has huge plans for his life, and it'll just be cool to see what happens. God is good... all the time. All the time... God is good. And to Him be all the glory.
"Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!" - Psalm 90:16-17 (ESV)
"So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight." - 2 Corinthians 5:6-7
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" - Psalm 27:1
Father God, I thank You that Your glory was shown today. I thank You that You are still faithful, even when we are not. Continue to move in my life and others' lives around me. Let us be a light to those that may not know You, and let us stand in boldness and in love. Let us love others as You first loved us. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Yesterday towards the end of the school day, God started putting someone on my heart, as in to share a word with them (that God had given me). I tried catching the person after school, but after I'd gotten on the bus I realized that they did a sport, so I wasn't able to catch them. For the rest of the day and throughout all of today until I talked to this person, the spiritual warfare got pretty intense. There would be times where I'd get sick to my stomach and nervous, but other times where God's peace would be prominent. This morning was probably the slowest morning at school I have ever had. I wanted time to go faster, so I could talk to the kid--the suspense was killing me. Once lunchtime came around, I prayed, "God, if it's Your will, let me run into him at lunch." As I was walking to the cafeteria, I "so happened" (with God there are no coincidences) to turn just as the kid walked into a classroom. I walked straight there and walked in, and came upon him and his friend eating lunch at a table. I told them "hi" and the kid's friend responded back, but the situation felt kind of awkward so I ended up leaving (don't worry, the story's not over yet). I went to the choir room where a friend of mine was playing the piano, and it had been made pretty clear that I hadn't talked to him yet. In a way she kind of "rebuked" me (in an encouraging way though; don't get the wrong idea, haha), which was what I needed. (I thanked her later for it.) So before I'd even taken one bite of my lunch, I went back to where the classroom was, but I stayed outside and paced for a while, praying as the spiritual warfare continued. Eventually God gave me the courage to go in, so I opened the door, walked in, and said, "Hey, can we talk outside for a second?"
"Sure," he said. So we went outside the classroom and here's where God took over. I won't say what the word was that I got for him, just for personal reasons and privacy. After I got done telling him the word I'd gotten, he responded, "Thanks for the word... I'll be thinking about it."
He walked back into the classroom, and I went back to tell Makayla the good news of what God had just done. The awesome thing about it was that all the doubts and things that the enemy was trying to tell me obviously weren't true. In my head I was imagining what it'd be like if I'd gotten a bad response, but God totally worked it all out for the good. Over the past few days I (as well as many others) have been praying that God would open up his heart, and that he would see God's love above anything else. And I believe that that's what happened today.
I titled this blog "Walk By Faith, Not By Sight" because that pretty much sums up what happened--it took faith and boldness to share God's Word with someone. In the natural, it looked like a bad and awkward situation, but in the spiritual, God knew exactly what He was doing. I believe that a seed was definitely planted, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for this kid. I know that God has huge plans for his life, and it'll just be cool to see what happens. God is good... all the time. All the time... God is good. And to Him be all the glory.
"Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!" - Psalm 90:16-17 (ESV)
"So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight." - 2 Corinthians 5:6-7
"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" - Psalm 27:1
Father God, I thank You that Your glory was shown today. I thank You that You are still faithful, even when we are not. Continue to move in my life and others' lives around me. Let us be a light to those that may not know You, and let us stand in boldness and in love. Let us love others as You first loved us. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Time to Celebrate: One More in the Kingdom!
Something really awesome happened today, and if you read the title of this blog, then you'll probably have a pretty good idea of what happened. ;)
Today at school I felt led to do a treasure hunt at lunch, which is where you pray and God gives you words describing someone and/or gives you a word for that person (i.e. "You are going to do mighty things for God and He has a big plan for you." or something like that). So Ashley, Makayla, and I went to one of the practice rooms in the choir room to eat lunch before we did the treasure hunt. While Makayla was playing some worship on the piano and Ashley and I were eating, this girl walked in that's been coming to Youth on Fire for a while. Her and Ashley ended up talking, and before I knew it Ashley was giving her Scripture and started praying for her. Makayla then asked me if I could "flow" on the piano while her and Ashley prayed for this girl. So I started playing various worship songs, and after a few minutes of praying and flowing, the girl ended up leaving. "What just happened?" Ashley asked. "I don't know..." I said, not realizing what had happened. Makayla and Ashley ended up telling me that the girl had gotten saved, and I was like, "WHAT?!" (in a good way). None of us had really quite known "what" had happened, but the girl accepted the Lord into her heart. We all got really excited about this because we've been praying that people would see God's goodness on our high school campus and come to know Him, and this was the first salvation we've seen since we've been doing Youth on Fire. The funny thing was that it wasn't even Wednesday, and it wasn't even Youth on Fire. God caught us by surprise and we had no idea it was coming.
All-in-all, God's glory was shown today. A new daughter entered the kingdom and all of heaven is rejoicing over her. Let this be an encouragement to you; expect God to do things that you don't expect. And I guarantee you that most of the time, it's gonna be something awesome that you'll enjoy even more because you didn't know it was coming. And because God was given the glory. :)
Today at school I felt led to do a treasure hunt at lunch, which is where you pray and God gives you words describing someone and/or gives you a word for that person (i.e. "You are going to do mighty things for God and He has a big plan for you." or something like that). So Ashley, Makayla, and I went to one of the practice rooms in the choir room to eat lunch before we did the treasure hunt. While Makayla was playing some worship on the piano and Ashley and I were eating, this girl walked in that's been coming to Youth on Fire for a while. Her and Ashley ended up talking, and before I knew it Ashley was giving her Scripture and started praying for her. Makayla then asked me if I could "flow" on the piano while her and Ashley prayed for this girl. So I started playing various worship songs, and after a few minutes of praying and flowing, the girl ended up leaving. "What just happened?" Ashley asked. "I don't know..." I said, not realizing what had happened. Makayla and Ashley ended up telling me that the girl had gotten saved, and I was like, "WHAT?!" (in a good way). None of us had really quite known "what" had happened, but the girl accepted the Lord into her heart. We all got really excited about this because we've been praying that people would see God's goodness on our high school campus and come to know Him, and this was the first salvation we've seen since we've been doing Youth on Fire. The funny thing was that it wasn't even Wednesday, and it wasn't even Youth on Fire. God caught us by surprise and we had no idea it was coming.
All-in-all, God's glory was shown today. A new daughter entered the kingdom and all of heaven is rejoicing over her. Let this be an encouragement to you; expect God to do things that you don't expect. And I guarantee you that most of the time, it's gonna be something awesome that you'll enjoy even more because you didn't know it was coming. And because God was given the glory. :)
All Consuming Fire...
One of the biggest changes I've seen in me and many of my friends since the Encounter is a new passion, a new fire in us. It's like God rebirthed something that was already there, but at the same time gave us something new. It's a fire that can't really be explained by words we understand... only in the Spirit can you understand God's fire.
I think it's so cool that God instills passion in us. That passion not only helps us draw closer to Him but it also helps us to step out in faith and reach out to others.
"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." - Matthew 3:11
When God baptizes us with His fire, it's something that we should hold onto--something that should be treasured and taken seriously. Too many times have we (I myself can testify to doing this many times) allowed our emotions to come into play to where we quit feeding our spirits with His word, His love, and the fire fades away. I personally am tired of going through the same cycle of "retreat, fire, fire quenched, retreat, fire, fire quenched, etc."
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." - Matthew 13:44
Let's make the fire and passion that God's instilled within us like the treasure the man found in the field. Let's not keep it buried, put it away where no one can see it, but pursue it, pursue Him. Our God is an all-consuming fire.
I think it's so cool that God instills passion in us. That passion not only helps us draw closer to Him but it also helps us to step out in faith and reach out to others.
"I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." - Matthew 3:11
When God baptizes us with His fire, it's something that we should hold onto--something that should be treasured and taken seriously. Too many times have we (I myself can testify to doing this many times) allowed our emotions to come into play to where we quit feeding our spirits with His word, His love, and the fire fades away. I personally am tired of going through the same cycle of "retreat, fire, fire quenched, retreat, fire, fire quenched, etc."
"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field." - Matthew 13:44
Let's make the fire and passion that God's instilled within us like the treasure the man found in the field. Let's not keep it buried, put it away where no one can see it, but pursue it, pursue Him. Our God is an all-consuming fire.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
While I Have A Couple Minutes...
I figure I'd write again since I have time. Today at lunch my friends and I are having "Youth on Fire", a ministry where believers get together for encouragement, and to be build up spiritually. I can't wait to see what God's going to do; after we had prayer last night at our church, God gave us a new vision-- a vision that something huge is going to happen. So if you can, just be praying that God rocks it at my high school and that in all things, we give Him the glory.
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