God's Grace

The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

1 Peter 5:10

It's ironic that this is today's Bible verse. Or maybe not so ironic as much as it is planned. You see, I am in the midst of reading the Story of Job and still find it amazing what Job went through and yet never renounced his love for God. How many of us are willing to do that? I would hope I would have the patience of Job, but do I want to be tested, heck no.

You see, we are never without God, although sometimes God is without us. While we may at times turn our backs on him in times of pain and sorrow, he never stops loving us, and in time, will restore us.

One of the best examples of this I saw over the beginning of the summer in Egypt. One of the largest, most wealthy companies in Egypt is owned by a devoutly Christian family. Time and time again the government places restrictions upon them, trying to limit their success. But time and time again, the family prospers, also bringing prosperity to other Christian families as their share their success.

It is through their faith in God and their steadfast resolve they are successful and rewarded. It would be easy to give in, convert, or just give up, but instead they stick to their Christian principles and as a result are rewarded in this life and no doubt in the next. It is by God's grace and his loving arms we are rescued from suffering and returned to a place of steadfastness and strength.

Ephesians 6:10

Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.

I pray that even through suffering, we will stand steadfast in our faith, knowing that we have an all knowing and all loving God who is stronger than we can imagine and will never give us more than we can handle. I pray that in all things, we turn them over to him, so that his will can be done.

Without Walls

Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.

Proverbs 25:28

God certainly has a plan for everything.  Every step we take, every breath we breathe, every decision we make, he has known before us.  He gives us the freedom and the free will to run our own lives.  He simply set forth some parameters for us in the beginning.

In this text the Bible refers to a city whose walls have been broken down, and is left vulnerable to invaders.  Our lives are the same way.  When we lack the self control, when we allow the walls made of our values to fall, we allow the devil into our lives.  At first it may be only one or two mistakes, but eventually our life is overrun and taken over by Satan, and only through God's grace are we rescued.

I pray today that God will strengthen my walls of self control and keep his hand upon me, guiding me through life with gentle reminders of the rules he set forth.  And I pray that he will give me the strength to stare down temptation and live to glorify him in every way.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

"Whatever you do, do well. For when you go to the grave, there will be no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom."

I don't really have any thoughts right now. I just liked the verse. And at 5 o clock on Friday evening, I felt it very fitting. Work hard. Play hard. But in all things, I will strive to allow my faith to shine through.

Continuous Improvement

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. 

Colossians 2:6-7 NIV

I find myself in a continuous struggle with Satan.  Every step I take I find him tempting me to veer down a different path.  Every spare moment I have, I find him creeping into my life.  Many times it is overwhelming.  More times than I dare to think about, I have given in.  I've allowed his influence to overpower my love for God, and in return, has lessened my resolve to live a life centered on my faith.

I have discovered that in order to stay deeply rooted in my faith, I need constant reminders and constant encouragement.  That is one of the primary reasons for this blog.  By expressing my faith in a public forum, I have people looking to me to carry out my faith in my daily life.  Anything less is just words on a page.

Much like a strong house has to be built on a strong foundation, I realize now more than ever that Jesus is my solid rock I stand on.  I am forever thankful for our father's love and live knowing my actions are an expression of my love for him.  I just continue to pray that he will guide and direct me to do his will in every walk of life.

I pray tonight that he will continue to strengthen my faith and allow me to work towards his will.  I know that the devil does his best to work in all of us, but it is ultimately through God's saving grace that we achieve salvation.

Giving- Good and Honestly

Ephesians 4:29
"Don't use bad language. Say only what is good and helpful to those you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing."

As a part of human nature, we gossip. We talk about our friends, talk about our family, talk about anything generally to avoid being the topic of conversation. But really, what in the world are we accomplishing? Are we building other people up? Sometimes. Are we spreading useless nonsense. Almost always.

I'm no theologian, but in this mind frame, I take Ephesians 4:29 to mean that bad language is not simply cursing, but any language that can be harmful and demeaning to others. Last Sunday in church the sermon was on honesty, and how being honest is one of the highest forms of love. Lying to someone to save their feelings, or worse yet, failing to help them acknowledge the truth shows of your failure to love them. So if honesty is love, and love is good, then what does that make of dishonesty?

We use bad language all of the time. Whether we are gossiping about people, stringing together curse words, or failing to be honest with those we love, we are failing them as Christians and as people by not saying what is good and helpful, by not blessing them with the gift of good language.

2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Starting today, give of your heart. Instead of taking part in idol gossip, let's take part in sharing of our faith. I know I will and continue to struggle with being honest about my feelings, but I hope you will join me in working to be honest about how you feel, caring more for the person's eternal soul than their earthly friendship. And I hope, that you will give with a decided heart, pleasing God by being a cheerful giver and blessing those around you with words that are good and helpful.

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT.Psalm 23

I sit here dreaming of the days of going back to school. Football games, friends, tailgates, a great job, everything I love about the University of Florida wrapped in an orange and blue package. But then there’s the baggage- classes, exams, money, time. The great of them all though- what am I going to do after I graduate.

I spend countless hours worrying about the future. Grad school, law school, teaching, working, the possibilities are endless. But the nice thing is, I don’t have to worry about that. While I greatly want to know what the future holds, I have to trust in the Lord to provide. This doesn’t mean sitting back on your laurels, but instead preparing yourself for a life of service to him.
I don’t know what the future holds. Nor do I want to know. But I know I want to live a life that reflects God’s love. I hope that my life is one of service.

As I wrap up my thoughts, I think back to my favorite verse in the Bible. As I go back to school, I can want lots of things. The temptation to go out more than I study. The temptation to spend money on material things versus something that matters. The temptation to serve my own personal wants more than the Lord.

Joshua 24:15 tells us “But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.”

We have to choose who we will serve. Will we want for material possessions, or will we allow the Lord to shepherd us so his will is done. Today is a new day. Today is a day for choosing.

“But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” - Joshua 24:15

"Happy are people of integrity, who follow the law of the Lord"  Psalm 119:1

As I look back on my summer in DC, this scripture really speaks to me.  As I come nearer and nearer to the end of the summer, I have a heart full of happiness.  Part of it is because I am leaving DC and returning home to my family and friends.  Part of it is because I have had  a great summer and had a chance to build new relationships and strengthen existing ones.  But a greater part of it is because I leave here with a greater sense of who I am as a person, or more importantly, who I want to be.

I realize that in the first few weeks of summer, I was not a happy person.  Sure I had a full social calendar.  Every weekend was planned and most week nights included some form of event.  Sadly though, almost every weekend lacked time for worship.  And basically every night passed by without me reading scripture.  While I won't go into the sordid details, I realized at one point this summer that what I was doing with my life was completely against God's will, and a total violation of God's law.  I was focusing too much time on my happiness here on earth, very little time on my eternal happiness, and as a result, was living a miserable existence.  So how then did I make this change, and how do we change ourselves from spiritually lacking to fulfilled people?  By remaining pure to God's word and following his law.

"How can a young person stay pure?  By obeying your word and following its rule."

-Psalm 119:9

I realize now I was not following God's law.  And as a result of lacking God in part of my life, Iw as lacking God in all of my life.  You may be a better person at this than me, but for me, it's all or nothing.  I either have to live a life that exemplifies my faith all of the time, or none of the time.  Anything less just drives me crazy!  Now I will admit, I sin, quite a bit in fact.  But the great thing is God offers us forgiveness.  I know that I am not full of only pure thoughts and actions, but by making a conscious effort to be a person of purity, we come closer to mirroring God's love and hope for the world.

This summer I have had my own personal problems.  Missing home, having a rocky relationship with a friend, learning my way around a big city, looking temptation in the eye and saying no.  But I've also had some of my greatest triumphs.  And more than anything, I am truly blessed to have been able to grow as a person and as a Christian.  I leave DC in two weeks.  I leave with a greater understanding of myself.  I leave with a greater understanding of how our country works.  I leave with a greater understanding of God's will.  And I leave reborn in a sense in terms of my faith in God and in people, my hope that all will know and follow God's plans he has made for us, and my love for my family, my friends, and my all powerful God who is always there.