Passion

Interrupted

2011-07-10T23:08:00.002-05:00

As I see life around me, the culture I live in I see a much different culture that Jesus intended for me to live. I recognize that I have many weaknesses, but some strengths that God has given me. It has been a difficult year of ups and downs, but one thing is true is that Jesus has challenged me to go deeper into His mission. I have prayed constantly that He would transform my heart, that I will get over the small things that plague my life and really be what I am called to be. I don’t want just the typical life, and I know that Jesus has called me to be set apart. He taught us principles in how to live in the kingdom. In His way of life, we forget about our constant pursuit of going up the ladder so to speak, and lowering oneself to the bottom. In His whole life, Jesus was always humbling Himself to be with the outcasts, the poor, the sick, and the sinners. Jesus didn’t reject these people He was able to show them love and affection that they would not get from the so called “holy” people. I have been for years one of the “holy” people like the Pharisees. In these times I was never able to reach those people with the good news of Jesus. In these times I am always too stuck up on myself to even recognize these are the people that Jesus calls me to love. I have had numerous encounters with Jesus over my short lifetime, in which He pressed on my heart to reach out to the broken, the oppressed, the poor and the sinners. When I have responded to His calling, in the middle of complete inconvenience, I have experienced His love and power more fully. I have recently read a book called Interrupted…in which God called a couple to do something out of their comfort zones. There whole life was changed when the wife was feeling for a long season of being dry in her serving the Lord, she didn’t feel complete. In an effort to seek help from God, she said “God, stir up in me a holy passion.” God answered this prayer, but it took much sacrifice to get to the point were God was calling the couple. This call to reach out to “the least of these” was the mission God put on their hearts, and that they would have to sacrifice all their positions in their church and go out in faith. In this book they began to reach out to the least of these, but still had much things keeping them from fully being what Jesus teaches all His disciples to be. They were doing things, but didn’t truly have love for the people. I then remember that Jesus constantly told me, love these people, love them more than yourself and all your possessions. They experienced a dramatic change in how they viewed money, themselves, and people. They were interrupted, and their lives were changed. They currently are apart of a mission mindset church where denominations don’t matter, but the love for the people who are oppressed and poor is center to the activity of the church. They became less about their personal business but reached out those who need to be healed by Jesus. They realize now the life Jesus says to live, and are on mission to know His heart and live out the kingdom.
I really want to stop pretending, being beaten up by the world and truly live out the faith, the teaching and training I have received from Christ. All about the kingdom! All about removing away the pursuit of climbing the ladder of success, being sold out for the gospel and being like-minded with Jesus. My prayer is that others will see the urgency now to be different, to reach out and love the “least of these”. I want to be apart of a body of believers that ARE the hands and feet of Jesus. No more being fake, being afraid of what others think, trying to impress others. To come unity in faith, in realizing that Jesus is for real that only those that care for the least of these will enter His kingdom. In so many ways, I have seen Jesus at work and my prayer is that He continues to wake people up from the sleep. That the body of Christ in America will discern the time, and will at all costs redeem the time by fulfilling the calling Jesus has, to seek and save those which are lost…to love one another…to set the captives free…to be the hands and feet. May Jesus come to have first place in all that we think, say, do, being the center of life.

Come in Close...

2009-10-25T17:22:00.002-05:00

Over this semester I have experienced a new season of my life in which life has become more busier and busier. I have been apart of a group of people that have been meeting for prayer. God has been steadily growing momemtum during this time. God has truly spoken to my heart about revival, that He wants to move about on the earth. Its been a battle this semester, a spiritual battle that I want to be apart of. This past weekend I was reminded of a song I truly love! Come in Close by Charlie Hall. The song speaks of Jesus coming in close, that He speaks that He is beautiful, that He is the One thats words can break my stoney heart. This song when I first heard broke my heart, it really speaks to me that Jesus will come close if we allow Him to.

Today, I went to a church in Kansas City. IHOP (International House of Prayer) It was incredible. The worship was great, I really felt like a weight has been lifted off of me today. The sermon was about the love that God the Father has for us. The love that Jesus pray we can have. The speaker spoke out of John 13 and 17. He said some times that really spoke on what I believe God is saying to me that right now in my heart I need to be stable in my mind and heart so that when the times get tough I am ready for the battle. Right now is a season where God is preparing me for something He is going to do here on Earth. I want to be faithful in pursuing Him and not focusing on the external things so much. Coming to God's house to commune with Him and receive His love. I really believe that Jesus is coming back soon and I want to be found faithful to Him, loving Him. I just can't wait for the things to come! Waiting with great expectations as the Stephen Curtis Chaphman songs says.

Jesus be the Center of our Hearts! We were made for You!

Hungry....

2009-09-19T12:31:00.002-05:00

The last week has been incredible in regards to beginning to seek God more. Over the last year God has really been changing my heart and drawing me in. In the last month though He has been drawing me in a new way. He is drawing me closer to His heart, to what He desires for His people in which is to pray. Seeking God not in a formatted prayer but desperate seeking of His presence and empowerment and direction. The last month I have began to really understand what it means to pray, to pray without ceasing. I am not proclaiming to have it all figured out, actually I am no where near that, but my heart is hungry for it. I am hungry for God, its a hunger that He is placing there. One of the biggest things I believe the Lord is teaching me in this is that its not what I say, but its with the attitude of my heart that He cares about. He wants us to come to Him, listen and press into Him. Verses that come to mind when I want to seek God is Jeremiah 29:11-13 when God says "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you, says the LORD, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive." I know in my life that I can get held captive to the things of this society, that tells me that I cant know God, that tells me its all about us. Alot of times we can forget that we have seek God to have the thoughts of peace, to know Him. He wants us to pursue desperately after Him, praying with all our hearts, not having the fancy words but the heart that desires Him. God wants to rescue us, He wants to deliver the whole world from our sin, but it takes our part of repentance, but also our intercessions for God to pour out His Spirit upon us in this generation. I am trying to understand how to do this, to really know God to think rightly of Him and what I am learning is that it is about pressing into Him, in His word and prayer allowing Him to speak as we listen and seek.

As I was reading today in Mark 2 I was reminded of the Faith that Jesus calls for us to have, desperate faith to bring ourselves to Him, to bring others to Him. Learning from the passage about the question about fasting in which the scripture says: 9 Jesus said to them,"The wedding guests cannot fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they cannot fast.But the time will come when the groom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day. No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new patch pulls away from the old cloth, and a worse tear is madeAnd no one puts new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost as well as the skins.But new wine is for fresh wineskins." In this passage it spoke to me after looking at the commentary to not let my heart become rigid and not allow for my heart to be open to Jesus to reveal new things to me, to not let my heart doubt or fear but to believe that Jesus is the groom and I am apart of His bride and that I shouldn't try so hard on my own but to just look to Him.

I also came upon the book of Joel. The prophet Joel was prophesing to the people of Israel about "The day of the Lord" meaning a great happening. In this case it was talking about the northern armies coming to take over Israel. Reading commentary about it and thinking about the other books that prophesy about the future day of Gods judgement on the earth. In the first two chapters Joel was petitioning the people to get out of their complacency, to cry out to God, to cry out for forgiveness, to seek God. Chapter 2:12-14 really caught my heart today. "Even now--the Lords declaration--turn to Me with ALL your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love, and He relents from sending disaster. Who knows? He may turn and relent and leave a blessing behind Him..." The problem with us in our society is that we like to hold onto parts of our hearts, we want to enjoy the desires of the things around of us. God is calling us though to put away those things, to search our hearts, to get rid any bit of sin and selfishness out of it and give it totally to Him. Many of other scriptures back this up. The call for us in our day today I believe is to stop trying so hard on our own strength, own our own intellectucal capacity and trust Gods capacity to save us, to give us freedom, to know His love before He comes back and we will have to account for all we havent been doing. What helps me is to know that God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love...He doesnt want to see us struggle so much, He is right here waiting for His creation to trust Him, to call out to Him. I might know everything but this is what He has placed on my heart. I know I desire to be doing what He calls me to do. Right now I know it is to pursue him with all I have. God is wanting to pour out His Spirit on His people. He wants to be our Spirit, but we cant continue to shut Him out, there has to be a change. I know the change has to start in my heart, I know that I must learn to trust Him regardless of what I may feel or think. To really know Jesus, to live for the kingdom, to understand the things of God is what I yearn for. I want to see God move in a mighty way like He has proven to do, I dont want just the ordinary, but I want the extraordinary. God is an extraordinary God, an awesome, a power and Majestic God who loves us, He loves us! I dont understand this love, but I want to run after it everyday as long as I live.

I don't want to hold back, to hold back my heart from God, from His presence, because thats all that satisfies.

1st week of my last school year....

2009-08-26T23:06:00.003-05:00

Recently, I have been refocusing on how to reach my campus for Christ, how that my own life can be revived and reflect the love and the Glory of Christ. I have experienced some things that have been incredible. God is working in many of ways. I have began to really see today how He has been answering prayer and opening up doors. I am amazed that when our faith maybe weak, God is ALWAYS Faithful to show Himself mighty in our lives, in this world. I cant explain what has been going on in my Heart except to just point you to the Creator of the Universe who knows our name, who knows any pain we have, He knows our everything and longs for us to always look to Him for LIFE! This man named Jesus truly is who He said He was and that His promise that He would be with us (His Bride) always is the Truth. Today started off really awesome as I and two other people that I am beginning to really seek God in search for seeing Him to move mighty among us in this city. It really set my heart on fire today! I read Psalms 34 today many of times and different verses popped out to me clearly today. Verse 2 was true this morning to me it says: "I will boast in the Lord; the humble will hear and be glad." This is truth, humbling ourselves before God we will hear Him speak. Verse 15 "The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry for help. This spoke to me in that God considers His children as righteous and that He does hear our prayers even when we dont feel like they leave out of the room. This promise that He hears our cry should cause us to cry out for Him more and more each day. Another verse came to my attention tonight in verse 17; 19 "The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them from all their troubles. Many adversities come to the one who is righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all." I have in the last year have faced many of adversities, many I caused myself in my ignorance and disobedience but it really hit me that God delivers me in those times. He has delivered me and will deliver me when many adversities will happen as I continue to live this life daily making a choose to follow Christ or be of the world. This provides encouragement for me to keep purusing after God in this hostile world, to not give up. My heart has been hungry for God, has been really hungry for most of my life and the more and more I live and read His word the more and more I know I need Him, that I cant live this life alone. Psalms 34:10 provides promise to us when we are hungry after God "Young lions lack food and go hungry, but those who seek the Lord will not lack any good thing." The whole chapter really spoke to my heart today but those hit me right on. I believe that I am not the only one hungry. As I have noticed this week at school there is so many students hungry for God, in which is answered prayer. God is causing this hunger and I really believe that apart from God that hunger cant be filled. As a student who has been humbled by God, who is seeking to be more humble, I can recognize the need for God's people to rise up and be the men and women of faith we need to be to help with these people in their search and hunger. I am resolved to the conclusion that no one human being on earth today can change the whole world without the power of the One man that died, that rose again, who is ALIVE and is very present among us today. I am not praying that I alone can change the world but I want to see the Glory of God, I dont want to rest until I see Gods glory, to see Him lifted high on this earth!!! So my prayer is that believers would rise up and humble ourselves before the Mighty God of the universe and lift up our voices in a cry that He would come and satisfy us!!! Please join me in this pursuit!

I have been praying for the football team here for a long time and really am beginning to see where God has placed me to fully engage in. The football team here is a place that is not the most welcoming place to Jesus, but this week, especially today I have seen that things are changing. God is on the move, I believe it and I want to keep pressing forward to do whatever I can do to help in this process. This past sunday the whole football team went to church together, I wasnt able to go to the same church, but today I talked to a football player and saw in how he explained the church service the impact it was making in his life. He also mentioned that other guys where open, and really enjoyed the service, guys that quoted saying "I dont want to go to church because God is going to strike me down for all the things I have done." To see guys go to church and really be enlightened by it is showing me in my life that God is soften hearts to Him. This is encouraging to me that my prayers are being heard. So I wanted to share with everyone where I have seen God move so far, but also to ask for joint prayer for our schools, our cities, our lives to experience a movement of God that this generation has never seen or heard much about, to see the Glory, Power, Love of God to sweep this land. This is my heart today, to be more humble in seeking after God and giving my whole life to Him daily until I am with Him in Glory.

Please, please pray that God will open up the heavens and ran down mercy upon us, we need Him more now then ever. I dont have all the answers but I know this is all we can do is to place trust in God almighty.

God bless everyone who reads this,

B

2009-05-14T22:04:00.004-05:00

SUMMER 2009!

It has been a great time at home for a short break before I start summer class. God has been teaching me alot since I have been home. Learning how to really enjoy life with Him and with my friends and family. It has been a great time!

One of those days...

2009-04-27T21:17:00.003-05:00

Today has been one of those that just make me love Jesus so much more. After taking an exam and turning in alot of my projects I had a quiet time and just really felt God so close to me, hasn't been that way recently because I havent allowed Him to be but just listening to music I really felt him near me, I begin to cry, to cry tears of joy, tears of happiness, tears of thankfulness. I didn't have to say anything the Spirit knew what to say for me. It was so great to have that experience. God showed me in James 1 that if we endure through the hardships, to hold tight to our faith and now be tossed like waves in the sea that we will be given a crown of life. He promises us that crown if we Love Him. A scripture that hit me hard was James 1:8 "An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways." This spoke to me in the fact that I need to be more decisive, God tells us to just come to Him in faith and believing and He will provide, He will answer. That really energized me for the day then I listened to a video where people debated "Does Satan Exist?" Through this debate I was made aware of the assurance I have in believing in Jesus. Then after that I listened to a sermon by Mark Driscoll talking about how God loves us and why we were created. He talked alot about how we were created to glorify God, how He created us to be in His image. We are created to be His image-bearers, to reflect HIS glory. We can't reflect His glory without His Son Jesus, without Jesus we are not able to communicate with God, not able to live a life full of purpose and passion. How do we reflect this Glory? 1. Submit to God and His authority. 2. Worshipping God (Mind, Body, Soul) 3. Represent God with Truth and Justice 4. Serving God, expanding the Kingdom, leading people to Jesus 5. Love people of all races. 6. Respect all human life. The way to do this is to have a relationship with God by repenting of Sin consistently, trusting in Jesus, by being connected to people, to not be just for myself but for others. Being apart of a church family growing in faith, showing the glory of God to others so that we can all mirror Jesus together. So my question to everyone and myself is: Are we reflecting the glory of God in everything we do, say, and think? Are we allowing Jesus to reflect out of us? Are we letting the image to become distorted because of our sin?

I thought about that and prayed, God showed His love to me when I was able to talk to a roommate. God really just showed me that He loves us and that He wants us to love people by spending time investing in their lives. God spoke through my friend and just really made me realize that I have been reflecting His glory that I have been making an impact in peoples lives because of the effort to just live by example when I don't always have the words to say. How great of day is that? To be able to hear God speak through people you wouldn't think He would!

I am just so amazed that God loves us so much even though we drift away from Him when we sin, but He is just there waiting for us to kill our sin and come back to His loving arms!! I would like to encourage everyone that no matter how much you feel like you can't be close to God, you can all you have to do is draw near to Him in your heart, your thoughts and your will and He will be there for you. Just ask while believing and you will receive. (Mark 11:24)

God is too good for us to miss out on His overflowing LOVE, HOPE, PEACE, JOY, GOODNESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS, FAITHFULNESS each day. So don't let things in life keep you from experiencing Him and reflecting His glory!

2009-04-16T23:52:00.006-05:00

Freedom in Christ

2009-04-14T16:37:00.002-05:00

Those that accept Christ as Savior and Lord, believing and having faith in the Death, Burial, and Resurrection as the payment for our sinful nature, we are given freedom. What is in Freedom in Christ? Before Jesus came the Jews were to live by rules and regulations called the Law. The law limited freedom, because at that time there was no sacrifice for sins that was good enough, they used the blood of animals to cover the sins. People were to live under strict rules, but Jesus came as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, He only had to die once, and when He died we were given open access to God through Christ.(Hebrews 10) In Galatians Paul tells us that through Christs death the law lost its bondage to people, the law was no longer the way to God, but Jesus was. Jesus died on the cross to free us from the law of sin and death, He died to free us from religion. He died so that we could live for the glory of God and have forgiveness. He died so that we could be children of the Creator of the Universe. We are able to live for Jesus by faith, not works of our own. Having freedom through faith working through love (Galatians 5:6).

I have noticed at many of times that I have not lived in this freedom in Christ, instead I go back to my religious way of living life, instead of seeking full steam ahead towards Christ. In these times my prayers become redundant, my quiet times become about what I think I should read and not being filled by the word. In these times I feel frustrated and feel like I'm a failure, in these times I feel like if I'm not having an emotional experience then I'm not right with God, or that I'm not worshiping God if I don't have the feelings. In this ignoring the fact that I can have the relationship with God and to be filled by Him. Jesus died so that we can have FREEDOM, He didnt die so that I could fall back in religion, back in frustration, into self-seeking desires. Jesus is telling us to stand firm in the freedom He has given us. He liberates us from the bondage of sin, and desires to be with us daily.

Recently, I have been hearing God speak to me about how I have not realized that there is freedom, and I'm beginning to see that now after seeing how much I beat myself up. Knowing that in Romans 8:1-2 "Therefore no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus, because the Spirit's law of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." The Lord has been telling me not to condemn myself, because Christ took on that condemnation at the cross. Condemning ourselves shows lack of faith in God that is working in our lives, and that is not where we should be, but realizing that we can enjoy our relationship with Christ.

Do you recognize the freedom you have in Christ? Are you living frustrated, and not knowing what God is doing in your life? Wondering what your purpose is? If you know Christ, you have freedom to will and act for God's good purpose, and to not feel condemned of your sin. You can have assurance that you are following Christ and not living under the law, or religion, by asking God to show you, to teach you, to help you to realize that He does love us and wants us to live free from the bondage of sin.

FAITH and LOVE

2009-04-03T15:25:00.007-05:00

So its been awhile since I wrote a blog, and recently thought I should write one.

This semester has been a long, tough, and very rewarding semester. God has taught me so much through this time. I am finally understanding what it means to lean onto to God for strength, to find nurishment in His Word, to find joy in serving Him no matter how I feel. The Lord is constant, His love is constant, He is faithful, He is a great provider, He will never leave us or forsake us. These are some of the things that I have been learning this semester. I have experienced so much and words can't express how truly grateful I am to know that I have a SAVIOR that Loves me! A God that LOVES me and that Holds me in His hand!! How Great is that?? I have experienced some times where I have been really discouraged, on the verge of being burnt out because I can't see the impact I want to make in peoples lives, then I get encouraged that its not about me and what I do, but its about what the Lord is doing. I am beginning to see the impact I have made and the impact people have made in my life this year. I am so thankful that I can have so many great friends, and family to pick me up when I'm down.

The 2 biggest things the Lord has been teaching me recently is that everything relies on FAITH and most importantly LOVE. If we didn't have love then we would have no hope because Christ would have never came to die for our sins without Love for us. The love that Christ gives us can never be taken away, we can never be separated from His Love. (Romans 8:31-39). God showed us His love when Christ came and Christ told us that we are to love. Jesus said "I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:34-35 We are to love one another and that is what God has given me a heart for, to love people no matter if they love me. Having this heart has helped me understand why Christ came to die, that it wasn't just for me but it was for all mankind, so that we can have hope. If we are not loving others then how can we say we love God, and love Jesus? Loving people goes beyond just saying it, its an action-its telling people about the Gospel, to be edifying to one another, to not gossip, to not be prideful in our love, to not boast in our love, because our love is no where near the love it took to Redeem us!
Faith-believing in something we can't see or touch physically--without faith then we can't truly love God, we can't truly love people. We have to have strong belief that what God said in His Word is the TRUTH! and nothing else is truer then His Word because He reveals Himself through His Word. Don't believe me, I suggust that you read it, read the Gospels and you will know the Word is true, because Christ is the Word! Faith is more than just believing that Christ died for you, but Faith that He wants to transform us, to walk with us daily as we seek Him in His word. Romans 10:17 says "Faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ." If we have faith in Gods Word then He will show Himself daily, and we will learn to trust Him daily and really know what He wants us to do! I was reading in Joshua today, where the Lord encouraged Joshua to live by faith, to be strong, to be courageous because the Lord is with Him. God used Joshua to lead the Israelites into the promise land and it took faith through the tough times before they reached the promise land to help Joshua to become the leader that the Israelites needed. That has been something that's been on my mind all semester. When we have faith in that God will use us and that He will build us up into the men and women of God we need to be, He will do that. He is true to His Word, He never fails. So don't think your not a strong Christian if you don't have the feelings, just know that it is all about FAITH in His Word and that He is there for you!

Anyone can know Christ, and can be used by God to big things, to do the small things as well, but two things have to be in place: You have to LOVE and You have to have FAITH!

PASSION for JESUS

2009-01-23T23:17:00.002-06:00

In the last couple of months, I have experienced the greatest time in my life! I finally began to trust God with everything in my life. Through His word and prayer He has instilled a passion in my heart that I have never had! I look back to a year ago even 6 months or 3 months ago and I was living a defeated life because I was relying on myself for pretty much everything. Through a process I have began surrendering things over to Christ. I have learned so much in the last month about how much I really need Christ in my everyday life and I have learned so much.

This week at our Campus Crusade meeting I shared a message that was on my heart, it was a message about Jesus and how we should lay down everything to trust Him alone. Philippians 3:7 Everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ--the righteousness from GOD based on faith." Do we really consider everything to be loss? or do we hold onto to things? If we hold onto things we are exchanging our lives for those things and not following Christ (Matthew 16:24-26) Our passion should not be for anything EXCEPT Christ, our soul should not crave or desire anything else but for the Savior who humbled Himself to the point of death, that is why His name is above all names! (Philippians 2:8-9) So the question is: what do we hold onto that we would exchange our life for and miss out on what Christ has to offer? Are you passionate about something more than Jesus??

These are questions I have had to ask myself recently and I really can say for once that I'm in the process of giving over everything, I'm letting Him be the One and only passion of my heart!

Discipline by Endurance

2008-12-10T01:15:00.006-06:00

How does discipline fit into our lives?

Recently I have had difficulty keeping my eyes focused on Jesus, I am worrying too much about what is going on around me. I am worrying what people think of me when they see my short comings, and how I am supposed to be set apart from those that don't have the faith in Christ. I find myself in sins that I had conquered, but I let those things come back in, but by the Grace of God He forgave me and now I can once again have victory over it. Today, I was thinking about my current situation spiritually and God showed me to read Hebrews 12, I could not get through the whole chapter God spoke to me through those words.

vs. 1-2 "...let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of God's throne."

I have a hard time running that race because I am constantly doubting that since I am a sinful man that I can't run a race after Jesus and keeping my eyes on Him if I cant get rid of those things that hold me down. He is the source of my faith and perfects so why not focus my eyes on Him?

It takes discipline, discipline that only comes from the Father above. In verse 5 the bible tells us not to take the Lord's discipline lightly because He disciplines the one He loves and punishes everyone whom He receives.

It is hard to think about what my punishment is for my sin, because I know it keeps me farther and farther away from God. God wants us to endure through those tough times where we can't seem to do anything right whatsoever, we look to ourselves to try and solve the problem. He wants us to take His discipline so that we can change our lives, but when we don't recieve the discipline then we are illegitimate children. I don't know about you, I do not want to be one of those that does not receive discipline from God. (vs. 7-8)

"We had natural fathers discipline us, and we respected them. Shouldn't we submit even more to the Father of spirits and live?" (vs. 9)
We should respect our creator more for what He has done will do and is doing right now, because if not we are corrupting ourselves.

"...He does it for our benefit, so that we can share holiness." vs. 10

Wow! A God would want to share His holiness with me?? I would have to say you are crazy if you would try to tell me that, but He does truly want our hearts, He wants us to respond to His discipline.

"No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it." vs 11

This verse is so true to us as a human race, we face many of tragedies and rough times, but God brings the peace and righteousness we need so that we can be closer to Him.

The point of this blog is to state that we should not carry all the baggage this life brings, set it aside and begin a race after Jesus. Such a race where He will discipline you to be the man/woman of God, He longs for you to be. Since He is the one that perfects our faith because He is the source then we should just run right after Him. He endured a cross where He was despised, so why can't we endure? Keep running after Him, thats the only way to overcome the daily struggles and be holy as He is Holy.

Hope these words are an encouragement to you today.

My cup overflows...

2008-11-14T17:31:00.000-06:00

Lord my cup overflows, with your joy!

So God has began to move in my heart this semester, I am finally beginning to walk with HIM. I have seen some awesome things happen, and I have experience much frustration, almost to the point of total burn out BUT that is no more. God has filled my heart with joy this week. He is so faithful because I have been praying for my friend all semester, that he would open his heart to Jesus instead of trying to live on his own. Those prayers were answered Wednesday night around 11:45 p.m. I was given the opportunity to share with my friend, Matt Glades, what it truly meant to give his heart to JESUS, after discussing the basics and how his life would not get better if he didn't find the Change he needed. He realized that he needed this change, needed something real within his soul. The change was that he needed a Savior, because he did not have one. He realized that God does love us and has a wonderful plan for our lives. He realized he was sinful, and his sin separated him from God. He realized that Jesus gave His life to bridge the gap between us and God. Then He finally realized that he needed to believe and accept that Jesus' sacrifice was enough, His grace is enough to save him from doom. He then said a prayer of salvation right then and there, he was for sure that he had made Jesus LORD of his life. Words cant explain the presence of joy that just swept through the room, it was something I had not experienced for a long time. God was there and was filling our hearts with Joy. He filled my heart with assurance that He truly does answer prayers, he truly does Love us and wants us to live a life full of joy no matter the trials and tribulations we face. This was absolutely the best night of the whole semester!

This was the second time I have taken the opportunity that was before me, but this was so much more special to me. It immediately filled my heart with joy and passion for Jesus. My good friend, who God burdened my heart to pray for constantly, had accepted Jesus, he no longer wanted to live like this world! From that moment he received eternal life, a life not just in eternity, but a life that Jesus gives us while we are on this earth. Praise the name of the LORD!

Many of other things have began to stir up in my Heart! We need to be serious about our FAITH in Jesus Christ, who gave His life-a life that was perfect-to die for our imperfections. I have not been as serious as I need to be, because lives are hanging in the balance of God's people sharing the good news that we have believed in our hearts. I am writing to tell everyone that this joy I recieved has renewed my soul, has made me want to tell more people that can have joy in their lives. Hope you have that joy!

B

All for Love

2008-10-24T10:46:00.000-05:00

Love is the only thing that will change this country, the only thing that will change this world. What love can do that??? The love of Jesus that lives within those that Love God and keep and his commandments such as loving People. As Christians we are called to Love People, such as loving our enemies!!!!!! If we can't love our enemies then how can we Love Jesus? Thats right, you CANT! The Great Commission tells us "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to OBSERVE everything I have commanded you." If we can't carry out this simple mission that Jesus gave us, then all I gotta say is Check yourself before you wreck yourself!

I believe in the Love of Jesus and I believe that its my MISSION, no my DUTY as a Follower of Jesus to OBEY Him by reaching out to people who are lost. My Mission field is Missouri Western State University, where God has placed me it was not on accident that I left my home which 600 miles away. He has brought me here for the reason of Obeying and Trusting in Him. I don't know if I would have discovered how much He trully loves me until I got here 4 years. Praise be to God for his Love and patience with me!!

I am writing this to encourage anyone if they are not sure what God has planned for their life, to people that don't know what we are supposed to do as Christians. It is simple: Love God, Love People by serving the world, making disiciples (not just converts) and teaching people how to Love God.

B

Entertainment or Jesus?

2008-08-30T23:35:00.000-05:00

Random thought of the day:

Does your heart desire the entertainment of this world or the fellowship with Jesus Christ?

I asked myself that question today while I was driving up to a football game with a friend. In our society today we thrive off entertainment, what catches our eye on tv or other sources of entertainment. For example: We spend alot of time going to football games, keeping up with all the players, and acting crazy while cheering on our favorite team. We put alot ofenergy into the game and sometimes can become very angry over things that should not have any meaning in life whatsoever. We waste our time focusing on sports, TV, gadgets (computer, cell phones, ipods, etc.) and other entertainment. The question is: are these things really making us happy or is it leaving our hearts void? So I myself had to question myself when going to a football game; wondering if I was going to get more excited about a football game and not focus on what really matters, what truly can fill my heart. Jesus is the only one that can fill the void in our hearts, give us happiness which is why we should be more excited about Him more than entertainment of this world. We should all ask ourselves are we putting in the time and energy in having fellowship with Jesus as much or even more time than we do filling up our time with worldy entertainment, such as in my life football becomes the distraction.

Pastor Deaton always says: "Live for Jesus, because thats all that matters." I truly believe He is what we should focus on and not get wrapped up in useless entertainment. Simple: be more energic about Jesus and less energic about other things.

Bought at a Price

2008-08-23T14:59:00.000-05:00

Have you ever thought, how much does my life cost? I'm not trying to put a money value on human life, but aren't you curious to how much your life would cost? Well then you should ask Jesus, he is the one that paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we can know him. So the value of our life is a price that is absolutely beyond the value of money or anything else here on Earth. The price for our life required someone to die a brutal death with the only thing on His mind, to save those who which are lost.

In 1 Corinthians Chapter 7 verses 22-23 Paul states that we belong to Christ, not to man. In those days some of the church were slaves, but Paul made it clear to them that they are free from the power of sin in their lives. 22 "For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord's freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ's slave. 23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men."

When it says we are bought a price, it literally means we were bought a price which was death for the Creator of the universe. We were all once slaves to sin, but with Jesus paying a price we have freedom from the slavery. If there was never a time in your life where you were from slavery of sin then its simple: call on Jesus and He will set you free

God at work

2008-08-23T02:29:00.001-05:00

In the last month, I've seen God everywhere in my life and I have never have experienced this much at one time ever in my life. HE has helped me through the tough times I have had recently with the passing of my grandmother. I have seen God work through people to encourage me and to comfort me when I was at my lowest points. I am overwhelmed by how awesome it will be to see HIS face once I go to Heaven and just having that thought makes it easier to know that my grandmother is with Jesus and not suffering. In fact, I am jealous of her, that she is praising THE KING right now at his feet and I am praising him with faith but not sight.

Through Youth camp then the Mission Trip God has shown himself to me in ways I have never seen before. God has spoken through my Dad, assuring me that my trip to Connecticut was not going to be a mistake, but an opportunity to seek God's face and share hope to those without hope. For example: I was given the opportunity to share Jesus with someone on the trip. We where at a mall in Waterbury, Connecticut when a couple of us decided to talk with people, asking the Holy Spirit to send us someone. Sure enough the Holy Spirit sent a guy to us and it was clear to me that I should talk to him. I began to ask him who Jesus meant to him and if he was sure he would go to Heaven. When I asked him why he could go to Heaven thats when he realized he didn't know and thats when I shared how Jesus paid a price for our sins so that we can know Him personally and know without a doubt we will see Him in Heaven. I lead him in a prayer and because I was not afraid to share Jesus someone else can be with Jesus. How awesome is that? God can use anyone, heck he used me as a tool and he can use you!