5/29/09

God has given me something new, something fresh, something amazing!! I find myself talking about God, and sharing His awesomeness with others, and I get so so excited! Its like this new passion for God has taken over my life. We think alot about falling in love, and man this is all that and more! I feel like I'm falling in love with God's amazing creation, and grace, and mercy and beauty and I'm bursting from the seams because of it! And it's not the kind of fire that you get when you get the Jesus high at church camp, or a christian concert, or a missions trip. This doesn't fade after a week of going back to the normal life.  This invades my life like its never been invaded before!! I can't go a minute without going, man God is awesome!! I hope and pray that I will never lose that fire and passion for my first love, Jesus Christ. May He be worshipped day and night!

God, Thanks :)

God, thank you for the awesome opportunity you have given me now, in the past and in the future. so many times we look at the little things in life and think, why is this happening, or how am I going to survive this.  Sometimes I wonder if it's all worth it in the end.  Waiting to experience the best things in life, doing something that maybe could make me uncomfortable, sacrificing comfort for practicality, learning to do things God's way, not our own.  I'm working on being more knowledgeable about God's Word, and I am asking for more wisdom as I gain more responsibilities.  I'm starting to realize its not all about me, and if I want to gain respect from friends, coworkers, and my future wife, I have to recognize its not about me.  My life, my body, my purpose, is not of my own anymore.  I give my everything, 100% of myself, to God.  To God so that He may mold me, conform me, break me down, and build me up, into a man that runs after God. 

                        So here i am God, take me now and use me.  Use me that i might be a kind friend... a humble musician... an honorable future husband... and understanding future father... and a caring pastor.

Amen.

5/21/09

This begins a journey.  A journey of worship.  A journey to find my long, lost love again, Jesus Christ.  Only in Him can I find true rest.  True peace.  To fulfill what God has called me to do, I must first start by learning what worship is.  Worship is not easily defined, and a focus for this summer will be to find all the parts that make up worship.  

A part of worship is sacrifice.  If someone were to threaten me with my life unless I were to denounce God, I wouldn't hesitate in giving into death.  but Paul calls us to more than that.  We are to be living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.  This means, even in the mundane, parts of life, even in utter sorrow, we must offer all of it up and respond to God's glory and splendor.  This is worship.  An unquenchable response to God's wonder.  When the Isrealites were down and going through trials, they looked to God, and God responded.  God has created a covenant with us.  A covenant to never leave us, even when we are in the most content moments.  When we are satisfied, that is when we need to be worshipping God the most; in order that we won't forget the blessings come from God, and not our own power.  When God blessed the Isrealites, they thanked God, then forgot about Him, content in those blessings.  So they had those blessings taken away from them to remind them they always need God.  We may break our covenant we made to continually worship God, but God never breaks His covenant with us, to care and provide for our needs.  to be truly unquenchable, we need to be worshipping God through the good and the bad equally.