Blue Like Jazz, by Donald Miller, is by far one of the greatest books I have ever read in my life. I thank God for getting David to get me to read this book, because A LOT of things were spoken to me through this book. God spoke through Don Miller in the most fascinating way I have ever heard anything described before. So much of what Don wrote in his book has helped me with many different aspects of my life. I can honestly say the way I viewed things with God, the way I lived my life for God, the way that I loved people, the way I treated my self, and the way my perspectives were on so many different things the night before starting to read this book are completely different now, and I give God all of the glory, for this change. I am going to probably explain in detail what God has done with the different aspects of my life while I was reading Blue Like Jazz as the days continue on. I might not go in chapter order, or I might. I will see how God leads me to do so.
I really feel led to share what God has done with my life in just less than a week, and I am doing this in a way not many people do. I want people to know the real me, and not the me from the past that I allowed my self to invent. I want to start off by apologizing for exposing the invented me to everyone and not the person who God made me to be. I apologize for any worldly advice that I have given to any of you in the past, as probably anything I said is not valid if I think about it now. In the past I was never really able to show God's true love to anyone, because I was never in a good state of mind. It's ironic, that at times when I was drunk or high I was able to talk about God so easily. When I was under the influence, which most of the time I was, I would say things like, "God is the only one who can rescue you" "God loves you so much" "God is who you should be following" "God is going to keep us safe since you are driving us back to campus drunk" "I used to be close to God once" "I really miss how my life was when I was close to God" "Does living for God even matter" "I don't think there is a God." My mind was never clear; But when I was sober I was afraid to even speak the name of God. Maybe it was because I was afraid that God would really intervene with my life or afraid that God was going to help me change the entire life style I was living and show me who He really IS and what He can really do with my life! Now, I just want to learn to love God so much that I weep at the sound of His name--I want to learn to ALWAYS receive God's love!
There is this really sweet Korean lady named Mihye (pronounced me-uh) who works in the gift shop at the hotel I work at. She has come to be a pretty cool friend of mine. I call her "Mihye Gift Shop" because every time I call the gift shop from the front desk she answers the phone saying "Mihye Gift Shop!" I think it's hilarious! I can really tell how much she loves life right through her eyes. She just moved here from Michigan about four months ago so that she can open up a gift shop in the hotel I work at. She finally found a Christian Korean church that she likes and she goes every single Sunday. She really understands the fundamentals of God and of religion, and I am trying my hardest to get her to understand that it is so much more, that God is so much more than religion--God isn't religion, He is our creator, the one we should live for. I want her to understand not to live for religion, but to live for God. I think she is slowly getting it, day by day, by the conversations we seem to always have. I remember one night she asked me how I deal with my anger. She said that sometimes when she walks by the front desk some guest is profusely yelling about something, and she said she always wonders how I control myself from getting angry and frustrated about that. She asked me this a couple of days after I watched one of Rob Bell's Nooma videos titled "breathe." I told her that I've learned to try controlling my anger by breathing, and when I breathe I know that I am breathing the air that God has provided to me; I know that I am breathing God. I continued on and I told her that I also control any anger trying to build up inside of me by talking to God. She was puzzled by this statement, and looked at me with her cute confused look that she likes to give me and asked me, "You mean really talking to God? Like you talk to God just how we are talking?" I responded honestly and said, "yes just how we are talking right now is how I talk to God, and I know He is listening when I talk to Him and it's beautiful to me." That put the biggest smile on her face and she just kind of walked away from the front desk and went back into the gift shop. Now sometimes she will randomely come to the front desk and ask me if I've talked to God today, and I just smile at her and say yes, yes I have. I've had a couple of great conversations with Mihye during this past week. The one I am about to speak about is a conversation we had last night. She saw that I was reading Blue Like Jazz, and it's so hard for me to explain things to her sometimes, because she doesn't completely understand English and at the point she asked me what the book was about I wished that Blue Like Jazz was written in Korean, because I so badly wanted her to fully understand what I was getting from this book. I told her that it is a book that has non religous thoughts on Christian spirituality. She looked at me, smiled, and said, "wow you're really getting into God aren't you?" I just smiled, because I guess that was a good way for her to understand kind of what I was reading, and I felt at peace that she somewhat understood the concept of the book. We ended up starting to talk about her dog. She told me she treats her dog as if he is her own child; she doesn't have any kids. She says anything you can buy for a dog, he has it. She said that all women have this natural instinct inside of them to be a mother and she doesn't have any kids so she treats her dog with royalty. She walks with her dog for almost two hours every day and again every night after she gets home from work. She said even though sometimes her dog pees on the carpet when she is not at home she doesn't get mad; she understands that sometimes that is going to happen, that he will be distracted and end up peeing on the carpet, because he feels that he can't hold it until he gets outside. All of her dog's trust is in Mihye. She has talked to me about her dog before, and every single time she mentions her dog this HUGE, BRIGHT smile is shown from her face. But last night when she was talking about her dog for a good ten minutes I realized something. In her dog's eyes, she is his "god." She is her dog's master. Her dog obeys her and loves her because of all the blessings that she gives her dog. I was standing there thinking wow Mihye really loves this dog unconditionally, and it struck my mind that this is how God loves us! God loves us so much that He blesses us as long as we acknowledge Him and live our lives for Him, because He is our master! Because God loves us so much he protects us at times, times that we don't even realize are His doing. Just as Mihye's dog peed on the carpet several times, a sign of disobeying her or not having the ability to control himself, this is how God loves us. No matter how far into the pits of distraction we fall into, God is still going to love us--and that love is so unconditional.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Friday, May 29, 2009
Just a random thought
I think I am going to write a book.
Other than that thought, on another note, I will start updating what God has been doing in my life starting either Sunday night while I am bored at work because I work alone that night, or Monday sometime.
I hope all is well with everyone!
Your friend,
Rudy
Other than that thought, on another note, I will start updating what God has been doing in my life starting either Sunday night while I am bored at work because I work alone that night, or Monday sometime.
I hope all is well with everyone!
Your friend,
Rudy
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Fasting
So for some reason, well with the help of David's "encouragement" tonight by him telling me to enjoy my last night of internet, I have realized that yes tonight is my last night on the internet for a season. I am glad that we have decided to do this fast, and I truly believe it will only allow our faith in God to become so strong as well as our relationship with Him. It will reveal who we really need to control our lives- that is, in ALL that we do. David and I are doing this for the glory of God, and I know that God is already smiling down at us. David said that we hope to eliminate a majority of what distracts our thoughts from being focused on God and God's will for our lives. I pray that God will give me the strength during the duration of this time. I yearn for my relationship with God to deepen.Through this both mine and David's relationship with God will grow immensely. I know how faithful God is, so I am willing to make sacrifices as such in order to gain more enlightenment and clarity from God.
For me personally, it will be the one of the toughest things I have ever done. The internet is a life line to me, and I hope that gradually changes over this course of time. I know that with the help of God and with the help of the people who are truly the closest to me, I will get through this, and I know I will grow so much with God, and learn a lot about my self that I have never known before. I know that God will give me clarity on so many things in my life during this time. I'm not exactly sure how long this will continue on for, but I know for sure the start of it will be two weeks long. I feel that this will be one of the best things I have ever done for my life, and I know the same goes for David; It is just going to be hard for me, but I know nothing is easy in order to gain what is best for our lives and relationships with God. God says be prepare for what you will suffer! Revelation 2:10 says "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life." I believe David and I decided that this is our battle cry for God! Although I know that suffering will be present at times, I will keep in my mind that this is worth it. I know sometimes I will wonder why am I doing this? What good is going to come out of this? How will this benefit me? God reveal to me now why I am doing this? But I will reflect on these two verses: John 16:12 which says "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear" & John 13:7 which says "Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
Later doesn't necessarily mean in this life time either...
I know that the more I seek God, the more I will find Him. It's just like one of my favorite songs titled "The More I Seek You"
The chorus goes as this "The more I seek you. The more I find you. The more I find you. The more I love you. I want to sit at your feet. Drink from the cup in your hand. Lean back against you and breathe, feel your heart beat. This love is so deep. It's more than I can bear. I melt in your peace. It's overwhelming."
If you go to the following website any one of those tracks will work if you would like to listen to this song: http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#The%20More%20I%20seek%20you
I am interested and extremely excited for what God is going to do with my life during this time. I know that I have truly been working on giving God my ALL and my EVERYTHING, and I just want to seek God out on every aspect of my life--which includes this fasting of technology- other than my cell phone obviously. This is one big sacrifice in my eyes, but in another aspect this really is no sacrifice God....here is my life!
I may post a blog every now and then to update you guys on how I am doing. (See, David and I are changing each others passwords on everything so that we won't be tempted to get on facebook, aim, blogspot, etc. BUT we decided if we really want to expose something on our blog we are going to let the other log on and post their blog.)I will still have my cell phone so you can reach me on there. I just ask for your prayers and God's guidance on this entire situation. Pray for my friend David as well, even for those of you who don't know him, as him and I are in this together.
God, here You go...break me down and chisel away!
"Before God uses a man, God will break the man."
(I know people say you shouldn't boast and let it be known that you are fasting, but I take that in a different context so for those of you who like to be technical about everything, it's okay, as for all I am doing is expressing my thoughts on the situation and ask for your prayers.)
For me personally, it will be the one of the toughest things I have ever done. The internet is a life line to me, and I hope that gradually changes over this course of time. I know that with the help of God and with the help of the people who are truly the closest to me, I will get through this, and I know I will grow so much with God, and learn a lot about my self that I have never known before. I know that God will give me clarity on so many things in my life during this time. I'm not exactly sure how long this will continue on for, but I know for sure the start of it will be two weeks long. I feel that this will be one of the best things I have ever done for my life, and I know the same goes for David; It is just going to be hard for me, but I know nothing is easy in order to gain what is best for our lives and relationships with God. God says be prepare for what you will suffer! Revelation 2:10 says "Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life." I believe David and I decided that this is our battle cry for God! Although I know that suffering will be present at times, I will keep in my mind that this is worth it. I know sometimes I will wonder why am I doing this? What good is going to come out of this? How will this benefit me? God reveal to me now why I am doing this? But I will reflect on these two verses: John 16:12 which says "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear" & John 13:7 which says "Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."
Later doesn't necessarily mean in this life time either...
I know that the more I seek God, the more I will find Him. It's just like one of my favorite songs titled "The More I Seek You"
The chorus goes as this "The more I seek you. The more I find you. The more I find you. The more I love you. I want to sit at your feet. Drink from the cup in your hand. Lean back against you and breathe, feel your heart beat. This love is so deep. It's more than I can bear. I melt in your peace. It's overwhelming."
If you go to the following website any one of those tracks will work if you would like to listen to this song: http://www.playlist.com/searchbeta/tracks#The%20More%20I%20seek%20you
I am interested and extremely excited for what God is going to do with my life during this time. I know that I have truly been working on giving God my ALL and my EVERYTHING, and I just want to seek God out on every aspect of my life--which includes this fasting of technology- other than my cell phone obviously. This is one big sacrifice in my eyes, but in another aspect this really is no sacrifice God....here is my life!
I may post a blog every now and then to update you guys on how I am doing. (See, David and I are changing each others passwords on everything so that we won't be tempted to get on facebook, aim, blogspot, etc. BUT we decided if we really want to expose something on our blog we are going to let the other log on and post their blog.)I will still have my cell phone so you can reach me on there. I just ask for your prayers and God's guidance on this entire situation. Pray for my friend David as well, even for those of you who don't know him, as him and I are in this together.
God, here You go...break me down and chisel away!
"Before God uses a man, God will break the man."
(I know people say you shouldn't boast and let it be known that you are fasting, but I take that in a different context so for those of you who like to be technical about everything, it's okay, as for all I am doing is expressing my thoughts on the situation and ask for your prayers.)
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Breathe
So David showed me this video tonight by Rob Bell, who has a series of his Nooma videos. The name of this video was called “Breathe.” It was so relevant, and I know that this can help anyone come to some realizations in life.
When we are distracted in life or moving too fast we are distracted from our breathing! We need to stand on holy ground all the time, but when we move to fast in life, we miss the burning bushes on both sides of us. God hears our cry and wants to rescue us! The thing about LORD is that in the Hebrew language the name LORD is pronounced Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh. In many instances the LORD isn't even pronounced, it is so sacred that the name of the LORD is unpronounceable, because essentially the letters together are the sound of breathing, Yod Heh Vav Heh. Rob Bell continues on to ask, is the name of God the sound of breathing? There is this paradox at the heart of what it means to be a human being. We are fragile, because we come from the dust. Ecclesiastes 3:20 says, "All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return."
Why is it that the strangest things can get under our skin so quickly? Do we ever have moments where we feel like your seconds from losing it? It's because we come from the dust, we are fragile, our life is but a breath, even for those who seem secure!
Psalm 39:5 says "You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath."
As Bell had been saying all of this, what caught my attention was right when he said "even those that seem secure, their life is but a breath." This is so relevant, because for me it is hard to talk about God with people who seem completely secure, because they seem to have such a perfect life in their minds, because it seems as if every single aspect of their life is well off and nothing so far in their lives has caused them to think that life can be any better than it already is. Yet with God, life can be so much greater! They are not mature with life or with God--He is what they are missing in their lives. They don't realize that the life they live is simply but a breath, and that it can be taken away in one heart beat. They are only living life, because of the breath that God has given them. These people are the ones who really can be hurt the most by the devastations that life can bring—My heart really does go out to people in life that are like this!
God has crowned us with glory and honor--the glory and honor that God is referring to is the people that God has made. This is why I believe it is so powerful for us to love one another and not judge, but show the true light of Jesus that is within us. There is holiness to the people around us. Jesus said, what ever you do for them, you have done for Him. God is there because He is HERE. We are bringing God all of the glory through the relationships that God has allowed us to have in our lives. What we do for our genuine relationships, what we invest in these relationships, that God wants us to have, that he has placed in our lives, obviously for a reason, is what we have done for God---this is one way that we glorify God through the meaningful God driven relationships that he has placed in our lives. These are the relationships that are really worth the investment and time-- I truly believe this. Your life is but a breath, yet we have been made by the creator of everything. We are sacred.
The physical breath that we all possess is actually a picture of a deeper reality. In the bible the word for breath is the same word as the word for spirit. In Greek it's the word Nooma. When God takes away the breath of all living creatures, then they die and return to the dust, but when God sends the spirit they are created. If the spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then God will give you life!
The spirit of God living in you sanctifies---meaning to purge and clean out, essentially meaning that when you let God in when you breathe, what happens is you become aware of all of the things that you need to leave behind, everything that you need to let go of, everything that you NEED TO BREATHE OUT! I have personally done that with my life in the last couple of weeks, and it has been fantastic! Because I have allowed the spirit of God to live in me; the spirit sanctifies. The spirit of God has cleansed my soul and every part of my life! I just have to keep my focus on God, not be too quick in things, and not be distracted from everything in this world.--this is when the spirit will really allow me to breathe, because I have of course allowed God to be within me!
Jesus said that the spirit of God guides us into TRUTH. What we need is to breathe. God gives the spirit without limit!! God IS spirit, and we are a sacred creation of God, the divine breath is flowing through you. You are on HOLY GROUND. A person doesn't have to agree with this for it to already be true--it's a given, it is obvious when someone is born.
When a baby is born what is the first thing it must do or else that baby isn't going to make it? Does the baby have to take a breath or say the name of God? The baby must take a breath, just as one takes a breath before dying. When we can no longer say the name of God (breathe) we die. Is it possible that you can be sitting across from a table having lunch with a friend and that friend is saying to you, "there is no God," but what you will be hearing is " Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh," because you are hearing the breath, the spirit, God's name through that friend's words?
The ground that you are standing on is Holy. As you slow down, may you become aware that it's in " Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh " that we live, and we move, and we breathe.
Most of this was me summarizing exactly what Rob Bell said in his video, and he has said it so perfect, because God has spoken through Him, so there wasn't a need for me to explain into my own words. God has allowed Bell's word to basically be perfect in how God wanted it to be said. I just simply expanded my personal thoughts on certain facts, such as the fact that people who feel as if they are completely secure are going to simply crash and burn, because they don't realize how fragile their life and breath is in their life. I also expanded on when Bell talked about there being holiness to the people around us. Jesus said, whatever you do for them, you have done for Him. I truly believe this, and I have expanded my thoughts on that about relationships that God gives us in life.
We must breathe, because this is how we truly say the name of the LORD. :D
Romans 8:9-11 says "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." :-)
Here is this video; it is in two parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAP0aoa8FtM (part I)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-JFDkypxRw (part II)
(It shows the subtitles in Spanish, but the video is really in English.)
David, thank you once again for sharing this video with me bro! Much appreciated. It has spoken volumes to me in many different ways. I am sure you can guess the aspects.
When we are distracted in life or moving too fast we are distracted from our breathing! We need to stand on holy ground all the time, but when we move to fast in life, we miss the burning bushes on both sides of us. God hears our cry and wants to rescue us! The thing about LORD is that in the Hebrew language the name LORD is pronounced Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh. In many instances the LORD isn't even pronounced, it is so sacred that the name of the LORD is unpronounceable, because essentially the letters together are the sound of breathing, Yod Heh Vav Heh. Rob Bell continues on to ask, is the name of God the sound of breathing? There is this paradox at the heart of what it means to be a human being. We are fragile, because we come from the dust. Ecclesiastes 3:20 says, "All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return."
Why is it that the strangest things can get under our skin so quickly? Do we ever have moments where we feel like your seconds from losing it? It's because we come from the dust, we are fragile, our life is but a breath, even for those who seem secure!
Psalm 39:5 says "You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Each man's life is but a breath."
As Bell had been saying all of this, what caught my attention was right when he said "even those that seem secure, their life is but a breath." This is so relevant, because for me it is hard to talk about God with people who seem completely secure, because they seem to have such a perfect life in their minds, because it seems as if every single aspect of their life is well off and nothing so far in their lives has caused them to think that life can be any better than it already is. Yet with God, life can be so much greater! They are not mature with life or with God--He is what they are missing in their lives. They don't realize that the life they live is simply but a breath, and that it can be taken away in one heart beat. They are only living life, because of the breath that God has given them. These people are the ones who really can be hurt the most by the devastations that life can bring—My heart really does go out to people in life that are like this!
God has crowned us with glory and honor--the glory and honor that God is referring to is the people that God has made. This is why I believe it is so powerful for us to love one another and not judge, but show the true light of Jesus that is within us. There is holiness to the people around us. Jesus said, what ever you do for them, you have done for Him. God is there because He is HERE. We are bringing God all of the glory through the relationships that God has allowed us to have in our lives. What we do for our genuine relationships, what we invest in these relationships, that God wants us to have, that he has placed in our lives, obviously for a reason, is what we have done for God---this is one way that we glorify God through the meaningful God driven relationships that he has placed in our lives. These are the relationships that are really worth the investment and time-- I truly believe this. Your life is but a breath, yet we have been made by the creator of everything. We are sacred.
The physical breath that we all possess is actually a picture of a deeper reality. In the bible the word for breath is the same word as the word for spirit. In Greek it's the word Nooma. When God takes away the breath of all living creatures, then they die and return to the dust, but when God sends the spirit they are created. If the spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then God will give you life!
The spirit of God living in you sanctifies---meaning to purge and clean out, essentially meaning that when you let God in when you breathe, what happens is you become aware of all of the things that you need to leave behind, everything that you need to let go of, everything that you NEED TO BREATHE OUT! I have personally done that with my life in the last couple of weeks, and it has been fantastic! Because I have allowed the spirit of God to live in me; the spirit sanctifies. The spirit of God has cleansed my soul and every part of my life! I just have to keep my focus on God, not be too quick in things, and not be distracted from everything in this world.--this is when the spirit will really allow me to breathe, because I have of course allowed God to be within me!
Jesus said that the spirit of God guides us into TRUTH. What we need is to breathe. God gives the spirit without limit!! God IS spirit, and we are a sacred creation of God, the divine breath is flowing through you. You are on HOLY GROUND. A person doesn't have to agree with this for it to already be true--it's a given, it is obvious when someone is born.
When a baby is born what is the first thing it must do or else that baby isn't going to make it? Does the baby have to take a breath or say the name of God? The baby must take a breath, just as one takes a breath before dying. When we can no longer say the name of God (breathe) we die. Is it possible that you can be sitting across from a table having lunch with a friend and that friend is saying to you, "there is no God," but what you will be hearing is " Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh," because you are hearing the breath, the spirit, God's name through that friend's words?
The ground that you are standing on is Holy. As you slow down, may you become aware that it's in " Yod, Heh, Vav, Heh " that we live, and we move, and we breathe.
Most of this was me summarizing exactly what Rob Bell said in his video, and he has said it so perfect, because God has spoken through Him, so there wasn't a need for me to explain into my own words. God has allowed Bell's word to basically be perfect in how God wanted it to be said. I just simply expanded my personal thoughts on certain facts, such as the fact that people who feel as if they are completely secure are going to simply crash and burn, because they don't realize how fragile their life and breath is in their life. I also expanded on when Bell talked about there being holiness to the people around us. Jesus said, whatever you do for them, you have done for Him. I truly believe this, and I have expanded my thoughts on that about relationships that God gives us in life.
We must breathe, because this is how we truly say the name of the LORD. :D
Romans 8:9-11 says "You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you." :-)
Here is this video; it is in two parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAP0aoa8FtM (part I)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-JFDkypxRw (part II)
(It shows the subtitles in Spanish, but the video is really in English.)
David, thank you once again for sharing this video with me bro! Much appreciated. It has spoken volumes to me in many different ways. I am sure you can guess the aspects.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Locked up in a cage
So today I did my community service at the Wylie Animal Shelter. It was from an offense I had back in January; thank God that I wont have to worry about doing that offense again (Minor in Consumption). Well I have been dreading doing community service, because I have always hated doing it. But as my friend David told me, everything we do, we must do for the glory of God, and give Him all of the glory. So as I was still dreading going to community service at 8am this morning, before I went and on the drive there, I prayed that God would reveal to me while I am there how am I going to glorify Him through this community service that I have had no desire to do.
So when I got there, I had to start by cleaning out the cats kennels. I am basically sort of allergic to cats, but I never had to sneeze, and my allergies never acted up! Well after we finished with the cats, we had to go over to the dogs area and start cleaning their kennels out and walking them. WELL as the animal control officer and I started walking down the walkway where you have cages on both sides of you that have dogs in basically each one, I started beginning to notice something, and this is where God revealed so much to me to the point of almost breaking down. As were walking down, I was barely listening to what the guy was saying, because all I was doing is focusing on these dogs who were barking very loud and jumping against the cage wanting to get out of the cage so bad and go for a walk- be free. Well in that very moment is when I related the dogs doing that to humans. We allow ourselves to get so caught up in sin, that we are eventually consumed by it;We are locked up by our sin. Not that these dogs did anything wrong to be in there, because this was a shelter for them, but the analogy is....As our sin is the lock to our cage, the padlock is the lock to the dogs being locked up. All these dogs want is freedom, and the only time they get freedom is when someone lets them out and allow them to become free for a moment. That is so relevant to God and us! As I was thinking about all of this, I pictured God walking down this hallway with many different cages (us locked up by our sin) on each side of Him, and as He walks down this hallway, he is at each one of our doors waiting for us to give Him our ALL; Not just the parts we want to, but EVERYTHING, and when we are so consumed by our sin, all we do is bark and bite at God when times are hard, we never seem to give Him the entirety of our lives and that is why our lives continue to suck, if we don't give our all to God. We must obey God in order that we receive full freedom! As the day continued on I had to walk each dog, by first opening their cage putting the leash on their collar, and going outside with them in the grass. After a couple of dogs I went through walking, I realized that the ones who just wanted to go crazy and be wild were only feeling that way for the minute of me trying to walk them, because they know once they were back in their cage life would be miserable without me. It's all they ever knew was to go back and forth from someone who walks them, then back into their cage. They werent REALLY at peace, and these were the ones I had to put back in their cage soon. Not that God puts us back in our cage(sin), but because of our stubbornness we continue to stray from God if we don't give Him our ALL and all of the glory when he does give us His freedom. When God gives us His freedom we need to not think about the cage (our sin) that we were once in, but rejoice in the fact that God has set us free. By thinking about our cage and allowing it to determine our present and future, it will eventually shift our backs toward God because that is what we are focusing rather than focusing on God, and how He has instantly saved us! The dogs who were content and just wanted to play and be happy that they were free, just wanted to jump on me and look into my eyes, and some just wanted to start running around the building to rejoice that I have saved them from their cage. So for those dogs, I would allow them to and would run with them and stay by their side, because they were completely thankful, and they trusted and obeyed me and they gave me their all, they didn't make me struggle with trying to walk them or anything-they simply obeyed their master in command. Another note that I focused on, is this one labrador who you could tell was severely upset and would NOT stop barking and you could tell by this labs face that he was so angry. He was so angry at the fact that he was locked up in his cage, and when I saw how this lab was I was amazed, because I have never seen a lab so upset or angry- they are usually sweet dogs. Well when I saw that, I thought to my mind, this is like how people/friends we see in our lives who you would never think would fall into some of the sin that they have fallen in to and their life is completely locked up in a cage by their sin and you would never expect that, but over time some people change and fall into traps, and because the sin is roaring in their lives, there is simply nothing that we can do but trust in God and pray for this person who we see in our lives that becomes like that, because we know that God is in complete control and know that everything is in God's timing and not ours; we can't expect the change in someone to happen over night-it simply doesn't work that way. Just as when we become comletely free in God and when He saves us, we must obey God and keep our eyes gazed on God's glory and mercy, because if we don't that is when it will feel as if God is not by our side, and when it comes down to it--in the end we are only giving grief to ourselves. And sometimes when we are doing so great with God, He steps away from us for a moment to see if we can handle it, that is to see if we truly have Faith that He will set us free in the end, as long as we keep our eyes gazed on the horizon where God waits.
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
God is there to the very end!!
So when I got there, I had to start by cleaning out the cats kennels. I am basically sort of allergic to cats, but I never had to sneeze, and my allergies never acted up! Well after we finished with the cats, we had to go over to the dogs area and start cleaning their kennels out and walking them. WELL as the animal control officer and I started walking down the walkway where you have cages on both sides of you that have dogs in basically each one, I started beginning to notice something, and this is where God revealed so much to me to the point of almost breaking down. As were walking down, I was barely listening to what the guy was saying, because all I was doing is focusing on these dogs who were barking very loud and jumping against the cage wanting to get out of the cage so bad and go for a walk- be free. Well in that very moment is when I related the dogs doing that to humans. We allow ourselves to get so caught up in sin, that we are eventually consumed by it;We are locked up by our sin. Not that these dogs did anything wrong to be in there, because this was a shelter for them, but the analogy is....As our sin is the lock to our cage, the padlock is the lock to the dogs being locked up. All these dogs want is freedom, and the only time they get freedom is when someone lets them out and allow them to become free for a moment. That is so relevant to God and us! As I was thinking about all of this, I pictured God walking down this hallway with many different cages (us locked up by our sin) on each side of Him, and as He walks down this hallway, he is at each one of our doors waiting for us to give Him our ALL; Not just the parts we want to, but EVERYTHING, and when we are so consumed by our sin, all we do is bark and bite at God when times are hard, we never seem to give Him the entirety of our lives and that is why our lives continue to suck, if we don't give our all to God. We must obey God in order that we receive full freedom! As the day continued on I had to walk each dog, by first opening their cage putting the leash on their collar, and going outside with them in the grass. After a couple of dogs I went through walking, I realized that the ones who just wanted to go crazy and be wild were only feeling that way for the minute of me trying to walk them, because they know once they were back in their cage life would be miserable without me. It's all they ever knew was to go back and forth from someone who walks them, then back into their cage. They werent REALLY at peace, and these were the ones I had to put back in their cage soon. Not that God puts us back in our cage(sin), but because of our stubbornness we continue to stray from God if we don't give Him our ALL and all of the glory when he does give us His freedom. When God gives us His freedom we need to not think about the cage (our sin) that we were once in, but rejoice in the fact that God has set us free. By thinking about our cage and allowing it to determine our present and future, it will eventually shift our backs toward God because that is what we are focusing rather than focusing on God, and how He has instantly saved us! The dogs who were content and just wanted to play and be happy that they were free, just wanted to jump on me and look into my eyes, and some just wanted to start running around the building to rejoice that I have saved them from their cage. So for those dogs, I would allow them to and would run with them and stay by their side, because they were completely thankful, and they trusted and obeyed me and they gave me their all, they didn't make me struggle with trying to walk them or anything-they simply obeyed their master in command. Another note that I focused on, is this one labrador who you could tell was severely upset and would NOT stop barking and you could tell by this labs face that he was so angry. He was so angry at the fact that he was locked up in his cage, and when I saw how this lab was I was amazed, because I have never seen a lab so upset or angry- they are usually sweet dogs. Well when I saw that, I thought to my mind, this is like how people/friends we see in our lives who you would never think would fall into some of the sin that they have fallen in to and their life is completely locked up in a cage by their sin and you would never expect that, but over time some people change and fall into traps, and because the sin is roaring in their lives, there is simply nothing that we can do but trust in God and pray for this person who we see in our lives that becomes like that, because we know that God is in complete control and know that everything is in God's timing and not ours; we can't expect the change in someone to happen over night-it simply doesn't work that way. Just as when we become comletely free in God and when He saves us, we must obey God and keep our eyes gazed on God's glory and mercy, because if we don't that is when it will feel as if God is not by our side, and when it comes down to it--in the end we are only giving grief to ourselves. And sometimes when we are doing so great with God, He steps away from us for a moment to see if we can handle it, that is to see if we truly have Faith that He will set us free in the end, as long as we keep our eyes gazed on the horizon where God waits.
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
God is there to the very end!!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Prayer
I've always heard it be told that prayer is powerful when one has it in their life. Tonight, as I have been praying for quite some time on the subject of prayer, God has revealed some great news to me. I have looked up many verses on prayer and I am going to post the verses that I feel are quite impactful.
Psalm 17:6
I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.
Psalm 39:12
Hear my prayer, O Lord, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were.
Psalm 42:8
By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me. a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 55:1
Listen to my prayer O God, do not ignore my plea
Psalm 84:8
Hear my prayer, O Lord God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Psalm 86:6
Hear my prayer O Lord, listen to my cry for mercy.
Psalm 88:13
But I cry to you for help O Lord, in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Psalm 109:4
In return for my friendship, they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
Psalm 141:2
May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Psalm 142:1
I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.
Proverbs 15:8
The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.
Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Become consistent with prayer so that you may continuously grow with God. God wants us to pray to Him. He wants to hear the prayers of the righteous, hurt, and broken. God wants to hear the prayers even when we feel as if he is not in our presence. God wants to test our faith BY prayer so that we may hear Him THROUGH prayer. DO NOT allow a cloud to form over your head that may block your prayers from God.
Lamentations 3:43-45 says "You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity. You have COVERED YOURSELF WITH A CLOUD SO THAT NO PRAYER CAN GET THROUGH. You have made us scum and refuse among the nations!
DO NOT allow a barrier to form between you and God. When you feel as if God is not there or a barrier is starting to form I encourage you to pray in a way so powerful that God will be able to feel your yearning touch for Him. Of course as humans we always want that human physical touch because it makes us feel good right? Well as Christians we want to feel God's touch in our lives, but we never consider the fact that maybe God also wants to feel our touch! So pray in a way so powerful that God will embrace that feeling!
Just as the song Prodigal, by Casting Crowns says - God is waiting on you to look up to him and say "Daddy here I am, Daddy here I am, again, and I've held out as long as I can, Now I'm letting go and holding out my hand, Daddy here I am, again. Will you take me back tonight?!"
Psalm 17:6
I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.
Psalm 39:12
Hear my prayer, O Lord, listen to my cry for help; be not deaf to my weeping. For I dwell with you as an alien, a stranger, as all my fathers were.
Psalm 42:8
By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me. a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 55:1
Listen to my prayer O God, do not ignore my plea
Psalm 84:8
Hear my prayer, O Lord God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob.
Psalm 86:6
Hear my prayer O Lord, listen to my cry for mercy.
Psalm 88:13
But I cry to you for help O Lord, in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Psalm 109:4
In return for my friendship, they accuse me, but I am a man of prayer.
Psalm 141:2
May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Psalm 142:1
I cry aloud to the Lord; I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.
Proverbs 15:8
The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases him.
Proverbs 15:29
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
Become consistent with prayer so that you may continuously grow with God. God wants us to pray to Him. He wants to hear the prayers of the righteous, hurt, and broken. God wants to hear the prayers even when we feel as if he is not in our presence. God wants to test our faith BY prayer so that we may hear Him THROUGH prayer. DO NOT allow a cloud to form over your head that may block your prayers from God.
Lamentations 3:43-45 says "You have covered yourself with anger and pursued us; you have slain without pity. You have COVERED YOURSELF WITH A CLOUD SO THAT NO PRAYER CAN GET THROUGH. You have made us scum and refuse among the nations!
DO NOT allow a barrier to form between you and God. When you feel as if God is not there or a barrier is starting to form I encourage you to pray in a way so powerful that God will be able to feel your yearning touch for Him. Of course as humans we always want that human physical touch because it makes us feel good right? Well as Christians we want to feel God's touch in our lives, but we never consider the fact that maybe God also wants to feel our touch! So pray in a way so powerful that God will embrace that feeling!
Just as the song Prodigal, by Casting Crowns says - God is waiting on you to look up to him and say "Daddy here I am, Daddy here I am, again, and I've held out as long as I can, Now I'm letting go and holding out my hand, Daddy here I am, again. Will you take me back tonight?!"
Monday, May 4, 2009
CUSSING/SIN
So my good friend David and I had this conversation earlier today about cussing while I was at work. We both gave each other our theories about cussing, and how it relates to our walks with Christ. With mine, of course, I said that I don’t think it is bad to cuss, because the bible doesn’t literally say not to cuss, and the only reason most Christians believe it’s bad to cuss is because of the fact that the entire world has said that cussing is a bad thing to say in the first place. I continued to say that if you are not using cuss words in a way that is negative then you should be good.(OO how ignorant I was to God's will.) Well when I got home from work tonight, I asked one of my other friends, Josh, where in the bible does it literally say not to cuss, because I remember him mentioning it to me in the past.
He led me to the verse James 3:9-12 which states: “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
This verse does not state that we should not cuss; it merely states that we should not curse. Both praise and cursing can NOT come from the same mouth if we are trying to praise and please our Lord. Although this verse states not to “cuss” it says not to curse. The bible states that if we hate someone, then we have sinned. So, just as we cuss out loud or even in our hearts, we have sinned because it was not used in a way to glorify God. Leviticus 19:17 states, “Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.” If the bible says it’s a sin, it is merely a sin. If God asks us not to do something and we do it, it is simply a sin- just like getting wasted and killing someone is of equal sin in God’s eyes.
After having these conversations with two of my friends tonight, I decided to do some research on the topic of sin and cussing. God shows how serious He is about not sinning by stating the following: “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell,” Matthew 5:29. As my friend Josh said, “this is God’s way of expressing to us how important it is for us not to sin.”
So to conclude, I just want to set my new theory on this topic, that is – as followers of Jesus, we should not cuss, because it does not glorify God. To be more in depth, as followers how can we attract non-believers if we are cussing? In others’ eyes, if followers of Jesus cuss, we are being hypocritical in the fact that we claim to follow God, yet we are not glorifying God as we say we do with our tongues. Just as 1 John 1:6 says, “If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” Our lifestyles should obviously be used to glorify God. Like I said above, if we don’t express a lifestyle that exemplifies God, then we will not attract any one who attempts to learn about God; We will only push them further away. Matthew 5:16 states, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Keep this quote in mind as well: "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." -Brennan Manning
He led me to the verse James 3:9-12 which states: “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
This verse does not state that we should not cuss; it merely states that we should not curse. Both praise and cursing can NOT come from the same mouth if we are trying to praise and please our Lord. Although this verse states not to “cuss” it says not to curse. The bible states that if we hate someone, then we have sinned. So, just as we cuss out loud or even in our hearts, we have sinned because it was not used in a way to glorify God. Leviticus 19:17 states, “Do not hate your brother in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in his guilt.” If the bible says it’s a sin, it is merely a sin. If God asks us not to do something and we do it, it is simply a sin- just like getting wasted and killing someone is of equal sin in God’s eyes.
After having these conversations with two of my friends tonight, I decided to do some research on the topic of sin and cussing. God shows how serious He is about not sinning by stating the following: “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell,” Matthew 5:29. As my friend Josh said, “this is God’s way of expressing to us how important it is for us not to sin.”
So to conclude, I just want to set my new theory on this topic, that is – as followers of Jesus, we should not cuss, because it does not glorify God. To be more in depth, as followers how can we attract non-believers if we are cussing? In others’ eyes, if followers of Jesus cuss, we are being hypocritical in the fact that we claim to follow God, yet we are not glorifying God as we say we do with our tongues. Just as 1 John 1:6 says, “If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” Our lifestyles should obviously be used to glorify God. Like I said above, if we don’t express a lifestyle that exemplifies God, then we will not attract any one who attempts to learn about God; We will only push them further away. Matthew 5:16 states, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Keep this quote in mind as well: "The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable." -Brennan Manning
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