Always

It's easy to get discouraged when things aren't going your way, but holding onto the promise and knowing God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain, suffering, stress, etc.  Just remember, the next time your little hut is burning to the ground, it may just be a smoke signal that summons the grace of God.  For all the negative things we have to say about ourselves, situation and or thoughts... He has that many more positive things to say. He knows yours pains, He knows where you are and He says... Hebrew 13:5 Jesus says, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you."He always has His phone on Him and will always answer when you call, no matter what.

It's my birfday yo!

It's been a while I realize since I posted but that has no correlation to what God is doing! Let me just start off by saying this... I love the rain and it is totally raining on my birthday as I sit in my favorite coffee shop and read my word.  Best birthday gift ever honestly.  But! I wanted to share something about what my dad said to me over winter break..... He told me, "It is a gift to know God," and that has really stuck with me.  I don't want to go into much detail with that but I want you to just read that and think about it.... it is a gift to know God.

Reflecting on my 23 years of life, I have realized and am so humbled that God thought of me when he created the earth, universe and everyone and thing in it.  Wow.... and people say that God isn't personal?
hmm...

I am really scatter brained right now but I wanted to share what I am reading in Daniel which really hit me hard and made me realize more and more that I want this as a man of God.
Daniel 6:4-10 "Then the other administrators and high officers began searching for some fault in the way Daniel was handling government affairs, but they couldn't find anything to criticize or condemn. He was faithful, always responsible, and completely trustworthy. So they concluded, "our only chance of finding grounds for accusing Daniel will be in connection with the rules of his religion." So the administrators and high officers went to the king and said, "Long live King Darius! We are all in agreement - we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers and governors - that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human - except to you, your majesty - will be thrown into the den of lions. And now, your majesty, issue and sign this law so it cannot be changed, an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked." So King Darius signed the law. But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God."


I would encourage you to read more but I want to stop there for now and just go on with my point.  How awesome is that? Daniel was a man that just wanted to be the Lord's man.  He had seen what God can do to the highest of rulers and he had seen much of God and heard from him.  I want to be just like Daniel, when I hear that one day it is illegal to worship God....go behind closed doors and do as I always do, kneel before God.  But I can tell you I am far from that courage and boldness.  The reason why I bring this up is I just want to make sure this isn't just a heart check for me.  Since God is unchanging, all that He is doesn't change.  So why would we change our worship and devotion to Him?

I want to wrap it up with this passage in Daniel in the middle of chapter 9 verse 22 toward the end Gabriel a messenger of God comes to Daniel and he gives him a message...."And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God." WE ARE PRECIOUS TO GOD!!!! Ya you know, the one who made everything... the one who keeps everything that lives ALIVE.... That is how precious...

So to wrap all this up, we are precious to God, so the next time you have a minute, STOP and thank God for making you precious, it says that His thoughts for you are outnumbered and He never stops those thoughts....

He did what?

Hey all, how goes it? I have been MIA recently, I am back down in San Diego hanging with the folks and working as much as possible(which isn't much ha.) But I am reading through John right now and came across the story of Lazarus.

The story of Lazarus can be found in John 11:1-44, since it is so long I will paraphrase and share with you what is going on in my life with this snippet from scripture.

So Lazarus is a great friend of Jesus and Lazarus has two sisters, Martha & Mary who truly understand who Jesus is, the Son of God, the Messiah and so they all have a great relationship.  Since Lazarus was ill, I am sure it was something serious, such as pneumonia.  His sisters sent word to Jesus that his great friend and their brother is dying! But Jesus ends up staying where He is. He finally makes His way to Lazarus.  Meanwhile, Lazarus has been dead now for 4 days and many of the townspeople are in the house mourning, including Mary and Martha, but Martha gets word that Jesus is near so she runs out to meet Jesus, probably out of breath and attempting to explain everything in one breath.... 21"Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died." HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART ... Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life, anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying, do you believe this Martha? Martha says, Yes, Lord, I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God. Then Mary comes out to meet Jesus, saying the same thing, "Lord if only you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping with everyone from the house, a deep anger welled up within Him and he was deeply troubled." Jesus ends up raising Lazarus from the dead, 4 days of out cold, dead, no pulse.

So let me cut to the chase(I never understood that phrase but nonetheless I'm gonna cut!) In our lives, in mine specifically, just like Martha, we know who Jesus is, we have seen His power in our lives, His faithful love and pursuit of our lives.  But yet, we still question Him when He doesn't show up, GOD WHY! Why is this happening? It is such an easy problem to fix, just do this and it will be all better.  But nope, God has other plans and we know that He is perfect and good, but how many times do we question? But what does our Lord do? He brings glory to His name by raising someone from the dead... now if I were to ask you... what is greater, healing someone from a sickness or raising them from the dead? But yet I so often get caught up in the healing part(metaphor) versus the raising of the dead.  I am writing this because I want to encourage everyone out there that we don't know the end product of what is going on in our lives, could be small, could be big.... but if you give God the glory He will make it 10,429 times better.  Isaiah 55 says... "For as the heavens are above the earth so are God's thought above ours." God is so much bigger than anything we could ever comprehend and He is way bigger than death, love, relationships, finances, struggles, and sin.

He raised a man from death!


Be encouraged!

Current Readings

It's Christmas break, and I finally found myself at a computer. First off, I freakin love Christmas.(enough said) But my favorite part about Christmas is 2 things, Jesus & Christmas morning breakfast...my Nana knows how to fill a lonely stomach on a joyful morning. Did I mention the elf? If you don't like the Elf, something is wrong with you.

OKAY! to the good stuff....

I finally have a chance to catch up with some reading, like most of you I am sure, I try to read one book at a time but somehow end up with 3? Go figure... Well I just finished one book but I am currently reading 3 books(set aside the Bible, which is always in use)

The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence.

I have read this book before but, rereading it has been a whole new experience and I would highly suggested it if you want to better understand how to enjoy the Lord's presence.  One of my favorite passages from it so far (considering I am only on pg 30)

"That the most excellent method he had found of going to God was that of doing our common business without any view of pleasing men and purely for the love of God. That it was a great delusion to think that the times of prayer ought to differ from other times; that we are as strictly obliged to adhere to God by action in the time of action as by prayer in the time of prayer. That his prayer waws nothing else but a sense of the presence of God, his soul being at that time insensible to everything but divine love; and that when the appointed times of prayer were past, he found no difference, because he still continued with God, praising and blessing Him with all his might, so that he passed his life in continual joy."

The book is all of 110 pages long and is a to the point, encouraging, but challenging book by a monk.

The other I am reading is Sex Is Not The Problem, Lust Is by Joshua Harris, this book is highly recommened for all the men out there, in terms of understanding the obvious title and understanding the true intentions that God has placed inside of us.  And also how much God is after our hearts and how much he wants our undivided passions. 

 

So I know I said I am reading three books, but the third is a devotional, in which i'll always be reading but the third is a book called Radical, which a friend gave me and I REALLY REALLY want to start reading it but I know I have to finish these two first!

I would recommend these both and if you read this and have any books to recommend I am always in need of stocking my book shelf, coming from a guy who hated reading up until my first year of college, go figure! If you could also be praying for two friends.  One is in Africa and has been the last 5 months and is on a mission trip that was totally a God thing.  And the other is in Haiti for a week, just be praying that there times there are blessed and especially safety.

Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life."

He anticipates our needs

"Thou, O God, has prepared of Thy goodness for the poor."

I read this a couple nights ago and i finally get it now that i went through it...let me elaborate....
This weekend my bank account went...lets just say.... Low! ha, But it wasn't until after I threw a pity party for myself that I realized why it happened.  Asking questions such as where is my true identity? Who am I trusting? and what is coming about from this?  It is so easy to compare ourselves to the world and when we don't measure up, we lose focus on God, we allow our Joy to be stripped away and seem to be lost.  I was upset nonetheless, but that was the last thing God wanted me to do.... I ended up talking with my pastor and he went on to explain.... That I should have Joy in this situation for the fact that God brought this up in my life, and that my identity isn't in this world, it is not in my money or who supports me financially.  But trusting in Him..(provers 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, don't lean on your own understanding.") It was a perspective that is hard to look at in times of need and struggle but...God is good.  After our talk, God blessed me in a way that was by His timing and His alone.  My pastor and good friend, Kenny, reached for a sticky note on his desk, pulled it off and shook it like a polaroid pitch and told me someone named Jim needed some yard work done and that I could have it if I wanted.  How could I have ever doubted Him? Isn't it funny how we as humans think we are in the right more often than not? that we see ourselves better than we really are?  Thank goodness for His Grace.

All God's gifts are prepared gifts laid up in store for wants foreseen. He anticipates our needs; and out of the fulness which He has treasure up in Christ Jesus, He provides of His goodness for the poor. You may trust Him for all the necessities that can occur, for He has infallibly foreknown every one of them. He can say in all conditions, 'I knew that thou wouldst be this and that.' A man goes on a journey across the desert, and when he has made a day's advance, and pitched his tent, he discovers that he wants many comforts and necessaries which he has not brought in his baggage. "AH!" he says, "I did not foresee this: if I had this journey to go again, I should bring these things with me, so necessary to my comfort." But God has marked with prescient eye all the requirements of His poor wandering children, when those needs occur, supplies are ready. It is goodness which He has prepared for the poor in heart, goodness and goodness only. "My grace is sufficient for thee." "As thy days, so shall thy strength be."

To-Do lists

Well, today I counted and I have 9 days of studying left and 4 days of class... including finals.  The things that need to be done in my life have officially exceeded the length of my to-do list.  As I start my Monday(with so much enthusiasm) I am already feeling weighed down by the stress of the things that need to be done from...white elephant gifts, to grocery shopping, to studying(big one) to getting ready for Christmas, Oh did I mention bible studies? I don't know where I would be without a To-Do list....

I am sure you are reading this and saying, Scott, really? that is ALL you have to do? ....Yes, but everyones gauge is a little different in terms of being overwhelmed.  Today before I even look at my list or start my day in terms of the things on that list, I wanted to post something that is mostly for me and may help you today as well....

The realization of how self we all are....for instance, my "To-Do" list is MY! list, not yours or yours or his.... Today I am making it my goal to put at least 1 thing on my list that doesn't involve what I have to do... whether it be serving someone, being a listening ear, I am waiting for the Lord to show me, but I would encourage you to find something on your list or in your day that isn't involving you.

Romans 15:3 "For even Christ didn't live to please Himself....."

Excuse me, may I ask you a question?

If you were to die within 24 hours, where would you be Heaven or Hell?

Jesus says in John 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life, and will not be condemned, he has crossed over from death to life."

John 11:25 "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying."

You're worth it to Him

"I am my Beloved's and His desire is for Me."

Song of Solomon 7:10

In this moment do you believe that Jesus Christ loves you? That He loves you beyond fidelity and infidelity that He loves you in the morning sun and the evening rain, without caution or regret, boundary, limit, no matter what has gone down, He can't stop loving you, this is the Jesus of the Gospels, the Gospels of my own journey, this is the Christ who I've met in my own life.

F stands for Forgraceness

It isn't until we find ourselves falling short of perfection and of holiness until we realize how stuck we are in sin, how ugly and wretched sin makes us.  We always seem to slipping up here or there. No matter how hard we try to live this life sinless, we find ourselves filled with guilt and shame. Do you have ever those moments in life, where this Grace&Forgiveness give you a nice, stiff arm to the chest? This weekend has been one where I have been hit hard with this question & feeling. But in Ephesians 1:7 it says.... "The forgiveness of sins, accord to the riches of His grace."

From the words of the late great C.H. Spurgeon "Could there be a sweeter word in any language than that word 'forgiveness' when it sounds in a guilty sinner's ear, like the beautiful harps playing at heaven's door.  Blessed, for ever be the pardon which shines into the condemned cell, and gives the perishing sinner a gleam of hope amid the midnight hour.  Can it be possible that sin, such sin as mine, can be forgiven, forgiven altogether and forever? Hell is my portion as a sinner - there is no possibility of my escaping from it while sin remains upon me - can the load of guilt be uplifted, this crimson stain removed? Can these prison doors be lifted from their hinges? Jesus tells me....Yes....forever blessed be the revelation of this atoning love which only tells me that forgiveness is possible, but that it is secure to all who rest in Jesus. What joy is this! What bliss to be a perfectly pardoned soul! My soul dedicates all its power to Him who of His own unpurchased love became my surety, and has produced for me redemption through His blood. What riches of grace does free forgiveness exhibit! To forgive at all, to forgive fully, to forgive freely, to forgive forever! When I think of how great my sins were, how dear were the precious drops which cleansed me from them, and how gracious was the method by which forgiveness & pardon was sealed to me, I am in a maze of wondering worshipping affect. I bow before the throne which absolves me, I clasp the cross which delivers me, I serve henceforth all my days the God who I am this night a pardoned soul.'

Accord to the RICHES.... Jesus has endless amounts of grace&forgiveness for you.... so whatever it is that is holding you back, know that you cannot do this life alone, that you will always fall short, but oh blessed is they who looks upon the loving gaze of Jesus asking for forgiveness&grace from Him who was and is and is to come. (He will never turn you down) 

Blindfold me Lord

Blindfold me Lord
Blindfold me Lord, because I no longer want to see with my eyes. I want to see with yours
Blindfold me Lord, because I want to have to trust
Blindfold me Lord, I want you to lead.
Blindfold me Lord, so that I won't rationalize things.
Blindfold me Lord, because I want to follow.
Blindfold me Lord, because I want you to hold my hand.
Blindfold me Lord, so that my faith continues to grow.
Blindfold me Lord, because I want to please you
Blindfold me Lord

Jesus, let me learn by paradox
The way down is up,
That to be low is to be high,
That the broken heart is the healed heart,
That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
That the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
That to have nothing is to possess all,
That to bear the cross is the wear the crown,
That to give is to receive,
That the valley is the place of vision
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from the deepest wells,
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
Thy life in my death,
Thy joy in my sorrow,
Thy grace in my sin,
Thy riches in my poverty,
Thy glory in my valley.