Infinite gifts, from the Infinite Savior.

"Long ago, even before He made the world, God chose us to be his very own, through what Christ would do for us; He decided then to make us holy in his eyes, without a single fault-- we who stand before Him covered with His Love." Ephesians 1:4.

We were made from God's love, right? We were made holy through Christ. God sees us as His children, his perfect children. We are covered in His Love. If you think about it, that's a LOT of love. I mean, a whole lot. For Him to take us, give up His only son for us, to make His only son suffer for what we did, do, and will do, is insane. Our God is insane. Completely insane. I love it, I can't get over it, but I'm totally in love with Him.

The song "How He Loves" is playing in my ears right now. We are his portion. He is our PRIZE. That part gets me thinking. He's our prize.. His love is our prize and we've already got it. What did we do to deserve it though? He gave Himself, His son, and His love to us, to save us from sin, from the evil in the world, from Satan himself. All we have to do is follow God, listen to Him when He tells you that your world is about to be rocked, and move when He says move. God had a purpose for sending His son to save us. Long before He made you, me, or President Obama. This was his purpose.

".. When the time is ripe He will gather us all together from wherever we are -- in Heaven or on Earth -- to be with Him in Christ, forever." Ephesians 1:10.

So, He saves our lives, puts up with all the junk in our lives, handles all the good, bad, and ugly, and He still wants to spend eternity with us.. It says in the Bible that because of what Christ has done we have become GIFTS to God that He actually delights in, as a part of His plan we were chosen from the beginning to be His. We are God's gift? I always saw it as the other way around, but when you back up and look at it from a broad, open perspective, God saved us because He wants us, He obviously loves us, so we have to be of importance to Him. We mean the world to Him, He is showing that to us with everything He does.

"Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20.

God is all around you, up, down, behind, in front. Check the backseat, He's there too. He's not going to leave you, but you have to notice that and recognize that He is with you, in order to prosper and live in the Lord and his grace.

Learning that God is with you, is the safest feeling in the world. Knowing that He won't let anything move you or hurt you, lets you know that you are protected. That you are impervious to the sin around you. Our God is great, in everything He does.

He hit me hard tonight, showing me His word and opening my eyes to a view I haven't seen in a while. We are saved by Jesus' blood and that's a gift we seriously can't afford to miss.

Untouchable.

"This Good News tells us that God makes us ready for Heaven -- makes us right in God's sight -- when we put our faith and trust in Christ to save us. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As Scripture says it 'The man who finds life will find it through trusting God' " Romans 1:17.

Trusting God is the easiest thing for me to do, I'd say 97% of the time. That other 3%, well in that little percent, trusting God is sketchy at best. I fear that something isn't going to go the way I THINK it should. But, you know what's so funny about that? God doesn't care about what I think is right. Because, HE KNOWS what is right. HE KNOWS when I should or shouldn't do something, go someplace. HE KNOWS everything. Everything. Everything. Off of the top of my head, I can think of the last time where I began to question what was going on in my life. Becoming an intern was a difficult decision for me to make. I mean, it was the best thing I believe I can do in my teenage life. I have grown significantly in my faith and really opened myself up to God. I understand now that trusting God is the only way I can find true life. The only way I can find God.

"And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you." Psalm 9:10.

Trusting God is one of the biggest parts of your faith. Being able to throw caution to the wind and go against anything anybody ever says, just because God says to, is awesome. Believing that God is right in this, that you should do what you are told, is even more awesome. I don't have a problem listening to what God tells me to do, listening to where he tells me to go, that's not a problem. The problem is following through with it, that can seem difficult. You can be torn down, ripped apart by the people around you. It can seem like the world is against you, like you are fighting everybody, just to survive. Well, God told you to do it, He led you there for a reason. Why turn back because of someone on Earth, someone who doesn't know God, or  His grace? Trusting His words, His light AND following through with it is awesome.

"I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13.

Christ gives you strength when no one else can. He gives you the ability to do things no one else dreams of doing. He gives you your gifts, your callings because He knows only you can perform them to his liking and he isn't going to give you instruction and not back you up. Knowing God has my back, in every battle I face is the only motivation I need, the only motivation that can keep me in it, keep me standing every time I fall. My God is the only thing in my life I can say is 150% certain. 150% guaranteed. The only one I can depend on no matter what.

Have faith in God. Put your trust in Him. His track record is perfect. As long as you're with Him, under his guidance and love,  you're untouchable.

His awesome terror.

"O God, there are two things I beg you not to do to me; only then will I be able to face you. Don't abandon me. And don't terrify me with your awesome presence." Job 13:20-21.I was just skimming through Job this evening. Saw this. Fell in love. I'm not sure why but I am extremely in love with this. Terrifying, awesome presence. Who do you know with a terrifying, awesome presence? I'm at a loss for words. I expected to get on Blogger, type in that verse and the rest would just stream out. Like, it usually does. I'm good at babbling on, even over the internet. But, tonight. I'm stuck. Kinda like writers block. Kinda like my brain just farted out my ability to process thoughts. I know that God is amazing. I know that God sent His only son Jesus, to save us from.. well ourselves. I know that God forgives you, no matter what. That explains the "awesome" part. But, the terrifying part.. I know you should fear God, be afraid of everything he is capable of.. Yet love him with all your heart, mind and soul. He is quite confusing. That's what makes believing in Him and having faith in Him, so exciting, so amazing, so wonderful. Being able to completely trust someone who has the power and ability to tear your world apart.

Psalms 33: 8. "Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him." Ecclesiastes 3:14. "I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him."

Deuteronomy 6:5. "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your mind, heart and entire being and with all your might." 1 Corinthians 8:3. "But if one loves God truly, he is known by God."

See what I'm getting at.. God, is simply amazing. Simply awesome. Simply terrifying. We need to fear God, love God and simply stay in awe, in wonder of all He can do. Of everything He has already done. I know this a shorter blog, but I think I have made my point. God is dangerous, in my opinion, that's what makes Him so loveable.

Pleasing God..

It's late. I've brushed my teeth, put on my deo and said my evening prayer. But, here I am. Sitting in the dark, typing away, burning up these laptop keys. I had this feeling, this urge to come and blog about what I read earlier in the Bible.. I was sitting on the sofa this afternoon, watching these kids play, bouncing around the house, "rasslin" as my great grandmother calls it. I don't know why, but it made me want to read the book of Romans. Maybe because it talks about power and when I think about "rasslin" I think power. It talks alot about God's power. His power over us, over sin. It talks about how we receive forgiveness through God's mercy. It's a big ole' book talking about how awesome and powerful God is.

I was stuck in chapters 5-8. These chapters are big on sin. About how we receive forgiveness for our sins. About how sin's power over us is broken. About how God's law reveals our sins. About how there is no condemnation in Christ. Chapter 8, Verse 3. "We aren't saved from sin's grasp by knowing the commandments of God, because we can't and don't keep them, but God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful, and destroyed sin's control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins.". This leaped out from the page at me. The minute I finished that, I pictured in my head Jesus on the cross, blood all over his body, beaten, bruised, the crown of thorns on his head. It hit me hard, I stopped reading, went upstairs and prayed. I thanked God, with everything I had, all that was in me, for giving his Son, his ONLY son, for me. Later that day, I picked back up where I left off. Chapter 8, verse 4. "So now we can obey God's law if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us.". Now that Jesus has died for us, now that He has sacrificed himself for our sins, we can live again, pure and through the Holy Spirit, we can be saved from sin. Verse 5. "Those who let themselves be controlled by their lower natures live only to please themselves, but those who follow after the Holy Spirit find themselves doing those things that PLEASE GOD.". Pleasing God, that's big. I want to do everything in my power, put all I have into doing what pleases God. I mean, that is the least I can do, right? After He gave up his son, for me.. It just seems right, seems like the logical thing to do. Verse 6. "Following after the Holy Spirit leads to life and peace, but following after the old nature leads to death." Verse 7 goes on to say. "Because the old sinful nature within us is against God. It never did obey God's law and it never will." We all sin, we all slip up and do things out of our "old, sinful nature". That's why God gave up his son, so that no matter how many times we slip up, no matter how many times we fall. He will always be there, lifting us back up, helping us and pointing us in the direction we need to go. All we have to do is try our hardest to please God. We do that and we get peace, we get life. That seems like a pretty nice offer to me. Of course, could you expect anything less from such a generous God?

Get in touch.

I like to run. It's a great way to exercise, get yourself into shape and it's really quite enjoyable. I would rather run outside, in nature than on a treadmill. Mainly because you get more of a workout with the various inclines and such. But more so than that. When I run outside I'm constantly looking around, checking out my surroundings, scoping out the environment. It really makes me think about God. How he made all of it. My last blog touched on this a little. God made Earth. He placed us where we are with what we have for a reason.

 I truly envy treehuggers. The nature freaks, the ones that don't have running water or toilets. Because they are more in touch with what God created than any of us. We have surrounded ourselves with technology, things to keep us entertained. We have smart phones, television, computers, video games. All of these things were created by people to keep us entertained. I don't know many treehuggers that own an xbox or a laptop. They love the outdoors. They stay entertained by walking around, enjoying what God put in front of them, they admire the little things, flowers, lakes, animals. They are in touch with God's surroundings. I know people that sit around and play games or stay on the computer for 17 hours a day. I'm not saying that is a terrible thing. I'm just saying we need to learn to open our eyes and notice our world. God created this for us, why take advantage of it? Why overlook it?

Sitting outside, either on the front porch, back deck or even in the street is a great way to see what God placed in our lives, too visualize what He's created for us. I love, I mean LOVE reading outside. There really isn't much better than finding a good book and going outside and just reading. The birds chirping, the kids playing. They just add to the intensity of it. I would've never thought that just being outside could be so amazing, so awesome. One day I just really opened my eyes and looked. I saw that what God has done and it is absolutely insane. Insane, in the most jaw dropping, awestruck way. In my mind, the smallest things can make the biggest impact. Just walking around the neighborhood, looking at the way the grass moves when the wind blows over it just right or how the birds fly is awesome.. I personally couldn't be a tree hugger. Running water is a pretty big priority in my life. But, I feel like we should all stop taking advantage of our surroundings and get in touch with what God placed in our lives.

It takes two to tango, one warrior and one God.

So, I've been reading In a pit with a lion on a snowy day by Mark Batterson, the lead pastor at NCC, a pretty successful multisite church in the D.C. area. This book is awesome. It's real. I mean this guy talks about stepping up to your fears, unlearning them. Chasing the lion in your life. It's crazy  how this book relates to not only myself, but I'm sure a gazillion others. He writes about being lion chasers like Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada. This guy wasn't just a lion chaser. He was a man. A warrior. He faced so many obstacles, so many lions, he never ran. He chased. I mean he killed the Moab's two mightiest men. These guys couldn't have been small. At all. I picture two burly, hairy, mean looking men, possibly missing a few teeth. He also killed a giant. He had a club. A very small weapon compared to the giant and his massive spear. It says he ripped the spear from his hand and killed him with it. I don't personally know anyone who can do that. Let alone this last one. One day, Benaiah decided to chase a lion. Yeah, a 500 pound piece of meat, with sharp claws and sharper teeth. He decided to chase the lion into a pit. I forgot to mention it was snowing. Still, he jumped into the pit and faced his lion. I wouldn't do that. Couldn't do that. Maybe that's why he became the Commander in Chief over Israel, not me.. Point being this guy was insane. In a good way, of course. He wasn't afraid. He didn't have fear. Because he knew one person had his back the entire time. He had total faith and completely trusted Him with his life. This guy, was God. Benaiah wasn't scared because he had faith and trust in God. He knew no matter what, he could chase those lions, unlearn those fears and he wouldn't have to play it safe because God had his back.

In the book, Mark says "God is in the business of.." quite a bit. Personally, I can't picture God as a business man. I don't think he has a closet full of fancy Italian made suits. A drawer full of long gross colored socks. I don't picture him walking through Heaven all spruced up carrying a black, leather briefcase. But, maybe He does dress up sometimes, on important occasions. I'll find out one day. But, Mark has a point. God is in the business of a lot of things. In fact, He's in the business of everything, everywhere. No matter what it is, God has a part in it being there. That blows my mind. Like completely and totally BLOWS MY MIND. How can one man do all this. Because, He isn't a man. He's much better than man. He created man. He is wayy better than anyone on Earth can dream of. Like, imagine THE perfect person. I picture Jesus. 33 years of no sin and then He dies for our sin, so our lives can go on. Well, Jesus is God's son. So God is like Jesus times infinity. That's why He can do all this. Be all over.

One of the chapters in this book talks about how playing it safe, is risky. He gives examples of people who risk it all, sacrifice everything. Job security, financial security, life dreams. EVERYTHING. Just to chase their lions. Abraham did it. Nehemiah did it. Benaiah did it. So, why is it so hard for us to do it? Because these people that I mentioned have complete faith in God. They trust God with their lives. They give up control. It takes two to tango, but only one person needs to lead. They realized that God needs to lead their lives, not themselves. These people, the ones who let God control it all. They know He knows what's best for them, He knows where they need to be. They make that sacrifice. They risk it all because they know God has control and He knows what is needed. We need to realize that. That God controls everything around us, the weather, the vegetation, what goes where and when it falls over. So, why not just let Him control us. He will take us to our lions, some of us may already be there. All we have to do is chase them. Let Him lead the tango.

Judgement..

     When I think about blogging, it reminds me of a food critic. Constantly writing, criticizing the society and judging almost everything around them. So, I don't want to feel like I'm judging things around me or even writing about other people, places or things around me because it makes me feel judgemental.

      In my mind though, He is extremely judgemental, not in a bad way but he knows everything you do at all times, he gives you a way to act, a way to treat yourself and if you don't act this way or follow these ways, you have sinned and personally, when I sin I feel like he is judging me. But if you happen to fall away from these guidelines, these ways that He has told us to be, fall away from Christ, you can always turn right back around, ask for forgiveness and believe it in your heart, mind and soul and be right back next to him. So, even though I picture him as being judgemental, He is also extremely forgiving, which is an odd combination that you rarely ever experience here. I truly beilieve that He is the only one that should really be allowed to judge people. We all do it though, even if it's just looking at the way someone is dressed and deciding that it isn't right or that they shouldn't be wearing those shorts with those Toms. I feel like this week I personally need to look at myself, judge myself in His image. I know I'm not perfect, not even close. But, if I take the time to view myself in His image, how He wants me to be, how he wants all of us to be. I may better myself somehow, become closer to him. I feel like if I do this, if I challenge myself, even in this minor case, I can push myself closer to the Light, closer to God. Along with what I'm being pushed to do in the internship, the challenges I face there, I think I need to push myself to be better, to do more for Him, in his image.

     There are positive judgments and negative ones. Like, judging animals at a dog show or being put before a judge and of course our final judgement in front of the Lord. But, there are also the negative ones such as judging others, comparing them to yourself. The Bible tells us not to judge negatively, but to do so with His image in mind. So, I feel like I can judge myself and others in His image, but I can't do so with negativity, jealousym anger etc..

     I was looking at Bible studies that talked more on Judgement online. I found one that talked about Judgement and Discernment. It really brings to life the difference between the postive and negative ways of  judging others. It talks about how the right type of judgement can bring forth spiritual growth and understandment.

     Matt 7:1-5 really stood out and went right along with what I am talking about. As I read it over, I realized it was talking about more than just judging myself, but also others when I'm no better. Making myself the hypocrite. We can easily find fault in others, but we can't do this without cause or to seem Holier than the one we judge, that brings along this self-righeous attitude which can sometimes lead to hateful habits and ways that God didn't create us to be, ways that aren't in His image.

     To sum things up, I guess I realized that judgement can be a bigger picture than what we see. It can mean more than we want it to and it can come out of your mouth making you sound like a hypocrite because while you judge other people's demons, yours are just as bad if not worse. So, personally, I'm going to judge others as little as possible and work on myself, become more like Him, fit myself into His image.