I have been sleeping every night at 4am-ish. There's not a need in the world for this.
I thought about a lot of stuff today.
Am I satisfied with where I am going now?
Can I accept the sacrifice of basketball in my life?
Can't I ask and let God lead me where He wants me to go?
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Conviction & Loving
I have the privilege of reading into so many convicting things (mostly blogs) on a regular basis. People pouring their hearts out about God, their life, and others. It's quite the look into someone's life. It goes deeper and fuller than any regular out-of-the-blue conversation that you might have with most of the people in your life. It's almost what I desire in real life with people. I almost wish we could be so close together that we would not hold back from each other with the love that we've been given. However, I do understand why this isn't the wisest thing. We don't have that feeling of love in our hearts all the time, right? If we as human beings could only pour out love, or else nothing at all, we then might be stuck with many dry, sapped-out conversations and relationships. We have that little love inside of us. Sad, but true.
What can we do? Well, all we can do is increase in our love. That kind of love is only found in Christ Jesus. We can't really do it any other way. I'm sure you've tried just as much as I to do it ourselves. He is the name above all names and He is love. He died on the cross and "took it like a man" instead of walking away from it. Many questioned why He didn't call upon legions of angels to destroy haters or cry out to be saved if He was truly the Son of God. Listen, you and I, we're the ones that received the gift of relationship with God through Christ dying on the cross. We can love by just knowing and accepting the love that was first shown to us. That's it. Like I said earlier, you might read this- and see the words that I write, my conviction, my life poured out onto digital ink. I pray that you would receive conviction instead of burden. Burdens must leave so that convictions may enter. Eventually, I pray that you may cast your burdens upon Jesus Christ. Amen.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-Romans 6:23
What can we do? Well, all we can do is increase in our love. That kind of love is only found in Christ Jesus. We can't really do it any other way. I'm sure you've tried just as much as I to do it ourselves. He is the name above all names and He is love. He died on the cross and "took it like a man" instead of walking away from it. Many questioned why He didn't call upon legions of angels to destroy haters or cry out to be saved if He was truly the Son of God. Listen, you and I, we're the ones that received the gift of relationship with God through Christ dying on the cross. We can love by just knowing and accepting the love that was first shown to us. That's it. Like I said earlier, you might read this- and see the words that I write, my conviction, my life poured out onto digital ink. I pray that you would receive conviction instead of burden. Burdens must leave so that convictions may enter. Eventually, I pray that you may cast your burdens upon Jesus Christ. Amen.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-Romans 6:23
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Romans 8
This is related to the last post. I know you don't really want to read
the rest of this, because it's long, but trust me. Just read a little
bit of it.
Life in the Spirit
1So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. 3The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.
So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body
like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to
sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4He
did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully
satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead
follow the Spirit.
5Those
who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but
those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that
please the Spirit. 6So
letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But
letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9But
you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the
Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that
those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong
to him at all.) 10And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11The
Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just
as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your
mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
12Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. 13For
if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of
the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15So
you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead,
you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17And
since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with
Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we
must also share his suffering.
The Future Glory
18Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. 19For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23And
we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us
as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be
released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the
day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)
26And
the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know
what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with
groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30And
having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called
them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them
right standing, he gave them his glory.
Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love
31What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34Who
then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was
raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s
right hand, pleading for us.
35Can
anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer
loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry,
or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36(As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) 37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39No
power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all
creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is
revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Boys
This is going to be thought dump, but I want to put something out there.
I think every guy that I have talked to wrestles with something called lust. I don't know the depth of the wrestling- we don't really talk about it. The silence sometimes leads me to doubt that there are many who struggle with it, even though I know others do.
It's the kind of thing that leads you to doubt your own salvation- it's a reality check. You say- I can't keep going on sinning all the time if I've been given new life. "What kind of new life is that?" we ask.
I think that many of us want to be men of God who don't seem to have this struggle. "Men of God" and "struggles" don't usually fit into the same sentence in our minds. Whomever we marry- we hope to be fully committed and faithful them, without exception. But when we're messing up even before that point, we can't help but to constantly think about how unprepared and how big of failures we are. To us, we're letting down God, our spouses, and ourselves, all at the same time, over and over.
When we ask for forgiveness, we only feel like it covers us temporarily, until we mess up again. Then we become dull to the whole cycle, as it repeats itself. It can lead us to the brink of the the abyss. Don't slip any further, it's the point of no return.
Admittedly, I have struggled through this.
--
HOWEVER,
"Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do" Romans 8:12
Concisely put, Christians are no longer bound by the flesh, but rather the new Spirit. However, they can still act like they still are. Non-Christians are simply bound by flesh and do not have the ability to disobey it.
You see, we're all the same... but some are also not. We can both go down a way that leads to death. However... as those who have been bought by Christ, we have a choice for a path that leads to life. Now and forever.
--
What?
The funny thing is, once you realize that you have been permanently covered (as opposed to temporarily covered), you can start to find yourself leading a life of freedom that ends up naturally wanting to choose the path to life. This road looks brighter and more appealing than it did before. The other road still exists and can be travelled on... but it's appeal has waned.. it's power squelched.
Listen, we were never meant to achieve perfection in it of ourselves. That will never happen. However, we were given a new way to receive it through Jesus. In this way, he asks us to walk in a close and intimate relationship with him, walking out into the good things he has planned for us.
We must remind ourselves of the things we have forgotten.
Our new lives are lived simply through reminders. Simply through faith in truths. This is only able to be received, not bought... but given, and never earned. It is something that can only be too-good-to-be-true, unless it is actually true.
Boys will be boys... but then some will become men, through faith.
I repeat, through faith.
I think every guy that I have talked to wrestles with something called lust. I don't know the depth of the wrestling- we don't really talk about it. The silence sometimes leads me to doubt that there are many who struggle with it, even though I know others do.
It's the kind of thing that leads you to doubt your own salvation- it's a reality check. You say- I can't keep going on sinning all the time if I've been given new life. "What kind of new life is that?" we ask.
I think that many of us want to be men of God who don't seem to have this struggle. "Men of God" and "struggles" don't usually fit into the same sentence in our minds. Whomever we marry- we hope to be fully committed and faithful them, without exception. But when we're messing up even before that point, we can't help but to constantly think about how unprepared and how big of failures we are. To us, we're letting down God, our spouses, and ourselves, all at the same time, over and over.
When we ask for forgiveness, we only feel like it covers us temporarily, until we mess up again. Then we become dull to the whole cycle, as it repeats itself. It can lead us to the brink of the the abyss. Don't slip any further, it's the point of no return.
Admittedly, I have struggled through this.
--
HOWEVER,
"Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do" Romans 8:12
Concisely put, Christians are no longer bound by the flesh, but rather the new Spirit. However, they can still act like they still are. Non-Christians are simply bound by flesh and do not have the ability to disobey it.
You see, we're all the same... but some are also not. We can both go down a way that leads to death. However... as those who have been bought by Christ, we have a choice for a path that leads to life. Now and forever.
--
What?
The funny thing is, once you realize that you have been permanently covered (as opposed to temporarily covered), you can start to find yourself leading a life of freedom that ends up naturally wanting to choose the path to life. This road looks brighter and more appealing than it did before. The other road still exists and can be travelled on... but it's appeal has waned.. it's power squelched.
Listen, we were never meant to achieve perfection in it of ourselves. That will never happen. However, we were given a new way to receive it through Jesus. In this way, he asks us to walk in a close and intimate relationship with him, walking out into the good things he has planned for us.
We must remind ourselves of the things we have forgotten.
Our new lives are lived simply through reminders. Simply through faith in truths. This is only able to be received, not bought... but given, and never earned. It is something that can only be too-good-to-be-true, unless it is actually true.
Boys will be boys... but then some will become men, through faith.
I repeat, through faith.
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