Our blog is moving

http://spiritualcatharsis.wordpress.com

We are moving this as we can update it from our Iphone via this new site which makes posting easier when God puts something on our hearts. :)

We are looking to see if there is a way to move the old posts over to the new site somehow :)

eye opener

do you ever have one of those moments where your eyes are opened up so wide that you just want to shut them and not be blinded by the bright light we call "ignorance of self?" well that happened to me today. a dear friend of mine help show me (in a very sincere and unassuming way) that i struggle with a sin that i didn't even know i struggled with.

pride. not like white pride or black pride or proud to be an american sort of pride. but the that's-great-sorry-to-hear-you-have-issues-but-let-me-tell-you-what's-going-on-in-my-life sort of pride. pride, in biblical terms, is when glory has been robbed from God and selfishly hoarded by ourselves! yeah, ouch!

let's think about this, perhaps you've said these phrases a few times:
* "i'm not as bad as somebody else"
* "i do more than somebody else"
* "i've been through more than somebody else"
* "i go to church/help at church a lot"
* "i volunteer"
* "i read my bible everyday"
* "i'm not as good as somebody else"
* "my life isn't worth living"
* "my problems are so big that nobody can help me"
* and the list can go on and on!

sure, some of these are not prideful things. but in context, are we glorifying God or are we looking for recognition from others. do we go to church for God? or because that's what we do as christians? do we volunteer to glorify God? or do we do it to improve a resume? or to feel good about ourselves?

the point is, whether in depressive stages of our lives or happy times, are we focused on what we are doing or what God is doing?

Encircled in the Arms of His Love

I was reading a talk tonight entitled "Encircled in the Arms of His Love", given by Neil A. Maxwell in 2002 and I wanted to share some of his points with you. He has so many points that are way over my own head, but some really touched my heart. Here are just a few of the ones that struck me:

• "God, who oversees the interlacings of galaxies, stars, and worlds, asks us to confess His hand in our personal lives, too (see D&C 59:21). Have we not been reassured about the fall of one sparrow and that the very hairs of our heads are numbered? (see Matthew 10:29–30; D&C 84:80). God is in the details! Just as the Lord knows all of His vast creations, He also knows and loves each in any crowd—indeed, He knows and loves each and all of mankind! (see 1 Nephi 11:17).

  Consider His tender salutations to Moses—"I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight" (Exodus 33:12)..."

• "Ignoring the revelations about God's astounding capacity is like playing aimlessly and contentedly with wooden blocks featuring the letters of the alphabet, without realizing Shakespearean sonnets were created using that same alphabet."
• These words of Anselm are thus such good counsel: "Believe in order to understand," rather than "understand [in order to] believe" (St. Anselm, trans. Sidney Norton Deane [1903], 7).

• "Mighty" changing, however, is mighty hard work, a labor made more difficult by heeding the unflattering urges of the natural man. Too often our possibilities have been muted by the mundane. We are scarcely ready for the vaulting revelations. Imagine—a spirit portion of each of us is actually eternal and that we were with God in the beginning! (see D&C 93:29, 33).

  Of course we cannot fully comprehend all this right now! Of course we cannot know the meaning of all things right now. But we can know, right now, that God knows us and loves us individually!"

Aren't those amazing quotes? I love that he says "God is in the details." I know that to be true. I am amazed on a daily basis how much I feel the Love of a Heavenly Father who knows me personally. I am so very thankful to know that prayer is a conduit for me to speak to Him and that he loves and knows me enough to influence me on what I need to do. I know we aren't all the same religion, but I wanted to share that I truly do have a strong testimony that:

• Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, and they are in charge of this world.

• They know me.

• They love me.

• They have a plan for my future.

• I will obey the commandments, work hard, and trust in their plan. Sooner or later, everything will be okay.

(Virginia H. Pearce, “Faith Is the Answer,” Ensign, May 1994, 92)

commit one, commit them all...

i know it's been awhile since my last post; partly due to my busy schedule and partly due to my own walk (or lack thereof) recently.

but i was reading through james 2 and there is a verse in there that has been weighing on my mind recently.

james 2:10
"for whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking it all."

sin is sin, whether big or small. but God treats them the same, this what makes him fair and just. part of me is scared by this, part of me is thankful for this. as humans, believer or not, we compare ourselves to others. we feel the need to minimize our own sin against others who have "bigger" or "more" sin in their life.

as for me, i sin. i sin everyday. sure, i'm not committing murder everyday, but in God's eyes that doesn't matter. the important thing to remember is to genuinely repent! repent in our hearts to God. ask Him for a clean and renewed heart. if we do this, He will forgive us.

but stop comparing yourself against others, sin is sin; big or small. get back on the bus and start over again. even if it is everyday you fall off, get back on everyday.

what if

what if we lived for each other instead of ourselves?
what if we stopped to say hi to the person who works next to us?
what if we picked up breakfast for the couple across the restaurant?
what if we helped the old lady across the street?
what if we loved as we are loved?
what if we said the last 10%?
what if extended a hand, instead of clenched a fist?
what if acted as we talk?
what if we were the person we claim to be?
what if we read our bible?
what if right and wrong didn't matter, but it was love that counted?
what if we got dirty?
what if prayed to remember what we've learned rather than hoping to learn more?
what if success was not measured by the number of zeros on our paycheck?
what if today was your last day and you didn't even know it?
what if we enjoyed life a little more with the ones we love?

what if we lived as God intended, not as we think we desired?

how would the world be a different place? how would you make a difference with your gifts?

are you a dirty person?!

tonight i had the opportunity to listen to and meet a man by the name of josh riebok. he is an incredible man of God and taught about the good samaritan in a way that i had not heard before. he asked a question that i thought i would pass it along...paraphrased, the question went like this.

What if we got dirty to carry out God's work? Are we a dirty person, willing to get all of the blood and dirt on us, to show God's love for others? Or are we a spotless clean person?

as christians we sometimes claim we show God's love to others. but in the case of the good samaritan, the samaritan bent down, cleaned a man's wounds, picked him up and took care of him for the night. this is God's love. getting down to help people, willing to dirty our "clean" clothes, to help care for those around us.

so i ask you;

are you a dirty person?

messianic prophesies...

first, i would like to define exactly what this is...because, honestly, i didn't fully understand it myself. as far as i can tell and in my brief research, a messianic prophecy is a prediction of the coming of Christ.

i'd like to tell you a quick story about why i learned about messianic prophecies. earlier this week, during my morning prayer and reading of the bible, i was reading zechariah chapter 11. i'm not sure why, but that's where God led me. it's a story of a shepherd who watches over a flock, and God asks the shepherd to feed the flock. but the flock eventually rejects the shepherd and the shepherd. the shepherd was frustrated by the flock's behavior and said, "I will not be your shepherd. let the dying die and the perishing perish. let those who are left eat each others flesh." the shepherd is paid 30 pieces of silver for his efforts. but God tells the shepherd to throw the 30 pieces of silver to the potter...and so he does it.

last night i was at a college service and the pastor mentioned that judah was paid 30 pieces of silver for turning over Jesus. i had heard this before, but now there was a connection. was it a coincidence? or something more? i went and talked with the pastor this morning and asked him if it was a coincidence. he read zechariah 11 and agreed that it was not a coincidence. that the shepherd in the story was a prediction of Jesus' work here on earth to "feed the flock", but was rejected and "paid" 30 pieces for his "efforts."

it was interesting talking with the pastor who explained that the salvation of the "flock" was only worth 30 pieces of silver. as he explained it to me, i could begin to see that zechariah 11 was in fact a prediction of Jesus' work here on earth.

i'm sure that there are a lot more prophecies in the bible. the book of isaiah is full of them. and even Jesus himself said that He came to fulfill the prophesies. but this experience in my life, only makes me want to dive into the bible further and find those correlations. not because i want to be smarter; rather gain wisdom of God's amazing 66 book love letter to His people, so that i may go out with confidence and reach souls. i encourage all of you to do the same...

not even fire...

some time ago, i heard the story of shadrach, meshach and abednego. before hearing the story of these three men, i thought my favorite story in the bible was about gideon. but then i heard about shadrach, meshach and abednego.

i don't remember where or when i heard this story exactly, but i find it to be a true testimony of faith and strength to follow God even when it is uncouth or in the face of danger. the story of shadrach, meshach and abednego takes place in the book of daniel, chapters 1-3. but the most fascinating part of the story is in daniel 3.

in short, the king of the time, nebuchadnezzar, had built a 90' tall statue for all the land to worship. he called for everybody to worship this statue at set times and if anybody did not worship this statue, they would be thrown into a furnace. as they were told, people worshiped the statue, except for shadrach, meshach and abednego. word got back to nebuchadnezzar that these three men were not worshiping the statue as they had been ordered to. so nebuchadnezzar sent for them. nebuchadnezzar asked them if it was true if they had not worshiped the statue as they had been ordered. their answer was one of wisdom, faith and strength.

they said, "nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves to you. if you throw us into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from the furnace...but even if God does not save us...we will not serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up."

WOW! can you imagine standing up to somebody of nebuchadnezzar's status and telling him, "nope, you're wrong. i don't care if you kill me, you're wrong."

anyways, back to the story...nebuchadnezzar was so infuriated by this statement, that he ordered the furnace to be fired to 7 times hotter than normal, and that shadrach, meshach and abednego be tied up to ensure they couldn't escape. the soldiers went to throw the three men into the furnace, but it was so hot, that they died and the three men fell into the furnace. at this moment, nebuchadnezzar jumped to his feet because there were 4 men walking around in the furnace! shadrach, meshach and abednego were walking in the furnace unharmed, no burns, not on fire...and the fourth man in the furnace? that was God.

upon seeing this, nebuchadnezzar called for shadrach, meshach and abednego to come to him. they were completely unharmed. nebuchadnezzar then made a new statement, that anybody who brings harm to these three men would be "torn apart and their house made a pile of stones" because they did not turn their back on God.

i think that this is a testament for how we should live our lives. so often some of us back down because christianity isn't cool...we don't want to be shunned from our society because we believe in a God who is above all things. and yet, shadrach, meshach and abednego were willing to die to prove their loyalty to God. what amazing story!

spiritual blessings and curses...

early on in my rededication to God, i heard a number of people talking about spiritual blessings and spiritual curses. as i had understood it, these blessings and curses are handed down from generation to generation. although i never really bought into the idea, it had piqued my curiosity because my family has struggled with some of the same "curses" from generation to generation.

as i've grown in my faith, i've learned a bit to discern what sounds good and what is biblical. i'm by no means saying that i'm an expert, but i've learned that i need to always refer to the bible and the context in the bible to develop an understanding of what is being said.

so this morning i decided to read a bit in ezekiel...i found chapter 18's subtitle of "God is fair" to be of interest, so i read that chapter. i was reminded of spiritual blessings and curses in this chapter...honestly, something that i had put to the back of mind. and as i read, i was interested by God telling ezekiel about a grandfather, a father and a son.

using the deeds of each of these people God explains how a man's salvation is not dependent upon his father's or grandfather's deeds. in a very brief paraphrase, God tells ezekiel that a grandfather can live right and good in God's eyes and enter into heaven. but his son could be evil and wicked and not make into heaven. furthermore, the son could reject his father's evil ways and live right and good and make into heaven.

does that make sense?

God is telling ezekiel that each man is judged by his own life, not the actions of his predecessors...nor does a man's actions necessarily carry down the family tree into future generations.

this is only part of ezekiel 18, but it was the part that stood out to me most...

conspiracy plot...part deux

in the wake of yesterday's verse, i decided to read a bit of ezekiel today. i don't know entirely why, other than i love the name ezekiel. i opened up to ezekiel 2 and was in awe of what i was reading...not in a bad way, but a good way.

the Lord says to ezekiel in chapter 2:

"human, I am sending you to the people of israel. the nation has turned against me and broken away from me...I am sending you to people who are stubborn and who do not obey."

ezekiel was asked by God to go up "against" the entire nation of israel. God told ezekiel:

"...they may listen, or they may not, since they are a people who have turned against me. but they will know that a prophet has been among them. you, human, don't be afraid of the people or their words. even though they may be thorny branches and stickers all around you, and though you may feel like you live with poisonous insects, don't be afraid. don't be afraid of their words or their looks, because they are people who turn against me. but speak my words to them. they may listen, or they may not, because they turn against me. but you, human, listen to what I say to you. don't turn against me as those people do. open your mouth and eat what I am giving you."

i believe that what God is telling ezekiel is incredibly powerful for those of us living today...if you recall yesterday, i had written about feeling like there are people around me who are trying to do harm to me. but if i just carry these words of God; to stand up, to speak His words and trust in Him, He will take care of me. the result may not be what i am looking for, but like God told ezekiel, they will know that a prophet was among them.

don't get me wrong, i am not saying that i am a prophet. but i do believe that people will know when God is speaking through somebody, or when somebody is speaking from their flesh.

to all those facing opposition and harm from the wolves in our lives, remember ezekiel 2. it's been reassuring to me this morning...hopefully it will comfort you too.

conspiracy plot

this morning i have felt like i'm surrounded by people who could potentially be doing harm to me. i'm not sure if this is intentional or not, but it's a feeling i have nonetheless. i prayed to God to give me wisdom to say the right things; to carry out the right actions.

after praying i flipped my Bible open and it landed on jeremiah 12...this chapter starts off with a great series of questions to God.

"...why are evil people successful? why do dishonest people have such easy lives? you have put the evil people here like plants with strong roots..."

but the Lord answers jeremiah's questions in such a poetic and yet definitive way...

"if you get tired while racing against people, how can you race against horses? if you stumble in a country that is safe, what will you do in the thick thornbushes along the jordan river? even your own brothers and members of your own family are making plans against you. they are crying out against you. don't trust them, even when they say nice things to you!"

later in jeremiah 12, God describes how he will "pull up" the evil and wicked people and "throw them out of their land." He even describes how He will teach these people a lesson, but if they do not learn their lesson, He will "pull it up completely and destroy it." He is talking about a nation riddled with evil people.

God's intent here is to protect His children who already give Him praise; and give the evil children a second chance to proclaim His name.

i think that jeremiah's questions were answered by God. i think that God's answer, though poetic, was very direct in saying that as believers in Christ, we are protected. that He will not let harm happen to us. similarly, i believe God is telling jeremiah; "leave the evil people to Me, I will take care of them. don't worry yourself with these people."

with my feelings this morning, i know that God had me read this passage for a reason. i need to let Him handle anybody who may be trying to harm me...and i just need to trust Him in that.

are we predestined?

lately i have had several conversations with a variety of people who believe that we are predestined by God. in other words, we have already been chosen by God to enter into the gates of Heaven or not. for me personally, i go back and forth on predestination. part of me would like to believe that we are not, but the other part of me says that we are because of some very descriptive verses.

one of these verses is from romans 8:28-29 states:

"For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified."

ephesians 1:11-12 states:

"In Him we were also chose, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory."

and perhaps the most powerful statement comes from ephesians 1:4-6:

"For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will - to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves."

i find these verses very interesting and they lead to a string of thoughts within me. as believers, we understand that God is a fair and just God. He does not play favorites. we also understand that there is nothing we can do to earn salvation. if God were to choose a person's salvation based on works, it would imply that God would have some sort standard of measure, correct? and if there is a standard of measure, we would have to admit that none of us are worthy of entering into the gates of Heaven. we all sin, we will always sin and therefore, we are deserving of Hell!

romans 3:28 says:

"For we maintain that man is justified by faith apart from observing the law."

ephesians 2:8-10 says:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. for we are God's workmanship, created in Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

titus 3:5 also says:

"He saved us, not because of righteous things that we had done, but because of His mercy..."

ephesians 2:10 even backs up that perhaps God had plans for us before we were even born.

so what if we are predestined? what if God has already chosen and known the names of people who will enter into His kingdom and serve Him in Heaven? wouldn't that mean that we really don't have free will?

in my opinion, no. we still do have free will. but God already knows how our life will end up. He will know the moments that we will return to Him, confess our sins, and take up our cross for Him. He knows who we will reach out to, He knows everything...everything!

but we are His tools, He still needs us to spread His word! He still needs us to reach out to others to make it known to them they are called by Him to become His tools here on earth as well.

i haven't completely bought into the idea of predestination, however, in reading a variety of scripture verses, i can't help but think that predestination is a reality.

where is the love?

i've been sitting at the dealership for about 1.5 hours now and have been watching the news channel that is on the television. the current topic of discussion is about happiness...particularly, they are discussing a study that describes the happiness of men vs. women. the study has shown that women are not as happy as men. they have interviewed several people and "gone out on the streets" to get some opinions. but as i watch this segment, i can't help but react.

many of the women they have interviewed have said that happiness is found in career advancement, higher education and the degrees associated with higher ed, and the overall competitiveness with men (a woman trying to make it in a "man's world"). one woman even said that happiness came from working her way up the corporate ladder so she could buy more things to make her happy.

all of this spins into an amazing world of marketing in which we live in. i passed by an ihop advert today that said, "come hungry. leave happy" and i can't help but feel sick by our society's constant drive to find happiness in things. in the case of ihop, i won't be happy unless i have a full stomach. and then i look around and see how obese our society is. consumer goods are no better. marketing would lead us to believe that we won't be happy unless we have the glorious experience of dyson vacuum cleaner or dove body wash.

even in my own life, i suffer from consumerism. i try to rebel against it, saying that "God is all i need." i try, but fail miserably at this. yet, God intends His children to need only Him! in my own life, i am bombarded by expenses and a dwindling bank account, yet i still try to grab hold of the american dream; i still worry about FICA scores and debt-to-income ratios.

why is it so difficult for us to reject what our society sees as "successful" and just rely upon what God will give us. does the Bible not say that if God will take care of the birds in the sky, how much more will He take care of us?

so here i am, listening to a bunch of "experts" describe how we "should" find happiness...and yet, God is not mentioned one bit. what they do mention is that to be happy we should focus on other "things" rather than the "things" we are focusing on. but no mention of God.

what would it look like if we really took action and lived out what God plans for us? what would our lives be if we focused on true happiness in God, rather than temporary happiness in things? to quote a buick commercial, "it's not the new lexus. it's not the new audi. it's not the new mercedes benz."

God as omnipotent...

last night i was at our tuesday night service here at school...overall the message was about joseph and his technicolor dreamcoat. not bad. i learned a lot about the time in Genesis chapters 37-59. but at the end, the young pastor stated this, and it got me really thinking!

"God's plan for us was not to be sinners, but to live here on earth in paradise. He wanted us to be with Him on Earth...He did not intend for us to be sinners."

i was like wow! that's a powerful statement. i wrote it down to think on it, research on it and challenge it. here's why i think this statement is untrue.

1) if God did not intend us to be sinners, wouldn't this mean that God is not omnipresent and omnipotent? if our life is not what God had intended from the creation of adam and eve, does that mean that God was surprised when adam and eve ate the apple? even to another level, wouldn't this mean that we would be able to hide things from God because if His creation did not turn out as planned, then there would be things that God doesn't know. He wouldn't be omnipotent and omnipresent!

now i realize, this a very surface level of challenge. and i wouldn't just challenge a statement, especially one this bold, without some biblical back up. so....

2) there are many references to God's omnipresence and omnipotence. God revealed to isaiah about the coming of Jesus many times.

exodus 9:16 reads "but i have raise you up for this very purpose, that i might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."

deuteronomy 4:37 says, "because He loved your forefathers and chose their descendants after them, he brought you out of egypt by His presence and His great strength..."

in john 13:18, Jesus says, "i am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. but this is to fulfill the scripture..."

and again in john 15:19, Jesus says, "if you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. as it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world..."

reading these passages and knowing a bit about the book of isaiah and the prophesies that have come to be true, i can't believe that God's plan for us didn't go as He had planned. by saying that "God did not intend for us to be sinners" is to admit that God did not have a plan for His creation. it would be like God had to fall back on "plan b" because adam and eve ate the apple. i don't see how this is possible. God knew what would happen. He had to.

Nehemiah

I spent a good portion of today preparing for the lesson I will be giving in church this Sunday and the talk I am leading a discussion on talks of Nehemiah from the Old Testament. I didn't know much about Nehemiah, but as I read about it, I loved something he said.

Nehemiah was being threatened and ridiculed for rebuilding his people's city in Jerusalem. The threats and persecution became very dangerous to the point where on 4 occasions, his enemies tried to lure him out of the city to do him harm. Each time his response was, 'I am doing a great work and so I cannot come down.'


Dieter F. Uchtdorf then expands by saying,

'What a remarkable response! With that clear and unchanging purpose of heart and mind, with that great resolve, the walls of Jerusalem rose until they were rebuilt in an astonishing 52 days.

Nehemiah refused to allow distractions to prevent him from doing what the Lord wanted him to do."

We live in times of great challenges and great opportunities. The Lord is seeking men like Nehemiah—faithful brethren ... He seeks to enlist unfaltering souls who diligently go about the work of building the kingdom of God—those who, when faced with opposition and temptation, say in their hearts, "I am doing a great work and cannot come down."

When faced with trial and suffering, they respond, "I am doing a great work and cannot come down."

When faced with ridicule and reproach, they proclaim, "I am doing a great work and cannot come down."

Our Heavenly Father seeks those who refuse to allow the trivial to hinder them in their pursuit of the eternal. He seeks those who will not allow the attraction of ease or the traps of the adversary to distract them from the work He has given them to perform. He seeks those whose actions conform to their words—those who say with conviction, "I am doing a great work and cannot come down."

I found the talk to be inspirational and wanted to share it with you!

critical thinking...

i know it's been a minute since i posted my last blog here on OWT. but it has been a crazy two months in the pursuit of God's plan for my life...

lately, i've been given the great opportunity to learn, read and hear several people speak God's Word. it has been amazing to learn so much. but one thing that i have noticed in my walk with Christ is this; the older i get and the more mature i become in my walk, the more i dive into the meanings of biblical passages.

for instance, i am now involved in co-leading a small group at our church for 11th and 12th graders...as a result, i need to be up on Bible stories. we are exploring the beatitudes, and this week i get to talk about the 2nd. "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." (Matthew 5:4)

when i read this, my first question was, "who am i supposed to mourn for?" i mean, after all, we mourn at funerals, therefore, we should mourn for somebody. but as i researched and studied, i found out that we are to mourn for our sins! God asks us to lament, to anguish over our sins. the result of mourning? going to our Heavenly Father and asking for a clean heart.

the second question i had was, "how will we be comforted?" and again after research and understanding, comfort comes in the form of God's grace. but this can only come after we mourn our since, repent of them, and ask Him to renew us!

so here's what it all leads up to...if we critically look at what we read, we can begin to understand just what God is trying to teach us. because He knows that i would have interpreted this passage as, "if i cry for a deceased relative, i will be given a big hug."

Hearing from God!

So lately I have been struggling a lot with life in general. Mostly just because there is so much going on in our life right now and it is requiring a lot of Faith and a lot of Waiting. I know in my heart that God will always provide, and realize that his provision is not always what we wish it to be but that he knows what is best for us. In this process I have realized I am a bit of a control/planning freak and that I am not as patient as I once thought I was. I have been praying for God to make things happen and continued to freak out until recently I have realized that God is trying to teach me patience through this time in our life and that he has all day to wait for me to be patient and give my issues up to Him. Having had a rough few months my sister and I decided to take a road trip to Prescott for a day and just hang out and look at antiques. On the way there I was talking with her about y revelation that God is teaching me patience and now that I realize this what I was planning to do to try and learn and get through his lesson. I had mentioned to her that I was also frustrated as I have only heard from God once in my life that I can recall and what he told me was amazing but that I get frustrated as I don't understand why I can't hear him. Today she sent me this email.

"Today I heard something that I wanted to share with you. It was about why sometimes we don't hear God's voice while we are going through trials. The saying said "The teacher doesn't speak while the test is given". This reminded her of when she was in high school. God says He will never leave you or forsake you. Even though you cannot hear Him it doesn't mean He is not there in the room with you. That "I" not God determine when the test is over. How do I do this? By praising Him in Joy, Singing His praises, Thanking Him, praying without ceasing and casting out worry and fear!

I have been trying my hardest to do this these last few days and today a break through, Today I finally one piece of the many puzzles I have to put together over the next few months, I received an answer.

Praise God! and I will continue to work in this area of my life to make myself stronger in the areas of Faith and Patience!

I will praise you in the storm!

A Poem to Ponder

M. Louise Haskins:

And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year:
“Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown!”
And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than [a] light and safer than a known way.”

I just thought it was a good reminder.

miracle...not miracle whip.

miracles...what are they? and do we see them in our days? we read about them in the Bible. we read about Jesus making blind people see or raising the dead. but do we see them in today's world?

according to my Bible ("the official duct tape Bible" new century version), a miracle is defined as a "'wonderful thing': a great event which can be done only by God's help. miracles are special signs to show God's power." Jesus wasn't the only person who performed miracles; He entrusted His disciples to perform miracles as well...

my wife and i were discussing miracles last night and whether or not they still happen. we see videos of demons being exorcised, we've heard stories from other believers of seeing demons exorcised. but in our own lives, we haven't seen miracles in the capacity like we read in the Bible. my brother-in-law and i were discussing miracles recently as well. we discussed the possibility that perhaps they happen more than we know because miracles don't make the news; evil, death and destruction does.

what if miracles made headlines more than not? would that change our faith? would that lead people to believe that God is here to save our souls? would we be a nation or a world of believers? rather than a nation/world of non-believers. if you've ever had a child you know the miracle of life. and if you've ever had a relative or friend die, you know the miracle of eternal life. sure we all attribute to near miss accidents as miracles. or seeing somebody on the verge of death and make a full recovery as a miracle. but what about healing miracles? what about casting out demons?

as a person who recently experienced a miracle, i can honestly say they still exist. i won't go into details, but i too, believed that miracles happen to others...people who have more faith than myself. but as a child of God, i am no different than anybody else. i'm no less nor no more prone to experiencing miracles than anybody else. God created us all equal. and therefore, He can do whatever He wants to whomever He wants...without showing preferential treatment.

be aware of the miracles around you, be it nature, our children, our families or our friends. you never know when a miracle so powerful from God hits you.

arrogance vs. passion

so today, i was engaged in a conversation with multiple people about Jesus and pastors; specifically joel osteen. i've heard quite a bit about joel lately and some opposing viewpoints about his way of preaching and teaching. so i became curious. i even showed 3 videos on my facebook that explored joel's "people focused" messages versus paul washer's "God focused" messages. being a fan of pastors like mark driscoll, paul washer and john piper (who's style is very different than joel's) i began to wonder why is that 7 million people are drawn to joel's sermons every week (this would include his television audience). i made a statement/asked a question why do people watch this man when it appears that he is only preaching what is known as the "prosperity bible"...that God is good; we are good people; and that God will bless us with prosperity and enriched lives if we only follow Him.

needless to say this sparked some heated debate. as it should and as i had hoped. see, i come from a perspective of always evaluating my faith. my biggest fear is blindly following a pastor because they teach what "i want to hear" rather than exploring pastors who may tell me what "i need to hear"...

now, i'm not using this blog to say that joel is wrong or right...or any other pastor for that matter. but what did come to my attention is my attitude. and so i thought, "there is a fine line between passion and arrogance." i'm on fire for God; i believe there is an urgency in the world to spread God's Word to as many people as possible, because we do not know when Jesus will come again.

by definition, arrogance is stated as such:
"offensive display of superiority or self-importance; overbearing pride"

likewise, passion is defined as such;
"any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as love or hate; a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything"

so in my search and in my observation, some of my comments may have come off as arrogant...whereas, i saw them as passionate. as a child of God, the last thing i want to do is mislead or disrespect people. similarly, i expect this out of the pastors, who are called by God, to reach people. i fear that people worship pastors and think God is the gravy on top of the mashed potatoes. that they go to church to hear a man speak and miss the message.

i'm not sure all of this makes sense...and i'm definitely not trying to create any more division in the church than there already is. i don't think any one person or pastor has it right. but as my brother-in-law stated, the only shepard who had it right was Jesus. ultimately, i cannot judge, for that is His job. i can only ask and continue on this journey, persuing God's Word as He has intended it. i will fall, i will meet people who are more versed in the Bible than i. i will meet people less versed than i. but it is not for me to judge...and therefore, "there is a fine line between passion and arrogance."