Giving Due Credit

     God is known for his powerful history altering works, but God works much more in our lives than we could possibly realize. God is subtle and exact, leaving nothing to chance, letting no detail fall from sight. At Jesus' birth, His only visitors were mere shepherds. Yet by these humble men, these "low of the low," he shared the message of His son's birth with the entire world. He was born in a city the equivalent of Dothan for its day, but from Bethlehem he arose to Jerusalem, Washington DC.
     But this does not even scrape the surface of how much wisdom and careful planning went into the human life of Christ. As Jesus came, He fulfilled hundreds of prophecies written down over five hundred years before his birth. God is in control people. He hasn't left; He is here watching over each and every one of us.

This year, let us reflect on all that God has given to us and how much we have given back to Him. Let us take a little time from our busy holiday schedules, to thank God for all He has done in our lives, give credit where credit is surely due.

One Man's Perspective on Spiritual Warfare

    

     There is a young boy who attends our church with his mother and sister. This boy has been kicked out of several schools for threatening behavior, some episodes which ended with a visit to the hospital. He is the kindest most well behaved boy I have ever met, but then a darkness comes over him, he goes for blood. He has threatened to kill his mother, sister, and several others, and has attempted to do so on more than one occasion. In these episodes he speaks with the vocabulary and grammar of a grown man.
     Many in our church fear for their own safety. However, I am more concerned with his. This is not the behavior of a child. This is demonic possession.

Fast Fed Kids Get Hick-ups

During so many praise concerts, sermons, classes, study groups, and revivals that I have been to, the speaker will ask anyone who wants to give their life to Christ to repeat a prayer after them without any definition of "Savior", "repentance", or "Christian." They leave without any direction for their viewers, without instruction on what to do afterward. 
I fear if I had not grown up in such a loving Christ filled home that the idea of an "all-powerful Heavenly Father" would turn me off to the whole Christian faith if I had a father at home who beat me or who selfishly abandoned me.  I might think the idea of "peace toward man" is a fairytale for those who never have had to fight for what they have or protect, a mere tool that others have used in the past to get what they want from me. I may think that "repentance" is just another word for sorry or that "right" is a variable term. I would say to myself, "Eternal life? But i can hardly bear the short life I'm given."
We are in trouble, Church. We wonder why strangers and even our close friends don't listen and understand. We wonder how they can't comprehend.
Think about yourself for a minute. How much had to be explained to to each of us before we understood "eternity","love","peace", "joy", "redemption", "salvation", "Heavenly Father", The Word", "Eternal life". Did we not first have to be spoon fed? We people of the church still can't grasp the magnitude of God and the depths of His love; yet we try to explain Him, in less than an hour, to a multitude of teens who have grown up in a perverse, sinful, Godless world, the likes of which the prophets would have shuttered at the sight of. God cannot be condensed. If we rush God, then we can only expect those who hear us to do the same. We move our relationship with God to a small contained 10 minutes at the end of the service. Our listeners will do the same in their daily lives.
G.O.D. DOES NOT WORK IN OUR TIME. WE WORK IN H.I.S.

The Burden of a Cliff

 

Does anyone feel the way I feel,

A cliff to hold the heavy land
To work and strive for another's will,

Separated from sea by sand

Here I stand, watch the waves dance and play 
No mind paid me as each day pass

So free and upon the beach they lay, 
Careless mingle and others cast

Oh, if a wave, not bound by this stone,

Free of which task imprison me
Now and ever I stand here all alone 

Never will they and I become we

That's what I wish, cut off, let me sink

All I want are waves of my own

And meet a cliff, to me be no link

Yet here, indeed my seed is sown,

A Heavy Young Heart

Some of you may remember these posts from my old blog. After all this time, their messages still hold true. 

Monday, February 22, 2010

The Difficulties of School

When I hear the same material everyday everywhere I go, I get dulled to it. I want to do what God has asked me to, but it is hard when we are being brainwashed to think the same way. Everyday we teenagers are bombarded with beliefs and lifestyles of all kinds. People want us to live, think, act, and believe like they do, but it is not just in school. Everybody wants everybody to think and act like they do, to a certain degree.

Think about it. We Christians want everyone to believe what we do. Our motivation might be different. However, the concept still remains true.

So what do I do when another peoples beliefs are shoved on me? For the last week I have brought my bible to school, and when I hear others talking about subjects they should not or doing things they should not. I grab my bible and begin reading. It works! Then ask God to help you through the remainder of the day to make the right choices according to his standards.

You don't have to read your bible though, right then anyway. In many places bibles are not allowed. However, still find some way to get your mind off of the words you know that you should not be hearing, pray for the person spouting off, even if and especially if it is you.

God Bless!

 

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sharing the Experience

I just got home from telling our church about my experiences on the trip mentioned in "A Thirst For God". Our youth group stood in front of the church and told the highlights of the weekend. The trip like i mentioned was awesome. The theme was putting God first and getting rid of the things keeping us from God. You know, that thing we all have, that we tell ourselves we need to stop or do less of, but we end up going back to it when things get bad or we get bored. We all have that one thing or things, and I still struggle with mine, but I've prayed about it and I am beginning to see just how useless and meaningless those things are.

Is there something you struggle with. Ask God to keep thoughts of that thing from popping into your head, and instead of doing that thing, whatever it might be, replace it with time with God.

The last thing we did, after hearing the last message after praise and worship, was the leaders handed us all a paper bag and told us that whether you physically or symbolically put something inside to get rid of whatever is hindering us from spending time with God.

Whether it is the music you listen to, movies you watch, the people you spend time with, the games you play, etc, anything can be a distraction. Listen to the words in the music, the content of the movies and games, and the way your friends act. If it or they do not seem to be in the will of God, then they are not good for you. Get rid of it/them.

 

Saturday, February 20, 2010

A Thirst for God

For all of my fellow children of God, I went on a youth trip last Thursday through Sunday, and WOW the Spirit of God hit me. I had felt that feeling before, as though I was high on God, but this time I am using it. I am finally opening my Bible, I am praying throughout the day, I have changed my outlook on the people around me, and I have changed my attitude altogether. IS THE POWER OF GOD GREAT OR WHAT!!!

Like i said before I have had this feeling before, but it has never lasted so long. You know when it feels like God is so far away, but in the back of your head you know it is you who is avoiding Him, well that is how i have felt for the last year if not more. This time, instead of letting that joy and excitement I feel fade, I am embracing it by really reading the Word and afterward asking God to reveal and help me understand what i have read and getting to know God. So far He has answered my prayers. GOD IS GOOD! Sharing all of this excitement i feel can be tough though.

But, the challenge is not at home or at church, the hardest place to stand for what you believe in, especially when trying to change who you are for the better, is at school, work, or any other place where you see the same people everyday and have to try and explain the sudden change, or, if someone asks, why you believe what you do or the way that you believe, explaining that. Perhaps someone says that you can't act a certain way because religious expression is prohibited.

We aren't called to act like the world. We are called to be aliens to the world, because this is not our home. Our home is with our heavenly father. The world may see us as weird for living the the way we do, but who is more in the wrong the person who lives like the world, knowing its not in the will of the Creator or the one who is ignorant of the will of God. That does not mean that the other person is right, but should we not lead by example, and others follow the will of the Almighty throw us instead of the other way around.