Wish

Have you ever wished that you could just push the rewind button and go back? I've thought about this quite a bit and there are a few things that I continually wish for. The first, most selfish thing that I've wished for is to be with somebody, which is not uncommon for most people. Unfortunately, this longing and wishing hinders me from completely letting go and allowing and trusting God to do what he has promised. The other things that I have wished for is to just rewind life and go back, maybe do things different. Mainly take advantage and open my eyes to the opportunities that God has provided me. There are several things that I have missed out on because I was either too stubborn or too afraid, of what I don't know. The other thing I wish I could rewind to do is to go back to the days of Jesus and to walk with him and witness the miracles he performed. The one thing that I wish I could see the most is the passion that those who followed him had! I think it would cool to rewind and go side by side with some of the apostles like Paul, who was so passionate about Christ that he gave his life for him spreading his name! That would be awesome!! Or how about imagine walking with Jesus and learning from him in person? How amazing would that be?!?! Guess what...we can still walk with him today! The gift of the Holy Spirit has been given to us and Christ has taken my body and made it his own! There is nothing else that I could wish for than to have the Savior living instead of me. What have you wished for?

Life

On this day we celebrate the birth and the life of our Savior, Jesus the Christ! This day is one of the most important days ever, because God fulfilled the covenant that he made and sent his one and only Son as THE Savior for all people! For this I am eternally grateful and have submitted my life for him and his kingdom. If only the latter was that simple! Unfortunately, temptations and just plain old selfishness hinder me from total submission. Life, it wasn't mine to begin with, so I offer it back to the one whom gave it as a living exclamation of the savior who's life began this day and was taken 33 years after, and was restored 3 days later!! Even when things seem to be going downhill, or not the way you would have thought they would, or when you are just being impatient or selfish remember the joy and the gift of life that was given to you from the Father who through his son we have eternal life. For those who believe and follow Jesus, life will never be easy, but rejoice in the sufferings and the persecutions for Christ endured all and overcame them! Rely on the savior that was given to us this day, for the taking of his life is what provided us with ours! Life, is it still yours?

That's a lot of rock

I was riding in the car today on the way to Ohio and listening to Shane and Shane (amazing) and I was looking out the window and all I saw was mountains, which I have seen may times before. I know what you're thinking, big deal you saw some mountains out the window, very few haven't. Well I began to think about how in several songs we sing about how God can move the mountains. I never really thought about that until today when I was staring at mountains and thought to myself, "wow, that's a whole lot of rock!" Most of us struggle picking up a large stone (for me it's more like a boulder HAHA), but God can move mountains! How emphatically awesome is that! God is so powerful that he can do anything even move a massive rock fixture that we can merely gaze at in awe. God can do anything he wants, whether ordinary or extraordinary, he can do it no matter what. The latter is a statement that seems to come as simple basic knowledge, yea God can do anything, anywhere, anytime, but what gets me is how so often we try to limit or even dare to define God's power and other attributes. There are times when I think that I can do anything and that I don't need anybody, and then God steps in and reminds me that I am literally dirt and that he is the Almighty! There have even been times when I/we have tried to define how powerful God is by using our own human limitations. How absurd does that sound, honestly? Trying to put God in a box and say that he can or cannot do something. This can be applied to pretty much every attribute of God and so many times we try to limit him to our finite being. We can by no means define or limit any attribute of God, for through him we learn all things. He is in ultimate dominion, and gives us dominion through Christ to the ends of the earth. God is the Almighty One and nothing we can say or do will ever limit him in any way! That is something to take joy in and to rejoice in always! Are you trying to limit God's attributes?

Forgiven

There's nothing you can do to make God love you any more or any less! This is something that our pastor J.D. Greear tells us and himself a lot. That statement is just very powerful when you think about it. I cannot do anything to earn God's love or make him love me any more than he already does. Even better than that, I cannot do anything to make him love me any less. No matter what happens God will love me the same. While he hates sin, he loves us, his creation! He has forgiven us of our sins when he sent his Son to be crucified as the ultimate sacrifice on the cross! All we have to do is confess our sins and die to ourselves so that we may gain Christ, which is eternal life! This is something that I have to remind myself of daily because my mind just cannot grasp it. I do not understand why God forgives me when I sin over and over again. I can't comprehend this because I am not God whom is Love, and whom sheds his grace over all of us. He will continue to forgive us of our sins, but it should pain us just as much as it pains Him! If we sin and it has no effect on us, per say guilt, or even a broken heart, then we are living in unrepentant sin. But, the best thing has happened, God has already forgiven us! We are forgiven, no matter what God will love you no more and no less! This example is how we are suppose to forgive others, we should forgive before they even do anything to harm us. Have you been forgiven?

Scars

Scars, everybody has one, whether it be physical or psychological/emotional, you've got one. At church this morning and tonight Carl Cartee and his band were playing and one of his songs says something along the lines, "He[Jesus] bears eternal scars." This line got me thinking about the scars in my life. As many of my friends know, I have several physical scars that came from playing sports or having surgeries or just playing around. Those are the easy to deal with scars, as in yea I was doing something stupid, or this was from some cool accident/sport related thing. But, then I thought about the scars in my life that aren't so much fun to think about. Everybody has one of these scars in their life. It could have been a loss of somebody close/in your family, or maybe a divorce, or (one that seems to effect many) a broken heart. We've all had to come to terms with these scars and determine how they will effect our lives. For me, yea I've lost several people in my life and I've had my heart broken and I've watched my friends throw their lives away, but these scars are within me to make me stronger and to strengthen my trust and my faith in Christ. Several years ago I had the privilege to go to Mission Fuge at Charleston, SC. While we were there we cleaned up around an apartment complex and all throughout their woods and such and we got cut up by all the briers. I got to thinking about this and I have used this in some of the devotions I've led before, but if you take those cuts, scrapes, and bruises and put them all together, they don't come close to those that Jesus endured for our sin. To bring it all back together, Jesus the Christ endured all these beatings for our salvation, to forgive us of our sins and he now bears eternal scars as a reminder to what we as sinners deserve. So, my scars, compared to those of Christ, I count them but rubbish in knowing the surpassing value of His scars that once shed blood for my sins. What scars do you have?

Grace

Have you ever thought about salvation and how we receive it? I began thinking about salvation and how we are saved by grace alone. The latter sounds so simple, doesn't it? We always hear and usually preach that we are saved by grace and by grace alone. Unfortunately, many will miss this simplicity because while we might say that grace is sufficient, we make it so much more difficult. I am ever so guilty of making salvation about so much more than grace. We sing so many songs about how it's only grace, only love, only mercy and believe me it's enough. This is what we need to be preaching. We are supposed to be telling people that it is by grace alone that we have been saved and that it is God's grace that is sufficient for life! I hope that through my actions and through my words that others may witness God's grace in and through me. Personally experiencing grace is an inexplicable thing. I have been saved by grace through faith in the living Christ and the fact that God sent Him, His only SON to die and to be the ultimate sacrifice for my sins! God's grace has rained down upon us more than we can even imagine. By experiencing His grace we have been given the example and are able to and told to show grace to others. God's grace has already been given to us through the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ who was slain to forgive our sins. Therefore, we are called to exhibit grace upon others. How have you experienced grace?

Lost...

I have listened to the following song over and over again for a time period I will not say because basically I had nothing to do besides listen. Anyways, I have been going through some things as you may have read in my other entries, but this song just encapsulates the entirety of my situation. The lyrics to this song have been my prayer as I cry out to the Lord for guidance. I have been so lost in life lately that I have had no clue what I was doing and I have been unfair to those around me. Even though I know that I have done the right thing, I feel like a jerk, like I have done something wrong, and it pains my heart. Therefore, I cry to the Lord, whom alone gives me peace and comfort. I cry aloud and He hears my voice. Lord take my hand and lead me on...What is love that it might show me grace?

"I don't have all the answers. I don't even have a clue. I am in the same predicament, the same as you. Caught in a landslide between self and selflessness. The sacrifice don't come easy, I must let go of me. What is love, that it might take my place? What is love, that it might show me grace? Show me some grace. I get lost in my thoughts, between right and wrong. My mind is always playing tricks on me, making it hard for me to believe. Which leads me to one conclusion, that I must let go of me. Lay myself on down, lay myself at His feet. What is love, that it might take my place? What is love, that it might show me some grace? Yes, what is love, that it might take my hand? Yes, what is love, that it might take my hand? Take my hand and lead me home. Take my hand and lead me on. Lead me on. Lead me on. Won't you lead me on? Won't you lead me on? Won't you lead me on? Won't you lead me on? Lead me on. Lead me on..."

~Shawn McDonald - Lead Me On~

Arms Opened Wide

Lately I have felt this need to just be held in the arms of God and feel His loving comfort. For some reason, I just feel like breaking down and bursting out! I get tired of hearing people talk about be a man, men don't cry, we're men we don't need anybody else...Truth is, you aren't a man until you realize that you do need somebody, until you become broken and cry out for the Lord! I think about the times as a child when I was hurt or troubled, I would go and jump into my mother's or father's arms and they would hold me and tell me everything will be ok. The comfort, the soothing that was felt is truly like nothing else. It is something that I miss, I miss being able to just jump into their arms and just let it all out! Now, I jump into the arms of my heavenly Father and He holds me tight, telling me that He is in control, not to worry because Christ has overcome all! "Evening, morning, and at noon will I pray and CRY ALOUD: and he shall hear my voice" ~Psalm 55:17~. Through everything I have learned to seek the arms of not only my parents, but now in times away from them, the arms of my heavenly Father. He will hold on forever so long as you remain in Him! Don't be too stubborn or conceited to think that you don't need anybody or that you can't be broken! I don't have all the answers, I don't even have a clue, I am in the same predicament, the same as you, caught in a landslide between self and selflessness; the sacrifice doesn't come easy, I must let go of me; what is love that it might take my place, what is love that it might show me grace. Are you seeking His open arms?

Give Me Ears to Hear

I was thinking earlier today about some things in my life and I realized that most of the time my ears are closed when others are trying to give me some advice or are just looking out for me. It's funny how I never realize that they were right or were looking out for me until it is too late. I was talking to one of my friends earlier and was asking for some advice when I realized that they had already given it to me weeks ago, but I just refused to listen and now I have to deal with the choices that I have made. I hate the fact that I can be so stubborn to think that I don't need anyone's help or advice especially when I get irritated when my friends don't listen to my advice! Talk about being a hypocrite! So often I pray to have ears to hear, but I always prayed for open ears for God's word. I guess I never thought that God's word could simply come from some friends looking out for me. I pray for others to have ears to hear the Word, but I now realize that it doesn't always have to come from my pastor, campus minister or straight from the bible, but that it can simply come from my friends trying to help out. Are your ears still closed?