In yesterdays reading, this encouraged me:
During one part of Acts 5 the disciples are being persecuted and the authorities wanted to kill them for preaching in Jesus' name. One of the leaders stand up and reminds them that unless these men are doing God's work, they will fail-
"38 Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."
Since so many people today know about God's love, obviously these men didn't fail. After they died, God raised up others to take their placing teaching the good news. The Bible is truth. If it wasn't, it wouldn't have lasted through history. There's been so many times when people have tried to completely destroy every Bible and kill every Christian, but yet we live on and so does God's Word. This reminded me of how powerful and everlasting God is. He's been faithful since the beginning. And despite our mistakes, He chooses to use us to pursue His Purpose.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Are you ready for some Youth Group???
How is everyone's summer going? Are you ready for a new year of spiritual growth? God will throw down some new challenges for all of us this year if we are listening and willing to pursue Him. Get your hearts and minds ready before you come Wednesday night. Pray for the speaker (Josh), and pray that God would speak something into your life! It is gonna be amazing, because God is amazing --- believe it!
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Genesis
I had a quick question about a verse from the reading for a few days ago. In Genesis 3:22 talks about not allowing man to eat from the tree of life. My question is, why not? Is it because man is sinful, so God doesn't want him to live in that sin forever? Here are the verses:
"22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
Also yesterday I read a simple, but powerful verse that got me thinking:
Genesis 6:22- "Noah did everything just as God commanded him."
Wow! The guy is over 500 years old and God wants him to build a gigantic boat, gather 2 of every single animal, and trust that everything will be okay. And the surprising thing to me is Noah's response. The Bible doesn't say "Noah thought God was crazy, but did it anyway" or "Noah doubtfully obeyed what God told him". It doesn't say anything about Noah questioning what God was doing. It just says "Noah did everything just as God commanded him." He didn't complain, question, or doubt, he just did!
"22 And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." 23 So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. 24 After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."
Also yesterday I read a simple, but powerful verse that got me thinking:
Genesis 6:22- "Noah did everything just as God commanded him."
Wow! The guy is over 500 years old and God wants him to build a gigantic boat, gather 2 of every single animal, and trust that everything will be okay. And the surprising thing to me is Noah's response. The Bible doesn't say "Noah thought God was crazy, but did it anyway" or "Noah doubtfully obeyed what God told him". It doesn't say anything about Noah questioning what God was doing. It just says "Noah did everything just as God commanded him." He didn't complain, question, or doubt, he just did!
Saturday, August 1, 2009
Just two things
Titus 3:1-2 says:
"1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men."
When I read this verse, it made me wonder what the world would look like if we actually did these things? Things would be so different if everyone worked on just these attributes and put them into practice! The funny thing is that all of the things listed here in Titus 3 fall under "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37) and "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:39). These two things are what Jesus call the first and second greatest commandments (Matt. 22:38-39). If you are following and obeying the two greatest commandments, you will automatically be doing all the things God calls us, as Christians, to do. For example, if you love God, you know that He has positioned all authority, and naturally you will obey that authority. (I hope this makes sense) So there you go... you don't even have to work on 5 or 6 things, just the two major commandments. Everything else will fall into place.
"1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men."
When I read this verse, it made me wonder what the world would look like if we actually did these things? Things would be so different if everyone worked on just these attributes and put them into practice! The funny thing is that all of the things listed here in Titus 3 fall under "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt. 22:37) and "Love your neighbor as yourself" (Matt. 22:39). These two things are what Jesus call the first and second greatest commandments (Matt. 22:38-39). If you are following and obeying the two greatest commandments, you will automatically be doing all the things God calls us, as Christians, to do. For example, if you love God, you know that He has positioned all authority, and naturally you will obey that authority. (I hope this makes sense) So there you go... you don't even have to work on 5 or 6 things, just the two major commandments. Everything else will fall into place.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Holy and Blameless
Colossians 1:22 says:
"Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault."
This verse is really amazing. When I read it today, it blew me away.
"He has brought you into his own presence" This part of the verse isn't as amazing unless you realize at least a little bit how awesome, powerful, holy, and righteous our God is! It's impossible to fully understand how incredible God is, but when you have at least a little glimpse of his amazing power, it's crazy to think about this part of the verse.
"you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault"!!!!!! The verse before this one talks about how before these people were far away from God and had evil thoughts and actions, but now they stand before God without a single fault! This is a great example of God's incredible grace that we don't deserve. How awesome!!
"Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault."
This verse is really amazing. When I read it today, it blew me away.
"He has brought you into his own presence" This part of the verse isn't as amazing unless you realize at least a little bit how awesome, powerful, holy, and righteous our God is! It's impossible to fully understand how incredible God is, but when you have at least a little glimpse of his amazing power, it's crazy to think about this part of the verse.
"you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault"!!!!!! The verse before this one talks about how before these people were far away from God and had evil thoughts and actions, but now they stand before God without a single fault! This is a great example of God's incredible grace that we don't deserve. How awesome!!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Good books to read...
Good books for guys 13 and up: "Young Man in the Mirror" by Pat Morley and "How to Ruin Your Life by 40" by Steve Farrar. They are about 130 pages and discuss guy stuff and how to live a Christian life in today's world. "Jesus Freaks" by DC Talk is a collection of short stories about Christians, ancient and modern day, who were martyred for their faith. It is a good read and very challenging.
Good books for anyone liking fiction: I have a number of books by Stephen Lawhead. He writes middle ages type fiction (think Lord of the Rings, but easier to read), sci-fi, and historical fiction. Some of his books are not too long, others are over 800 pages. They are all very allegorical about the Christian faith, and are often riveting and hard to put down. Ask me about these if you like exciting stories and I can loan some to you.
I'll stop for now...
Monday, July 20, 2009
In Christ
I know this is from several days ago, but in Galatians 6 there were 2 verses that stuck out to me. First was verse 14:
"14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
I like this verse, because it is a good reminder to me. Except for Christ, I have nothing worthwhile to boast about. I could achieve all these high standings and get acknowledged by all sorts of people, but it is still not really worthwhile. Maybe it'll seem worthwhile to people on earth, but when I get to heaven, it will no longer matter. What matters is my walk with God and if I am being faithful to Him.
The second verse that stuck out to me was verse 17:
"17 Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus."
This one is really encouraging. It's great to know that we "bear... the marks of Jesus". No other marks are more powerful or more meaningful!! The New Living Translation says "For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus." As Christians, we belong to the Creator of the universe! How awesome is that!
"14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."
I like this verse, because it is a good reminder to me. Except for Christ, I have nothing worthwhile to boast about. I could achieve all these high standings and get acknowledged by all sorts of people, but it is still not really worthwhile. Maybe it'll seem worthwhile to people on earth, but when I get to heaven, it will no longer matter. What matters is my walk with God and if I am being faithful to Him.
The second verse that stuck out to me was verse 17:
"17 Finally, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus."
This one is really encouraging. It's great to know that we "bear... the marks of Jesus". No other marks are more powerful or more meaningful!! The New Living Translation says "For I bear on my body the scars that show I belong to Jesus." As Christians, we belong to the Creator of the universe! How awesome is that!
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