Called Higher: Who is?

"I therefore, a prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called."

~Ephesians 4:1

Christian's are "called higher." Do not expect non-Christians to be. They are not. Apart from God there is no absolute Truth. Everything is relative. Take away God, and we have no standard to measure our lives by. Take away Christ, and there is no reason for following that standard. We are still stuck in our transgressions with no way out. So, there is really no need to follow his standards if there is no such thing as God or sin.

"For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin... For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law."
~Romans 2:20

"For by grace have you been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
~Ephesians 2:8-10

It is only through believing that Jesus Christ: was born fully human and fully God; lived on earth; died to save sinners; and rose from the dead, that you can enter heaven and not only be right in God’s eyes but fully forgiven and accepted as a child of God. It is because we are saved that we follow his standards.

Called Higher: Get Rid of It

In my first post I had talked about how Christians have a higher standard then nonbelievers. Those standards need to be put into action. Sometimes that requires getting rid of something.

“But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among the saints.... For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God... Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.”
~Ephesians 5:3,5

If it is shameful to even speak of the “things done in secret,” why should we listen or watch sin on our ipods or TVs? If a singer, comedian, or actor is doing any of those things, making it look all right, and we are listening and/or watching; it is to our shame. Expose it as it is! It is a sin and affront to God’s glory. The damage to God's glory by our sin is determined not by the severity of our sin but by the value of God's glory (Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges, pg. 137).

Think about it. If a picture is stolen from someone's house, the news may talk about it a little. However, if someone stole that same picture from the White House, he's going to get a lot more publicity. In God's eyes the sin is the same, whether he took it from some ghetto or Buckingham Palace, but for some reason we think of the one as a greater affront. However, God is greater than us. So, profaning his name by our sins is a greater affront.

"If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better to lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right eye causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better to lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell." ~Matthew 5:29-30

Now God doesn't want us to actually to start chopping our limbs off. If he wanted us to do that he probably would have told Peter to cut off his hand when Peter cut off the ear of the high priest's servant when they came to arrest Christ (John 18:3-11). The Lord gave this example to show how drastic we are to be towards sin.* If there is anything causing you to sin: get rid of it. God desires you as Christ’s spotless bride. Nothing is to come between Christ and us.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." ~Hebrews 12:1,2

*These verses are talking about the sin of lust. However, I think we can apply it to any sin. God doesn't take lightly any sin, so I think he would have us drastically take action to get rid of it.

That's My King!

I don't really have anything to add, :-D

The Long Hard Road, Part 3: The Fear of the Lord

Why do we follow and pursue after God and his attributes? Aren't our sins forgiven and any sin that we commit nailed to Christ's cross? I mean it's hard to pursue godliness. Well, here's one reason. God commands it multiple times in the Bible. When someone becomes a Christian they make a commitment that God will be the Lord of their life. If God is the Lord of my life, I should fear him enough that I will continue walking in a way that pleases him.

"The Fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate."
~Proverbs 8:13

"Now this is the commandment, the statutes and the rules that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life and that your days may be long."
~Deuteronomy 6:1,2

First, what exactly is the "fear of the Lord"? A common definition is "a reverential awe." A deep respect filled with wonder! He has our respect, because he his God and he has all power. He fills us with awe and wonder because of his infinite attributes that our finite minds cannot comprehend.

In the above verses, we have two different examples of what the fear of the Lord causes us to do. The Proverbs verse says that if we fear the Lord we will hate evil. We will not participate in acts of pride or arrogance. Note the last part of the Deuteronomy verses: "that you may fear the Lord your God... by keeping all his statutes and his commandments." We fear the Lord by keeping his rules and following his pathway.

"And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me."

~Jeremiah 32:40

Are you one of God's chosen people? Then you already have the fear of God in you! God has given us the fear of him already. God has planted the seed of fearing him in you already. We need to help it grow, by watering it. We water it by reading and studying his Word. However, we cannot give it growth. God alone gives the growth. We need to pray that the Lord will give growth to it, and do our best to help nurture it.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Happy Birthday Mama!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. So, I wanted to take this moment to honor her.

Mama, I thank God that he has given you to us, your family. You continually serve all of us whether it be by cooking, doing laundry, or cleaning. You work heartily for us as if you were working for the Lord.

Mama, thank you for the example you have set as a worshiper and prayer warrior! Your prayers for us I know never cease. Seeing you every morning faithfully doing your devotions has been such an encouragement to me to do mine faithfully. Thank you for the example you set!

Mama, thank you for not only being concerned with our physical welfare, but most of all your concern that we grow up to be strong Christians. You have continually guided me in passage scriptures that I do not understand and given me books to read that help me to understand better. Thank you so much for your times of teaching!

Thank you Mama and Happy Birthday!

Heaven Fest Photos

Last Saturday (08/08/09) my dad, two younger brothers, and I went to a Christian music festival called Heaven Fest. It was loads of fun. There were 80+ artists at eight different stages. We saw Matthew West, Seventh Day Slumber, Kutless, Skillet, and Third Day. I don't really know who was my favorite one. Here's some pics, enjoy, :).
On the way to the "Main Stage." (L-R Ethan, my dad, and Matthew)
The Band on stage is Kutless.
Mac Powell fixing his hair.
Third Day

There were over 30,000 people there.


Matthew West and his band.
Skillet had a violinist and cellist playing with them.
Skillet on risers.
Jon Micah (lead singer of Kutless) climbing the stage supports.
Ethan in the hat and half of Jared's head.

Some Advantages Of Early Piety

The following is an excerpt from a Charles Spurgeon sermon that my mom shared with me. I found this excerpt really encouraging, I hope you do to, :).

I will just mention some of the advantages of early piety.

To be a believer in God early in life--is to be saved from a thousand regrets! Such a man shall never have to say that he carries in his bones--the sins of his youth. The Christian young man will not fall into the common sins of other young men, and injure his bodily health by excesses.

He will likely marry a Christian woman--and so have a holy companion in his journey towards Heaven.

Early piety helps us to form friendships for the rest of life which will prove helpful--and saves us from those which are harmful. He will select as his associates, the godly from the church--and not the rogues from the tavern. They will be his helpers in virtue--and not his tempters to vice. Depend upon it--a great deal depends upon whom we choose for our companions early in life. If we start in bad company--it is very hard to break away from it.

The man brought to Christ early in life has this further advantage--that he is helped to form holy habits--and is saved from being the slave of sinful ones. Habits soon become second nature; to form new ones is hard work; but those formed in youth-- usually remain to old age.

Moreover, I notice that very frequently, those who are brought to Christ while young, grow in grace more rapidly and readily than others do. They have not so much to unlearn--and they have not such a heavy weight of old sinful memories to carry. The scars and bleeding sores which come from having spent years in the service of the devil--are missed by those whom the Lord brings into His church early, before they have wandered far into the sinful pleasures of this evil world.

I cannot commend early piety too highly. How attractive it is! Grace looks loveliest in youth! That which would not be noticed in the grown-up man--strikes at once the most careless observer, when seen in a child. Grace in a child has a convincing force--the infidel drops his weapon and admires. A word spoken by a child abides in the memory, and its artless accents touch the heart. Where the minister's sermon fails--the child's prayer may gain the victory!

Why "Called Higher"?

One reason I chose this address because it is fairly simple to memorize and tell someone. If you have read my post "Called Higher" you will know that I meant we are called to a higher standard than the world's best. In our pursuit of God we live and are held accountable to His standards not just a tad bit better than the world's fluctuating standards. We run our race by his rules.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." ~Isaiah 55:8,9

A Change

I've put this here for reference, :)

I have decided to switch blogs. The reason I've decided to change is because it's kind of hard to tell the address to someone. "Yeah, it's the number 2, Tim, the number 2, spell out twenty, the number 2, the pursuit dot blogspot dot com." Not really convenient... I am going to import all of the old posts and comments onto a new blog. I decided to completely switch over instead of simply changing the address because of several reasons. One reason is because I had already accidentally created a new blog with the address I wanted and it seemed pretty easy to switch over. I will be posting at the other blog from now on.
Here's the new address:

http://calledhigher.blogspot.com/

I will post later (at the new address) on why I chose that address and more about this "change."

Rejoice

"Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations."
~Psalm 100

If you are a Christian, then rejoice! Christ is risen. Your sins are washed away by the blood of Christ. We are the redeemed children of God. Christ has taken the punishment of our sins. Christ lived, died, and was resurrected in order to redeem you as the Father's adopted child.

We can come with confidence in prayer and worship to the throne of God. Our old self is dead, and the new creation of Christ is in us. The Holy Spirit lives in us perfecting us till our final breath and beyond. Our holy God helps in our times of weakness. His steadfast love endures forever though we stumble and fall. He is with us in the depths of the valley and the heights of the mountain. His grace is sufficient, for his power is made perfect in weakness. He is here and guiding us no matter where you are at.

On our last day on earth, God will take us home, to be with him! Since Christ is risen, we know that we will also rise in the last days. Our inheritance is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading (1 Peter 1:4). It is imperishable, though everything on this earth will perish, as one day it will, our inheritance as sons and daughters of God will remain. Though you lose everything, this hope will still remain. It is undefiled, it has no impurities. It is unfading, the attractions of this world will become boring and unattractive, however when we get to heaven the inheritance we receive will if anything only increase in its attractiveness, glory, and mystery.

Rejoice that God has saved you from sin, walks you through this world, and guards for us the Kingdom of Heaven. The more you realize how much God has done for you at Calvary and beyond, the more you will stand in amazement at his mercy and rejoice in it. Come and worship him!

Questions:
How do you try to remember to praise and thank God?
Are there any verses or songs you use to remember? Which ones?
What are some things that the Lord has been doing in your life to cause you to rejoice?
Was there any time when you found it hard to praise God? What did you do?

SHOUT UNTO GOD
The enemy has been defeated
And death couldn't hold You down
We're gonna lift our voice in victory
We're gonna make Your praises loud

Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
Shout unto God with a voice of praise
Shout unto God with a voice of triumph
We lift Your name up
We lift Your name up

SOLI DEO GLORIA

Called Higher

I am going to talk about standards in this post. I am not going to list rules on whether or not such and such a movie is bad because of so and so or such and such clothes are immodest because of so and so. That would be wrong. However I am going to show that Christians are called to a higher standard than just above the world’s current morals.

“So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” ~Galatians 5:16-18

Are you a born again Christian today? If you are, you are called to live by the Spirit and not to indulge in any sin. You cannot serve two masters. You will hate one and love the other. We are called to live by God’s standards of living, not just a wee bit better than what the culture currently thinks is right and wrong.

Jack Valenti, former president of the MPAA, stated in a speech broadcast on C-Span several years ago that the rating system for movies is not an oak, but a willow. It bends and bows for however the current morals of the culture are. (Worldly Amusements by, Wayne A. Wilson, pg. 199.) However God’s rating system is inflexible. If he is the same yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever, his morals of what is right and wrong will be the same.

So, where do we find these morals that Christians are called to live by? God’s standards are defined in his word. I do not go looking up what kind of horn the Cape Horn is in a biology book. That way I would get the wrong answer. The same way, we don’t look at the world to find out how to live a holy life pleasing to God. We look to God’s word.

Now here is where it gets difficult. Your standards may not be the same as mine. You might conclude from the fact that God’s standards never change that Christian’s standards are always the same. It is not that easy. In 1 Corinthians 8, Paul talks about eating food offered to idols and how for some that could be a stumbling block while for others it doesn’t affect them. Sometimes there is certain things that might not be sin for another person, while it might defile another’s conscience.

Here is a modern example of what Paul is talking about. I personally like listening to Christian rap music. My mom doesn’t because it reminds her of secular rap, which has to do with gangs, violence, and other sin. I don’t have that past experience. Rap music reminds me of Christian artists like tobyMac. My mom and I have discussed this, so now whenever my mom is around I do not play that style of music. I am not hiding it from her, I am not listening to it when she’s around because she doesn’t like it. [Disclaimer: I’m not saying rap as a style of music is bad or good scripturally, I’m just giving you an example from my own life.]

“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” The Holy Spirit guides our standards of whether or not to watch this movie or listen to this music or to wear that. God gives us in his word certain things that we are to and not to talk about, look at, or participate in, but we need to ask the Holy Spirit to give us discerning hearts in the application.

I encourage you to read, pray, discuss, and apply. Read the Word of God to see whether or not to talk, watch, listen, or wear. Pray that the Holy Spirit will guide your decision. Discuss with your parents and mature Christians how you can apply the scripture’s standards in your life. Apply God’s higher standard in you life, in order to live as the spotless bride of Christ. In this life we won’t perfectly attain God’s standards, but we need to continue pursuing them nevertheless.

“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me - practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” ~Philippians 4:8,9

Written for Teens Set Apart

The Word of God: Read It

"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart." ~2 Timothy 2:22

Look familiar? This verse is the theme of my blog because I want to use this blog to encourage young believers in their walk with God. One way that we grow in our walk with God is by reading his Word.

"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners; nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD; and on his law he meditates day and night." ~Psalm 1:1-2

"All of Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work." ~2 Timothy 3:16-17

These verses show us that the word of the LORD is profitable. It shows us how to teach, reprove, correct, and train in righteousness. For the one who wants to be a man or woman of God it shows them how to be efficient for every work that the Lord puts before him or her. Not only that the one who studies God's law is blessed.

In order to pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, we need to know what they are. Where do we find out what they are? If I was wondering what kind of a horn the Cape Horn is, and I looked up the word "horn" in a biology book, I probably would get a different answer than the one I'm looking for. However, if I was to look it up in a geography book, I would get the answer to my riddle. The point of this analogy? Scripture interprets Scripture. Since I read in my Bible to pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, I go to my bible for their definition.

I encourage you to read your bible, to meditate on it day and night. Though it may seem like drudgery right now, the long term benefits will come.

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to you word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from you commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Blessed are you, O Lord; teach me your statutes! With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget you word."
~Psalm 119:9-16

Go to: Part One, Part Two, Part Three

The Word of God: In Context

"A text without context is a pretext for a prooftext."
~D.A. Carson

"You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with shame. Selah."
Psalm 89:45

What does that have to do with context? Well, nothing really. To be honest, I simply opened up my Bible and pointed to a random verse. The point is you have to read the entire chapter (in context) to understand what that means. (If you read the earlier verses you'll see that Ethan is talking about a time of trial and later he asks God to remember his promises.)

"Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar."
~Proverbs 30:5,6

I don't know about you, but this verse makes me scared. God has given us a stewardship with God's word. We are called to be good stewards of all that God has given us (1 Timothy 6:20, 2 Timothy 1:14). There will be consequences for not being good stewards, (Mattew 25:28-30). We need to make sure we use His holy Word in the context that it is intended for.

"I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

"He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

"The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen."

~Revelation 22:18-21

Go to: Part One, Part Two, Part Three

The Word of God: From God

For the past few weeks I've been considering several posts, all of which would have whole chapters of Scripture in them (Such as Psalm 119, ;-)), . So, I was a little leery of doing them because I didn't think anyone would read them because they're so long. Then I came to the conclusion that these are God's words! Why would anyone want to read my ramblings when they have the full word of God before them?

"All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness." ~2 Timothy 3:16

Note "All Scripture." Not just the letters of Paul or just the Psalms. But every last book, chapter, and verse. The entire Bible from Genesis to Job to Isaiah to Mathew to Romans to Revelation. All of those books and every one in between has been breathed out by God. These are the words of God upon which we are to meditate day and night (Psalm 1:1,2). If everything good is from God (James 1:17), how much more so are his words! The whole Bible is as much of God's words as the letters in red.

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
"Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
"There is no speech, nor are there words whose voice is not heard.
"Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
"In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.
"Its rising is from the end of the heavens and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
"The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; and the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
"More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
"Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
"Who can discern his errors?
"Declare me innocent from hidden faults.
"Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me!
"Then I shall be blameless and innocent of great transgression.
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer."
~Psalm 19

Go To: Part One, Part Two, Part Three

The Gospel

You may be thinking "Oh the Gospel. I already know it. It's only for new believers." Don't make that mistake! In Ecclesiastes 3 Solomon talks about how for everything there is a time and place and things that might be right during one time and not at a different period. However there is never a time not to look at what God has done and worship him for it. We are to always look to him. There is never a wrong season! When we look to the cross and see Christ’s finished work there and the empty tomb, we can see how great is his love and care for us. Not only are we saved from eternal condemnation but also we are welcomed as children of God. How can we not talk and share about it? This is our ultimate cause for rejoicing.

"Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his one way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
~Isaiah 53:4-6

These words spoken by the prophet Isaiah so aptly describe Christ. Each nail, thorn, and spear that pierced Christ's flesh was the punishment for our transgressions and iniquities. Not only that all thirty-nine blows of the Roman lash has brought us peace with the almighty God, whom we continually transgress. His empty tomb has given us the hope that as he is risen so shall we rise on the last day. Christs sufferings have paved the way through his death and resurrection to the throne of God, where we now stand as his beloved children. This is our foundation of rejoicing. That we are now reconciled to God through a man crucified over two thousand years ago. We come to God now, not as transgressors of the law before a righteous judge, but as forgiven debtors before the one who forgave us through the wounding and crushing of his son.

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved."
~Ephesians 2:4,5

Skip down a couple verses:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast."
~Ephesians 2:8,9

The amazing thing is that we didn't even want it. We didn't ask for God. We were turning each to his own way. But God rich in mercy called us. We have nothing to do with it. I can only stand in amazement and worship him for it. Let us join Paul and say our only boast is the Lord (Gal. 6:14, 1 Cor. 1:31).

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
~Psalm 136:1

Be Heard Project

UPDATE: The deadline to sign the petition has passed. Over 58,000 people signed, amazing... Thank you if you signed.

I would like to draw your attention to the Be Heard Project. I heard of this through a forward and abortaware.com. Please take a moment (seriously, it only takes a minute) to go to www.beheardproject.com and sign a petition to protect healthcare providers from being forced to perform abortions. Please look into this soon as we only have till April 6th to voice our opinion about Obama's wish to reverse Bush's "Conscience Clause" that allows physicians to NOT perform abortions. If President Obama removes this clause, doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel will be forced to perform abortions.

"But Peter and John answered them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

~Acts 4:19,20

Sidebar Music

I have finally found a way to add music to the sidebar. I put up several songs that I really enjoy, I hope you like them too. One song I want to specifically highlight is "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller. I thought this song went really well with my post "Been Awhile... (Waiting)." In the song the artist talks about still pursuing God during times when we wait.

Verses and Thoughts About Serving

For this particular post I am going to share several verses that have helped me whenever I serve, whether it be at church, home, or somewhere else.

"Where there are no oxen the manger is clean; but abundant crops come by the strength of an ox."

~Proverbs 14:4

Cheerful attitude.

At first glance this may seem like a weird verse. I mean who plants their crops using an ox? Of course given that in Israel at the time this was written they did that, but what is the significance of it in our lives today? I believe the point that the author is going for here is that without certain things, such as dirty dishes that need to be washed or a house to be cleaned, we don't have to clean them, but that would also imply that we don't have food that will dirty the dishes or a house to sleep in. This verse has been something that I try to keep in mind whenever I start to grumble or groan when cleaning.

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ."

~Colossians 3:23,24

Perseverance.

This is a verse that spurs me on whenever I start to work at my jobs half heartedly and doing just enough to get by. If the Lord was the one overseeing what I'm doing would I be doing it just to get by? Probably not. I know that we're not supposed to try to work to gain more "love" from him (he couldn't love us anymore than he does!), but I want to give him my all because he gave it all for me.

"Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.' "

~Luke 17:9,10

Humility.

I have such a problem with staying humble when someone commends me for doing a good job at some work that was honestly rather easy. This is something I try to think of during those moments. We are such unworthy servants. We fail more than we succeed. Yet, God wants us to be his servants, isn't that amazing?

The Long Hard Road, Part Two: Out of Egypt

If you haven't read the first one please read it before continuing.

Another reason why we continue to lead a Christian life and plod on this road is because we've been brought "out of Egypt."

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery."

~Exodus 20:2

After the Lord spoke these words to Moses and the children of Israel he gave them the Ten Commandments. Note this they don't follow the Ten Commandments in order to get out of Egypt, but they follow them because they have already been taken out. As Christians today we follow God's commandments, which can be and is difficult, because we also have been lead out of the slavery of sin and death.

I want to highly stress the distinction of which comes first: salvation or good works. Sometimes people think that they've been good for most of their lives (good works) so God will be happy with those works and let them come to heaven. Wrong! That doesn't even work in the legal courts!

For example: The punishment for committing murder is death. You commit murder and get caught. Do you really think that judge is going to let that you go if you tell him of all the people you haven't murdered and did good to? No! You will have to pay the penalty.

The wages of sin is death. You commit sin, (in any form) you receive the punishment. It doesn't matter if it's just a "little white" lie or committing murder, you still receive the same punishment.

Let's take the above example a little further. Say that someone else takes the penalty, the judges son all because of his mercy, and after he pays for your penalty the judge asks you to not commit murder again. Are you going to use your "freedom" from the penalty to continue to break the law?

"What then? Are we to sin because we not under law but under grace? By no means!"

~Romans 6:15

We are to pursue God and his attributes because we have been saved. We are now "slaves" to righteousness as Paul talks about later (Romans 6:18). As slaves of righteousness we pursue righteousness, as we once pursued sin when we were slaves to sin.

Part 1, Part 2

Been Awhile... (Waiting)

Sorry I haven’t posted since last year. I could make up a whole bunch of false reasons why I haven’t posted such as too much school, been busy over the holidays, etc, but that wouldn’t be true. The reason why I haven’t posted in awhile is simply because I haven’t had a vision for a post.

Over the past months I’ve been praying and considering what to do with my life. Some of you have probably gone through this before. To be perfectly honest I have no idea what the Lord wants me to do when I exit high school. Not a single clue. I’m the kind of person who likes to have clear, specific directions of where to go next and how to do it. But during this time the Lord has and is showing me how to wait on him and his strength.

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary.” ~Isaiah 40:30,31

Sometimes there comes in our lives a time to run vigorously with a sudden burst of speed and another time to slow down and conserve our strength. I’m not saying that we are to ever stop (Heb. 12:1), but that sometimes God causes us to slow down in order to see how weak and fallible we are. This will also show us how strong he is and how we need his strength.

The Lord is an everlasting God. He never changes. Sounds cliché doesn’t it? But this point needs to be stressed. When the Lord brings us to a time of waiting he shows us how he never changes and that he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Even though we might slow down and become desperately tired, the Lord will be there to gives us his strength to continue.

When the time has come that we slow down, and there seems to be no direction, keep praying and reading scripture (Eph. 6:18, 1 Tim. 4:13)! Though it seems like this is a time of rest, we are to still continue running. We are to run with endurance still. We are in a time of spiritual war, and just as in a real war when you aren’t fighting on the frontlines and you’re back home, you continue to train. You may be called to a different “department,” but the goal is the same. To know more and make known the Gospel and what a great God that we serve.