Ain't it funny how in the process of rediscovering yourself and God's plan for your life, you end up losing others? I have found that the closer I get to God, the farther away some people seem to drift.
But I'm not really surprised. In the Bible, the Disciples of Jesus left family, friends, and their entire life in order to follow him. Its just sad to know that it has to be like this.
But alas, God has indeed blessed me. For in place of those friends I am losing have blossomed new and exciting relationships that before I would have thought improbable.
Praise God.
Wednesday, March 25
Friday, March 20
The Sermon on the Mount.
So I had the opportunity to read Matthew Ch. 5-8 today and it was really great. Its nice sometimes to re-hash old knowlege, especialy with a fresh understanding of some different passages. I enjoyed it. Here are some of my favorite parts.
The Beatitudes. Mat. 5: 3-10
Mat. 5: 41; "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two."
Mat. 6: 14-15; "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses."
Mat. 6: 24; "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
Mat. 6: 25-34 (summed in vs. 27, "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" and vs. 33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.")
Mat. 7: 1-6 (Do Not Judge)
Mat. 7: 16-20 (You Shall Know Them By Their Fruits)
-NKJV
Just thought I would share my joy in these passages. Very helpful to go back sometimes ya know?
-peace
The Beatitudes. Mat. 5: 3-10
Mat. 5: 41; "And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two."
Mat. 6: 14-15; "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive your trespasses."
Mat. 6: 24; "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
Mat. 6: 25-34 (summed in vs. 27, "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?" and vs. 33, "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.")
Mat. 7: 1-6 (Do Not Judge)
Mat. 7: 16-20 (You Shall Know Them By Their Fruits)
-NKJV
Just thought I would share my joy in these passages. Very helpful to go back sometimes ya know?
-peace
Wednesday, March 11
Internal Pollution.
Bitterness like acid rain can damage the soul.
Much like a radioactive storm pouring down upon a fresh crop,
Eating away its use, and beauty.
I know your pain.
I know your sadness.
But a wound that is always scratched will never heal.
To reopen a wound, causes only more pain and eventually infection.
An infection of bitterness eating away at your being,
Until there is nothing left but a black hole of dark, ugly memories.
Leave it alone.
Let it heal.
Until all that is left is a scar.
A reminder.
A lesson.
Then, maybe then, you will be able to say,
" I was hurt. But I can rise up now,
Stronger and wiser than I was before."
And then, maybe then, your life will go on.
_____________________________________________
Our Father, which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done.
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation.
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom,
And Thine is the glory
Forever, and ever.
-Amen.
Much like a radioactive storm pouring down upon a fresh crop,
Eating away its use, and beauty.
I know your pain.
I know your sadness.
But a wound that is always scratched will never heal.
To reopen a wound, causes only more pain and eventually infection.
An infection of bitterness eating away at your being,
Until there is nothing left but a black hole of dark, ugly memories.
Leave it alone.
Let it heal.
Until all that is left is a scar.
A reminder.
A lesson.
Then, maybe then, you will be able to say,
" I was hurt. But I can rise up now,
Stronger and wiser than I was before."
And then, maybe then, your life will go on.
_____________________________________________
Our Father, which art in Heaven,
Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done.
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Lead us not into temptation.
But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom,
And Thine is the glory
Forever, and ever.
-Amen.
Miserable Observations.
Has it always been like this? Beautiful people with beautiful lives are distraught at a lack of conflict. Its as if simplicity is no longer fashionable. My peers live lives of pleasant dissatisfaction, and I am lost to it. Oh to be the happy outcast.
People see a glimps of genuine love and the cringe from it as if it were a shackle. People would rather talk about the horrid path they walk, instead of turning around. People weap about their happy simple lives. Its frankly vulgar.
But I digress, it is better to live happily alone, than dispairingly close to leaches.
People see a glimps of genuine love and the cringe from it as if it were a shackle. People would rather talk about the horrid path they walk, instead of turning around. People weap about their happy simple lives. Its frankly vulgar.
But I digress, it is better to live happily alone, than dispairingly close to leaches.
Tuesday, March 10
On Man-kind's Identity Crisis.
So I have had the experience as of late, to talk to and advise people that I have rarely even interacted with before; and I have noticed something dire. People are actually STRANGERS to themselves. huh?
Isn't it amazing how terrified people are of themselves? They hide behind their "manners", "politics", and any other false visage they can come up with. Humanity has undergone an identity crisis. I think it goes back to the whole "living loved" thing. Its because people don't love themselves that they have such an issue with being loved!!
I'm not trying to sound better than anyone else when I say, "I am who I am, all the time, with everyone." It may sound like I am saying that from some high horse whilst looking down the length of my nose at all of man-kind, but I'm REALLY not. I just got tired of being everybody.
A good example of this is with Daniel in the Bible. He and the other Israeli dude's were taken into the palace and were told to live as the Babylonian men did. Those fellows drank A LOT, ate gross food, stayed up all night partying, and were basically tired, strung out, slobs. Daniel, being the good Jewish boy that he is, persuades the chief Eunuch to allow him, and the other jews, to eat plenty of fruits and vegitables, drink a lot of water, and go to bed at a decent time. In doing this Daniel proved to be smarter, stronger, and faster than the Babylonian men.
Later in Daniel's life, King Neb (abbreviated) proclamates that all people shall bow down and pray to man-made idols of himself. All that disobeyed would be killed. Daniel, being the good jewish boy that he is, decides to practice civil disobedience and prays to HIS God (The God), and is concequently punished and, you guessed it, thrown into the lion's den!! EEEK!! BUT Daniel, being the good jewish boy that he is, KEEPS PRAYING, even in timess of extreme peril, and God saves him!! YAY GOD!!
Its like society has given us these horrid examples of how to dress, act, talk, and pretty much LIVE our life!! Ummm hello people. That makes NOOOOO sense whatsoever. The Bible gives us better examples. Daniel was the same in the court, in his room, and in a den full of lions.Jesus was the same in church, out of church, at the dinner table with the tax-collectors and sinners, on the hill with the gentiles, in the garden with his peeps, in the court with Pilate, and on the Cross.
Uh Yeah.
As a man, I have one life to do as much of the will of God before I die, so why not model it by HIS examples. Duh.
Isn't it amazing how terrified people are of themselves? They hide behind their "manners", "politics", and any other false visage they can come up with. Humanity has undergone an identity crisis. I think it goes back to the whole "living loved" thing. Its because people don't love themselves that they have such an issue with being loved!!
I'm not trying to sound better than anyone else when I say, "I am who I am, all the time, with everyone." It may sound like I am saying that from some high horse whilst looking down the length of my nose at all of man-kind, but I'm REALLY not. I just got tired of being everybody.
A good example of this is with Daniel in the Bible. He and the other Israeli dude's were taken into the palace and were told to live as the Babylonian men did. Those fellows drank A LOT, ate gross food, stayed up all night partying, and were basically tired, strung out, slobs. Daniel, being the good Jewish boy that he is, persuades the chief Eunuch to allow him, and the other jews, to eat plenty of fruits and vegitables, drink a lot of water, and go to bed at a decent time. In doing this Daniel proved to be smarter, stronger, and faster than the Babylonian men.
Later in Daniel's life, King Neb (abbreviated) proclamates that all people shall bow down and pray to man-made idols of himself. All that disobeyed would be killed. Daniel, being the good jewish boy that he is, decides to practice civil disobedience and prays to HIS God (The God), and is concequently punished and, you guessed it, thrown into the lion's den!! EEEK!! BUT Daniel, being the good jewish boy that he is, KEEPS PRAYING, even in timess of extreme peril, and God saves him!! YAY GOD!!
Its like society has given us these horrid examples of how to dress, act, talk, and pretty much LIVE our life!! Ummm hello people. That makes NOOOOO sense whatsoever. The Bible gives us better examples. Daniel was the same in the court, in his room, and in a den full of lions.Jesus was the same in church, out of church, at the dinner table with the tax-collectors and sinners, on the hill with the gentiles, in the garden with his peeps, in the court with Pilate, and on the Cross.
Uh Yeah.
As a man, I have one life to do as much of the will of God before I die, so why not model it by HIS examples. Duh.
Thursday, March 5
The best and worst: On the folly of wisdom.
I had to write an essay on how Dickens' quote "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." relates to the senior year of a high school student. So here ya go.
The last year of High School is one of hope and fear, joy and sadness, wisdom and folly. Joy because AT LAST all of our diligence has come to fruition. All those years spent testing, reading, and reporting are now at an end, and real life is about to start. This time is both joyous and sad because now, we are on our own. No more seeing your best friend since 7th grade in the hall, no more asking teachers for extra credit because you spent more time chillin' at Mickey D's instead of doing homework, no more Mom and Dad calling the principle to get you out of trouble...AGAIN, no more G-Pop announcing your birthday at football games. Yes indeed, it's time to leave our safe, comfortable desks to take on the world. We may be the smartest in the school, yet foolishly we cling to our "Top Dawg" positions knowing that in a few months, we will be back on the bottom, fending for ourselves.
As June 9th draws near, we become both excited and nervous, because we know that as soon as those caps are thrown in the air, our lives will be forever changed. No turning back, no waiting. Pretty soon we will move off to some new and frankly terrifying place to begin our future, and the ever desired independence of adulthood leaves a bittersweet taste in our mouths. That is when we learn that true freedom was in our childhood, and we fought to be rid of it. Oh the folly of the wise.
The last year of High School is one of hope and fear, joy and sadness, wisdom and folly. Joy because AT LAST all of our diligence has come to fruition. All those years spent testing, reading, and reporting are now at an end, and real life is about to start. This time is both joyous and sad because now, we are on our own. No more seeing your best friend since 7th grade in the hall, no more asking teachers for extra credit because you spent more time chillin' at Mickey D's instead of doing homework, no more Mom and Dad calling the principle to get you out of trouble...AGAIN, no more G-Pop announcing your birthday at football games. Yes indeed, it's time to leave our safe, comfortable desks to take on the world. We may be the smartest in the school, yet foolishly we cling to our "Top Dawg" positions knowing that in a few months, we will be back on the bottom, fending for ourselves.
As June 9th draws near, we become both excited and nervous, because we know that as soon as those caps are thrown in the air, our lives will be forever changed. No turning back, no waiting. Pretty soon we will move off to some new and frankly terrifying place to begin our future, and the ever desired independence of adulthood leaves a bittersweet taste in our mouths. That is when we learn that true freedom was in our childhood, and we fought to be rid of it. Oh the folly of the wise.
Tuesday, March 3
A Real Man.
As a 17 year old, I have had to learn a lot about what it means to be a real man. The hard part is that my biblical knowledge conflicted with what society was throwing at me. Society kept showing me men who were wealthy, promiscuous, womanizers, and usually alcoholics. Sure, it LOOKED like a good time, but many of them ended up shot, in jail, or broke. So I began to think of biblical examples of how a real man should be. Men like Jesus (duh), David, Moses, Joseph, Abraham, Daniel, and TONS more. The only problem is, guys my age have difficulty reading and understanding the Bible especially concerning how we are to live.
So what separates a Godly man from an un-Godly man? That's both a simple, and difficult question. Truth be told, a Godly man can and most likely will make the same mistakes that an un-Godly man would. But the difference is, that a Godly man KNOWS its a mistake, and he KNOWS to stop. Even in the days of Eden, Adam KNEW not to eat of the fruit. So what does a Godly man DO after he has made this "mistake"? Well if he is a TRULY Godly man, he asks forgiveness AND tries his BEST not to fall into that type of situation again. The hardest part about being a Christian is the whole "avoiding bad situations" thing. I tell you the truth, asking forgiveness is MUCH easier than avoiding evil. Especially today, with all the booty shaking, cleavage parading that goes on. Evil is at our fingertips EVERY time we get on a computer, turn on a TV or listen to the radio. Life is HARD.
So what does a Godly man do? He avoids evil. (See a theme yet?) In Psalms 119:9 it says, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your will." The answer is in the Bible (obviously) but where? How about Proverbs 3, where the TITLE of the passage is "Guidance for the Young". Isn't it getting easier already? Obey the commandments and your life will be long and full of peace. That sounds pretty cut and dry to me. The answers are out there, they just have yet to be found. Until now.
This is my mission, my vision. Praise God.
So what separates a Godly man from an un-Godly man? That's both a simple, and difficult question. Truth be told, a Godly man can and most likely will make the same mistakes that an un-Godly man would. But the difference is, that a Godly man KNOWS its a mistake, and he KNOWS to stop. Even in the days of Eden, Adam KNEW not to eat of the fruit. So what does a Godly man DO after he has made this "mistake"? Well if he is a TRULY Godly man, he asks forgiveness AND tries his BEST not to fall into that type of situation again. The hardest part about being a Christian is the whole "avoiding bad situations" thing. I tell you the truth, asking forgiveness is MUCH easier than avoiding evil. Especially today, with all the booty shaking, cleavage parading that goes on. Evil is at our fingertips EVERY time we get on a computer, turn on a TV or listen to the radio. Life is HARD.
So what does a Godly man do? He avoids evil. (See a theme yet?) In Psalms 119:9 it says, "How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to your will." The answer is in the Bible (obviously) but where? How about Proverbs 3, where the TITLE of the passage is "Guidance for the Young". Isn't it getting easier already? Obey the commandments and your life will be long and full of peace. That sounds pretty cut and dry to me. The answers are out there, they just have yet to be found. Until now.
This is my mission, my vision. Praise God.
Monday, March 2
Living Loved, a continued idea.
Ok here is a profound thought. If God is our Father, then doesn't that make Jesus our BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *GASP* NO STOP THAT'S TOO MUCH!!!!!!
Ok folks really. Lets take a view of the trinity. God the Father, God the son Son, and God the Spirit. God's son is Jesus+I am Gods son=Jesus is my brother, oh crap. So lets talk about sacrifice.
Life. Life is the ultimate sacrifice, we all know that. All of us think about death, I personally think about death every day. But that's just me. Jesus gave his life, so that we could spend eternity in heaven. ETERNITY!!! I get confused even thinking about that much time. There are few people in this world that I would give my life for. But I know one of them is my sister, If I did have to die for her, all I know is that she would live ONE more day. But Jesus gave his life so that we could live FOREVER. That's a wonderful guarantee.
So here is my closing thought, since Jesus died for us because he loved us, isn't it a slap in the face to Him NOT to accept and return his love. God has a call for our lives, why do we choose not to listen?
Ok folks really. Lets take a view of the trinity. God the Father, God the son Son, and God the Spirit. God's son is Jesus+I am Gods son=Jesus is my brother, oh crap. So lets talk about sacrifice.
Life. Life is the ultimate sacrifice, we all know that. All of us think about death, I personally think about death every day. But that's just me. Jesus gave his life, so that we could spend eternity in heaven. ETERNITY!!! I get confused even thinking about that much time. There are few people in this world that I would give my life for. But I know one of them is my sister, If I did have to die for her, all I know is that she would live ONE more day. But Jesus gave his life so that we could live FOREVER. That's a wonderful guarantee.
So here is my closing thought, since Jesus died for us because he loved us, isn't it a slap in the face to Him NOT to accept and return his love. God has a call for our lives, why do we choose not to listen?
Living Loved
I have noticed throughout my life that people have a really hard time being loved!! Isn't that just stupid!? People seem to think that they are such filthy, rotten, dirtesque creatures, that to love them is simply impractical.* I firmly disagree, in the wonderful (and extremely over-recited) bible passage, John 3:16, Jesus says "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Aren't WE apart of the WORLD too?? So then why do people have such trouble with this idea of LOVE EVERLASTING?
I know EXACTLY why. People can't get the image of an elderly, angry, so-holy-you-can't-even-look-at-me, judge/God out of there minds. But the reality of God is SO much deeper, and more loving than that. To me, God has always been like a Dad. I haven't really had much of a relationship with my father until just recently so God filled that place for me. Ill unpack that for you. A father is someone who guides you, laughs with you, goes on walks with you, listens to you and talks to you. Isn't that what God is? Jesus reffered to God as Abba. Thats like saying Daddy, and in The Lords Prayer Jesus opens with "Our Father..." sooooooo we can call him father too yes? Absolutely!!
God wants a relationship with us, one full of love, and awe at his love. People just get too caught up in the negativo to see the good stuff right in front of them.
Think on that for a while. Its late, I'll continue later.
I know EXACTLY why. People can't get the image of an elderly, angry, so-holy-you-can't-even-look-at-me, judge/God out of there minds. But the reality of God is SO much deeper, and more loving than that. To me, God has always been like a Dad. I haven't really had much of a relationship with my father until just recently so God filled that place for me. Ill unpack that for you. A father is someone who guides you, laughs with you, goes on walks with you, listens to you and talks to you. Isn't that what God is? Jesus reffered to God as Abba. Thats like saying Daddy, and in The Lords Prayer Jesus opens with "Our Father..." sooooooo we can call him father too yes? Absolutely!!
God wants a relationship with us, one full of love, and awe at his love. People just get too caught up in the negativo to see the good stuff right in front of them.
Think on that for a while. Its late, I'll continue later.
First Blog
SO this is Blog #1. Im going to attempt to tell a bit about myself. Here goes.
Im a follower of Christ, I am MADE (a personal cliche) in his image, for his will. Isn't it great to know that!? The hard part is remembering that no matter what, no matter when, you are "living loved" (another great little cliche of mine). I love my family WAY more than my friends, and music is my hobby.
Ok thats the general info. The rest of my blogs will be a little deeper.
=) thanks.
Im a follower of Christ, I am MADE (a personal cliche) in his image, for his will. Isn't it great to know that!? The hard part is remembering that no matter what, no matter when, you are "living loved" (another great little cliche of mine). I love my family WAY more than my friends, and music is my hobby.
Ok thats the general info. The rest of my blogs will be a little deeper.
=) thanks.
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