I heard something in a sermon this week that 100% made so much sense to me. This won’t be long, and it will be very simple. Above is a picture of my shoe. Everyday before you leave your house, take your shoes and pray over them. Ask God that that the the shoes you are about top place your feet into will guide you down the path of sharing the word.

Ephesians 6:11

Plain and simple.

Being Thankful.

The other day I wrote (in a tweet)

“I’ll never play in the NBA, I’ll never make a living playing music, but sometimes I forget just how blessed and fortunate I really am.”

This led to me think about how many of spend out entire lives chasing our dreams and dwelling on what what we wish could have happened. Instead we should be praying for God’s will for our lives to prevail, as well as being grateful for what He has already given us.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Perhaps I wanted to be on a stage or in a studio playing drums for a living right now, but instead I am a 5th year college student who is still up in the air about everything. And I am content with that because I know that this is God’s will for my life at the moment, and as I continue to pray about the decisions I make, I also pray that His will be shown to me daily.

5 years from now I do not know where I will be or what I will be doing but I know that I am going to be where the LORD wants me to be doing what He wants me to be doing. So for that I thank you God. Thank you.

Thank God daily for what he has given you. Do not be bothered but you do not have and do not grow envious of what others do have. (Exodus 20:17)

Be grateful. Daily.

Forgiveness.

We have all held a grudge. But why?

Matthew 18: 21-22
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, ” Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times? ” Jesus answered, ” I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Straight from the lips of Christ we are told to forgive one another, and forgive them again, and again and again.

There is nothing that your peer, family member, or even loved one can do to you that does not deserve forgiveness.

John 8:7
…”If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone….”

Temptation

It’s something that we have all been faced with at one point in our lives, and probably on a daily basis. Temptation. Most of the time when people hear this word they think about sexual temptations. While that may be one of the hardest temptations to deal with, the bible clearly states that it is important to flee from the temptation of ALL sins.

Gluttony, jealousy, hatred, murder, lies, deceit. The list goes on and on. Many of the times we sin, we know that it is about to happen. We think about it. We often KNOW how to prevent it. Or we think we are are “strong.” We can put ourselves into those situations and leave freely…right? This is the biggest mistake you could make.

Matthew 26:41 states…

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

..and then again in Mark 14:38

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

The exact same verse seen in different books of the bible. It is stressed and highly important that we avoid all situations in which we may be tempted to sin. Although We want to think we can avoid it, the word clearly tells us that our flesh is WEAK.

We have all been there. We will all be there. We will face it daily. We must ‘pray that we will not enter into temptation.’ We must flee all thoughts of it.

Is it easy? No. Will we fail? Yes. Will God forgive us and give us another chance? Definitely. We must live in prayer daily and have open communication with the LORD as well as with our peers. Accountability is super important. But that’s for another study

Stop Fighting the LORD.

I recently returned from my second summer camp with NECC. Last year I was there simply as a drummer. Jon Wren (youth pastor) saw something in me and encouraged me to get involved in youth ministry. I told him that this was on my mind years ago but that I had passed it off, not thinking it was for me.

This year I was more involved as the rec leader. IO got to spend more time with the kids and see them worship with the LORD. As the week came to an end I realized that I truly have a love for these kids. I was in middle school when I made the decision to walk with Christ and I find it important to encourage this in the young youth.

I fought this idea for years. Excuses such as “this isn’t right for me” and “I don’t like kids” were all just excuses and results in my lack of prayer and faith in God.

”A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

I tried to plan my own way and make excuses for my choices. I pretended to listen to God, when in reality I was putting his name on my own decisions.

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” (1 John 5:14)

Keep patient. As I wait upon the LORD I grow stronger.

Psalm 37:7

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…

Psalm 40:1

I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry.

And here we are.

I know I few of you have this blog on you RSS feed, and even visit occasionally. Well you would know that it has been a lifetime since my last post. There are a couple of reasons for that…

1. I became lazy and this blog was not a priority.
2. When I finally decided to re-visit this blog I had forgotten all of my log in information

I have found that this serves as an example to our daily walk. Often at times we feel lazy in our faith. We know what we should be doing but we are more concerned with what we could be doing.

Also we fill ourselves with phrases such as “I’ll get around to it,” however by the time we think about ‘getting to it’ we have forgotten exactly how to do it. We “forgot out log in information.” If we consume our lives with un-Godly activity it becomes the norm for us and we all know how hard it is to break away from our daily ‘norms.’

From this point forward this blog will not only act as a small bible study, but also a blog of inspiration as I document some common struggles for Christians that I am experiencing in my own life. Take these experiences and verses and learn from them.

2 Timothy 1:7

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

1 Corinthians 10:31

³¹So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Psalm 6

Pslam 6:8-10

8. Away from me, all you who do evil, for the LORD has heard my weeping.

9. The LORD has heard my cry for mercy; the LORD accepts my prayer.

10. All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;

they will turn their back in sudden disgrace.

Todays Verse 8/9/09

2 Timothy, 2:22(NIV)

“Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

-This is a verse I have been looking at for about a week now. Often at times I would say to myself “you only live once. I’m young and I want to keep that way.” I had this outlook to try to prevent growing up too fast. I’m 21 and sometimes I feel like I should be doing more with my life. The truth is that I should.

This verse isn’t commanding us all to grow up and get “real lives.” Like freshman professors would exclaim, “You’re not in high school anymore!!!” But rather grow in the word, and with that growth do not sit back and simply sulk in it. Rather get up and use your knowledge to help further His kingdom.

What does this verse mean to you?