A Sense of Destiny

When God told Abram to leave his country, his people, and his family and go to a land I will show you. I wonder what went though his mind. When God told him I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you, what was Abram thinking. Was he thinking about his Destiny, that people would remember, and know his name for thousands of years to come. One of the things that happens when we become a Christian is that gain a sense of destiny, a sense of mission. After God placed his hand on Abraham (Genesis 12), he never looked at his life the same way. He said, I am special, and I have a purpose. All the nations of the world will be blessed in me, God has done this great time and he used me. Abraham was not being prideful, he had gained a sense of purpose, he came to realized his destiny. Today more than ever I feel we need to realize our purpose and our ability with the direction of God to understand our destiny. Jesus came so that we would understand why we where created and what the purpose of our lives are. Today is a good day to come to our senses and allow God to to do that which only He can do, give us purpose and a sense of DESTINY.

Sin the Unnatural Intruder

So many times we think of sin as be natural and normal. We quickly forget that God created the first man and women without sin, and we liveas if sin will always be a part of who we are. That forever we will live with this sickness, and that there is no cure. Below is a quote helps us see sin for what it is.
“The great truth of Christianity, the great truth of Christ, is that sin in unnatural and it has no business in a human life. The birth of Christ proclaimed that in one tone: His cross proclaimed it in another! And that which is unnatural is not by necessity permanent. The struggle of all nature is against the unnatural, to dislodge it and cast it out. That struggle pervades the world. It’s is going on in every clod of earth, in every tree, in every star, and in every soul of man. Intensely sensitive to feel the presence of evil as never felt before, the Christian instantly and intensely knows that evil is a stranger and an intruder in his life. The wonder in not that it should someday be cast out: the wonder is that it should ever have come in”.(Phillips Brooks)
We are well to remember that the intruder has been dealt with and defeated by Jesus Christ. But for us we must deal with it by accepting Christ gift of freedom. But that is only the start; we must then daily choose to live free from the effects of sin, to choose the things of God and not the things of sin. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. My prayer for you is that today you will choose to live in freedom.

Changing our Perspective

I have often found in my own life that it is most difficult to see things from God's point of view, when I'm looking at it from my perspective. When I let the troubles, the problems, the difficulties, the negative emotions of life tell me how i should interpret the goodness and the greatness of my God. Often times what I need is a a change of perspective. In his book Wild Goose Chase, Mark Batterson states " here the bottom line where you a geographically affect where you are spiritually" what I think he means is that sometimes you need to change something in your life, so that you can see things from another point of view. And I found that to be really true in my own life. I just spent a few weeks in Alaska, and I was taken back by the Majesty of my God, and then I asks my self why was God different in Alaska then back in Ohio, no but the change of location, and the change of the pace of my life, allowed me to see just how awesome my God is. as Mark Batterson puts it,
(change of place+change of pace=change of perspective) so today if you need to change your perspective, go somewhere, take a long drive to a quite place, go sit by the lake or ocean, build a fire in your back yard, walk to work, bike to work. Just do something different and see if your perspective changes.

Thankful

Today I had the opportunity to serve at the Food Self a ministry of Mountain View Church in Anchorage Alaska, and today made me remember that people are so precious. The Food Self gives out food to people in need, and today those people gave me more than I could have ever given them. I found myself at one point alone sitting on the steps just praying and thanking God for being able to serve. I really just want to cry I was so grateful to my God, and I thought for a moment that even though this Life is hard for these people, God has a better eternity for all who trust in Him. Yes today I came to understand that this life no matter how hard, that God has something better in store fo us. Today I was thankful I saw people as God sees us and I thanked Him that this world is not our Home.

Living outside of the Box

One thing I have come to understand is this, If I am going to follow JESUS with my whole heart, I must often times reject what the majority often says and compare all aspect of my life to Scripture. I'm not saying that I always do it but it must become my goal, for only then will I come to desire God enough that everything else is second to Him. In his book Crazy Love (Francis Chan) quotes 'I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity. The goals of American Christianity are often a nice marriage, children who don't swear, and a good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered. That's for the "radicals" who are "unbalanced" and who go "overboard." Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe, and that does not involve suffering." And the more I read Scripture the more I feel that God demands that I give up control of my life to Him, and only then can I become the person that I want to be. A Disciple of Jesus Christ, for Jesus call us to follow him not to lead the way. Its time that we Christians give up this ideal that we can do it our way, God will never be ok with that, because he is God and he has created us to follow Him.

What do you want Jesus to do for you

As i was reading Luke chapter 18 I was taken back by the encounter that Jesus had with the blind beggar. You see the beggar was a man the had never saw Jesus but believed that Jesus could make a difference in his Life. So once he got Jesus attention, Jesus asked him the questions "what do you want me to do for you" and the beggar responded Lord I want to see. A simple question I don't think so, you see this beggar knew that he needed a miracle so when he said Lord I want to see, what he was saying is Jesus I believe that you are the messiah and If you will have mercy on me I will follow you always. So Jesus said to him, " receive your sight, your faith has healed you" And that's whats takes me back, how Jesus made the man ask for want he needed. And only when he ask did Jesus do anything. I realizes that Jesus does not beg us to come to him, but responds to us when we finally come to the realization that we need him and that he is the only one that can save us. Yes the questions what do you want me to do for you is one we need to here and be ready to answer.

Wild Goose Chase

I have been reading a book by Mark Batterson, called (Wild Goose Chase) the book is about chasing after the Spirit of God. The main point is that when we follow after God, we are never sure where He will lead us, but it will be the best adventure of our lives. And I think that so many people out there are looking for a life of adventure. but adventure that changes the world for the better. Adventure that impacts the lives of people and improves their lives. Now i believe that only God can give you the adventure of this kind. The life that we all deeply desire, that has purpose and has meaning can only be found when we chase after the God who made us, for any other chase will leave us short or our full potential. So today chase after God and enjoy the adventure of a lifetime.