Good Devolution

Today's devotion from Goshen College:

FEB. 14 - TO A PLACE WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE


By Bryce Bow, a junior physical education major from Muncie,
Ind.

SCRIPTURE: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 (NRSV)
Scroll down for complete Scripture.

DEVOTIONAL:
Imagine (Yes, I'm asking you to really focus, really use
your imagination!). Imagine, right now, you are a homeless
person, living under a bridge in, say, downtown Chicago.
It's cold out, extremely cold. Your clothes are tattered and
dirty. Your hair is nappy, you haven't showered in a long
time and your hungry because it's been days since you last
had anything to eat. You're in pain, more than physical
pain. A deep, throbbing pain circulates through your whole
body, almost as if your soul hurts. It starts to rain. A
cold wind sweeps through and blows your small fire out. All
you can feel is pain, the cold and the tears running down
your face. Stop for a second and really put yourself there.

Just then, a limo pulls up and the door opens. A man is
sitting inside and he invites you in. You accept in hopes
that whatever is in the limo is better than your current
situation. The man inside offers you a hot beverage and some
warm clothes. His smile warms the deepest parts of your
soul. You laugh together and drive; time has lost its
importance. When the limo stops, you look out the window.
There is a beautiful, sparkling lake, almost from a book.
The man hands you a set of keys.
"What's this?" you ask, with a smile.
"It's yours," he says.
"What's mine?"
"Everything," he says, with a chuckle.
You look closer at the keys: for a boat, a house, a car.
For the desires of your heart.
"Do you accept?" he asks, with a smile.
No words will come out. "Why? What did I do?" you ask
yourself. "I don't deserve this. You slowly take the keys.
"I'll be right next door if you need anything," the man
says, smiling still. You have too many emotions: confusion,
excitement, joy, love.

Grace. Our Creator loves us so much that he wants to spend
eternity, the rest of forever, with us. Yes, with us. "Me?"
some may ask. Yes, everyone; there are no exceptions. Our
God wants to take us "out of the depths," to a place words
cannot describe, a place that our minds cannot conceive.
Why? Because of love. Yes, love. It's really that simple.
It's a free gift. We cannot "earn" it, but can only accept
it. Take the keys. Accept the gift. You'll be glad you did.

SCRIPTURE: Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 (NRSV)
What then are we to say was gained by Abraham, our
ancestor according to the flesh? For if Abraham was
justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not
before God. For what does the scripture say? ‘Abraham
believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.'
Now to one who works, wages are not reckoned as a gift but
as something due. But to one who without works trusts him
who justifies the ungodly, such faith is reckoned as
righteousness.

For the promise that he would inherit the world did not
come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but
through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents
of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the
promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there
is no law, neither is there violation.

For this reason it depends on faith, in order that the
promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his
descendants, not only to the adherents of the law but also
to those who share the faith of Abraham (for he is the
father of all of us, as it is written, ‘I have made you the
father of many nations') -- in the presence of the God in
whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into
existence the things that do not exist. 

Breath this cold air

I find listening to God is allot like a cold winter day for me. The first bit is hard, you have to get used to the cold, all the fears of doing something new, all the fear of stepping off the ledge, the first few breaths catch you off guard and frozen. As you learn you get used to it, things you never thought you would, and then just when you got it licked he shows you something new and you got to step outside all over again. He makes you feel all your weakness, all that is impossible for you, and all that is possible for God. Thank you God for all this and I pray that you be with me and help me when things are tough and I can't see this change, want to turn back, force me forward what ever the cost push me to those high hill not letting the past hold me down because that is all that really matters anyways. God bless me and all those I care about. Bless everyone that follows you and give then something special from you.

shake these chains

I guess what gets me down the most of all things, is I can see how we could be doing things better but we arn't. I see people working hard at making things better and I find myself and others, not doing anything because we do not want to or we just don't have resources. There is a limit to how much we can give. I guess it is because I know of a case where the people are giving everything and it isn't enough. I guess that is why we need God, and why this earth is not the end.

There is one thing I look forward to and that is the shake these chains of this world and laugh at my attempts to do anything right and run to the lord of all.

Leaving things behind

Sometimes you got to move forward. Get ride of stuff you wanted to give up for a long time. Here is something that hit me this week in a devotional that I read.

However, when those primal desires, as good as they were created to be, begin to woo us away from God, separate us from others, or distance us from God's best intentions for us, then soul death soon awaits us (Genesis 2:17).

For me this has hit me in the area of friends. Why do I have friends and why do I hang out with the people I do? I have decided that I will hang around with people who I am not afraid to make a complete fool of myself. I have always had the desire to hang around with cool people, groups that I feel I have to keep fighting to stay in, but now I have decided that I don't really care and I'm going to ignore that urge.

One Year

wow one year is a long time, I don't even remember my first blog, or anything about when I started this. Celebrations all around. Have a good one.
This is the Author, saying God Bless.
John James Friesen.

Fits Together or Apart

I am trying to clear up what I've been getting at in my prev, blogs when I talk about robots.
I guess what I'm trying to distinguish between how we as humans do things and the way God does things.

We as humans make rules, make standards. We make things acceptable and not acceptable. I'm not saying this is right or wrong but this is the way we have to do things to keep things under control, and if we as humans want to be more powerful we make more of these things, but really has no power if we choose to not follow them.

God on the other hand accepts everyone who accepts him. Reduces all the rules we have made into 2, and reaches out to the people that don't fit in. He shows the most power when things are weak. He brings together all peoples while bringing out there uniqueness, with out forcing them to conform(even if we as Christians have(shoot even us Christians didn't conform we decided to break from allot of Jewish laws and customs that the first Christians kept)).

I guess this is part of the reason that I dislike a lot of TV shows and popular Idols. I have nothing against having hero's but I do have something against a millions of people all having the same Idol, give the rest of us a chance. There are many people we know that would be much better, maybe not in an individual skill (or maybe if we would if we would go out and have a passion for something) but maybe overall. Thank is what I am talking about being robots, all seeing the same thing, all being taught and feed the same info, all doing the same thing (even being rebellious if that is what you are feed(I'm sure that is easy to make people rebellious, but hard to make people to think)).

peace out
John James Friesen

No post this week

Sorry I don't have a post for this week, but I have updated my profile and blog template. Maybe I will give one later this week.

John James Friesen

Things that are real

It's amazing how God can change this pile of rags into a beautiful masterpiece. It's amazing that through all our faults God can still create something of worth. God has shown me a few of things I've traded. It is because of it that I am where I am. I've cut my looses and chosen certain dreams and gone for it for, ignoring other dreams. If asked the question would I change the past I would say I wouldn't change a thing. In reality we can't do everything we have to make a choice of what we want, and my choices have lead me here.

One important thing God has taught me is that we can't make ourselves truly happy which very near the top of my list. In Grade 12 we studied Ecclesiastes and I have tried and will continue to try to follow it's advice to us humans. It's advice I believe can be summed up in chapter 12
13 This is the end of the matter. All has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.

Something God has taught me is that you can't make yourself follow this advice, you can't make yourself rules or structure that will make you follow this advice, because that is just another attempt to make us robots which doesn't work. The new testament plan involves hardly any rules and structure. I believe it involves wanting to truly listen to God and follow his guiding which will involve tons of mistacks on our behalf which is part of God's plan for us humans (you can point out tons of examples in the disciples). He longs to help us out. He longs to pick us up. He longs to save us from ourselves. If we would only ask.
So God I pray that you would save us.

Answer to Prayer

As always God gives a reply if you ask with all that you have.

Here are some of the answers that I believe God has given me.

Sometimes things can't be worked out, sometimes there is supposed to be strife. God himself has set rules that limit his and others the ability to control people so there is going to be trouble with us and God and us and other people, it should be expected.

Lots problems can't be fixed by you and have to be fixed by God. There is nothing that you can do other than to follow his will even if it is against what you think is right.

There are times when you mind and your heart say opposite things and you got to figure out what you are going to do.

Make mistacks regularly otherwise you will never learn how to deal with them when they really come. They also teach you so much more.

That all these things that we pretend keep us alive really don't and are really cheap substitutes to being carried by God.

God's understanding is so far and beyond our most complex ideas that we really have no clue of what is going on.

If you take your faith seriously for a whole year. Reading your bible daily, praying daily, asking God what he wants from you, start the process of giving up everything you want to give up, offering everything to God and asking everything from God you will have the most intense year of your life, and I believe I havn't even touched the surface of most of these things.

Between Me and God

The following rant is something that I have been struggling for the past year and it is no one's fault it is something that God is trying to teach me or something else I don't know. So why am I posting it hear if it is just between me a God well I don't know other than it might clear things up and or God might give me some advice, or maybe it will help someone else who is going through the same thing. It might be personal but you know what I am trying to teach myself not to care what other people think about me and maybe this is part of that.

Oh God how tough do you want me to be. This past year has been the hardest year of my life. What do you want me to do. What do you want to change in my mind. I can't understand this God give me understanding. All I have is yours and you know that because you have taken away everything else. There is nothing else that I can run to or distract myself with it, has all become useless to me. What do you want to say to me that I can't hear. I've tried to listen so many times. Oh God be on your servant and help him in ways only you can. Oh God be on your servant and change me in only ways you can. Oh God be on your servant and guide me on paths only you know. I need you more than ever Oh God. Thank you for carrying your servant through the hard times. In your holy precious name. Amen.