Monday

So these are report writing days for me and it doesn't excite me to write more here but here are some resent thoughts.

Check out Bradley Hathaway http://www.myspace.com/bradleyhathaway. He is a little far out there but I think he says some important things. Like in the song "Samuel" he talks about being loved for no other reason than being.

Second thought that came up in a bible study I was a part of. That Jesus believes in us that we can follow him ie. do what he did. But it is crucial that we understand that it is not because of what we are capable of, but because of what he has done for us and what he offers us. (catch that it's not about us)

Anyways maybe I will expand on a later blog, but yah enjoy the picture and hope you have a good Tuesday.

Wild Flowers

I was looking though my posts that I have not published and I wondered why this one was never published. So I publish this one today.

1 Thessalonians 5:15-18
15 See that no one repays another with evil for evil; but always seek that which is good, both for yourselves, and for all men.
16 Rejoice always.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.

This past year "Pray without ceasing" has been brought home to me. It seems to be the most important thing to me.

Trust

Mark 6:49+50 NKJV
"And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a gost, and cried out;for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, 'Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.'"

Proverbs 3:5+6 NKJV
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."

As Christians we trust neither in our own understanding, or the understanding of the world, but trust the Lord with our whole heart. How often do we trust humans when we should be trusting God? How often do we accept things we hear as true but ignore what God says?

So God I trust you to lead me,
I trust you to take care of me,
So God lets walk on water that'd be cool.

Collaborative effort.

Where do I go from here?

This is one of my favorite things to do in the city, riding my bike with little traffic.
Today something clicked, and so it was a great day.
"It is the Lord Christ you are serving"
Picture like this I wish I had a better camera where I can adjust the shutter speed, but then I wouldn't take this picture because I would be afraid that that I would break it lol.

I got this verse from a friend "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24

So God teach me to serve you.

A good song by Branden Heath wait and see

Transparency 2

To the past(and others involved),
that I really only representations were used to talk.
It was really done for me five months ago, but completely done 2 months ago.
The only reason that I came around again is to see how people are doing, and I will probably come around again and leave my web markings on your statistics. To the person that made a fool of me a couple of times. God is as integral to me as the blood in my veins. I offer you God but we both know that answer. Yes you have to looks but it was never about that for me, and now not knowing what I know I'm glad it never was.

To the very attractive possible future
that I would love to know.
I stumble at my english, I am strange and do stupid things sometimes, I know.
The only consolation I have for myself is
Romans 8:12-14 (The Message) "So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!"
I saw my past straight in the eyes and I am so thankful for God for protecting me all these years and it was really only God even though I had no idea why (At the time I was quite frustrated by it).

To the present (third parties)
It's to bad that this effects life, and this blog but I guess it has to. To finish it up I am thinking about posting transparency 3, it's been in the works for awhile. We'll see.

Check out this vid.

I'm not trying to convince people, I meet too many people like that.
Rather I'm trying to say what I consider the truth, and whether or not you listen is up to you.
God's plan for his followers continues on.
I find that God does the same things. God says to the sun to stop shining and it does, he tells the earth to shake and it does. But he never forces any person to listen to him. He might set up circumstances to make it as obvious a choice as can be but the choice is still up to the person. It is the freedom he has given all of us, and with every freedom comes responsibility. If people refuse him, it doesn't make God smaller, make Jesus sacrifice any less but rather makes the rejector less.

Jesus is here to offer us a friendship with God creator of all.

Tremor

Tremor is bringing in the new day.
They are great yet unnerving times.
Things shake,
You don't know what will be left behind, and what will stay.
The landscape changes from the familiar to the unfamiliar.
Many things I would like to have in place.
Many things I would like to do.
Regardless the new day always comes.

I think I just worry to much sometimes :( Gah
What comes, comes,
What happens, happens.
So here is to not worrying as much :)

God help me be who you want me to be.
Teach us to do things the right way.
God lead us
God bless us

What does it take to cross the bridge?

I have seen smarter people than me simply lose everything for really nothing. I have watched people I considered a much better Christian than me simple turn it all in, and I have seen people show what is underneath. It makes me wonder what does it take to cross the bridge.

One thing this past year and a bit has taught me is how to pray. I have never prayed more, I have never asked God for so much.

Yesterday in church I heard one of the most brilliant messages about things that control us. This person talked about how there life was controlled by something relativity simple, and it was by asking God for a greater passion for him that this person could overcome the control.

So many times we use quick fixes, to subdue our desires. It's an idea I think C.S Lewis mentions allot, how we continue to skew and distort what God has given to us to lead us to him.

There was a evening a few years ago there was an event happening and I was out of the loop, and though I tried to get in the loop I ended up just making a bigger fool of myself. That night was hard and I prayed to God "I can't take this, do something ..." or something like that. In the mist of that I suddenly felt better, and though I ended up not doing anything that evening I was fine with it. It blew my mind, and I still do not understand. It is so counter culture, doesn't make any sense. I don't believe that God calls us to live as a hermit, but I do believe that God uses our desires to call us closer to him.

This is me trying to cross the bridge (Working On Progress). 1 Peter 2:1-9

God give us a passion for you.
God bless us in only the way you can.
God lead us in your ways.
God protect us.

Lights in the shadows

I was going to write something completely else today but well ...

Today's reading comes from Luke 4:1-13. Read it in your favorite translation. I won't confuse/bore you with my old school NKJV. If you don't have a bible there are many available free on the internet.

From the little religious teaching I have received I remembered that scholars propose that what the devil is doing is tempting Jesus to be a different kind of savior. In the first one he is tempted to save the world by feeding it. In the second he is tempted to be a political savior. In the third he is tempted to wow people with miracles and use that to lead people to God. Though Jesus did feed people, did miracles, and uses people really God sent him to save the world by dying for the worlds sins. (There is probably lots of info on this if you are interested)

There are a couple of things that stick out to me. Jesus allows himself to be tempted, he doesn't tell the devil to leave, but rather was lead into the wilderness.

I'm not getting at that we should go look for trouble, but rather sometimes there are things that work at us and sometimes we need to walk through the fire to overcome them. I would rather skip the whole process. Two things comes to mind for me,

In my line of work it is all about ideas and putting them together. My "Big" idea was an underwater hotel. Beside all the shortfalls of that idea and the fact that someone is already doing exactly that I believe God asked me one day "Why I was working so hard". The truth is because that is all I knew what to do to full fill my dreams. God showed me that I could work so hard and only at the last step lose everything, so I gave it to God. I consider this one of the great temptations that was offered to me, and with God helping me over come it. I drastically changed my thinking and it matured me.

This past year and a bit I have had more than one invitation to join a different lifestyle, and you know even though I "know the facts" ... when the day comes will the reasons for your choices be enough to weather the storm. The truth is that my understanding of the world has changed again and I not the same person that I was a year ago because of it. I have never been so convinced that we humans never really different then we where 100 years ago or 1000 years ago ...

I am not saying that I am mighty ... or am anything mature/great, but rather it shows my weakness that where tried(and I am guessing they will be tried again). It helps me to see life as a journey and we make statements about what are living for in the decision we make.

I am not saying that we should go look for trouble but rather if we like Jesus are "led by the Spirit" Luke 4:1 we could be shown where we would be if God left us to ourselves.

Anyways those are my thoughts.

God bless us
God lead us

On the path to Transparancy

I guess sometimes you have to exchange blows, to know the choices people have made.

God is and always has been my protector. Through the deep waters, that are over my head, I prayed to God for direction, and guidance. God carried me, we walked on water.