2|28|08

Its not easy growing up as a Christian- putting your faith into someone the world cannot see. For a long time one story in the bible or really- one request in the Bible- has been on my mind. For centuries the Israelites were led by judges such as Deborah and Samuel who governed them by the word of God- there were many judges- much like a theocracy. Everything God centered. But the people saw vast nations around them with a king, and since Samuel's sons were not convicted by God, they wanted a king- one man to rule them all. Humans have a unique sense of perceiving fame and idolization as a focus in their lives. We have celebrities- they wanted a king.
Samuel 8:4-21

4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead ^[a] us, such as all the other nations have."

6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle ^[b] and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."

The people want a king and although the Lord said- he listed- these are the horrible things you WILL go through- he WILL hurt you- they did not heed God's words. We as sinners are very stubborn and do not understand that when God says something- He's not joking.

Its hard to live as Christians in a world led by kings. But we are led by the KING of kings- the LORD of lords. He is the First, He is the Last, He is Forevermore. We may have many kings in our lives- our laziness, money, men, women, school, work, so many desires that shadow the true light of our lives. God says look- i am ALL you need. i am your EVERYTHING. Man cannot lift you up, they cannot give you the things I give you. Stop resting on their shoulders, stop listening to voices that have never heard MY voice. I am your rock. The Lord says he is your rock.
Psalms 19:14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in thy sight, O Jehovah, my rock, and my redeemer.

The Kings of this world will batter you. They will hold you down when you are meant to stand. But God is not one to leave you- even when the Israelites said- we want a Man to rule over us, to save us, God said OK. He sent them Saul, David, Solomon. All of them at SOME point- great leaders. But how can any of us put all our hopes and desires on flesh alone? So of course they faltered, of course they left them and passed away and created distressing circumstances. Because the Blind cannot lead the Blind. It takes Christ to be our eyes and our ears. So God sent the ultimate King to rule over us, to show that, OK you cannot see me- so you doubt me. You have not seen my tongue so you doubt there is a voice- so I will send you my son. I will send you my Son and you will see me, you will hear me, and you will know that I understand your suffering because I will suffer for you. So when the Israelites wanted a King. He gave one to them. As Jesus Christ.

Jesus Loves You.
:)

Job 1:21 and he said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: Jehovah gave, and Jehovah hath taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah.

2|24|08

The Holy Trinity.
Its a concept hard to understand and often times makes us squint and wonder what in the world is going on. Trinity- 3 in 1
3 entities in one being.
You see the first instance where we see the name inferred is

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, ^[b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.

No, God doesn't have mutlipersonality disorder- its a pretty simple thing to understand- if its explained correctly
Think of Water
there are three stages that water goes through
Solid, Liquid, Gas
Yet it is all the same

An egg is composed of 3 parts
the shell, the white part with a name i don't noe :], yoke
but its all one egg
The same is the Trinity- although they are three different entities- they are all the same and protect us, to shelter us, to love us.

We all know that God is the supreme being of the world- the Creator, the Father of the world
Who is Jesus?
John 1:1-5

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.

3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood^[a] it.

That is Christ. The word that was spoken to Form out very Bodies was Christ. He lives in us. He died for us. He is our savior, redeemer, and everlasting friend.

Who is the Holy Spirit?
John 14:15-17

15"If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be^[a] in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

So Christ left the Spirit here on earth to be with us and council us, to guide us and to protect us and to live in us. Each part makes the whole and the whole is what lets us abide in this world- is what strengthens us day by day.
When we are weak- they make us strong.
No matter what never get hung up on the technicalities of life- Remember that its good to ask questions and to get answers- but spending your whole life battling where u stand on issues like baptism or communion, the trinity or the body of Christ- its not half as important as finding Christ in you- as understand what it means to have Christ Sacrifice his life for you.
Just understand the importance what you take into importance. Debating wont make anything more understandable- possibly it will confuse you even more
Before you Go to anyone else about your questions
Go to the Father and to his word- you'll find your answer there

Praise God- I love you all :]

2|22|08

Its been longer than I've ever expected myself to go on without posting anything. Thanks to Mr. Mathews' human geo blog I was reminded of the goals and hopes I had with me writing in here every once in a while. This past year- 2008- has been such a blessing in countless ways- so many new beginnings.

It feels almost as though God has started to create me again from scratch.

on January 18-20 my church participated in a huge retreat out in Trinity Pines where the power and love of God was clearly surrounding us daily. I don't know whether it was the isolation, the fellowship, or the words spoken by so many amazing men and women of God- but I thank the Lord every day for giving me the opportunity to go there and to learn so much.

Transformation. That was the theme of the conference- not to be conformed to the world but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. What a concept! To think that like a crab or a snake we can shed this skin and grow into something so much more suitable for us- the skin that God has set aside for us.

Corinthians 15: 42-50

42So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"^[e]; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we^[f] bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

50I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

Its quite amazing to see that though we are born into this earthly body- into this sinful mind- we are not meant to stay this way. We were not meant to be like the First Adam (of Eden) to have such strife remain clung to our hearts but to be TRANSFORMED- to become imperishable (eternal) because of the Second Adam (Christ) for although we are men of flesh and bone- we have become changed through the Body of Christ- his blood has sewn in us a new life- the only life worthy to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
A child cannot pass the 1st grade if he cannot write his own name, if he does not know basic colors, if he cannot read the Cat in the Hat- we as children of God cannot enter the kingdom of heaven if we do not know his Son. Its simple. Many Christians believe that its not our place to say who will and who will not enter heaven- as though its a taboo topic- the Truth is we were put on this Earth in ORDER to bring others to Christ. Because a man who believes in A god, because a man is good and does things according to worldly law- does not mean he is saved

Luke 13:22-30

22Then Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?"

He said to them, 24"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'
"But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'

26"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'

27"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'

28"There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. 29People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. 30Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first who will be last."

So there you Go. Its simply stated- we are put here- we have been transformed by his grace- so that we may show others this narrow path. When someone is lost by the side of the road- when he is stranded- we do not pass him by- we do not honk and revel in his misfortune- no. We stop, we help, we show the way back to safety. That is our job as Christians in this world. Prayer is wonderful, worship is amazing, studying and growing is praised but how many of us want to Go to heaven and realize that all the people we love aren't going to even make it past those pearly gates?

We have an obligation- let our very lives be a testimony.
God Bless :]