I think one of the things that are overlooked is how violent the destruction will be during the last days before God returns and the day that he does. I believe that it is something that not many people want to talk about.
Whenever I think about the times where the destruction was described to me, I believe that whoever was telling me about it was so that our desire for God and heaven was even greater.
I honestly hope that is what happens with this post. My goal is that you are informed that there will really be destruction like no other all over the earth.
Reading through Revelation chapter 8 tonight really got me thinking about how bad it will actually be. The descriptions are nearly graphic. I hate thinking about what it will be like because it will be so bad.
Take some time and really dive into these couple of verses. Read through it a coupe of times and something new will stick out every time that you read through it. That is what I tried to do. There is so much jammed packed into these couple verses that you learn something new every time.
Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to blow them. The first angel blew his trumpet, and there followed hail and fire, mixed with blood, and these were thrown upon the earth. And a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up. The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. A third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed. The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from the water, because it had been made bitter. The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light might be darkened, and a third of the day might be kept from shining, and likewise a third of the night. Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, "Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow. (Revelation 8:1-13)
So in blue...there were four angels that sounded their trumpets. The underlined parts are what happened on the earth. Absolutely crazy right??? One thing that I wonder is why was everything one third?
I didn't give you much, but I hope that what was said reminds you what will come someday. This stuff isn't made up, it's going to happen.
Tuesday, July 31, 2018
Sunday, July 29, 2018
Love Everybody, Always
I recently started reading the book "Everybody Always" by Bob Goff. He is also the author of the book "Love Does." I am only a couple of chapters into it but it is one of the best books I have ever read. Each chapter is separate story about a lesson that Bob learned - often the hard way - about what it means to love without inhibition, insecurity, or restriction. The book points the way to embodying love by doing the unexpected, the intimidating, the seemingly impossible.
Every time I read a chapter, I am like "wow." Each story leaves me speechless and inspires me to love others more. Which is a great thing to be inspired to do, being that loving one another is the greatest commandment of all. We were created to love one another. We often forget that, just like how we often chose certain people to love.
How true is that though? Think about people in your life and who you intentionally love on and who you just brush off to the side. We are human and it's human nature to like and dislike some people. We need to break the human nature and love everyone. It is so hard. Trust me! I try my best and to be honest with you, there are still people in this life that I can't stand.
In one of the chapters I was reading yesterday, the author was talking about those very moments when we are having a conversation or interacting with someone that we cannot stand/someone who is very different than you.
The author said that when he is put into those situations. Instead of saying I'm going to believe in Jesus for my whole life, I've been trying to actually obey Jesus for thirty seconds at a time. Here is how it works: When we meet someone who is hard to get along with, think, Can I love that person for the next thirty seconds? While we continue to be irritated, begin counting silently...twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine... and before we get to thirty, say to yourself, Okay, I'm going to love that person for thirty more seconds.
When I read that yesterday in the book, it was like God was looking right into my eyes and saying that straight to me. I needed to hear that. I believe we all needed to hear that. Imagine living life that way with the people it's hard to get alone with. Thirty seconds turns into a minute, a minute turns into an hour, and hour turns into a week, a week turns into a month, a month turns into a year, and next thing you know, you are loving the people you used to not be able to get along with.
So what does love everybody, always look like?
The greatest commandant is to love your neighbor as yourself right? Right! Be honest with me though, have you ever wondered who your neighbors that God is talking about actually are? Like do you think about your next door neighbors, the people who have the room right next to your dorm room, the house down the street? Who are the neighbors that God is talking about? '
I know I have thought that before for sure. Like why are we only supposed to love the people who live right next door? Silly thought though.
(there will be a lot of quotes in this post from the book...all of them will be italicized)
I love it when Bob Goff writes:
We're not supposed to love only our neighbors, but Jesus thought we should start with them. I bet He knew if our love isn't going to work for the people who live close to us, then it's probably not going to work for the rest of the world. Jesus didn't say who are neighbors are either. Probably so we wouldn't start making lists of those we don't need to love. Each of us is surrounded every day by our neighbors. They're ahead of us, behind us, on each side of us. They're every place we go. They're sacking groceries and standing city council meeting. They're holding cardboard signs on street corners and raking leaves next door. They play high school football and deliver the mail. They're heros and hookers and pastors and pilots. They live on the streets and design our bridges. They go to seminars and live in prisons. They govern us and they bother us. They're everywhere we look. It's one thing we all have in common: we're all somebody's neighbor, and they're ours. This has been God's simple yet brilliant master plan from the beginning. He made a whole word of neighbors. We call it earth, but God just calls it a really big neighborhood.
Still wonder who your neighbors are? Everyone is your neighbor and the whole earth is one really big neighborhood. I love that!
One of the things that keep us from loving our neighbors is fear of what will happen if we do. On the other hand, think about what will happen if we don't!
We don't think Jesus' command to "love your neighbor" is a metaphor for something else. We think it means we're supposed to actually love our neighbors. Engage them. Delight in them.
When joy is a habit, love is a reflex.
We we become obsessed with joy and the feeling of joy, it becomes a habit and because of our habit, love will follow. I encourage you to try that out. Make joy and being joyful to other people a habit and when it becomes a habit the first reflex will be love.
What does this look like to you and what can you do about it? I encourage you to start loving on your neighbors in whatever way that you can. Let people know you love them through your actions and through your words.
Selfless love has the power to transform even the darkest places into meadows.
Every time I read a chapter, I am like "wow." Each story leaves me speechless and inspires me to love others more. Which is a great thing to be inspired to do, being that loving one another is the greatest commandment of all. We were created to love one another. We often forget that, just like how we often chose certain people to love.
How true is that though? Think about people in your life and who you intentionally love on and who you just brush off to the side. We are human and it's human nature to like and dislike some people. We need to break the human nature and love everyone. It is so hard. Trust me! I try my best and to be honest with you, there are still people in this life that I can't stand.
In one of the chapters I was reading yesterday, the author was talking about those very moments when we are having a conversation or interacting with someone that we cannot stand/someone who is very different than you.
The author said that when he is put into those situations. Instead of saying I'm going to believe in Jesus for my whole life, I've been trying to actually obey Jesus for thirty seconds at a time. Here is how it works: When we meet someone who is hard to get along with, think, Can I love that person for the next thirty seconds? While we continue to be irritated, begin counting silently...twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine... and before we get to thirty, say to yourself, Okay, I'm going to love that person for thirty more seconds.
When I read that yesterday in the book, it was like God was looking right into my eyes and saying that straight to me. I needed to hear that. I believe we all needed to hear that. Imagine living life that way with the people it's hard to get alone with. Thirty seconds turns into a minute, a minute turns into an hour, and hour turns into a week, a week turns into a month, a month turns into a year, and next thing you know, you are loving the people you used to not be able to get along with.
So what does love everybody, always look like?
The greatest commandant is to love your neighbor as yourself right? Right! Be honest with me though, have you ever wondered who your neighbors that God is talking about actually are? Like do you think about your next door neighbors, the people who have the room right next to your dorm room, the house down the street? Who are the neighbors that God is talking about? '
I know I have thought that before for sure. Like why are we only supposed to love the people who live right next door? Silly thought though.
(there will be a lot of quotes in this post from the book...all of them will be italicized)
I love it when Bob Goff writes:
We're not supposed to love only our neighbors, but Jesus thought we should start with them. I bet He knew if our love isn't going to work for the people who live close to us, then it's probably not going to work for the rest of the world. Jesus didn't say who are neighbors are either. Probably so we wouldn't start making lists of those we don't need to love. Each of us is surrounded every day by our neighbors. They're ahead of us, behind us, on each side of us. They're every place we go. They're sacking groceries and standing city council meeting. They're holding cardboard signs on street corners and raking leaves next door. They play high school football and deliver the mail. They're heros and hookers and pastors and pilots. They live on the streets and design our bridges. They go to seminars and live in prisons. They govern us and they bother us. They're everywhere we look. It's one thing we all have in common: we're all somebody's neighbor, and they're ours. This has been God's simple yet brilliant master plan from the beginning. He made a whole word of neighbors. We call it earth, but God just calls it a really big neighborhood.
Still wonder who your neighbors are? Everyone is your neighbor and the whole earth is one really big neighborhood. I love that!
One of the things that keep us from loving our neighbors is fear of what will happen if we do. On the other hand, think about what will happen if we don't!
We don't think Jesus' command to "love your neighbor" is a metaphor for something else. We think it means we're supposed to actually love our neighbors. Engage them. Delight in them.
When joy is a habit, love is a reflex.
We we become obsessed with joy and the feeling of joy, it becomes a habit and because of our habit, love will follow. I encourage you to try that out. Make joy and being joyful to other people a habit and when it becomes a habit the first reflex will be love.
What does this look like to you and what can you do about it? I encourage you to start loving on your neighbors in whatever way that you can. Let people know you love them through your actions and through your words.
Selfless love has the power to transform even the darkest places into meadows.
Friday, July 27, 2018
What is right in front you?
Happy Friday evening and I hope that you all had an amazing week. I am excited for this post tonight. I don't really plan on making it that long and I actually mean that this time. I know I am very guilty of saying it's not going to be long and then it's crazy long! Tonight will be shorter, I promise.
Having an internship this summer has been absolutely amazing and such a blessing. Three days out of the week I have a commute of just around 45 minutes which means a decent amount of time in my car. I've started listening to podcasts every day on the way to work and on the way back from work.
I recently purchased a phone charger for my car and thanks to the amazing design of the iPhone 7 when I charge my phone I have to listen to the radio... Which is difficult because not being from the area, I don't know what the radio stations are so I have to scan through all of them.
Each time I have had to do that, there has been a similarity to the process that I cannot ignore and I am curious if anyone else has noticed it before. As I scan through all of the radio stations, there is one thing in common. Every single Christian radio station comes in perfectly clear.
All other stations are either playing music I am not interested in, having commercials, or the station doesn't come in at all.
The second time, it got me thinking. I was blown away by how amazing this is. Out of all of the radio stations out there, the Christian radio stations just happened to work.
I think that is a perfect example of how God is always there. God is always there in ways that we do not even realize. In Revelation, chapter 3 there is a passage about how God is sitting right at the door waiting for us to knock, and as soon as we knock, He wants to sit down at the table with us. I believe that we have a such a fogged up vision. Sometimes it's blatantly obvious that our attention needs to be brought to God.
Apart from the radio, think about your life. Think of all of the things you think about, deal with, and worry about on daily basis. There are so many things we think about and consume ourselves with that our vision becomes fogged to what is clear, eternal, and always there.
I know that sometimes we go through things when it really doesn't feel like God is there because those things are difficult and it's easy to dwell and focus on those instead of what is right in front of you. Over and over again in the Bible there is scripture that talks about how we need to keep our vision forward and not look to the right or to the left. Open your eyes because God is right there in front of you at the door waiting.
I almost want to call it God eyes...it's more than that. It's mind, ears, mouth and everything. What you see usually causes you to think..
My encouragement is to be more attentive to your surroundings and the things you experience every day. Sometimes we just expect God to show up because He is always present. Sometimes we just have to open our eyes.
Having an internship this summer has been absolutely amazing and such a blessing. Three days out of the week I have a commute of just around 45 minutes which means a decent amount of time in my car. I've started listening to podcasts every day on the way to work and on the way back from work.
I recently purchased a phone charger for my car and thanks to the amazing design of the iPhone 7 when I charge my phone I have to listen to the radio... Which is difficult because not being from the area, I don't know what the radio stations are so I have to scan through all of them.
Each time I have had to do that, there has been a similarity to the process that I cannot ignore and I am curious if anyone else has noticed it before. As I scan through all of the radio stations, there is one thing in common. Every single Christian radio station comes in perfectly clear.
All other stations are either playing music I am not interested in, having commercials, or the station doesn't come in at all.
The second time, it got me thinking. I was blown away by how amazing this is. Out of all of the radio stations out there, the Christian radio stations just happened to work.
I think that is a perfect example of how God is always there. God is always there in ways that we do not even realize. In Revelation, chapter 3 there is a passage about how God is sitting right at the door waiting for us to knock, and as soon as we knock, He wants to sit down at the table with us. I believe that we have a such a fogged up vision. Sometimes it's blatantly obvious that our attention needs to be brought to God.
Apart from the radio, think about your life. Think of all of the things you think about, deal with, and worry about on daily basis. There are so many things we think about and consume ourselves with that our vision becomes fogged to what is clear, eternal, and always there.
I know that sometimes we go through things when it really doesn't feel like God is there because those things are difficult and it's easy to dwell and focus on those instead of what is right in front of you. Over and over again in the Bible there is scripture that talks about how we need to keep our vision forward and not look to the right or to the left. Open your eyes because God is right there in front of you at the door waiting.
I almost want to call it God eyes...it's more than that. It's mind, ears, mouth and everything. What you see usually causes you to think..
My encouragement is to be more attentive to your surroundings and the things you experience every day. Sometimes we just expect God to show up because He is always present. Sometimes we just have to open our eyes.
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
The Seven Lampstands
I recently started reading the book of Revelation again. Revelation is one of my favorite books in the entire bible. It's an incredible read that I would recommend to everyone. Revelation is a book that is basically describing what is, and what is to come.
Just read through this passage in Revelation chapter 1, describing the King of Kings.
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lamp stands, and in the midst of the lamp stands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven starts that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands, the seven starts are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."
(Revelation 1:12-20)
After reading scripture like that, it literally and figuratively puts me in awe. I cannot mentally wrap my mind around that passage. It's absolutely amazing.
So where am I going with this?
After reading through Revelation 1 & 2, which were letters to the seven churches, something about those letters really stuck out to me. Every letter ends with the same verse: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, and then is finished with another statement written to the one who conquers.
I find it interesting that every letter ends to the same way. These letters were written for the churches which are different groups of people right? Right! Everybody is different. I imagine these letters being specifically filled with words for people who are going through all sorts of things.
In this life we never go through the exact same thing. Sure we might struggle with the same wrongdoings and sins, but we don't suffer in the same way. Nothing is the same about any two people and that is an important thing to remember. We were all created to be different and to love one another.
I think there are valuable lessons that we can learn from these letters. Just like how churches experience different hardships, so do people.
I want to highlight some of the specifics from each letter written to the seven churches. My hope is that some things stick out from these letters and that you are encouraged and reminded that you are never alone. It's common to suffer and go through hardships all of the time. We have to remember that we are conquerers. The reward that comes with that is indescribable.
Seven Lampstands
1. Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7)
- patient endurance
- cannot bear with those who are evil
- abandoned the love you had at first
- repent!
- if you do not repent your lamp stand will be removed
"To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
We endure and we are patient with everyone, but sometimes there comes a point where we lose it. We think that we are above people who might seem evil because of their actions. We must never lose love for one another. If that happens, we have to repent. When we repent, we will be able to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
2. Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11)
- tribulation and poverty
- do not fear what you are about to suffer
- the devil is about to throw some of you into prison and you will be testes
- be faithful unto death and you will receive the crown of life
"The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death."
We all experience tribulation and poverty. We can never fear because the Lord is always with us. Some of us will be tested and thrown into prison where we must remain faithful. Those who are faithful will receive the crown of life..
3. Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17)
- held fast to the Lord's name and never denied faith
- teachings that are withheld
"To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it."
I am going to be honest here, I really don't understand this letter to the fullest. It seems like there were some teachings that were being denied that shouldn't have been.
4. Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-28)
- our works, love, faith, service, and patient endurance are noticed
- Jezebel seduces servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols
- we are tolerating that
- God searches are mind and our hearts
- We will be given according to our works
"To the one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star."
This one is tricky. There is a woman in the church who is seducing her servants and the people of the church are tolerating what is going on. God throws this servant onto a sick bed and whoever commits adultery with her be thrown into great tribulation. God uses this to teach the church that he is a God who searches our mind and heart, and that we will be given according to our works. We cannot tolerate things like this, we must confront any wrongdoings.
5. Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6)
- we have a reputation of being alive but are dead
- wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die
- our works are not complete
- remember what we have received and heard and we must keep it and repent from it
- if we do not wake up, God will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour He will come
"To the one who conquers will be clothes thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels."
To me, this is the most important. We take in so much every single day and never do anything with it. We sit in church on Sunday and gets super encouraged and convicted and then do nothing about it the rest of the week. We think that we are alive because we go to church and because we are Christians. But there is more than just that. Just because you park your car in a garage doesn't make you a car. Same thing with church and Christinas. Just because we go to church doesn't mean we are Christians. There is so much more than just being called a Christian. SO much more. We need to wake up and strengthen what remains in is. Our works are no complete. We need to remember what we learn, and we must keep it in our hearts and repent from it. If we as Christians don't wake up, God will come like a thief, and we will not know when He will come. I encourage you to wake up from your slumber.
6. Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13)
- open door in front of us
- we have little power, kept the word and have not denied God's name
- patient endurance will keep you from the hour of trail that is coming on the whole world
- I am coming soon
"To the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name."
There is an open door that is in front of us. God is just waiting for us to come through. We have all of the power, freedom, and resources to do so. Patient endurance will keep us from the trial that is coming on the whole world. God is coming soon! Hold fast to what you have so that no one may seize your crown.
7. Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22)
- we are neither cold not hot
- we are lukewarm, and if we are lukewarm God will spit us out of his mouth
- we must buy gold refined by fire and white garments
- God loves us so he reproves and disciplines us, so we must be zealous and repent
- God stands at the door and knocks, if we hear his knock, we must open the door
"To one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne."
This letter is also one of my favorites. There are to many of us who are lukewarm. I view lukewarm as mediocrity. You don't stand out and you don't fit it. You are right in the middle. We can't just be right in the middle. Eternity was written on our hearts. Whatever think we do in our daily lives that involves things of this world will never fill us up. Real legitimate fulfillment comes from God and only God. You get it though a relationship with Him. God is at the door waiting for us to knock. He is literally waiting right there. When we knock, the door will be opened. It's simple and we make it way to complicated.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I know that this post was very long and I hope that the Holy Spirit was able to use something in there to encourage or even possibly convict you.
Never let any of your lampstands get blown out.
Just read through this passage in Revelation chapter 1, describing the King of Kings.
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lamp stands, and in the midst of the lamp stands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven starts that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands, the seven starts are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."
(Revelation 1:12-20)
After reading scripture like that, it literally and figuratively puts me in awe. I cannot mentally wrap my mind around that passage. It's absolutely amazing.
So where am I going with this?
After reading through Revelation 1 & 2, which were letters to the seven churches, something about those letters really stuck out to me. Every letter ends with the same verse: "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, and then is finished with another statement written to the one who conquers.
I find it interesting that every letter ends to the same way. These letters were written for the churches which are different groups of people right? Right! Everybody is different. I imagine these letters being specifically filled with words for people who are going through all sorts of things.
In this life we never go through the exact same thing. Sure we might struggle with the same wrongdoings and sins, but we don't suffer in the same way. Nothing is the same about any two people and that is an important thing to remember. We were all created to be different and to love one another.
I think there are valuable lessons that we can learn from these letters. Just like how churches experience different hardships, so do people.
I want to highlight some of the specifics from each letter written to the seven churches. My hope is that some things stick out from these letters and that you are encouraged and reminded that you are never alone. It's common to suffer and go through hardships all of the time. We have to remember that we are conquerers. The reward that comes with that is indescribable.
Seven Lampstands
1. Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7)
- patient endurance
- cannot bear with those who are evil
- abandoned the love you had at first
- repent!
- if you do not repent your lamp stand will be removed
"To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God."
We endure and we are patient with everyone, but sometimes there comes a point where we lose it. We think that we are above people who might seem evil because of their actions. We must never lose love for one another. If that happens, we have to repent. When we repent, we will be able to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
2. Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11)
- tribulation and poverty
- do not fear what you are about to suffer
- the devil is about to throw some of you into prison and you will be testes
- be faithful unto death and you will receive the crown of life
"The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death."
We all experience tribulation and poverty. We can never fear because the Lord is always with us. Some of us will be tested and thrown into prison where we must remain faithful. Those who are faithful will receive the crown of life..
3. Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17)
- held fast to the Lord's name and never denied faith
- teachings that are withheld
"To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it."
I am going to be honest here, I really don't understand this letter to the fullest. It seems like there were some teachings that were being denied that shouldn't have been.
4. Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-28)
- our works, love, faith, service, and patient endurance are noticed
- Jezebel seduces servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols
- we are tolerating that
- God searches are mind and our hearts
- We will be given according to our works
"To the one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star."
This one is tricky. There is a woman in the church who is seducing her servants and the people of the church are tolerating what is going on. God throws this servant onto a sick bed and whoever commits adultery with her be thrown into great tribulation. God uses this to teach the church that he is a God who searches our mind and heart, and that we will be given according to our works. We cannot tolerate things like this, we must confront any wrongdoings.
5. Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6)
- we have a reputation of being alive but are dead
- wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die
- our works are not complete
- remember what we have received and heard and we must keep it and repent from it
- if we do not wake up, God will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour He will come
"To the one who conquers will be clothes thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels."
To me, this is the most important. We take in so much every single day and never do anything with it. We sit in church on Sunday and gets super encouraged and convicted and then do nothing about it the rest of the week. We think that we are alive because we go to church and because we are Christians. But there is more than just that. Just because you park your car in a garage doesn't make you a car. Same thing with church and Christinas. Just because we go to church doesn't mean we are Christians. There is so much more than just being called a Christian. SO much more. We need to wake up and strengthen what remains in is. Our works are no complete. We need to remember what we learn, and we must keep it in our hearts and repent from it. If we as Christians don't wake up, God will come like a thief, and we will not know when He will come. I encourage you to wake up from your slumber.
6. Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13)
- open door in front of us
- we have little power, kept the word and have not denied God's name
- patient endurance will keep you from the hour of trail that is coming on the whole world
- I am coming soon
"To the one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name."
There is an open door that is in front of us. God is just waiting for us to come through. We have all of the power, freedom, and resources to do so. Patient endurance will keep us from the trial that is coming on the whole world. God is coming soon! Hold fast to what you have so that no one may seize your crown.
7. Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22)
- we are neither cold not hot
- we are lukewarm, and if we are lukewarm God will spit us out of his mouth
- we must buy gold refined by fire and white garments
- God loves us so he reproves and disciplines us, so we must be zealous and repent
- God stands at the door and knocks, if we hear his knock, we must open the door
"To one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne."
This letter is also one of my favorites. There are to many of us who are lukewarm. I view lukewarm as mediocrity. You don't stand out and you don't fit it. You are right in the middle. We can't just be right in the middle. Eternity was written on our hearts. Whatever think we do in our daily lives that involves things of this world will never fill us up. Real legitimate fulfillment comes from God and only God. You get it though a relationship with Him. God is at the door waiting for us to knock. He is literally waiting right there. When we knock, the door will be opened. It's simple and we make it way to complicated.
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I know that this post was very long and I hope that the Holy Spirit was able to use something in there to encourage or even possibly convict you.
Never let any of your lampstands get blown out.
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
"But" clause
How many of you know what the "but" clause is?
It's actually quite simple. Whenever somebody uses the word "but" it hinders what message is being communicated. Not using "but" is actually a major key to being an effective communicator in life. That is one of the things I have learned from my internship this summer.
For example: Someone might come up to me after a basketball game and say: Hey man, you played really well tonight and you were a major key to the victory, but you hardly scored.
If I were to hear that sentence the only thing that I would take away from it is that I hardly scored. I would rather just be told that I was able to help out the team or be constructively criticized. Anything that was said before "but" became irrelevant.
I really can't think of any other ways to explain the point I am trying to make here, besides the fact that whatever is said before "but" is pretty much meaningless. Sometimes it might be true, but it's not what the receiver perceives.
So why am I talking about the "but" clause?
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. BUT you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." ( 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
I fully believe that there are people out there who see that scripture and give up all hope of being able to inherit the kingdom of God someday. The passage clearly states that those types of people will not inherit the kingdom of God. To be honest, I even believed those types of people had no hope because of that scripture. After digging in to it, you see a key word. "BUT." "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
No matter what wrong doing you have done, sin you have committed, crime you have committed, anything wrong you have done, there is still hope for you to be washed, sanctified, and justified. It's amazing how much you can learn from the "but" clause.
I hope you learned that we can never count anyone out. Counting people out is not love. We were created and brought into this world to love.
Apart from the spiritual side of things, you can also take this lesson with you when it comes to being a good and effective communicator. Next time you are about to say something to someone, try to avoid using "but" and the message will come across clearly and precisely.
It's actually quite simple. Whenever somebody uses the word "but" it hinders what message is being communicated. Not using "but" is actually a major key to being an effective communicator in life. That is one of the things I have learned from my internship this summer.
For example: Someone might come up to me after a basketball game and say: Hey man, you played really well tonight and you were a major key to the victory, but you hardly scored.
If I were to hear that sentence the only thing that I would take away from it is that I hardly scored. I would rather just be told that I was able to help out the team or be constructively criticized. Anything that was said before "but" became irrelevant.
I really can't think of any other ways to explain the point I am trying to make here, besides the fact that whatever is said before "but" is pretty much meaningless. Sometimes it might be true, but it's not what the receiver perceives.
So why am I talking about the "but" clause?
"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. BUT you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." ( 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)
I fully believe that there are people out there who see that scripture and give up all hope of being able to inherit the kingdom of God someday. The passage clearly states that those types of people will not inherit the kingdom of God. To be honest, I even believed those types of people had no hope because of that scripture. After digging in to it, you see a key word. "BUT." "But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."
No matter what wrong doing you have done, sin you have committed, crime you have committed, anything wrong you have done, there is still hope for you to be washed, sanctified, and justified. It's amazing how much you can learn from the "but" clause.
I hope you learned that we can never count anyone out. Counting people out is not love. We were created and brought into this world to love.
Apart from the spiritual side of things, you can also take this lesson with you when it comes to being a good and effective communicator. Next time you are about to say something to someone, try to avoid using "but" and the message will come across clearly and precisely.
Monday, July 16, 2018
Seasons
One of the things that I have struggled with this summer is not being able to blog as much as I wanted too. My goal is to do it on a daily basis and that obviously has not happened.
It's been tough for me. I get more fulfillment out of reading my bible and writing about it then anything else in my life. Yeah, there are other things that make me happy and people that I love, but none of those things gives me real and true fulfillment like reading and writing. One of the reasons it's been tough is because I know there are people who are out there going through certain things and they might need to hear something from the word. From day one, my prayer and hope with this blog has been that at least one person can be encouraged my every post.
I remember sharing this struggle with a co-worker/friend and he told me about seasons. We all have seasons in our lives. Seasons where things go well and seasons where things don't go so well. We also go through seasons where certain priorities we have get placed ahead of other priorities.
What I am trying to say is that it's impossible to go through life and experience the same things and the same feelings 24/7 365. Life would be to boring and we wouldn't learn a thing because we are so stuck in the same things day-to-day.
My friend told me this, he said that he believes that God puts us through seasons all of the time. Maybe throughout this summer, it hasn't been a season to blog everyday, but a season to use what I have learned and what I learn to affect and challenge people in other ways besides my blog.
So if you're wondering why I haven't posted every day this summer, a lot has to deal with the season of life I am in and going through. It's nothing bad, I just use my time and my energy in other things.
My hope and prayer is that once school starts back up again, God will use that as another season for me where I can do this everyday.
My encouragement to you is this. Be prepared for a different season all of the time. When things get out of wack, don't go crazy. When you feel like you are on top of the world. Don't get cocky. Everybody has their highs and their lows and things that we all struggle with it. It's about weathering the storm and moving onto the next season with a positive attitude. All of the seasons we go through have meaning and a purpose. Think about the seasons here on earth. Summer. Fall. Winter. Spring. All different, all unique in very special ways, and they all serve a purpose.
It's been tough for me. I get more fulfillment out of reading my bible and writing about it then anything else in my life. Yeah, there are other things that make me happy and people that I love, but none of those things gives me real and true fulfillment like reading and writing. One of the reasons it's been tough is because I know there are people who are out there going through certain things and they might need to hear something from the word. From day one, my prayer and hope with this blog has been that at least one person can be encouraged my every post.
I remember sharing this struggle with a co-worker/friend and he told me about seasons. We all have seasons in our lives. Seasons where things go well and seasons where things don't go so well. We also go through seasons where certain priorities we have get placed ahead of other priorities.
What I am trying to say is that it's impossible to go through life and experience the same things and the same feelings 24/7 365. Life would be to boring and we wouldn't learn a thing because we are so stuck in the same things day-to-day.
My friend told me this, he said that he believes that God puts us through seasons all of the time. Maybe throughout this summer, it hasn't been a season to blog everyday, but a season to use what I have learned and what I learn to affect and challenge people in other ways besides my blog.
So if you're wondering why I haven't posted every day this summer, a lot has to deal with the season of life I am in and going through. It's nothing bad, I just use my time and my energy in other things.
My hope and prayer is that once school starts back up again, God will use that as another season for me where I can do this everyday.
My encouragement to you is this. Be prepared for a different season all of the time. When things get out of wack, don't go crazy. When you feel like you are on top of the world. Don't get cocky. Everybody has their highs and their lows and things that we all struggle with it. It's about weathering the storm and moving onto the next season with a positive attitude. All of the seasons we go through have meaning and a purpose. Think about the seasons here on earth. Summer. Fall. Winter. Spring. All different, all unique in very special ways, and they all serve a purpose.
Monday, July 9, 2018
There is a reason we don't understand
Trying to figure out what the Spirit placed on my heart tonight was difficult. Sometimes after I read my bible I know exactly what God wants me to use, but tonight required more thought, so that is why this post is titled..."There is a reason we don't understand."
How many times in your life has a situation been thrown at you and you're shell shocked? I know for me there has been plenty of times. For anyone else, maybe more or maybe less.
We get in the flow and everything seems to be going well. It's one of the best feelings and I am sure that it puts you in a great mood. Sometimes it just seems like all of the cards fall right into place. Other times, the Joker card gets thrown into the mix and seems like everything that is going well is affected.
When the Joker card is dealt, it causes us to scramble around and search for the answers and wonder how that card got put into the deck. Questions and thought arise while your emotions run high. You feel the power of defeat, you think that everything that was going well is going to fail.
Why? Why? Why?
We don't understand and there is a reason for that.
"As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything." ( Ecclesiastes 11:5 )
We are unable to comprehend the work of God who makes everything. It's just something that we are unable to do.
I believe that one thing we need to understand is that God is immeasurably more. Everything we think we know about how great He is, isn't even close to how great He actually is. We were not made to be able to understand everything that happens in our lives on a daily basis or those who are around us and close to us. Sometimes we think we can and that is when we lose and the enemy wins.
If we understood everything, God wouldn't be God. God would just be god. There is a reason why God is God. Eternity was placed on our hearts so that we may know God and understand that we have a purpose. That is why we always have that feeling that there is more out there. That is why we can't find true fulfillment in things of this world. We find true fulfillment in God the Father.
There is a reason we don't understand everything my friends, and it's pretty cut and clear. It's something you can almost take delight in. We serve a God who loves us and performs things that we have no comprehension over! How amazing is that? Humans, for the most part, are so smart and even at our best, when we are wise, God's foolishness still contains more wisdom than the wisest humans.
We don't understand for a reason and praise God for that! It might be tough, but really...praise God for being so mighty and powerful.
Next time a Joker card is thrown into your hand, embrace it, use it so admire and praise God's goodness and power.
How many times in your life has a situation been thrown at you and you're shell shocked? I know for me there has been plenty of times. For anyone else, maybe more or maybe less.
We get in the flow and everything seems to be going well. It's one of the best feelings and I am sure that it puts you in a great mood. Sometimes it just seems like all of the cards fall right into place. Other times, the Joker card gets thrown into the mix and seems like everything that is going well is affected.
When the Joker card is dealt, it causes us to scramble around and search for the answers and wonder how that card got put into the deck. Questions and thought arise while your emotions run high. You feel the power of defeat, you think that everything that was going well is going to fail.
Why? Why? Why?
We don't understand and there is a reason for that.
"As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything." ( Ecclesiastes 11:5 )
We are unable to comprehend the work of God who makes everything. It's just something that we are unable to do.
I believe that one thing we need to understand is that God is immeasurably more. Everything we think we know about how great He is, isn't even close to how great He actually is. We were not made to be able to understand everything that happens in our lives on a daily basis or those who are around us and close to us. Sometimes we think we can and that is when we lose and the enemy wins.
If we understood everything, God wouldn't be God. God would just be god. There is a reason why God is God. Eternity was placed on our hearts so that we may know God and understand that we have a purpose. That is why we always have that feeling that there is more out there. That is why we can't find true fulfillment in things of this world. We find true fulfillment in God the Father.
There is a reason we don't understand everything my friends, and it's pretty cut and clear. It's something you can almost take delight in. We serve a God who loves us and performs things that we have no comprehension over! How amazing is that? Humans, for the most part, are so smart and even at our best, when we are wise, God's foolishness still contains more wisdom than the wisest humans.
We don't understand for a reason and praise God for that! It might be tough, but really...praise God for being so mighty and powerful.
Next time a Joker card is thrown into your hand, embrace it, use it so admire and praise God's goodness and power.
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Even in your thoughts...
One of the things that have always been big to me is words. If you have heard of the five love languages, physical touch and words of affirmation are at the top of my list. Words are huge and what you say, how you say it, and who you say it to are so important. Sometimes it even goes deeper than that. Your thoughts are just as important because most of the time we are thinking about what we are going to say. Yeah, I know there are people out there who think before they speak but that's hard to believe. The mind is so powerful and I would like to believe that people are thinking all of the time. I am no where near being a psychologist though so I won't try to debate this.
This is a topic that I am very passionate about it I know not everybody will relate because we all have different personalities. I took the Myers-Briggs personality test and my personality is an ESFJ. The "F" stands for feelings and I had a very high score on that. That means I feel everything. I take words straight to the heart. It has both its advantages and disadvantages. I love people and love being able to help, listen, and encourage them with whatever they are going through. A disadvantage would be that somebody could be totally joking about something but it affects me until I am told it was just a joke, and then I am just kinda shell-shocked after the thought. Don't get me wrong, feeling everything can take a toll on your energy and emotions and takes a lot out of me but I wouldn't trade that character trait for anything.
What I am trying to say is that if you feel a lot of things like I do, you're going to really enjoy this post and it will be very practical for you, and if you don't, you might still enjoy it but it won't mean as much.
So picture this. Imagine a world where people only had nice things to say about each other and to each other. That probably won't ever happen until we are in heaven, but just picture it. Have you ever intentionally said something nice to someone and just felt good about yourself? Or vice versa. Has someone ever encouraged you with something and then you felt really good about yourself. We have to do that more. Your life will change when you begin to say nice things to each other and when you change the way you think.
My goal and encouragement for you is that you begin to live your life that way. Make it a goal for yourself that you will try to say something nice to someone and think positively about others to the best of your ability.
I have to point out that this might be easier for women than it is for men. There are a lot more women who are more willing and able to open up to each other than men. Guys have a hard time getting into their feelings when they're around other guys. I don't know why, but it's usually just the way it is. Don't get me wrong, not all guys are like this, but some.
Why am I encouraging words of affirmation, encouragement, and positivity?
It's pretty much impossible to say anything bad about someone, they'll always find out...so why waste your time and energy saying things that aren't nice and thinking wrongly when you have no reason to think like that.
"Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter." (Ecclesiastes 10:20)
What I get from this is that even in our thoughts, we should never curse anybody. Even though it's your thoughts, you can't just keep those to yourself. You might think you can, but eventually your thoughts will turn into words. There are people out there who are always going to rat you out and tell people what you had to say about them. Always. Even if people are not trying to rat you out, what you had to say will get out there to the person who it was directed to. There are not many people out there who you can trust with everything.
My prayer and hope for you is that you start to live a life where you don't even think about thinking wrongly about someone. It's tough and takes a lot of practice. If you are willing to do this, it will require a lot of prayer, faithfulness, and obedience. I know you can do it. If I can, you can.
Even in your thoughts...you can change the world with the way you think and the words you say.
This is a topic that I am very passionate about it I know not everybody will relate because we all have different personalities. I took the Myers-Briggs personality test and my personality is an ESFJ. The "F" stands for feelings and I had a very high score on that. That means I feel everything. I take words straight to the heart. It has both its advantages and disadvantages. I love people and love being able to help, listen, and encourage them with whatever they are going through. A disadvantage would be that somebody could be totally joking about something but it affects me until I am told it was just a joke, and then I am just kinda shell-shocked after the thought. Don't get me wrong, feeling everything can take a toll on your energy and emotions and takes a lot out of me but I wouldn't trade that character trait for anything.
What I am trying to say is that if you feel a lot of things like I do, you're going to really enjoy this post and it will be very practical for you, and if you don't, you might still enjoy it but it won't mean as much.
So picture this. Imagine a world where people only had nice things to say about each other and to each other. That probably won't ever happen until we are in heaven, but just picture it. Have you ever intentionally said something nice to someone and just felt good about yourself? Or vice versa. Has someone ever encouraged you with something and then you felt really good about yourself. We have to do that more. Your life will change when you begin to say nice things to each other and when you change the way you think.
My goal and encouragement for you is that you begin to live your life that way. Make it a goal for yourself that you will try to say something nice to someone and think positively about others to the best of your ability.
I have to point out that this might be easier for women than it is for men. There are a lot more women who are more willing and able to open up to each other than men. Guys have a hard time getting into their feelings when they're around other guys. I don't know why, but it's usually just the way it is. Don't get me wrong, not all guys are like this, but some.
Why am I encouraging words of affirmation, encouragement, and positivity?
It's pretty much impossible to say anything bad about someone, they'll always find out...so why waste your time and energy saying things that aren't nice and thinking wrongly when you have no reason to think like that.
"Even in your thoughts, do not curse the king, nor in your bedroom curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry your voice, or some winged creature tell the matter." (Ecclesiastes 10:20)
What I get from this is that even in our thoughts, we should never curse anybody. Even though it's your thoughts, you can't just keep those to yourself. You might think you can, but eventually your thoughts will turn into words. There are people out there who are always going to rat you out and tell people what you had to say about them. Always. Even if people are not trying to rat you out, what you had to say will get out there to the person who it was directed to. There are not many people out there who you can trust with everything.
My prayer and hope for you is that you start to live a life where you don't even think about thinking wrongly about someone. It's tough and takes a lot of practice. If you are willing to do this, it will require a lot of prayer, faithfulness, and obedience. I know you can do it. If I can, you can.
Even in your thoughts...you can change the world with the way you think and the words you say.
Wednesday, July 4, 2018
Who is in your cabinet?
Happy Fourth of July! I really hope that you all have a chance to spend a lot of time with some friends and family today and you really enjoy this day of celebration. The Fourth is one of my favorite holidays because it's in the middle of summer. Not many things beat being at a lake or just spending time with family and friends on a day like this.
I am going to try to make this brief since it's a busy day for so many of you. Whether you are reading this in the car on the way to the lake or sitting at home somewhere, I encourage you to really take it to heart. The verse that I am going to share with you is one that means a lot to me, based on how important it is to me and my life. I fully believe that it can change your life as well.
"The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools." (Ecclesiastes 9:17)
Think about the people in your life who you know are just overflowing with wisdom. Those folks that you can have a 2 minute conversation with and they have the ability to encourage you and make you feel so special.
I am sure there are times after you have a conversation like that, where you just want more. Like the conversation made you feel so good. Isn't that one of the best feelings?
I am sure that if you have these people in your life, you might have somewhat of a relationship with them, or you know them fairly well.
My encouragement to you is that you surround yourself with those people. Take some initiative and see if they want to grab some coffee/spend some time together. It's all about who your surround yourself with. It's like a cabinet in the white house. Who is in your cabinet? It's easy to think sometimes that there is no way you want to meet up with these types of people because you might think you don't need them or you have fear. I promise you there is nothing to worry about and you need those people. I have been told over and over again that the older generation wants to be poured into. They have so much wisdom, and experience in life and a lot of the times we don't take advantage of it.
Something that has changed my life is spending one on one time with men who I look up to and want to pick their brains and learn as much as I can from them. I have tried to surround myself with a solid cabinet and I am very thankful for the guys I get the opportunity to spend some time with. They encourage me, give me advice, listen to me, and tell me if I am wrong or not.
My challenge to you is to think of one person in your life who you look up to, take some initiative and try to get together with them. It can be anyone, a good friend, coach, pastor, co-worker, you name it!
My one piece of advice, if you are in a relationship or married, try to make sure that this person is of the same gender or talk it out with your significant other. Regardless of gender, people are people and we all have are struggles and things we need help with, but there has to be calculated conversations. Those are huge.
Remember the challenge! I hope and pray that you start filling up your cabinet.
Hear the words of the wise in quiet....
Have a happy fourth!
I am going to try to make this brief since it's a busy day for so many of you. Whether you are reading this in the car on the way to the lake or sitting at home somewhere, I encourage you to really take it to heart. The verse that I am going to share with you is one that means a lot to me, based on how important it is to me and my life. I fully believe that it can change your life as well.
"The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools." (Ecclesiastes 9:17)
Think about the people in your life who you know are just overflowing with wisdom. Those folks that you can have a 2 minute conversation with and they have the ability to encourage you and make you feel so special.
I am sure there are times after you have a conversation like that, where you just want more. Like the conversation made you feel so good. Isn't that one of the best feelings?
I am sure that if you have these people in your life, you might have somewhat of a relationship with them, or you know them fairly well.
My encouragement to you is that you surround yourself with those people. Take some initiative and see if they want to grab some coffee/spend some time together. It's all about who your surround yourself with. It's like a cabinet in the white house. Who is in your cabinet? It's easy to think sometimes that there is no way you want to meet up with these types of people because you might think you don't need them or you have fear. I promise you there is nothing to worry about and you need those people. I have been told over and over again that the older generation wants to be poured into. They have so much wisdom, and experience in life and a lot of the times we don't take advantage of it.
Something that has changed my life is spending one on one time with men who I look up to and want to pick their brains and learn as much as I can from them. I have tried to surround myself with a solid cabinet and I am very thankful for the guys I get the opportunity to spend some time with. They encourage me, give me advice, listen to me, and tell me if I am wrong or not.
My challenge to you is to think of one person in your life who you look up to, take some initiative and try to get together with them. It can be anyone, a good friend, coach, pastor, co-worker, you name it!
My one piece of advice, if you are in a relationship or married, try to make sure that this person is of the same gender or talk it out with your significant other. Regardless of gender, people are people and we all have are struggles and things we need help with, but there has to be calculated conversations. Those are huge.
Remember the challenge! I hope and pray that you start filling up your cabinet.
Hear the words of the wise in quiet....
Have a happy fourth!
Tuesday, July 3, 2018
The Great Wall
About a month ago I was blessed with the opportunity to see The Great Wall of China. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen with my eyes. I took hundreds of pictures of what I saw, but the pictures just don't do justice. The wall is huge. It's about 13,000 miles long. Good luck wrapping your head around that one. We only saw about a mile worth of the wall and I still can't put into words what that was like. There are so many steps you have to climb when you see the wall. Some of the times the steps were so steep that we had to crawl up with our hands. It took around a thousand years for the wall to be built. Millions of people spent their entire lives building it. Hundreds of thousands of people died while building it and the bodies were either buried under the wall or just thrown off the ledge. Each time a new emperor took over in China, he wanted the wall built even longer. The wall was built so that the Mongolians wouldn't invade China, which might be weird to think about, because wars don't last a thousand years. Mongolians would raise of a generation of warriors, fail to invade China, raise up another generation, and went through that entire process over and over again.
Why am I talking about The Great Wall of China? Little did I know, what I saw taught me a lesson about life.
If you follow my @31reasonsblog page on Instagram, you saw the picture I posted last night and this was the caption: "To me, God's plan it kinda like The Great Wall of China. You can never fully wrap your head around it...it's easy to think that in this life, we are in charge of the path we take...over the rugged mountains, through the hills, around the obstacles...but it's not our plan it's God's. Somewhere along the road, things happen that mess up the plans "you" thought you had. God's always at work with His plan for YOU & it's not a simple and easy path. There are steps, curves, twists, hills & valleys. Trust His plan."
If you don't know, I have three tattoos. They are all hidden and can only be seen in certain circumstances. Freshmen year, I got my first one and my parents were both cool with it. They told me no more. The very next year, my brother wanted one, and I was going to take him to get it. I decided to get my second one and didn't tell my parents. They were very upset about it and had a right to be. I broke their trust and disobeyed them. I thought I had learned my lesson and wasn't ever going to get another one. They warned me that there would be serious financial consequences if I were to get another one. After my first trip to China, I wanted to get a tattoo in Chinese so badly. Well, in February, I got my third tattoo and I thought I was going to be able to keep my parents from seeing it. Which is stupid of me, because anyone knows that you can never hide anything from your parents and you should never try to. They have this sixth sense and it's the most amazing thing ever. So, my mom called me this weekend and told me she had a vision that I had gotten another tattoo, so she asked me to tell her about it. I told her and she told me the consequences. I knew the consequences going into it and thought I was going to be able to be sneaky enough. I got off the phone with my mom, and balled my eyes out. Yes, I felt bad for disobeying my parents but that wasn't what I was upset about. I was upset at the fact that I have been saving all of this money and thought that I had everything planned out. I thought I had a great plan and have worked hard at saving money my entire life. Yeah, a full scholarship for basketball is an absolutely amazing blessing, but I still wanted to have a pretty solid amount saved for once I graduate. That's not going to happen anymore which is sad, but I learned an important lesson about it. Don't get me wrong, I learned not to hide anything from my parents and to be honest and never disobey them. The biggest lesson I learned is that you should never rely on your own plan like I was doing. All my trust when it comes to my money was on myself. I worked hard for it, so I was proud that I had that much saved. I thought that everything after school was going to fall into place, because of ME. I was so wrong. You need to trust God with everything in your life.
Then it got me thinking, about how The Great Wall of China is a lot like how God's plan is. It's immaculate and breath taking. It's something you can't wrap your head around and you must only take one step at a time. I think it's easy for us to come up with our own plans. We think that everything is cookie cutter and will work just the way we want it too. The Great Wall isn't like that and neither is God's plan for us. The Great Wall has billions of steps, hills, bends, breaks, valleys, bricks, and turns. It's the furthest thing from a straight and clear path. Once we get on the path, sure it's difficult, it wears you out, tears you down, exhausts you, but I know from first hand experience that there are parts of the wall that are straight, even, and easy to walk on. How much is that like our walk with Christ? It's never easy, sometimes it sucks, but most of the time it's amazing. When I was dying walking up the stairs that I had to use my hands on, I was still absolutely in awe of everything that was around me. So when you are in those rough patches, realize that God's plan isn't always easy, but it's forever worth it.
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My mom is going to read this, I know it. I didn't share this because I wanted to get out of the consequences, I shared it because of the lessons that God seems to teach to us when it seems like we are so broken that there is nothing to be taught. God is always teaching us, some of us just have to open our eyes.
Some of you are probably wondering what tattoos I have and where. So I will tell you.
1. I have the word "relentless" in Greek on my left pec. I got it because of the book titled "Relentless." I believe that I am relentless in everything I do and it's a great reminder to me that I work hard at what I do and have been able to do a lot of things and accomplish a lot because of the work it has taken.
2. I have this symbol on my wrist. "><" which relates to John 3:30 which says: "God must increase and I must decrease." It's a perfect reminder for me that God show always me more than me, He is so much greater, so much more powerful, and worthy to be praised.
3. I have Psalm 23:4 in Chinese on the back of my achilles. The verse says: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." I got it on my achilles because the verse literally talks about walking. I know that each and everyday of my life I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. There is so much evil out there and I know that I will never fear it because of God and his strength and love for me. I got it in Chinese because those trips changed my life.
Why am I talking about The Great Wall of China? Little did I know, what I saw taught me a lesson about life.
If you follow my @31reasonsblog page on Instagram, you saw the picture I posted last night and this was the caption: "To me, God's plan it kinda like The Great Wall of China. You can never fully wrap your head around it...it's easy to think that in this life, we are in charge of the path we take...over the rugged mountains, through the hills, around the obstacles...but it's not our plan it's God's. Somewhere along the road, things happen that mess up the plans "you" thought you had. God's always at work with His plan for YOU & it's not a simple and easy path. There are steps, curves, twists, hills & valleys. Trust His plan."
If you don't know, I have three tattoos. They are all hidden and can only be seen in certain circumstances. Freshmen year, I got my first one and my parents were both cool with it. They told me no more. The very next year, my brother wanted one, and I was going to take him to get it. I decided to get my second one and didn't tell my parents. They were very upset about it and had a right to be. I broke their trust and disobeyed them. I thought I had learned my lesson and wasn't ever going to get another one. They warned me that there would be serious financial consequences if I were to get another one. After my first trip to China, I wanted to get a tattoo in Chinese so badly. Well, in February, I got my third tattoo and I thought I was going to be able to keep my parents from seeing it. Which is stupid of me, because anyone knows that you can never hide anything from your parents and you should never try to. They have this sixth sense and it's the most amazing thing ever. So, my mom called me this weekend and told me she had a vision that I had gotten another tattoo, so she asked me to tell her about it. I told her and she told me the consequences. I knew the consequences going into it and thought I was going to be able to be sneaky enough. I got off the phone with my mom, and balled my eyes out. Yes, I felt bad for disobeying my parents but that wasn't what I was upset about. I was upset at the fact that I have been saving all of this money and thought that I had everything planned out. I thought I had a great plan and have worked hard at saving money my entire life. Yeah, a full scholarship for basketball is an absolutely amazing blessing, but I still wanted to have a pretty solid amount saved for once I graduate. That's not going to happen anymore which is sad, but I learned an important lesson about it. Don't get me wrong, I learned not to hide anything from my parents and to be honest and never disobey them. The biggest lesson I learned is that you should never rely on your own plan like I was doing. All my trust when it comes to my money was on myself. I worked hard for it, so I was proud that I had that much saved. I thought that everything after school was going to fall into place, because of ME. I was so wrong. You need to trust God with everything in your life.
Then it got me thinking, about how The Great Wall of China is a lot like how God's plan is. It's immaculate and breath taking. It's something you can't wrap your head around and you must only take one step at a time. I think it's easy for us to come up with our own plans. We think that everything is cookie cutter and will work just the way we want it too. The Great Wall isn't like that and neither is God's plan for us. The Great Wall has billions of steps, hills, bends, breaks, valleys, bricks, and turns. It's the furthest thing from a straight and clear path. Once we get on the path, sure it's difficult, it wears you out, tears you down, exhausts you, but I know from first hand experience that there are parts of the wall that are straight, even, and easy to walk on. How much is that like our walk with Christ? It's never easy, sometimes it sucks, but most of the time it's amazing. When I was dying walking up the stairs that I had to use my hands on, I was still absolutely in awe of everything that was around me. So when you are in those rough patches, realize that God's plan isn't always easy, but it's forever worth it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My mom is going to read this, I know it. I didn't share this because I wanted to get out of the consequences, I shared it because of the lessons that God seems to teach to us when it seems like we are so broken that there is nothing to be taught. God is always teaching us, some of us just have to open our eyes.
Some of you are probably wondering what tattoos I have and where. So I will tell you.
1. I have the word "relentless" in Greek on my left pec. I got it because of the book titled "Relentless." I believe that I am relentless in everything I do and it's a great reminder to me that I work hard at what I do and have been able to do a lot of things and accomplish a lot because of the work it has taken.
2. I have this symbol on my wrist. "><" which relates to John 3:30 which says: "God must increase and I must decrease." It's a perfect reminder for me that God show always me more than me, He is so much greater, so much more powerful, and worthy to be praised.
3. I have Psalm 23:4 in Chinese on the back of my achilles. The verse says: "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." I got it on my achilles because the verse literally talks about walking. I know that each and everyday of my life I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. There is so much evil out there and I know that I will never fear it because of God and his strength and love for me. I got it in Chinese because those trips changed my life.
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