Lust Does

If you are a human being than you have probably lusted over something in your life. If you're a guy, you might lust all the time...sorry guys but it's true. A simple definition of lust would be attempting to gain satisfaction from somebody else. I am guilty of that, and you are most likely guilty as well.

For most, lust is an ongoing battle. While watching a sermon today, there was a biblical story that was told and it was one that I have never heard before. After hearing the sermon and the story everything made sense so I wanted to share the story and the message the best that I could.
(Try reading through the story twice if it doesn't make sense the first time.)

Amnon and Tamar 

Now Absalom, David's son, had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar. And after a time Amnon, David's son, loved her. And Amnon was so tormented that he made himself ill because of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible to Amnon to do anything to her. But Amnon had a friend, whose name was Jonadab, the son of Shimeah, David's brother. And Jonadab was a very craft man. And he said to him, "O son of the king, why are you so haggard morning after morning? Will you not tell me?" Amnon said to him, "I love Tamar, my brother Absalom's sister." Jonadab said to him, 'Lie down on your bed and pretend to be ill. And when your father comes to see you, say to him, 'Let my sister Tamar come and give me bread to eat, and prepare the food in my right, that I may see it and eat it from her hand." So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. And when the king came to see him, Amnon said to the king, "Please let my sister Tamar come and make a couple of cakes in my sight, that I may eat from her hand." Then David sent home to Tamar, saying, "Go to your brother Amnon's ouse and prepare food for him." So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house, where he was lying down. And she took dough and kneaded it and made cakes in his sight and baked the cakes. And she took the pan and emptied it out before him, but he refused to eat. And Amnon said, "Send out everyone from me." So everyone went out from him. Then Amnon said to Tamar, "bring the good into the chamber, that I may eat from your hand." And Tamar took the cakes she had made and brought them near him to eat, he took hold of her and said to her, "Come, like with me, my sister." She answered him, "No, my brother, do not violate me, for such a thing is not done in Israel; do not do this outrageous thing. As for me, where could I carry my same? And as for you, you would be as one of the outrageous fools in Israel. Now therefore, please speak to the king, for he will not without me from you." But he would not listen to her, and being stronger than she, he violated her and lay with her. Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he hd loved her. And Amnon said to her, "Get up! Go!" But she said to him, "No, my brother, for this wrong in sending me away is greater than the other that you did to me."  (2 Samuel 13:1-16) 

Quite the story right?!

Basically, Amnon was so in love with his sister that he became ill. He then asked a crafty man, named Jonadab what he should do. Jonadab told him to get into bed as if he was ill and ask for Tamar to take care of him. Amnon got into bed, pretended to be ill, and when his father came to take care of him, he asked for his sister. Once his sister was in the room, she had baked some bread for him and then he asked her to come to bed with him. She denied it, and since he was bigger and stronger than she was, he took advantage of her and raped her. Because of his actions, he now felt more hate for her than the love that he had. He tried to tell his sister to go, but she denied it because if he made her leave, it was going to be worse than the acts that he had just committed.

There are a few things that I want to point out to you:

- Amnon was so lustful of his sister that he became ill
- Amnon didn't know what to do and where to get advice from so he asked a man named Jonadab
- Amnon did what Jonadab told him to do and pretended to be even more ill than what he was
- When Tamar denied her brother, she tried to get him to do it the right way by asking the king and he denied it
- When Amnon violated his sister he now hated her more than he loved her

Lust is simply, one big lie. When we lust over things, we think that if we could just fulfill that thought we have, everything would be okay! Satan really tries to get us with this one. Lust ruins relationships because lust is taking away something rather than giving it. Love is when you give and lust is when you take. Amnon had been around his sister his entire life and wanted absolutely everything to do with her! This was his sister...which is crazy to me. He wanted her so bad that he physically became ill. Sometimes in this life, we lust over somebody or something so hard that it destroys us. It eats us up, on the inside and out. It's a vicious cycle. We hold our ground and then we give up. We are strong and then throw everything away for short-term, worldly pleasure. It's interesting to me that Tamar would've been okay with things if her brother would've went through the king. She told her brother that he was going to be just like all of the outrageous fools if he did this thing. The desire he had to get satisfaction from Tamar was so great that he was going to do whatever he could to be satisfied by her. When the awful act was finished, he had now hated his sister more than he had originally loved her. That's what lust does. It ruins love.

I also want to add, before I forget...that this is very difficult post for me to write. There are so many things I want to say and want to encourage you with that I hope it all made sense! I also probably forgot a lot of the things that I wanted to say as well. I am confident that however this turns out is the way that the Holy Spirit wanted it to.

There is one more thing I want to touch on. Did you catch where Amnon got his advice to pretend to be ill and then ask for his sister to bake him loaves of bread? That idea came from Jonadab. The crafty guy who is the son of his Dad's brother. Who the heck is this guy and why did he think it was okay for Amnon to be rape his sister? Where do you get advice from? Amnon took the ideas from Jonadab and now he hated his sister more than he loved her. You can't get relationship advice from certain people, you cannot get advice from the magazines you read or the silly things you see on social media. When you need advice the first thing you should do is get your bible out. If you are unfamiliar with your bible, ask the person in your life who you know has it all together...that person who is on fire for the Lord and exemplifies Him in every way. Find that person who you know, in your heart is the right person to talk to about these sorts of things.

Lastly, if you struggle with lust, seek help from some friends and people that you look up too. Lust kills love, and if love is dead than you're missing out on this amazing life that we are so blessed to live every single day.

Agan, I hope and pray this all made sense!

We are not hidden

Do you ever feel like you can hide? I know it can be easy to feel that way sometimes. We like to isolate and keep everything to ourselves...whether it's good or bad.

I believe that it's a thing for people to try and hide things from God. Good luck doing that! He knows everything. The Holy Spirit is omnipresent. Which means, the Holy Spirit is literally present everywhere at all times.

If you are in a place today where you feel like you are hiding your problems from God, my hope is that this verse will encourage you to be open to your flaws and your mistakes. It's not good to hold things in.

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:13) 

NOBODY is hidden from his sight. We are all naked and exposed to the eyes of God. Everything about us is laid out and in front of God, every single part. We are completely exposed so we mine as well be open and honest right? Right!

I know this post was short and it was short for a reason. It didn't have to be long. I wanted to encourage you to be open and to let you know that you are not hidden from God's sight, even when you think you are, that is just the evil one playing games with your mind. We are naked and exposed. Bottom line.

Be open. Be honest. Be transparent. Be vulnerable. Thrive!

Love the Lord

I love the Lord. I really really do. Why?

I love the LORD because He hears My voice and my supplications. (Psalms 116:1) 

Every time I am up after midnight, I make sure that the last thing I do on my phone is look at what the verse of the day is. If I am asleep before that, I check first thing in the morning when I wake up. I don't remember when I started doing it, but it has been a pretty cool habit that I would recommend to so many people. There are a lot of things on our phones that we can see before we go to bed that are things we shouldn't see and a lot of content that we don't have to see. Wednesday night at midnight, I checked the verse before I went to sleep, and thought...hmmm this is a good one (verse above: Psalms 116:1). I didn't really think about the verse too much. That happens sometimes. I look just to look rather than taking something away from it. So I had looked at the verse and there was something about it that had my attention and I really didn't know what that exactly was.

Personally, over the past two weeks I have had that feeling that there is more of me to give. It came to fruition that I want to be sharper rather than a little rounded. It's tough because I look at my life and the things I do on a daily basis and I am busy from the moment I wake up until I lay my head on my pillow at night. It's not like I am doing anything wrong, I just feel like there is more that I could give. I don't have any difficulty prioritizing, I believe the balance I have between my walk with Christ, school, basketball, time spent with my friends and girlfriend is spot on! There is just something more out there that I feel like I need to be doing.

Wednesday morning I meet with someone who I admire and look up too and we read the Bible together and just talk about life. It's a quick and powerful 40 minutes together that is so fulfilling.

Every time we end our Wednesday mornings together we pray. He asked me what prayer requests I had and my number one thing was that I be made sharper, just like I talked about above.

We prayed, and when he left, I felt refueled and sharpened. It was an immediate answer to prayer! I texted my close friend and he replied with this.

I love the LORD because He hears My voice and my supplications. (Psalms 116:1) 

It was the verse of the day! It was the verse that I had looked at right before I went to bed the night before, the verse that I felt like had some significant importance and it did! The Lord had heard what I needed and He provided it.

My friends, the Lord hears our voices and our supplications. The Lord hears what we need when we ask him for it! Love him because of that!

I also encourage you to find those people in your life who can mentor you, listen to you, talk to you, and can encourage you. I know I sound like a broken record because I say this over and over again. I mean it. Your life will change when you begin to spend time with people who want to change your life. There are people out there who want to share with you what they have learned and experienced in this life so that you can be encouraged, motivated, and have a better idea of how to do things and how this life works.

Love the Lord!!!

More & More

What comes to you mind when you think of a life that is pleasing to God? I bet God is thinking...more and more...you must do whatever you can to please Me more and more. What comes to my mind? Honestly, I think of doing good things for other people, and showing love to as many people as I can. It might be different for you and that is totally fine. We all look at things a little differently.

Reading through 1 Thessalonians 4 this afternoon, there were three words that came across twice in the passage that I could not get out of my head and those three words were: More and more.

More and more...what could that mean?

Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 
(1 Thessalonians 4:1) 

More and more! It's in the very first verse. We are being told as we ought to walk and to please God, that we need to do so more and more.

Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one. (1 Thessalonians 4:10-12)

You see that more and more is in there again. We have been taught by God to love one another and we need to this more and more. Amen! I also love the end of that verse. We need to aspire to live quietly, and to mind our own affairs, and to work with our hands, so that we may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.  

I believe that is the key to the entire point that I want to make to you. When we do these things more and more, we will learn that we can live quietly, and to mind our own business. Our own business is our own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. When we live to please Him more and more we learn and recognize that we don't have to be dependent on anyone else for fulfillment. You wonder why you seem to not be able to trust anyone? Nobody else is God. You wonder why you can't be dependent on anyone? Anyone isn't God. I guess what I am trying to say is that even when you think you are doing a good job, there is always more that you can do. Always. More and More. 

This goes beyond the spiritual realm of things as well. It's what we need to do on daily basis. There is always more you can do. We can always study more for that test we don't want to study for, we can always put in more effort on that homework that is only worth 5 points, we can always push ourselves harder at practice, even when we don't think we can. This all ties into our mindset. Have that mindset that you will do more and more because you can do more and more. Nothing is impossible. Anything you set your mind to you are fully capable of doing. More and more. Don't forget about it. 

There is another part of this scripture that is important and I want to briefly touch on and that is sanctification. 

The will of God for us is sanctification. Sanctification is the process of being holy, and it is a gift given from the power of God.

Let's take a look at what sanctification looks like in the eyes of God.

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us to impurity, but in holiness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you. (1 Thessalonians 4:3-8)

Sanctification =
- abstaining from sexual immorality
- controlling our own bodies in holiness and honor
- no one transgress and wrong his brother

You might look at that scripture/list and think...oh crap that's me! It's you, it's me, it's everyone. We aren't perfect, we mess up. We can do a better job at being aware when we mess up, and do a better job at trying our best not to do those things. As good as we can possibly be at abstaining from those things, there is always more and more that we could do. We can always do better. We are seeds, meant for growth, remember that. Our growth process allows us to recognize that we need God in this life more than anything else.

Look at that last verse. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives us his Holy Spirit. When we disregard these things, we are disregarding God, not man. I think we get that prioritized incorrectly sometimes. We worry that if we don't do those things, we are disregarding our friends not true! They might get upset, but deep down, they wish that they had the self-control to abstain from those things. It's okay to be different! It's a billion times better to disregard man than it is to disregard God. It might not seem like it is, but trust me. Say no, abstain from those things, be different, please God, more and more!

Location Drives Content

Short and sweet will be this post to a tee.

Did you know that where we meet shapes the discussions we'll have? We've all experienced this, but few have put this idea into practice when we're setting our meetings. It's not silly to meet in the park, at a museum or somewhere fun. Each is engaging and creative and fun in it own way. Location drives content. It's why we should be as picky about where we talk as we are about what we actually discuss. If you have the right conversation at the right place, you just had the right conversation. However, if you have the right conversation at the wrong place, you just had the wrong conversation.

Simply put, location drives content. Think about what where you are planning your meetings and the location determines what you get out of it.

'My Turn' by: Jack Fisher

'My Turn'

Ever had something that you knew you wanted and needed to do and continued to push it off until 'next time?' Now i'm not talking about something small either, rather something God sized and God initiated and God centered. That thing for me consisted of the idea, of everytime we go running for track, pray for at least one person and trust that the person we pray for is the one God is going to work through.

You see before practice, our team goes out for a warm up run down towards the river, and we always pass people doing yard work and just sitting outside. It's a great opportunity to stop and pray for people.

Yesterday we began our run and I told the people with me, "hey if I stop running, it is because I stopped to pray for someone." We continue to run and passed a few people and ran by them. Then we passed an intersection and there was a man in the red shirt leaf blowing the yard, we instantly took that turn and went in approached to ask for prayer. We learned that this man was named Bob and had recently been in rehab two weeks earlier. He gladly accepted our offer for prayer. we held a conversation with him for a while talking about how he used to run track, and do the same events we did. As we concluded our conversation, we prayed for him, and right after we said amen, he goes "my turn." He then continues to pray along these lines, "father, thank you for bringing these for young men into my life, I know it was for a purpose." This simple prayer he said was from the heart and that was noticable by the way he said in the tears in his eyes. We left to continue our run super encouraged by that moment we just had and we all agreed it was so cool that we want to do it again.

When we take time to step out of our comfort zones, and look for the people God wants to bring into our lives or vice versa, we work to establish the kingdom of God here on Earth.

Silence is the enemy

Have you ever been in a situation where felt like you had something to say and didn't say it? I can walk you through what that situation might have been like. You were with a group of people, maybe in class, maybe not...and something in your brain clicked...on the inside you felt like you had the power to change the world with what you had to say...you kept sitting there, probably became a little sweaty, anxious, and nervous and then you missed your chance. You probably sat there kicking yourself in the butt because you didn't say anything.

You don't have to be a chatty Cathy doll all the time either, we all have different personalities and it's easier for some people to share things than it is for others. I get that. I am not good at it either. My personality is the type where I soak in more things than I spill out. I take in everything in situations rather than share the input I have. I know that I can do a better job with this because there are a lot of things that I would like to share with people.

Silence is the enemy. There might have been things that we could've said and it could've changed someones life. The enemy has made us fear these situations. We get filled with the anxiety and doubts that what we say won't matter and that people will think we are weird. Simple as that! Or maybe I am the only one feeling this way...who knows! I don't know how the rest of you feel because I am not you.

Why silence? Why today?

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered.
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.

I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,"
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

(Pslam 32:1-5) 

There is a difference in the silence between what I talked about above and what is said in that scripture. The scripture is talking about not keeping silent when it comes to confessing our transgressions to the Lord. When we keep those sins to ourselves, that is when our bones waste away and our strength is dried up by the heat of the summer. That is so beautifully written. It's a perfect description of ourselves wasting away when aren't confessing our sins and when we are keeping silent. When we don't confess our sins we are not being honest.

One of the most powerful feelings is the feeling when you confess your sins to the Lord. It's like the chains are broken off and you are free. You can be open and you feel so free. It's a tough feeling to put into words.

There shouldn't be anything that is holding us back from confessing to God. He already knows so we might as well admit it and ask for forgiveness. We will always be forgiven for our sins. We should never fear admitting our wrong doings. Whether it's a sin or in your relationship with others. When we admit our wrong doings, we are being vulnerable. Vulnerability is so important in any relationship. Vulnerability takes relationships to the next level.

Don't be silent. Listen first always and if you have something to say to someone or a sin to confess, say it, confess it, and experience the power of forgiveness.

God calls the church His bride

God calls the church His bride...If you have any sort of familiarity with the Bible than you have probably heard this referenced before. While reading Everybody Always this morning I came across a couple paragraphs where the author of the book, Bob Goff explains this better than I have ever heard it explained before. 

I figured it would be the perfect thing to share with you today. It's hard to use other sources sometimes for my posts, but this is worth sharing. Bob explains this way better than I ever could and this metaphor is one of those things that is important to understand and we have the best chance at understanding it through the way that he writes it. 

The next couple of paragraphs are straight from the book Everybody Always, written by Bob Goff.

God calls the church His bride. It's a beautiful metaphor, full of love and anticipation and commitment. Have you ever gone to a wedding where the bride walked in and a guy in row four held up a card with a "7" on it like they do in the Olympics, whispering to the person next to him, "I've seen better"? 

Of course not! The bride steals the show. Every time.

Do you know what makes the bride look terrific? It's not the fancy dress or the flowers or the music. Those things are great, but what makes the bride look terrific is everyone in the room knows the groom chose her to be his and she's chosen him to be hers. The two of them can't wait to spend forever together. I think this is the reason why God calls us His bride. 

The picture of the church helps me understand some of the most difficult questions I've had about how God sees all of us. It's pretty easy to understand, really. God loves and and He wants to spend forever together. We're His bride. He doesn't see all our flaws; He just sees us. God doesn't hold up a scorecard as we walk by either. He sees Jesus. It's that simple The way our church will return to the loving and accepting place the Bible talks about is by keeping our eyes on the Groom instead of one another. We can put all the scorecards away.

Perhaps if we spent a little more time looking at the Groom, we'd start seeing ourselves the way He does. To God, we look just terrific. Does our church have problems? You bet. But He continues to pick us to spread His love to the world. I'm not sure why. To be honest, I wouldn't have. But He said He picked us, and that's all I need to know to be part of the celebration. We're the bride of Christ, not because of what we look like but because go who we are trying to act like. That's our church.

It's me again...isn't that terrific?? There isn't too much else I need to or want to add to it because I don't want to ruin everything that Bob had to say. 

My favorite little part in there is the God doesn't see all our flaws; He just sees us. I love that. Let that be a reminder to you every day! 

What are you thinking about?

What are you thinking about throughout the day? Are you thinking about positive things, other people, helping others, what you have to do for the day? Or are you thinking negatively about others, judging others, and having a poor attitude about what you have to do for the day.

I have in my twitter bio that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react. I fully believe that with all my heart. How we perceive things is how we live our life. When we perceive things in a negative way we are short changing ourselves and missing out on so much. When we attack the day with a winning attitude, you will have the power and ability to do the things you want to do on a daily basis.

The battle of the mind is hard. We are never not thinking about anything. You know what's crazy is that God knows all of our thoughts before we even think them. Scary right? I know for a fact that I am not always thinking in the best way and to know that God knew I was going to think that gives me the willies!

I remember the first time that I learned that God knows all of our thoughts I was mind blown. I remember telling the person who told me that I was going to try to make all of my thoughts prayers so God knows that I am always praying. I thought that was a good idea and still might be, but it's so hard to do. As hard as we can try, it's nearly impossible to have positive thoughts all of the time. If we did, we would be complete and that isn't what God wants. He wants growth.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8) 

I love what Paul is telling us to think about. Just look at that list.

- whatever is true
- whatever is honorable
- whatever is just
- whatever is pure
- whatever is lovely
- whatever is commendable
- whatever is excellent
- whatever is worthy of praise

That is quite the list. If we could think about only those things throughout the day, I cannot imagine what are lives would be like. There are 8 different things on that list. Try one/day or one/week. Props to you if you can start thinking about all of those things consistently right away. If not, start small, there is no problem with that at all. For example, imagine thinking about things that are only pure for an entire day. Things would change so much for you if you were able to do that. Especially as a guy. It's been a lifelong process for me trying to keep my thoughts as pure as I can and these past couple months have been the best of my life for many reasons, a huge part of that being more pure thoughts.

My encouragement for you to start to think about those things on the list more often. When you change your mind, everything changes.

It's the simple and the difficult

The Holy Spirit has been working a lot in me the past couple of days and I feel convicted. It's tough because I don't think there are many things that I am doing that are wrong. To me, I feel like I have gotten to the point where I know the things to say around certain people to fit in, or to get people to like me. It's like I have figured things out, which I believe I have...I just feel like I am lacking some authenticity. Which is weird, I know I pore my heart into a lot of things and a lot of people, I just feel like I could do better.

I am comfortable and myself around certain people and that has become simple to me. At this point I have a firm grip on what people around me are totally for me and I am totally for them. It's become simple because that is what I am used to. I see teammates, I see my friends, I see people everyday where it is simple to be myself around. 

When it's difficult, I struggle. There are more people out there who don't know me well then there are who do know me well. That's life. Jesus loved everybody. Even when it was difficult for him. Even when his life was filled with constant interruptions. He loved no matter what. I know that I am not loving people like Jesus loved people. I feel like I am not doing a good job with that at all. It's difficult to love on the people I really don't know. 

I have a longing for making everybody feel like they matter. Like I mentioned a couple weeks ago in a post. My word for the year is "everybody." I say that I want to make everybody feel like they matter, I just don't think I am going a good job when it comes to the difficult. 

I thought I was doing a good job at this until a couple of nights ago. Now, when I sit here and really think about, there are so many people that I walk past on a daily basis that I only say hi to. I want to go deeper than that. I want to ask them a question, I want to make them feel like they matter. For some people, saying hi might be enough! I just feel like God wants more out of me. I thought I was being obedient and doing things well and up to His standards...I really did. Now I have a spot in my heart for more. 

I want to help, I want to serve, I want to make people feel like they mater. I do that to some people but not everyone. I feel like I talk a big game and think a big game, but aren't walking a big game. There are people around me who tell me I am a really good person, but do all people think that? Probably not! I don't care if they think that or not. I also wonder,  does everyone see that I care about them? 

I know the enemy can play mind games and deceives us to think we aren't in the right spot. I fully believe that. I also fully believe that the Holy Spirit is demanding more out of me. I feel like I have only scratched the surface. I don't want to be a good guy from the outside and based on how I present myself to certain people. I want want to be a good guy because I genuinely care about the growth of others. 

This is a difficult post for me because there is so much going on in my head that I really don't know how to put it into words. I hope what I have said has made sense. There is so much being stirred up in my heart and I have't gotten the chance to talk to a mentor about it yet. 

It's crazy how the Holy Spirit works. Especially because I wasn't in a bad place or anything. I am super happy with life right now and thankful for so many things. There is just something that is being done in my heart that I need to do something about. I am not going to do it with my power either. I can't. It's going to happen through a lot of prayer, patience, and practice. It's going to take some time. I can't be perfect in everything I do and don't expect to be either because I know that I can't. We as humans are so incapable of being perfect. I know that Jesus was perfect and that this life is a process of becoming like Jesus. 

I was reading through Philippians this morning and these verses really stuck out to me.

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also in you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. (Philippians 3:13-16)

I love this for a couple of reasons. I am reminded that this life is not my own. My life is God's and my life is in His hands. As I shared above, I believed things were being done in the correct way in my life, and now what is most important is straining forward to what lies ahead. There is no looking back. Why look back when you feel God doing work in your life right now? When you turn back you are automatically opening a door where you could turn back again, and again, and again. It's hard trust me! Sometimes that will happen too. It's not easy to forget what lies behind because our past is usually the reason where we are today. In a good way, forget and move forward! Press on towards the prize that lies ahead. I am encouraged by the fact that the verse talks about how those who are mature think this way. Feeling the Holy Spirit work in me the past couple of days and feeling like there is more is super cool and then reading that the mature should think like this? Awesome stuff. For others out there, if you think otherwise, don't be discouraged at all! Don't feel lost either. God will reveal it to you in a way just for you. 

The cherry on top of that the chapter I read today in the book Everybody Always applied perfectly as well. The opening quote in the chapter said: "How is your life working for the people around you?" This hit me like a slap across the face. I know there are some people around me who see it and know it, and I also know that there are many many others who have no idea. There so many people out there who my life doesn't work for. Partly because of me and partly because there are other people that God will put in their lives. 

I know that I can pretend to have all the game when I am on the court at practice, in class, walking through campus, hanging out with my friends etc. But it's how I act around everybody else. The people from the outside looking in. The people I see everybody, and don't know their names, the people that I see and only say hi to. When I can do both the simple and the difficult that is what will let everybody know where I really am with Jesus. I still get it wrong more than I get it right but I am so grateful for a opportunities every single day. 

People will figure out what we really believe by seeing what we actually do. Everybody has a plan, but God is looking for people who know their purpose. As often as I try to make it look otherwise, most of the time I make everything about me. I have a tendency to make things about my schedule and my time and how I am always in such a big hurry. 

It takes time and it going to take a lot of time. It seems like it could be very complicated but it really isn't. It's about loving like Jesus did...ALL the time. 

I love this quote from the book as well. 

"I still mess up more often than I want to. When I do, instead of beating myself up, wishing I were the guy who had it all figured out, I hear the gentle and kind voice of Jesus reminding me once again to stop laying sod where He's planted seed in my life. His reason is simple: He's more interested in making us grow then having us look finished. He wants me to realize I'm just not quite there yet." 

God always wants us to be growing. There is never a finished product until we are in heaven someday. We are simply not quite there. You are not there yet, and I am not there either. Not even close! That's what God wants...to realize that we are not quite there yet.

As I conclude this post, I apologize if it was boring to read about myself. There is work that is being done in my heart and I believe that the first step was sharing it and not keeping it to myself. As hard as that is, because if you know me very well, you know that I do not like to talk about myself. I hope that you might be encouraged by something in this post. I hope you remember the quote from the book about God planting seeds in your live that we grow. He didn't make us a tree so that you would be complete. We are seeds so that we grow and can recognize that they only way to grow is through Jesus Christ. 

Absolute imperfection

Obedience. It's tough right? For sure. I have never met a person in my life who is completely obedient about everything little thing. That makes sense though...we are humans, we sin, we make mistakes every single day. Jesus is the only person ever in existence to be completely obedient. He was perfect. We aren't called to be Jesus, we are called to be like Jesus.

What I hope to encourage you with today is trying to be more obedient. I want to clarify to, I am not sitting here telling you to be a better person because you aren't one. I am writing this post so that you can recognize when you are being obedient and so that you can get on the path to being more obedient. When you are obedient, you please God. We all should want to please God more than anything. Therefore, we need to try our best to be as obedient as we can be.

As I was reading through Philippians 2 this morning there was one verse that stuck out to me that I really could not get out of my head.

And being found in human from, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. (Philippians 2:8) 

Jesus was obedient to the point of death. That is just mind blowing to me. The absolute perfection of Jesus is hard to wrap my mind around. As much as Jesus is absolutely perfect, we as humans are absolutely imperfect. Just like how I mentioned above, we make countless mistakes everyday. We make bad decisions one after another, we say things we aren't supposed to, we think how we shouldn't think. We are about as imperfect as it gets.

It says in that verse that Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient. The key to obedience is humbling yourself. Chris't example of humility is perfect. The key to us having humility is to look at the interest of others over your own interests. We should never do anything out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourself.

When we begin to put others before ourselves it's easier to be obedient because you aren't worrying about our own wants and needs. When we worry about what we need and what we want our focus is doing whatever it takes to satisfy ourselves. We are simply to selfish minded. In other words, we are absolutely imperfect. We need to take the focus off of ourselves and begin to care and love other people. That in itself is obedience and will lead to further obedience in our lives.

That is what I want to leave you with today. When we humble ourselves and put others before ourselves, it's easier to live a more obedient life.

My hope is that we can all please God with our efforts to be obedient and to be like Jesus on a daily basis.

Honestly, you might be wondering, how do we know what being obedient looks like? Being obedient to me is doing the right thing. It's that little voice you hear in your head telling you to do something different than everybody else. It's being attentive and listening to what the Holy Spirit is calling you to do.

The game was ripped away a little too soon...Guest Post by: Grant Gayler & Kristen Mitchell

 I asked two of my friends to share a little about their stories and their battles with concussions. I asked them to share what it was like having something they care about being taken away from them at such a young age and very unexpectedly. My prayer is that you are encouraged by what they had to say and the way they handled their situations. I am very thankful that they took the time to briefly write up something for me. 

Grant Gayler

As a kid I can remember the thrills the game of basketball gave me. I remember the Friday nights where I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited for my game the next morning at the Boys and Girls Club. I found peace when I played, all sense of anxiety and stress would escape my body when I stepped on the court. 

At a young age I understood the importance of a higher education. I worked hard through middle and high school with the dream of going to college and I knew that basketball was my ticket to do so. I searched for a way and found myself at Bethel College, living my dream of continuing to play the sport that I fell in love with at the age of 8. 

Each year I would see the senior class play their final game, thinking to myself that the day where I would put up my shoes and say goodbye to the game was far off. My last game just so happened to be halfway through my junior season. I never got to experience the proper send off or goodbye from the game. No one told me that the game on December 20, 2017 would be my last, I didn’t get to prepare for it, the game was simply ripped from me. On that day I got my fourth concussion inside of two years. Something told me as my teammates picked me up and walked me to the end of the bench that it would be the last possession I would ever play. 

After many months of therapy, hard conversations with doctors/family and not knowing what I was doing or where I was half the time, I came to peace with the fact that I would never play again. I’m sure that the reigning champs of the Golden State Warriors are devastated that I won’t be joining their roster next year but that’s beside the point, I realized that there is much more in life than basketball. As for now I’m at peace with where I’m at, I’m sure it’ll be much harder when the season comes around and I’m not lacing up with my brothers taking the court one last time, especially with my fellow seniors. 

I’ve learned a lot about myself over the recent 9 or so months, God has called me to be much more than a basketball player. People ask me all the time if my decision to walk away from the game was hard, don’t get me wrong, of course, but I am at peace with it, I trust that He has much more in store for me than just the game. I have learned that life is short and that nothing inside this fragile life will last forever. I have learned to enjoy each day doing what God has called me to do because He might have something else planned for me tomorrow.  

Kristen Mitchell

10 years old, with the wind in my face and no hands steering my bike, I’m going full speed down the paved hill. I am flying. I am invincible. My bicycle, however... is not. The chain locks and sends me over the handlebars. My head smacks the pavement. At this moment, my journey with concussions starts. 

In just this past year, I added three more tally marks to my concussion count. If you’re wondering if I’m a reckless person or maybe just really clumsy, let me explain. Since I was 8 years old, I’ve been playing volleyball. I’ve spent a great portion of my life sprinting, diving, rolling - throwing myself to the ground to keep a ball from hitting the floor (inspiring, isn’t it?). Plus, my head, a doctor explained, is one that is more prone to head injury than other people’s. It seems 13 years of sports + predisposition to concussions = a lot of concussions.

This summer, after yet another concussion, I had “the conversation" with my coach and my career as an athlete ended right before my senior season started. It was getting too dangerous. And yes, logically speaking, I could tell myself… Life is so much more than sports. One more year, I would have graduated and been done playing anyway. So it’s okay, it’s just one less year. But, truthfully, the loyal part of me says… Volleyball has developed grit, discipline, health, joy, leadership, interpersonal skills, and a thousand other things. It’s been an incredible tool for ministry, it's so much fun to get to glorify God with this gift. My teammates are like family. It’s been humbling and an honor to take part in shaping who our team is and what we represent. It hurts to be done, I had one more year to give. 

I share all of that, not because I really like talking about it. Vulnerability kind of sucks. Yeah yeah... I know it’s good and important, I just mean, it’s hard. But I share it because in these bits of change, grief, and feeling broken (literally but maybe slightly metaphorically too), God is at work. I am filled with gratitude for that and happy to share about it. 

The way He’s been at work in my life through this is simple but very profound. He’s been reminding me of who He is. When I walk into the gym and watch my team, the giant banner in my head usually says something like: you’re too broken to be out there. But day by day, through that little nudge of the Holy Spirit, that banner gets replaced by thoughts that are actually true: This is hard but God is gracious.  God is trustworthy.  God is faithful.  God is patient.  God is gentle.  God is steadfast.  God is bigger than me.  Those sentences play on repeat in my mind. 

This doesn’t mean that God has asked me not to be sad or said that this change shouldn’t be hard. He’s just asked me to draw close to Him and stay anchored in who He is. Anytime we have something to grieve, change to embrace, or feel broken then we have a choice to make. Do we let God in on the process; Do we seek God in the midst of it or not? Sometimes I’ve wanted try and ignore instead of processing or I’ve wanted to just clench my fists and get through it. But He’s simply asked me to release my grip, to open my hands in surrender and allow Him to join me in the process.

Come to play, not to watch

Do you ever feel like you should help people just because you think that God would want you to? I know that it is a common misconception among many people. We sometimes think that the key to heaven is about doing good and doing the right things so that you can make it there. It's not about that. We are also selfish. Sorry to say it, but we are. We want to live our lives the way that we want to. We don't do well with interruptions.

I read this next little section in the book Everybody Always this morning and fell in love with it.

"Jesus doesn't need our help with the hungry or the thirsty or sick or strange or naked or people in jails. He wants our hearts. He lets us participate, if we're willing, so we'll learn more about how He feels about us and how He feels about the people we may have been avoiding." - Bob Goff

Really think about that. Jesus doesn't need our help with those things and it's so easy to believe that He does. He wants your hearts. We GET to participate. We don't have to, we GET to. When we give Jesus our hearts, that is loving like Jesus would and that is the goal. To love like Jesus. 

Once Jesus has our hearts, He's got what He needs and what He wants. When He is our hearts, that is when we have the amazing opportunity to do the work of God. 

"When we get to heaven I would have thought Jesus would want to talk about our terrific organizations or what nice people we were or the positions we held. Maybe these things will come up, but I doubt it. Instead, He said He will want to know how we treated the ones who had failed the worst." - Bob Goff

We must come to play, not to watch. We can't be here to watch life go on, and see people who need love and not do anything about it. We have to do something about it and it the first step is giving your heart to God. You can't do good things out of self-glorfiation. It may look good in the eyes of others but the eyes of others don't matter. The eyes of God is what does. We need to play, we need to join the game, participate, give God our hearts and what will come from our lives will be unimaginable. 

Loving people the way Jesus did means living a life filled with constant interruptions. It's not easy and it never will be. It's worth it. 100% worth it. You can't just love someone when you want to, or expect yourself to be put into a situation where you will get to love. You have to be okay with having a life filled with interruptions. That's how Jesus lived his life. 

Remember...give Jesus your heart. 

The Works of God are Displayed in All

Do you ever feel like you aren't special because there might be something wrong with you? Maybe you're short and don't feel like you are special because you are too short. Or maybe you are tall and feel like a freak? (I don't feel like a freak by the way) You might have a lazy eye, or wear glasses that you don't like, you might have bad ache, you might be in a wheel chair. Who knows. Those are just some of the things I thought of.

This world has a tendency to make you feel like you are't special if you are not perfect. No matter what anybody says, it's easy to feel like you don't have it all together based on everyone else around you. We have unlimited wants and needs. We always want more. You might be perfect in the eyes of others, but not yourself, you still want more. More. More. More.

This post isn't about needs and wants. It's about God's work being displayed in you. No matter who you are, or where you come from!

This scripture I read last night really got me thinking about this.

This was the story of how Jesus healed a man born blind.

"As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents but that the works of God might be displayed in him."

( John 9:1-3 ) 

The man was not born blind because of a sin he committed or a sin that his parents committed. This man was born blind so that the works of God might be displayed in him. I hope that verse hits you really hard so that you understand that you were created so that the works of God might be displayed through you. 

No matter who you are, what your circumstances are, what you look like, what your hair looks like, how tall you are, how pretty you are, what you wear, etc. YOU WERE CREATED SO THAT THE WORKS OF GOD MIGHT BE DISPLAYED IN YOU. 

You are special and most importantly you are loved. Never doubt yourselves based on your situation. You are enough for God and He created you in his perfect image so that His works might be displayed. You are SO special.

When you begin to understand how important you are, and who much worth you have, you begin to change your perspective. Once your perceptive changes, your personal happiness on a daily basis will change, and lastly, your life will change.

You are loved and you are special. God's works are displayed in every single part of you.  

Simply Publicity?

Have you ever heard anyone say that any type of publicity is good publicity? Publicity in any form is good because that means you are being talked about and your name is out there...whatever it is you're doing. 

Publicity is defined as: the notice or attention give to someone or something by the media

When the apostle Paul wrote the book of Philippians he had this to say when writing about the advance of the gospel. 

"Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice." 

( Philippians 1:15-18 ) 

The end of those couple of verses really got me thinking. Paul says that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Paul is saying that whenever Christ is talked about is good because Christ is being talked about!

Even if Christ is being proclaimed in the wrong way, He is still being talked about.

I want to clarify that I am not saying that whatever way you proclaim Christ is good. I am saying that when Christ is talked about in the wrong way, Christ is still being talked about. 

Personally, I find that to be encouraging and it makes me appreciate the power of the name Jesus Christ. It's easy to get offended sometimes, trust me, you just have to remember that Christ is being proclaimed. It's simply publicity!

Here is the thing...it goes deeper than just simply publicity. When Christ is wrongly proclaimed, we cannot just sit here and be happy because Christ is being proclaimed and talked about. When Christ is wrongly proclaimed, that is our opportunity to proclaim Christ in the way that Jesus Christ ought to be proclaimed to all the ends of the earth. 

I hope this post made sense to you all today. I hope it didn't sound narrow-minded. My hope is that it gets you looking at the bigger-picture. The bigger-picture is that Christ rules over all and will for all of eternity. Share that! Get that out there.

Get people to notice and bring their attention to Jesus Christ. 

Don't Bottle it Up

A lot of what we do and the way we perceive things is noticed by so many people. When situations are handled well it's easily noticed, when situations are handled not so well it is also easily noticed. I am sure that we can all think of that person in our lives who seems to handle everything so well. We look at them and think to ourselves that we wish we could handle situations like they can.

No matter what your role is, you can be an example to people. Like I talked about above, you can be both a good example and a bad example. Do you ever wonder what it takes to be a good example? Let me narrow that down, what is one thing that you could be the greatest example for?

We can be an example because of the way we receive the word.

"And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia." 

( 1 Thessalonians 6-7 ) 

The people of Thessaolonica received the word in much affliction. Which means that they received the word in a time where there was a lot of sadness and suffering. Sometimes when we are down and in the dumps, the word is presented to us and totally jacks us up! I am sure we have all been there. You are just coasting along hoping for your day to get better and you come across a bible verse and your day totally changes! We receive that word with joy from the Holy Spirit. When that happens we become an example to all believers. When we receive that word and our days changes, we need to rejoice. It's an amazing thing!

When I first started getting into the word on a regular basis two summers ago, I was in a spot where I received it in much affliction and then became joyful! I was at a time in my life where I needed God and I needed the word of God more than anything. The more and more time I spent in it, the more and more I wanted to share what I was reading and what I was learning. Hence, me starting a blog.

My encouragement, is that we can become an example to all people because of the way that we gather the word. All of our stories and what we learn are so special and amazing that we can't just keep it to ourselves. I am not telling you to go around and talk about how amazing you story is, that isn't an attractive thing at all. It's an attractive thing to know you have that story inside of you and that you are willing to tell anyone who asks. You could tell one person what God is doing in your life right now and you are being a good example. When somebody shares with me what God is doing in their life, it pumps me up. It makes me want to really pay attention to what God is doing in my life.

Don't put a lock on your stories and what you are learning, especially from the word of God. Be willing to share with at least one person, and always get excited to share when somebody asks you. It's okay if you don't go around sharing your story. There are people who like to talk about themselves and there are people who absolutely don't like to. It's fine! We are all different and all have our own personalities.

I am certain that God has done amazing things in your life and if He has not, I am sure that He is about to, or will do something very soon. Be patient. Being patient is tough, but worth it.

Inconvenient Conveniences

Do you ever feel like you are in chains and that something is holding you back? You probably do. I know that I do sometimes. Even on the best of days. You might ace a quiz, have a great day at practice, the weather might be perfect outside and you still feel like you are missing something. It's because you are! We both are.

"If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." 

( John 8:31 ) 

Right in that verse, Jesus is telling us that if we abide in his word, that we will know the truth and that the truth will set us free.

For me, even on my very best days where everything seems to go so well, if I don't spend time in the word I don't feel set free. It's amazing how the Holy Spirit has the power to make you feel that way. On the very best of days! Without the word, I don't feel like myself! For example, I had to opportunity to go to the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game on Saturday and it was an absolutely amazing day. Everything about it was great! I didn't spend time in the word and the entire day I felt like I was missing something. It didn't affect the way I went about that day, on the inside I just felt like I was missing something. I believe that not everybody feels that way. I know that before I became discipled with getting into the word, I had no idea what I was missing out on. I thought it was other things, I didn't realize it was that simple. That's the beauty of it all. It's all so simple!

Abide in the word, spend time in the word = you will be set free

simple, simple, simple

My encouragement to you is this, if you feel like you are missing out on something and don't feel fulfilled entirely, get into the word. Spend 5 minutes a day and your life will change. Sure, you might read something that doesn't make sense, and it's not all going to make sense to you. I read things every day that doesn't make any sense to me. The Holy Spirit will give you the power to interpret what you are reading and will use it for you and either your best interests or convictions.

Spend some time in the word. Try reading one chapter a day! When I say that, I am not saying read all of John today, I am saying, "Try reading John 1." There is so much that comes from the word of God.

I believe that spending time in the word is one of the most difficult things for Christians to do. We are all super busy, it's human nature. It's way easier to focus on prayer, our works, or focus on loving others, etc. Reading the bible might come at an inconvenience for most. Which is fine! There are people out there who love to read and people who rather do anything besides read. That makes sense. We are all human, we are all weird, we are all different.

I also encourage you to turn your inconvenience into a convenience. When we do things that are out of our comfort zones, we experience growth. We are simply doing things that we are not used to doing and once we begin doing that, the sky is the limit. Imagine turning each inconvenience in your life into things that are convenient. The opportunity for growth is amazing!

What are the takeaways?

1. Spend some time in the word and you will be set free. Remember, spending 5 minutes in the word one day a week most likely won't change your life. It's going to take some consistency and discipline. It takes time, trust me. Anything that is ever worth it isn't easy. We have a longing for eternity in our hearts and when we spend time in the word, we fulfill some of that longing.

2. Make your inconveniences convenient. The things that are difficult for you to do and the things you don't like making time for might hold the keys to fulfillment and happiness. WE have the opportunity to grow every single day.

Let's do it!

The significance of significance? By: Jack Fisher

How much throughout the day do you try to impress people? Think about… the words you say, the clothes you wear, the way you think. More than likely the answer to that is more than we wish to admit too. But why is that? What good is it that we impress someone, woohoo, what good is that going to do for you… honestly. Or how about this question, How much do you try to impress God throughout the day? If we’re honest, we think about impressing others more than God. But is it possible to impress God? 

Many of us, (including myself) have the misunderstanding that we have to do significant things in order to get noticed by God and others. We have these great ideas that go above and beyond. The problem is that we take things of this world and try to make them great so that God notices the ‘great’ work we are doing. The humbling truth is that God calls us to live ‘other worldly.’ He calls us to ‘not be confirmed to the ways of the world.’ You see, while doing significant things is great and does often get noticed, living ‘other worlds’ is what gets the heads turning. Live in the way that we were orignally designed to be, and you will experience the goodness God freely offers. If you don’t know how to live originally,  ask a trusted friend, and read the Word.

Living other world… what does that mean. It can be described visually as a fish swimming against an upstream current. While all other fish follow the current of the waves, this one particular fish is swimming against them, and that’s tough work! Not only does is have to swim against the weight of the water, but also around the other fish. Living in this way is how our lives will be set apart. Our goal in life is not to make our name great, it’s to make God’s name great, and the way we do that is living the way in which the Bible calls us live.

1. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

( Colossians 3:1-2 )