Calming Waters

Do you ever think of your life like the waves of the ocean? There are days when everything is calm and peaceful and then there are times when there are storms and the waves are crazy? If you have never thought of that analogy, think of it now. It's so realistic to our lives on a daily basis. There are times when the waves seem too calm and there are times when the storm gets so bad that you think it will never end.

There is a solution to the storms in your life and to the calmest and that is Jesus.

Jesus Walks on Water

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea of Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.  ( John 6:16-21 ) 

In this story, the sea and the waves were nice and calm and then all of a sudden a wind blew up and the waves became rough. In our lives, things seem to be going great and then all of a sudden a storm pops up and totally throws everything off.

In this story, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat and the crew was frightened. He told them to not be afraid. In our lives, God is always there. We have to be aware of it all of the time! When we make mistakes and mess up, we cannot have the thought that God is going to be mad at us. God loves us and loves us no matter what! We can't ever be afraid! It's good to fear God. Fearing God is powerful and it's what we should do.

In this story, the crew was happy to take Jesus on board and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.  In our lives, we cannot be afraid to let Jesus get on our boats. As soon as we let Jesus in our boat, the waters will calm.

Next time you experience the highs and lows of life, don't forget that there is always a spot for Jesus on your boat, you just have to let Him in.

Get Up, Take Your Bed

You probably saw this title and seriously thought...hmmmmm what could this be about?

I will make it short and sweet for you!

In John chapter 5, there is a healing done at a pool on the Sabbath. In Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesada, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids - blind, lame and paralyzed. There was a man who had been invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus was at this pool, He saw the man laying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" The man told Jesus that he has no-one to put him into the pool when the water is stirred up, and whenever he tries to go, another person steps before him. Jesus then said to to the man, "Get up, take your bed, and walk." At once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Take that in for a second. A man was stuck at this pool for thirty-eight years because he had no-one to get him into the pool and he couldn't even make it to the pool himself. Thirty-eight years! That is such a long time! Think about how impatient we are with things. When we are hopeless and want to give up on something, we find any alternative we can to just get through what we have to. We would rather do anything than continue to suffer and feel like we are failing. This man was crippled and never gave up hope. The man also never had anybody notice him in all of those years. Not one person helped him into the pool. You know who did notice him? Jesus did! Jesus noticed the man sitting there and just asked a simple question. Think about people you seen in your daily lives who seem down and in the dumps, ask them a question some time! That question might change their lives. Jesus asked the man a question, and Jesus healed him because he took up his bed and walked when Jesus told him to.

There are a couple of things I hope we can all take away from this.

1. Never ever give up. For thirty-eight years, this crippled man sat at the pool. He never gave up hope. No matter how long it seems like we have to wait for something, we must persevere. Your life could change!

2. Next, don't be afraid to ask somebody a simple question. Try to pay attention to someone who looks like they need a friend. Jesus noticed this man laying there, asked him a question and his live changed.

Never give up, and ask questions! With those two things you have the power to change life!

The Thirst Trap

About a month or so ago, I saw a video on Facebook of Steven Furtick briefly talking this topic. When I saw the short video snippet of it, I absolutely loved it. 

I wanted to so badly talk about it in a blog post but hadn't came across the scripture until tonight. With this post, I want to briefly talk about the thirst trap that we all struggle with every single day. Everybody does. 

Think about things that quench your thirst. To make a simple, think about water. Water is so great and hydrates us when we are thirsty. What happens though? Your body uses that water and you have to keep drinking more. It's a never ending cycle. No matter what form of liquid you drink, you will always have a thirst for more. 

In John chapter 4...Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will by thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life." ( John 4:13-14 ) 

Everyone who drinks the water of this world will be thirsty again. When you drink the water that is given to us by God we will never thirst. That is so powerful. Drink from the cup of life!!!

Jesus is saying, hey I need a drink and the woman thinks that He's talking about the water, But he's not talking about the water, and the woman is perhaps ashamed and offended so she goes to push Him away, because that is what she has learned how to do. She's thirsty! So she learned how to get what she needs from who she thinks can give it, but none of it lasts, she's learned. She's learned how to get what she needs. (think about it like this) So she wakes up in the morning, thirsty. Did they like my picture? Did they comment on my post? Did they friend me back? Did they follow me back? 

We need to quit acting like that fills us. It might for a minute, but there is a problem with this well. Jesus said, if you drink of this water woman, you're going to stay thirsty...and I want you to know that if you put your validation in other peoples hands, you will have to go back to them for it, and you can't.

Start quenching your thirst from the water the God gives us. He is constantly pouring into us and we need to receive it with open hearts and minds. 

The Wind Blows

I had this thought today while I was reading and it was very thought provoking to me. I was caught sitting here thinking about how the Holy Spirit does such unimaginable things. The Holy Spirit is out here doing things and changing your life in a way that you never thought would happen. Seriously though, think about your life right now. I bet that you never thought you would be where you are right now. That is the work of the Holy Spirit. It's truly an amazing thing to think about. I do a bad job at realizing it myself. Imagine a life where we were fully aware and attentive to the work of the Holy Spirit all of the time. I imagine that sort of life being so awesome. There is a reason that we don't and can't understand. That's why God is God. Perhaps maybe that is why God made eternity so long, so that he could explain everything that He was doing. Such a cool thought!

The scripture that got me thinking this way was from John chapter 3.

In the beginning of John chapter 3, John talks about how we must be born again. John talks about how the only way to see the kingdom of God is that if we are born again. In this passage Nicodemus is a little confused because he feels like he cannot be born again because he is an old man. Jesus says to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' Jesus is telling Nicodemus that he can be born again through the Spirit and baptism.

 Next is where Jesus comes in for the win and what I want you to take away from this post. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. 

Where does wind come from? I believe that it is from the earth rotating on its axis. Here is what I really don't understand. Why is it super windy somedays and other days it's not. It's not like the earth spun really fast for a couple of hours! Honestly, there is probably an obvious scientific reason behind it in which I don't know.

Then think about the sound that wind makes. Wind is air, how does air make sound? 

My point is that the Holy Spirit is very much like the wind. It's powerful, moving, and a mystery. The wind blows just like the Holy Spirit does work in our lives. We are often unaware of the work that is being done and I know we can all do a better job at trying to recognize it. Everyone who is born of the spirit is just like the wind.

When we become more aware of God's presence, so many thing make much more sense. 

My "Word"

Welcome back to class. That's probably what most of you are going through right now if you are still in school. The busy summer has wrapped up and you are all probably moved into college and have started or getting ready to start. It's a busy time of year. The packing becomes overwhelming and the days leading up to are all a blur. This weekend is a weird one because it's the first weekend of the school year, so there is really no homework.

I really hope that everyone had an amazing summer. I hope that lessons were learned and that you were able to experience some sort of growth.

I am excited because I have a challenge for you. It's an easy one too. I hope you are willing to get on board and try it out.

Here it is...

I encourage you to think of one word that represents what you hope God will do in you this year. Why just one word? Achieving smaller goals are the best way to reach and achieve our larger goals. Having one word as something you hope for is better than coming up with an entire sentence or something like that. It's more simple and it's a good place to start. This word could catapult you to coming up with some sort of life mission statement.

My word is "Everybody." I chose that word because going into this year I want to live everyday with the mindset that everybody matters. Every person I see walking through campus, driving on the road, or walking around the mall is just as important as I am. Everybody matters. Just because I play basketball does't mean I am any more important than students in the music and art department or people in the stands watching the game. Everybody matters. Everybody matters is the extraordinary power of caring for people like family. When you treat people equally and because they matter to you, that is a sign of love. Loving one another is the greatest commandant. So imagine, living a life with the mindset that everybody matters is obedient and pleasing towards God.

Come up with a word. Live by it this year and see what God will do with it.

                                                                                                                                                                                     


Now that I am back in school, I will be able to get a routine going and can't wait to share with you encouragement on daily basis,

How long?

We often wonder "How long?"

We get impatient in this world. Growing up in the time period that we have, we have everything we want right at the tips of our fingers. The ability to get anything that we want right away has caused millennials to not have any patience.

Sometimes I find myself getting worked up for the idea of "how long," for no reason at all.

Check this out:

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, "I have prevailed over him,"
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me. 

(Psalm 13)

For me, that passage was perfect today. After spending a week in sunny Southern California and the last three days in the gloomy rain it gets tough. Having knee surgery in there doesn't help the most either! Just today, I caught myself wondering..."How long?" How long till it's nice out? How long till I can workout? How long until God tugs at my heart?

This scripture reminded me. There are times when we will wonder "how long?"

but...

when you wonder that, you must remember that we have decided to trust in God's steadfast love and that we are going to rejoice in God's salvation. We must sing to the Lord because he has dealt bountifully with us!

We can wonder "how long?" As long as we remember the abundance that God has put right in front of you. My caution is this: don't wear yourself out with it. It can be a lot of unnecessary worrying.

Think of it like this: It's like when you make plans with one of your best friends and they start getting cold feet. You immediately start thinking that your friend doesn't want to be your friend anymore! Then you communicate with your friend on the phone or make other plans, and you realize that nothing changed because your plans fell through. You were just hit with a little curveball. It happens all the time. We naturally freak out about it.

Why make something such a big deal to worry about when it ultimately isn't.

How long until you remember God's unconditional and steadfast love for you all of the time.

Soak it up

I’m currently on a plane flying to Los Angeles with my mom. After finishing a movie I had some time to dive into the word. Interestingly enough, the scripture that suck out to me the most this morning was the verse of the day.

You make it known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

(Psalm 16:11)

How relatable is that verse to our lives on a daily basis? When things are out of whack we immediately struggle to find joy and fullness right?

There are things everyday that give us joy and fullness, just not compete joy and fullness.

For example, my girlfriend has been in Phoenix for the past 5 days while I was home, and today I’m flying to LA and she is flying back to Chicago. We spend a lot of time together and her and I both get a lot of joy and pleasure every time we are with each other. So as you can imagine, it’s tough to be apart from each other! We can still bring joy to each others lives when we aren’t in each others presence, it’s just not the same.

Thinking about that...our lives and that verse relate very well. We need to remember that the fullness of joy only comes from God’s presence and meaningful pleasure comes from God’s presence as well. 

Next time you don’t feel full of joy, remember to rest in and soak up God’s presence. 

It’s an amazing how the Holy Spirit knows exactly what you need sometimes! 

I know that I needed to hear that so badly! I hope the same for you too.