Deal or no Deal?

Psalm 73:2

“But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.”

 

·      If you don’t know temptation is all around us, 24/7! It’s funny because recently we’ve been doing the study in our life groups about D.E.S.I.G.N. and teaching people that God has a design, a plan, a purpose for their lives. But if we flip the script this also means that the Devil has a plan to try to distort and break the plans of God. If he can get us to lose sight of the purposes of God then his plans prevail over Gods. In Jeremiah 29:11 the Lord declares His plan for our lives “…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Imagine if we truly lived out His plan for our lives? How different would my life look like? The Psalmist said one word that truly blew me away and that one word was “almost.” How many of us were face to face with temptation, defeat, or compromise and we give in? I know I have but this Psalmist was at the threshold of giving into the plans of the enemy, “he ALMOST slipped…” but he didn’t.

·      I don’t want to live so close to the line of defeat, of temptation, of compromise. I want to be as far away as I possibly can. If I ever am faced with any of these oppositions I want to be able to say like the Psalmist, “I almost slipped.” I almost gave into the plans of the enemy but then I remembered the plan that God has for my life, a plan of prosperity, hope, and a great future. I don’t want to put what God has for me on the line.

·      Lord help me to be reminded of your plans daily. When I’m at work, in my house, at school, while I’m driving everywhere and anywhere let me be reminded of your plans. Keep me from slipping or compromising m future. I want to live to the fullest and live out what you created me to do and to be.

Too tired

Today in church my dad was speaking and he was talking about the Mount of Transfiguration (Luke 9:28-36). He mentioned one point that made me say “hey that’s me!” as he spoke about the Mount of Transfiguration he started talking about the disciples, Peter, John, and James (the sons of thunder) during this great phenomenal moment of their lives where Mose and Elijah are there, these disciples are "too tired." In verse 32, “Peter and the others were very sleepy, but when they awoke fully, they saw the glory of Jesus and the two men standing with him.” The disciples were doing what? They were sleeping. I don’t know about you but for the longest time my life has been feeling drained and even when God is in my midst I'm like these disciples, I'm sleeping! I started thinking to myself about ministry. Ministry is hard work, because we always want to bring excellence in the things of God. But as we work harder and harder we may tend to lose focus of what Jesus is doing, what he is revealing, what he is saying. I cant let my passion for ministry take away my passion for Jesus. These disciples walked with Jesus, they were his right hand men, they worked side by side in Jesus’ mobile ministry but in the moment of revelation they were too tired and too weak to capture that revelation. It wasn’t until these men “awoke” that they were able to see what was in front of them and they were able to hear God’s voice. I heard this saying, “you can be busy doing the right things, but still be wrong.” I don’t think that Jesus’ intention for ministry is for us to be too busy that we neglect him. Ministry without Jesus is a slow death. Remember, that without Jesus I am nothing and have nothing. As hard as it may seem I (we) have to awaken from our deep sleep and look at what Jesus has for us.

 

Go Giants

Two days ago i had a chance to take my beautiful girlfriend, Amanda, out on a date. It wasn't anything big but it's something i like to do. I took her out to a baseball game. we had so much fun, just kicking it watching the game and freezing our butts off. There is nothing like a good ol' baseball game, the experience, the smell, the loud noise, it's just perfect. Well thanks Manda for making Tuesday a great and amazing day :) oh yeah Giants won BABY!!!

How strong is your FAITH?

Isaiah 7:9

“…If your faith is not strong, you will not have strength enough to last.”

 

·      How vital is faith? Very vital! At times it’s hard for us to even comprehend what faith is, so lets look at what it means. The dictionary defines faith as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something.” The bible also defines faith in Hebrews 11:1 “Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that somethings is real even if we do not see it.” So in both definitions trust and confidence are the underlining truths, because I need trust to hope for things and confidence to know something is real even though it’s not tangible. But this scripture also shows me that faith is measured. Our faith can either be weak faith or strong faith. I don’t know about you but I would definitely love to have strong faith. If we have strong faith we develop strength to last.

·      How do I develop my faith? Well looking at the definitions I think I have to place myself in certain situations that will allow me to use my faith. See I’ve heard this saying before “if you don’t use it you’ll lose it.” I believe this to be so true. Plenty of times I’ve tried to get back on the field or the court without having played in months and let me tell you there ain't nothing pretty of seeing an out of shaped guy trying to play sports. That same image is how our faith is if we don’t use it. Our faith will be sluggish, out of breath, and strenuous. My faith needs to be developed, I need to place myself in situations where I have to completely trust God and have total confidence in him. How strong is your faith?

·      Lord faith is a tricky thing to have, understand, and develop. I hope that today's reading may be a great challenge, not just to live a strong life but a life filled with strong faith. Lord I can write that I trust you and confide in you, but it’s not until I am placed in those situations where I will know if I have faith. So I  pray this scary prayer, and ask that you may place me in situations where faith in you is the only way out. Amen.