Jesus Died For Me

     So, last night I led worship for the high school group and after I was finished, Jason(the youth Pastor) gave an awesome message and also lead some worship at the end. In that worship time at the end, I felt like the Lord spoke something very specific to my heart. What I heard was "Christ died for us individually, not collectively". At first glance this probably looks really strange, in fact I'm still thinking and praying through it myself. What I got is this, Christ died for everyone, from history to future in one ultimate sacrifice. Hebrews 10:12-14 says:
"But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified."
     Jesus died for all, and the gift of salvation is available to anyone who will receive Christ and the work of the cross. I guess I realized that I have always acknowledged and worship God as the Savior and Creator of everyone and everything(which He is of course) but I never thought to worship Him for saving me. The fact that Christ died for all doesn't take away from the uniqueness of each individual person's salvation.
     I was thinking about when we receive a gift, maybe from work, or maybe from a family member, wherever it is from, we feel special when we receive it. After we find out that the whole office, or the whole family received the same thing, it might take away from that special feeling a little bit. I don't believe that Jesus bought us in "bulk" so to speak, I believe that if we look at our Salvation as a gift, He would have picked out each one by hand, mindful of each recipiant when purchasing it with His blood.
     When the Lord spoke that into my heart, I immediately entered into a new place in my worshiping. This place was so sweet and intimate, and I knew that it was just between Jesus and me. In that moment there was no room for anything else, and I believe that is where my heart is supposed to be in worship. Every time I open my mouth to sing to the Lord, I want to remember that He saved me from eternal damnation and that now I am able to practice worshiping my Savior forever.

Critical Thinking

"I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well." -Psalm 139:14

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     We as the children of God, individually, and collectively are the works of the Almighty God's hand. His Word is full of reassuring statements about His love for us individually. In verses 17-18 the Psalmist writes:

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You."

     This should be a great reminder to us all of how vast the Love of Christ is. I feel sometimes though like we can take these verses and act like they are meant for us only, like the Lord has some kind of special treatment for us alone. In some sense this is true in that the Lord's thoughts for EACH ONE of US are unique and I believe that no "calling" in life is exactly duplicated. But in the grand scheme of things, just because we are all called to different things in life doesn't mean that God plays favorites. The heart of Jesus leaves no room for partiality, this was perfectly displayed by Christ's response whilst on the cross. "... Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do..." is what Jesus had to say while He carried all of OUR sin and burden. Even when He was being mocked and killed He went out of His way to make a blanket statement to show that the work of the cross is for anyone who will receive it!

     God loves us ALL so much and it has been on my heart lately that we are all created equally. That doesn't mean that we can blame our sinful ways or contrary lifestyles on how we were created. That simply means that in the beginning we were created in the likeness of God and we are the ones who continue to "fall far from the tree" so to speak. I can't help but think that the Lord, when He looks at any one of us sees the child that He created to worship Him. Our sin must grieve Him so much because at any time we have the opportunity to leave them at the cross.

     I have been think about how much in my own heart and mind I tend to pick people apart sometimes. Unfortunately I am not always the first person to take those thoughts captive when they arise. There is so much negativity when we sit there and criticize how people look or act, and I am certain that some of this comes from insecurity. What if instead of proceeding these critical thoughts with negative actions, we checked our own hearts to see where the root of this superiority complex comes from. If we could tare out the root of our heart's problems it might allow the Lord to truly work in our lives.

     Lord, search my heart for inconstancies and remove the root of my wicked ways!

Run!

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; 
A good understanding have all those who do His 
commandments. His praise endures forever." 
Psalm 111:10

I am challenging myself today to have that fear of the

Lord at the forefront of my mind. I'd like to encourage

you as well, brothers and sisters in Christ. Remember

that our Father who is in heaven reigning in every

aspect of every dimension of life lives inside your chest,

so long as you are willing. So today be faithful to your

calling, honor, respect, be obedient to, and FEAR the

Lord of hosts. He will bless you, exalting you in this

journey we refer to as life. Run on with relentless

endurance, for the race slows down for nobody.

God's Heart Is A Firefighter.

Recently Laura and I have been reading through the book of James together before bedtime. Last night we studied chapter three which is all about having untamed tongues. In verse five of chapter three James said "So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire!". When we read this I was instantly reminded of when people say "Don't burn your bridges", and it got me thinking, how many bridges are burned down in our lives because of our untamed tongue? Whether they are friendships, ministry opportunities, relationships with family members, or even relationships within the work place. The tongue is a direct line to the heart and most of the time we don't think about the repercussions of our actions at the time that we are gossiping, lying, cursing, cheating, or even disobeying by not saying what God wants us to say. In verse nine he said "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God." I don't know why as human beings we are inclined to esteem ourselves higher than one another but when it comes down to it, we were all created in the likeness of the true and living God. We should be lifting each other up with our words, sticking up for each other when the other one is not around. Imagine the conflict that would be deflated if we just didn't speak badly about one another, imagine the fires that would be put out. After I read this chapter I started praying that God would give me HIS heart for HIS people and that rather than starting fires, I would be on a mission to extinguish the fires that I come across (or have already started). After all, God's heart is the ultimate firefighter.

Life's A Treat

Every night when Laura and I are ready to go to bed we bring the dog inside and put him in his cage. It is routine that we put the dog in the cage, he sits down, and we give him his treat. The bag of treats comes with about 40 treats per bag so it lasts us a little over a month. Normally we make our trip to Wal-Mart to by the treats when we notice that we are getting low. This month was an exception, due to a temporary lack of funds we actually ran out of treats. The night that we ran out was like every other night as far as Zeke was concerned, he came inside, went straight for his cage, and sat down. He looked at me with such certainty, having full faith that in a couple of seconds he would get his delicious treat. I was sad to let him down so I got on my hands and knees to his level and started hugging him and kissing him. That night really got me thinking, if you think about it, life is like a bag of treats, we have no idea when we are going to run out of time or why. When Zeke had his last treat he ate it with tremendous speed (just like every other night), he had no idea that would be his last one for a while. I drew a parallel to my life and how I take every day for granted. If I knew for certain that this day would be my last, how would I spend it? What really matters in life? We are not guaranteed tomorrow so we must live like today is our last.

Daddy's Little Superhero...

Having a baby boy has definitely changed things for us. It is a hands-on lesson in selflessness, but I don't even feel right saying that because Laura does 90% of the hard work (at least that's what it seems like to me). People always said "Wait a few years before you have children, enjoy each other.", It's funny though, I love my wife more now than I ever have and my respect for her as a strong individual has grown immensely.

Even though being a parent requires us to die to ourselves, and our own desires various times throughout the day, it's funny how all that you learn to desire is everything that brings joy to your child. Laura displays a great deal of sacrificial love to our baby boy but do you think that she recognizes it? Nope. She doesn't care about herself anymore, she doesn't care that she doesn't get to do things for herself because now her joy comes from seeing our little angel healthy and happy. I am so unbelievably blessed to have Elijah James, he is truly a gift of joy to a family who needs it.

I have often heard people talk about the responsibility that you feel instantly when your child is born. Since Elijah was born, I don't really care about anything other than leading my little family in Christ and providing for them. I used to care about traveling playing music, and other seemingly fun things, not now. All I desire is for my Wife and Son to be taken care of, to not have to worry about a thing. I just love and adore them so much, there is nothing that I wouldn't do for them.

Being a father has given me a new found passion for our Father in heaven, one of my favorite verses now is "Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!" -Matthew 7:9-11. I can't even begin to fathom how much God loves His children, I guess that is why ALL of Heaven rejoices over the saving of ONE soul.

I love you Jesus, thank you for my Gorgeous Wife, and thank you for giving me the most amazing son on earth... Use us for Your glory.

BABEL

We build tall buildings
as an attempt to reach You
We jump through various hoops
Trying to impress You

You, full of grace and mercy have
Gifted us language, a way to communicate
Each language being one of Your countless creations

When we pray, no matter what dialect of human we use
You are there to fully grasp both the verbalized and the unspoken,
You are there