Theme by nostrich.
Text with 6 notes
“I do not understand what I do…As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” -Romans 7:15-25
Exactly, exactly, exactly. I can’t even begin to count how often this happens in my life. The line between right and wrong is a distinct one, a very specific line created by our one and only God. So, why do we try to cover the line with conditions or “but”s? There are so so many “laws” trying to tell us what to believe. The law of church, school, our parents, our friends. But what law should we be following? Which is the only law that matters? Why, our Lord and Savior’s, of course. Simple enough answer. But when we try to justify our sins, we are “waging war” against that Law, we are being made into prisoners “of the sin at work”. Of the Devil’s work! But, thankfully and miracuoulsly, Jesus saves us again and again, and we love Him for that, pretty much all of us here, we undyingly love Him for that! But, we can not use the “Jesus loves me and I love Jesus” factor to form justification for the sins we could have prevented from the beginning, but chose not to. If we love Jesus and we love the Law God has set for us to follow, then we must try our absolute hardest to follow it, down to the last letter!We will fail because we are only human, but that does not disable us from trying and fighting against sin harder than we’ve ever fought agianst anything. So, are you turning all that love and passion you have for Jesus into effort to do what He commands of us?
As JJ Heller (who you all just HAVE to look up, her songs seriously move me down to the core) says in one of her songs, “the love of God is evident in the miracle of you.” Don’t forget that!
Text with 6 notes
challenge each and every one of you to look back at your life and remember a time when you were So close to God that you couldnt stop thinking about him. When you left church camp and just kept singing and singing and singing about jesus for weeks to come. Remember how it felt to be that close with God, and then remember how joyous and amazing those times were.
I want to not only get back to that type of relationship with God but to surpass and sustain it for the rest of my life. I hope this is what we all want. For it is what we all need.
Text with 1 note
31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
Its easy to read this and feel a false sense of inflation. It makes us feel good to read that God is always with us and that NOTHING can keep his love from us. But then we take a second and think about how distant we all are or have been at one time or another and we are left to question how we became distant from the love that conquers all? The answer is simple and definately evident in your life and mine. The times when we feel the farthest from God are the times when WE refuse him. I would argue that we are the only ones able to seperate us from Christs love. Of course God is always there for us, and at any moment we can run back into his arms. But while we are in sin we seperate ourselves from God and his goodness.
As we realize this we should look to draw close to God in each and every situation we find ourselves. Also, we should strive to be a friend like God is to us. Not letting anything come in between us and those we love on this earth. Using Christ as a model for how we aught to live our lives.
Text with 2 notes
”’10 Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! 19 Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the Lord? 20 You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing.’… 23 Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention in time to come?… 25 So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.”
-Isaiah 42
So, I read 10-25, but these were the ones that stuck out to me, especially verse 20. I can recall daily the times I hear people talking about the sinful actions of the weekends, and I can also recall the urge I fight to say something. I suppress what I should be shouting: the works of the Lord! Just like what Russell said. It’s as if I “hear nothing” from my fellow peers. I want to be one of the ones who will listen and pay close attention in times to come, like in verse 23. I want all of us to be the ones, because I know we can be, I think we just get a little scared sometimes. But we don’t need to fear or worry in the name of the Lord, so we have no reason to run away, right? Verse 25 also spoke to me because if you don’t take it literally, but read it from a spiritual stand-point, it can mean that you can be on fire for Jesus but not let it go deep down, all the way through you to where you are always living it out. I’ve been doing that so much lately. So, if we are going to be enveloped in the flames of Jesus, let’s let them burn to the core and really take it to heart!
(sidenote, I didn’t really understand verse 19, so if you wanna read the whole passage and let me know what you think that verse means, it would be awesome :) ideas?)
Text with 1 note
A song. A psalm of David.
1 My heart is steadfast, O God;I will sing and make music with all my soul. 2 Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. 3 I will praise you, O LORD, among the nations; I will sing of you among the peoples. 4 For great is your love, higher than the heavens;your faithfulness reaches to the skies. 5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth. 6 Save us and help us with your right hand, that those you love may be delivered.
This is how we should feel everyday! there is evidence of God’s greatness all around us. Enough to leave us in awe for the rest of eternity. However, often times we allow ourselves to get too caught up in whatever is going on in our daily lives to appreciate the amazing creation God has surrounded us with. We should be living, singing, screaming, SHOUTING about God with not only our words and songs but with our lives. This reminds me of a line in the song “God with us” by MercyMe.
“Like hinges straining from the weight, my heart no longer can keep from singing”
Text with 1 note
“All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but on law: that he be put to death. The only exception to this is for the king to extend the gold scepter to him and spare his life.” Esther 4:11
It is funny to me how King Xerxes, whom is the king the passage is talking about, is such an exclusive king. One can only see him if it is his will for them to see him, and if it is not his will he either does not see the person or kills them. That is crazy to me that someone that is over their people and is supposed to care about their territory is so harsh and exclusive.
The awesome thing about God, our King of the Universe, is that he is not, in any way, an exclusive God. He wants us to interrupt him with our prayers. He wants to see us at any time of any day. In Jeremiah 33:3 it says, “Call unto me and I will answer thee.” God is waiting for us to call on him, not the other way around. He is ready to talk, to listen, and to comfort any time we need him. We only have to think of him and it is done. Isn’t it marvelous to have a God that is inclusive instead of exclusive?
Text
“Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem eight years. He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done, for he married a daughter of Ahab. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” 2 Chronicles 21:5-6
If you continue on to read through chapter 28 of 2 Chronicles, you will see that almost all the kings following Jehoram were destroyed because of their evil doings and unfaithfulness to God. The entire nation of Judah takes a turn for the worse all from one key decision, the marriage of Jehoram to a daughter of Ahab. The scripture ties Jehoram’s marriage and his actions together. Who you have relationships with and who you marry will affect who you are for the rest of your life whether you think it will or not.
It is important to continuously pray that God will surround you with good christian friends that will sharpen you in the Lord and for the perfect spouse that God would have you marry. The statistical improbability of any of us actually finding the “perfect” mate is astounding. With just six certain qualities, including physical attractiveness, intelligence and concern for others, any one person would have to meet more than 15,000 people before they could have the chance of picking the perfect mate. If you add in religion, background, or age, the chances are even slimmer. With God, however, none of these statistics matter. We must remain steadfast in praying for the perfect person that God would choose for us to help us and build us up, because who you marry can double or completely kill your effectiveness for Christ.
God has the perfect person out there for you. You just have to be patient.
Text
“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” Romans 5:1-2 NLT
Thoughts for Today
The Bible teaches us that we are enemies of God and objects of his wrath until we come to faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:1-3). But even in that state, we were loved by God. Because of his love and mercy, he gave his son, Jesus, to pay the price for our sin. When we come in faith to God, trusting the sacrifice of Christ, our whole relationship to God changes to a condition of peace and friendship with him. We are reconciled to God the moment we become Christians. We have peace with him.
When we say the word peace, we think of an absence of conflict. The Hebrew word for peace is shalom, and it carries with it the ideas of rest, safety, freedom from care, prosperity, health and contentedness. In biblical language, peace is much more than just the absence of conflict; God is at peace with us and he works to bring blessing into our lives.
Text with 1 note
both of them are doing very poorly. One of them has cancer and we dont know the severity and the other is just in general bad health. I want to pray for their lives but mostly their eternal security.
Thank you.
Text
i’m going to start posting them on here so you can read them and say a quick prayer everytime you see one.
i’d encourage you to do the same.
Page 1 of 4
