New Life

Ah yes… spring is finally here! Trees now have leaves, flowers are in bloom, and it’s time to bust out the shorts! I’ve just been reminded anew by all the new life around me how good God is to us to give US new life!

 

2 Cor. 5:17 boldly claims - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” I have always loved this verse, even from my days as a 10 year old at the Fellowship of Christian Athletes youth sports camp when this verse was used as the camp’s theme verse. We are NEW CREATIONS in Christ! That is thrilling news!

 

The road to becoming new creations isn’t easy though. Look at Ephesians 2:1-3. “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” This passage reminds me of how entangled in my sin I once was – “dead” in my sin in fact!

 

But that’s not where the story ends praise God! Ephesians continues – “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” I am so reminded of God’s amazing grace in saving sinners like me, and raising them on high to become his saints! How great is our God!

 

However, I am also reminded by this spring season that God is far from finished with me. He desires to bring “new life” continually in each of our lives! 2 Corinthians 3:18 states, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” In the process of sanctification (becoming more like God), he continually brings us from one degree of glory to another! Sounds great to me!

 

I have decided to attend Regent University in the fall of this year for my college education. I am really looking forward to a new season of life in which I know God will be teaching me new, exciting things! It’s been so cool to see how God opened up the doors for me to be able to attend college in VA Beach and I know it’s no accident that I wound up choosing Regent.

 

How might God be calling you to new life during this season? Press into him and seek his face – God will NEVER disappoint you! 

new places

hey wats up...yea i havent done this for....a long while. anyway recently i was in the car on the way home one night, just talking to God. and i realized that i was content. but then right after realizing that i thought to myself, "i dont want to be content". so i guess you could say that i was discontent with being content. haha. if thats even possible.

anyway i then realized that my life was just kind of passing by and that i was hanging on for the ride. i believe that this was a place where God had me at that time. sort of a place of rest and just learning from God, which is totally a good thing. but then i realized that God was calling me out of that place into a new place. and this was something that i really wanted. later in my conversation with God the almighty (crazy that we can talk to him right?!?), i just asked him to shake up my life a little. when i got home my dad broke some news to our family that i cant share at this time because it is top secret. sorry guys. but what it was doesnt really matter to what im trying to say. i was shocked at first. but then i realized that my prayer had been answered! God answered my prayer amazingly fast! my life just got shook up. and now this gives me an opportunity to trust God in this new place where he has me.

the next day i was listening to a new cd that our family had just sitting around. and at the very end of the cd Closer, by Danny Chambers he gives a prophecy about being still "in the womb". he goes on to say that the different places that God has us in our lives are different wombs, where God is forming us for something new. like Joseph in the pit, and in potiphar's house, and then in prison, those were all different "wombs" preparing Joseph to serve the kingdom. sometimes God has to break a piece of us off because that piece isent any good and it would mess us up in the new place God has for us. he goes on to say that maybe your scared because God wants you to release gifts that you have never released before. and thats where trusting God comes in.

the greatest part about this whole situation is that when its over, ill be able to see God's master plan. i cant see it now. but once this phase of transition is over and im in the new place, ill be able to understand and see what he was doing. God is good!

Unending love (new post!!! finally!)

hey guys, sorry it has been so long since we have been on here...All three of us have been very busy with school and sports, not to mention the college search for ross and me… (adam already knows what he is doing). now down to business.over the past month, I (and I think the other 2 also) have been really experiencing God in a new way, having all-time highs on closeness to God and just walking with Him on a daily basis. God has been very gracious to open my eyes to how wonderful the gospel is, and has just been giving me new revelations of him nearly everyday. This has been SUCH a joy and privilege for me to experience this closeness to God and see all that He does now and wants to continue doing in and through me.

Last week I was feeling that I couldn’t connect to God, that in a way my relationship with Him had dimmed somewhat … I felt kinda like I was falling back to my old ways, so to speak. Meaning that I haven't had as much joy in God and I haven't been experiencing as much out of Him. This feeling of not being close to God is something I have to monitor. It could certainly be something I need to put more time and effort into, but at the same time, it is JUST a feeling. God brought back a memory of an encouraging word a friend had about a month ago. In short, it was that we don't have to rely on feeling God. God does want to reveal Himself to us, and he takes great pleasure in doing so, but we can't gauge our walk with him based on our supernatural experiences. Galatians 6:14 says "But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." That verse tells me that I don't need to look to anything but the cross to find satisfaction. If Paul is boasting in that and nothing else, then thats all that matters. I was thinking about this, and I realized that the cross is not simply an image or event from 2000 years ago. It actually applies to me now, and not just that I am saved through it, but it actually speaks to me now. I don't have to look to anything but the cross to evaluate my status with God. I don't have to look at circumstances that are around me right now...I can look to the cross and in whatever case, I can realize God is with me now. The cross is something we can always look at and see how much God has loved us. It shows a continuous love, not just a one-time thing (cuz we would be in trouble if it was).

The cross speaks to me now, in everything that I am doing. That is something that I am rejoicing in right now. I dont have to see how many religious "experiences" I am having, or what is stirring in my heart right now. I can simply look to the cross and see the glory of the gospel. So...my goal for specifically the next several weeks is to not look to any feelings I have or experiences with tongues or prophecy or the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, but instead to look to the cross always for my satisfaction. As C.J. Mahaney puts it, I want to "keep the main thing...THE MAIN THING!"

Sticks & Stones

“Sticks and stones may break my bones…” you know how it goes right? “but words can never hurt me.” How untrue that statement is. The tongue is a very powerful tool. Use it wisely, and it has great benefits, Use it poorly, and it can be quite harmful. Proverbs is clear on this fact:

“Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,but a false witness utters deceit.There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts,but the tongue of the wise brings healing.Truthful lips endure forever,but a lying tongue is but for a moment.” (Proverbs 12:17-19)

The Bible compares rash words to sword thrusts. Ouch. Our words and how we use them are important to God. He gave us as human beings an amazing gift of extensive communication that he did not give to any other creature. Words are essential to our everyday lives. Could you imagine a world without words? How would you communicate? How could you get anything done in a timely matter? Words are only one of a great many of God’s blessings that we often take for granted…at least, I know I do.

Another example of poor use of our tongues is complaining. “I can’t stand my teacher. I’m so tired. I hate the rain. Why do I have to take out the trash?” All these and so many more have come out of my mouth more than once or twice. It’s SO easy to complain. Again, the Bible speaks on this issue:

"Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Philippians 2:14-15).

Complaining and harsh words are only two ways we often misuse our tongues. Another big problem is our language. This looks different to many different people, but the Bible lays down the bottom line. Unless it builds someone up, it’s not worth saying.

"Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear." (Ephesians 4:29)

Does cussing at anyone build him or her up? What about crude jokes? What good does gossip or mocking do? We MUST be careful about what we say to and about others. I know for me, gossip especially is an easy trap to fall into. One thing that has helped me fight this temptation is pretending that the person I’m talking about is standing next to me. I don’t want to talk about someone in a way that they wouldn’t want me to.

So what SHOULD we do with our tongues? It’s simple really. Above all, we should honor God with our words. When you think about it, how can we not honor the One who gave us such a magnificent gift?

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (Psalm 19:14)