I know that we have heard many times about who God says He is in the Bible, and we have heard many times about what God has said we are.  But really ask yourself, do you really believe you are what God says you are?  What do you believe you are?

I am going to share 2 Samuel 22:1-20 with you, and I am going to break it down into different sections to get you thinking more.  This is a chapter, a song from King David.  King David did a lot of running from his physical enemies.  But when you read "enemies," think of spiritual enemies, forces of darkness.  Unless you are like David and are really running from physical enemies.

—————— Who God is to us (vs 2-4) ———————

"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation,

my stronghold and my refuge,

my savior; you save me from violence.

I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,

and I am saved from my enemies.

————— Our distress and cry to God (vs 5-7) ————–

For the waves of death encompassed me,

the torrents of desctruction (destruction = Belial = the Devil) assailed me;

the cords of Sheol (Sheol = death) entagled me;

the snares of death confronted me.

In my distress I called upon the LORD;

to my God I called.

From his temple he heard my voice,

and my cry came to his ears.

————– God's response to our enemies (vs 8-16) —————

Then the earth reeled and rocked;

the foundations of the heavens trembled

and quaked, because he was angry.

Smoke went up from his nostrils,

and devouring fire from his mouth;

glowing coals flamed forth from him.

He bowed the heavens and came down;

thick darkness was under his feet.

He rode on a cherub and flew;

he was seen on the wings of the wind.

He made darkness around him his canopy,

thick clouds, a gathering of water.

Out of the brightness before him

coals of fire flamed forth.

The LORD thundered from heaven,

and the Most High uttered his voice.

And he sent out arrows and scattered them;

lightning, and routed (routed = confused) them.

Then the channels of the sea were seen;

the foundations of the world were laid bare,

at the rebuke of the LORD,

at the blast of the breath of his nostrils.

—————— God's response to us (vs 17-20) —————–

He sent from on high, he took me;

he drew me out of many waters.

He rescued me from my strong enemy,

from those who hated me,

for they were too mighty for me.

They confronted me in the day of my calamity,

but the LORD was my support.

He brought me out into a broad place;

he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

Yes, God delights in you!

You are a new creation!  You are His saint!  You are His righteousness! You are no longer a slave to sin!  You are free!  You are good!  You are alive!  You are the apple of His eye!  You are His, and He delights in  you!

God has been teaching me a lot.  He's always teaching me a lot actually.  That's part of what this blog is about, to share with you what God has been teaching me while I journey through life.

But I can say that life is amazing.  No matter what is going on, life is amazing, even when life seems to actually be sucking.  And it's amazing because God is sovereign.  God rules all!  God controls all!  That actually to me is a comfort.  Because I have the ability to make my own choices.  Sometimes I can make really good choices, and sometimes I can make really bad choices.  But I still believe that God is in complete control.  I believe that nothing happens at all unless God has approved it.  God has a plan.  He has a plan and He has a purpose for everyone.  And God's Will will be done!

So when there is a situation that is out of my control and I can't make choices to affect it, I really just have to trust in God.  I have to trust in God anyway, no matter what.  But I will admit to worrying a lot when there is a situation that I do not have control of.  I worry because I don't know what the outcome is going to be and I fear that it's going to be what I don't want it to be.  But it's in those times that by trusting in God, I can worry not.  Because God is in control.  He has a plan.  His Will will be done.

I believe that God wants what's best for us.  The thing is to have faith.  We, or at least I, so often don't think that God know's what's best for us, or wants what's best for us sometimes.  Or maybe sometimes we think we know what's best for us, or think that what God says is best for us really isn't.  That's so foolish I think!  God is God.  He loves us.  He loves you!  He wants what's best for us.  But He is sovereign.  Sometimes what's best for us really hurts.  But God is in control.

So I can say, life is good because God is sovereign!

Maybe you need food, clothes, shoes, a car ride, a place to live. Maybe you just need a friend or a mentor.

Maybe you don’t know what you need, but you know you need something… like perhaps a real relationship with God?

Or maybe you just need prayer for something.

If you need anything at all, I encourage you to contact me and let me know.

It costs you nothing.

It doesn’t matter where you live.

It doesn’t matter who you are.

You don’t have to be a Christian to recieve help. But do know that I do this because there is a God who loves you, and because I love you.

-Joshua

Anyway….

I have been thinking a lot about love lately.  Actually I have been thinking a lot about a lot of things, as I feel like kinda a lot of things have been happening lately.  And to be honest, I haven't been doing too well with all of it.  Life lately has sure had it's ups and downs.  And the downs can seem so down and long.  Ugh.

But going back to love.  Love is it, isn't it?  Isn't what we live for to love?  I mean, we were created to be loved and to love.  Yes, we were created for relationships, but relationships happen because of love.  God created us, and He loves us.  And we need His love.  And He created us to love Him too.  And then He said to love each other.

I could whip out a ton of verses on love.  But I'm not going to.  I think that most people who are reading this have probably read and/or heard numerous times a lot of scripture that talks about love.

All I want to do here in this blog post I guess is remind myself, and remind others, that it's all about love.  Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God with our whole hearts, with all of who we are.  And the second greatest is to love others.  Everything wraps around that.  And then the Apostle Paul talks about how nothing is worth it unless it's done with love.  Otherwise, it's just a waste of time and useless.

I say I need to be reminded of this because I don't think I have been doing a good job at this lately.  I'm pretty selfish.

Actually, just yesterday and today mostly, I came to the realization that I really want power.  And comfort.  And a lot of what I do is actually to try and gain more power and be more comfortable.  It's not done out of love.  Or, maybe it is done out of love… love for myself above all other things, which is also wrong.

One scripture passage that I will whip out at you is Ephesians 3:14-19.  It reads, "14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

That has been my prayer.  I want to to be strengthened in my inner being by the power of the Holy Spirit to comprehend more and more the breadth and length and height and depth of the love of Christ.  I want that so that I may also fall deeper in love with Jesus.  And I pray and hope that as I know that I am loved, and as I love, I will be filled with all the fullness of God.  Oh I so want this!  That's what life is about.

Anyone care to disagree?

You could die right now.

People die all the time.  Seriously.  You could be driving and you might be an excellent driver, but it doesn't mean someone else won't run a red light and hit you.  You never know!  Anything could happen.

The interesting thing is we think we are going to live forever.  Or at least, that's how we live our lives.  Now, for those of us who are in love with Jesus and are Christ followers, we will live forever with Christ.  But while on this earth, we will not live forever.  The Bible says that God is who He is.  He does whatever He wants.  He takes life, and He gives life.  Who's to say He won't take your life now?  And we have no right to question God in any of this.  We have no right to say He is not just, when He Himself created justification in the first place.

The Bible also says that we are created to glorify God.  Life's story is not about us.  Life's story is all about God.  Go read the Bible.  From the beginning in Genesis to the very end in Revelation, everything is centered on God.  Everything is to worship God.  Everything is to Glorify God.  Life is all about God.  But we, and I, often forget that on a daily basis, and continue to go on living life like Life's story is about us.

So I really am thinking now about how selfish I have been living life.  I have realized this time and time again actually.  I work for me.  I am going to school for Networking for me.  I am trying to pursue a girl for me.  Honestly, even the majority of the ministry that I do is selfish.  I am not saying that doing these things are bad.  We have to do them.  I'm just saying that my motive has mostly been all me.  For my glory.  Not for God's glory.  The Bible says to do everything that we do for God's glory.

So if I were to die right now, I don't think I would be very proud of what I have done.  Sure, I have done lots of good things.  Lots of people do lots of good thing.  I'm sure that I have impacted lives in a good way.  But my motive has not been for God's glory.  That's the thing!

Honestly, I am afraid to step out and live life completely for God and for His glory.  I have fears that if I do, I will lose my job, get kicked out of school, get persecuted.  Because I don't want those things to happen.  Because I want to live life comfortably.  For me.  Because I think life is all about me.

I go to work, but say nothing or do nothing to tell them about Christ and His love and His Life.  I go to school, but say nothing and do nothing to people there about Christ and His love and His Life.  I go to the store, to a coffee shop, to the movie house, whever I go, and 99% of the time do not tell or show anybody about the love of Christ and His Life.  And I don't do or say anything about Christ because, again, I forget that life is about God, and not me.

So my prayer is that right now, starting today, I will begin to not forget that death could happen to me at any moment, and that life is all about God and His glory.  My prayer is that God will change and transform my heart and I really will begin to do everything that I do for God's glory, whatever that means.  Maybe if I realized that life was all about God and not me, I wouldn't fear as much.  Just a thought.

How are you living life?

So, this week so far I have had the whole week off. I was suppose to go to Arizona with a friend and then to California to visit other friends of my friend during this week, but certain events happened and so I ended up needing to cancel my flight. So I have had this whole week to myself. With nothing really planned.

It's been ok I guess. I have just been taking it one day at a time. I have had a lot of free time and honestly its been kinda boring and lonely. On Monday I was talking with a few friends as I was working in their yard with them, and one of them suggested starting a bucket list. A bucket list, incase you don't know, is a list of all the things and goals you want to accomplish before you die. She suggested a bucket list because then I can be doing those things while I have all this free time. Then maybe I won't be so bored but that still doesn't solve the lonely problem. I can be doing something on my bucket list, like learning calligraphy, but if I'm doing it by myself then I honestly don't really want to do it.

I'm totally an extrovert. I love being with and doing things with people. But I do not like being by myself and doing things by myself. And during weeks like this one, it kinda sucks.

I am looking forward to getting back into my rhythm next week when my week off is over!

P.S. I'm preaching tomorrow at The Gathering on Ephesians 3:14-19. It's going to be great!

Joshua

You know the story in the Bible about Daniel and the Lions Den.? Well, my friend reminds me of Daniel. Daniel was a righteous man, holy and blameless and without fault. It was like he was almost perfect (we know he wasn’t, but it almost seems like he was). Infact, he was so good and blameless that the king decided he would be the one to recieve the crown after he died. Daniels enemies did not like that, so they tried to think of something that they could use against Daniel to get rid of him! Knowing that Daniel prayed 3 times a day to God, they suggested the king make a decree to throw anyone that prays to anyone or anthing besides the king should be thrown into the lions den. Well, it worked in part that the decree came to pass and they were able to get Daniel thrown into the lions den. However, they failed because God is awesome and was with Daniel and so the lions did not harm Daniel at all and Daniel ended coming out of the lions den and then his enemies were thrown in and got all eated (I know eated is not a word…) up by the lions!! So all that to say, that my friend whom I had dinner with last week makes me think of Daniel. He’s like a Daniel in our day.

One thing that he said was this, “What if people, Christians, stopped calling themselves sinners and stopped believing they were sinners? Maybe they would actualy sin less.” I mean, think about it! Jesus has given us a new identity!(2 Corinthians 5:17)! He set us free from the law of sin and death!(Romans 8:2)! He no longer calls us slaves, but friends!(John 15:15)! So why do we not believe it? We really don’t believe it. We have it memorized, as every Christian does, but not very many actually believe it. Instead, they still put themselves down as they slap on the identity of “sinner” and then go and sin. Maybe that’s why we can sin so much, because we expect to! We don’t expect to “not sin.” But really, God has set us free. We are not sinners, we are free!! God, the Almigty and most poweful thing ever, lives inside of us!! He has given us everything we need! He alone is life!! And he has chosen us and given us a new name and a new identity and called us His friends.

Imagine what the world would be like if all the Christians in the world really lived in this truth, knowing who we are and what our identity is. I imagine that it would rock this world!

I may expand on this later…

What do you think?

There are so many people like me.  We dream.  But that's all we do.  It's a great dream, to be sure, but the dream only stays a dream.  It doesn't even come close to being a reality.  I hate that I'm like that in some ways.

But you know what I realized?  I'm lazy.  I love to dream and tell others about it, but it actually takes work to make that dream happen.  And I guess I don't really like work.  I wish my dream would just "come true" without me having to do anything!  But life never ever works that way.  Nor will it ever work that way.  Everything takes work.

It takes sacrifice.

My dream is to mentor and disciple fatherless boys and men.  But in order to do that, I have to actually take the time to be with them.  I have to say "no" to something I want in order to actually live out my dream and passions.  For example, I love going to Caribou Coffee and hanging out there and chatting with the people that I know.  It's comfortable and I love the coffee.  But I might actually have to start spending less time there in order to spend more time with someone that I want to disciple and mentor.

What am I waiting for?  I keep putting it off saying "When I get to this certain chapter of my life, then I can do what I am passionate about." and then that "certain chapter" of my life comes but I still don't do it.  I find something else to do that doesn't require as much work and is more comfortable instead.

It's a huge challenge for me, but I've decided I just need to stop waiting and do it.  Yes I'm busy with school and church and other relationships, but I need to make time to do what I'm passionate about and called to do!  So I've been looking at places and people that do what I want to do and getting in touch with them.  And it's actually going to happen!

So anyway, that's where I'm at currently.  I'll hopefully keep sacrificing and doing and changing lives!  Cause that's what I want to do.  That's what I'm called to do!  All for the Glory of God!

I have to say that I don’t think I am very in-tune with God most of my days. It is so easy for me to sweep God aside and just do my thing, whether it be work or watching a movie or even sometimes church. I forget about Him. My mind and my heart are not paying attention to Him.

I believe now that God speaks to us way more than we know. In a number of places throughout scripture, especially in the New Testament, God tells us that He speaks to us, and that we, His sheep, hear His voice. Do you believe that God speaks to you all the time?

I believe that He speaks to me all the time. I just don’t think I hear Him very well. I don’t pay very good attention to Him. And that’s what I mean when I say I believe that I am more out of tune with God than I am in-tune with Him, and that it is easy for me to brush Him aside.

I also think that people use the excuse that God gives us free choice. Yes we have free will and God does not nor will not control our actions, and He also gives us brains and wisdom to make our own choices, but I still believe that God speaks to us about a lot of things. I think God knows what’s best for us and has some things to say to us about our lives and the choices we make.

So for me, the challenge is to be more in-tune with God in my life. I’ll still make choices daily, but I want to bring everything before God and submit it to Him in prayer. And He might not say anything at all about it, and so I’ll carry on doing it. But He just might have something to say about it, and then that presents me the challenge to pay attention to what He is saying. Especially if I don’t like what He is saying.

And it’s not just in the things that I do and the choices that I make that I should be in-tune with God about. I just need to pay attention to Him no matter what I am doing, because He just might have something, anything, to say to me or ask me. But it is not easy, and I don’t think I will ever achieve perfection in this, but I can still strive towards it, towards Jesus.

Are you in-tune with God?