Have You Been Measured

Wow what a busy time of the year for me and my family. School is about to wrap up for all of us; Ruth Ann and I have finals over the next few weeks and Zach will be out for the summer. One of the reasons I have not posted in about a week or there about, no making excuses just stating the facts. However along with looking over why I have not made a post in the last few weeks I began to wonder. What do I measure myself against and is what I measure myself with the right things? Here is just a few pondering ideas I explored.




There is an old saying, you have been weighed, you have been measured and been found wanting. I think that this is a great statement to make about the Christian life. Let me ask, when was the last time you spent time reading God’s law? When was the last time you spent time in Church? When was the last time you spent time with those friends you use to hang out with all the time? Think on these question considerably before reading more.
I have found not only in my Christian walk, but in others walk also; we tend to run away from the very thing that is going to make us question our life style. We will make excuses for the things we do, not only do we make these excuses, but we try to justify them by measuring them against the rules of the world. Sometimes we even use the Bible to justify our misconstrued ideas. All the while straying from God and the people that will tell us that we are wrong. This is our human nature; we do not like to be told we are doing something wrong. Now I am not saying that every time someone tells you that you are doing something wrong, that you are doing something wrong. Remember people are human too and will make the same mistakes about life as you yourself will. Take a look in Job and see what advice his friends were giving him; they were totally off base on why God was allowing these things to happen to Job.
What we need to do is stop running and face the Law of God. Weigh yourself, measure yourself against His Law. You know what you will find? You will be found wanting. What do I mean by wanting? You will be found lacking. You may say well that is not a very good message to put out and you may even stop reading. I encourage you to read more. Romans tell use in 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”; if you read more you will find there are many passages telling us that when we measure ourselves against God’s Law that we will always be found wanting. What is the joy in that you may ask? The joy is that if you read and if you measure yourself against God’s Law you find yourself wanting... wanting Jesus, because you will see that even though we find ourselves short and so does God; that there is a hope and joy that can be found in the Law. It will lead you to Jesus and the salvation that comes in accepting Him. For the believer you will find a renewal in the promises of your salvation. So, do not be afraid to weigh, measure yourself and find yourself wanting. Take great joy in God’s Law just as the Psalmist. Psalm 119:97.

Holy holy holy

Just how holy is God? Do we really understand or comprehend this very statement out of Isaiah? Sure we sing the old hymn; Holy holy holy, merciful and mighty. When we say this or sing this are we giving it the reverence that is deserved? Just how important is this statement? To look at the text we have to understand a little about how the Jews show importance to a word. In the English language we have many different types of punctuations that allow the reader to understand the importance of something. For those writing in Hebrew, although they have many of the same punctuations, they used a repeating of a word to show just how important the message or word was. You often see Jesus saying; Amen Amen, or Truly Truly. Show what He is about to say is of some extra importance. In all these cases though the word is only repeated two times, here we see the word repeated three times. Not only is the word holy repeated three times but the words come from a Seraphim angel. This is no ordinary Angel, these are angels that are in the very presence of God. You may be asking yourself; OK so how does this show how holy God is? Let us take a closer look at these angels to get a better understanding. In (Isaiah 6:2) 2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. These angels say it all in this description; what gives it away that God is Holy holy holy? Here it says that the Seraphim has two wings that are for nothing but to cover their faces while in the presence of the most high God. These are beings that God created to stand in His presence and they are equipped with the very thing to keep them from seeing all of Gods glory. We know from Moses that no one can look upon the face of the Lord and live. Here we see that this includes any being in the presence of God. We have the repetition of Holy three times and the very make-up of Seraphim angels to give us a small understanding of just how holy of a God we serve. We are not able to understand all the things of God, we are not meant to be able to comprehend all things of God. God does give us great insight into His nature and who He is and how Holy Holy Holy he is. The next time you kneel to pray or lift your voice up in praise, humble yourself low and shout to the heavens for it is being sent to a holy holy holy God.

The Days After

Easter has passed for another year, you went to Church, had lunch with family and friends and watched the children hunt eggs. At the end of the day you were probably think; wow, I am glad that is over and done for another year. That is what you think anyway. For us as Christians I believe that the work is really just beginning. Easter should be a time of renewal for us, a time to reflect on what Jesus really did for us on the Cross. To make sure we do not get too caught up in the worldly things of the season. A renewal of rejoicing in our Salvation in Jesus, that out of all the religions in the world that we serve the only living God. After Jesus arose from the grave His work was complete. Sin had been defeated and even though it has not come to pass for us the battle has been won. The days after Jesus arose He knew that His followers would need a little bit of a confirmation that He is alive. Jesus spent the next 40 days visiting people and still performing miracles. Then at the end of those 40 days He gave His disciples and us a commission to continue the work He had started.
16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Jesus gave us a job to do and during Easter I believe we should take hold and remember not only what He has done for us, but also what He has commanded us to do in obedience to Him. However as with all things with God He gave us yet another promise. That we do not have to go it alone. He tells us that He will be with us always. Not only this but that He sent us the Holy Spirit to help us along.
So rejoice not only in the spring of the year, the resurrection of Jesus, but also in the promise that He is with you and always will. Begin the work He has commanded you and be renewed.

What a Friend We Have

I know many of you have heard at one time or another the song or someone say "What a friend we have in Jesus". The question you have to ask is do we really know what kind of friend we really have. Here are a few points in Jesus' friendship to us.

1. He is a friend that intercedes for us in Prayer.
(John 17:15) 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.
(John 17:17) 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.
(John 17:21) 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
(John 17:24) 24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.

2. He is a friend that leads us by experience and protects us.
(John 10:27-29) 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

3. He presents us blameless before God and the accuser.
(Revelation 12:10)“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God,
and the authority of his Christ.
For the accuser of our brothers,
who accuses them before our God day and night,
has been hurled down.

Now that is a true friend. When was the last time you even did a small part of this for someone you call a friend. You; yourself cannot present anyone blameless but you can lead them to the one who can. You may not be able to lead a friend down the right path but you can lead them to the one that leads you. The one thing you can do is send up your prayers for your friends. If you pray for them let them know you are praying for them; even get them and pray with them over them.

No greater love than this than he who lays down his life for his friend.

Letters from war

My fellow Christians; there is a war raging all around us. I am not just talking about the Wars that are all around us in the world today, but with all these wars going on here on Earth; you know that there must be an even greater spiritual battle raging. Now that I have mentioned battles on a broader range, let me talk about the more personal battles raging. I am sure that somewhere in your life that there is a battle raging. Maybe it is an illness, a person, a commitment or financial matters. Now why these things may seem to be earthly things I assure you that they very well may be spiritual. All off these are seen in the Bible as spiritual in one way or another. First you see illness throughout the Bible but you see it as a spiritual battle in the book of Job. A test for Job; but a battle to be fought. His letter from war were tears and heartache lifted up to God, a man who knew the battle ground on which he stood. Second a person that is causing you trouble, pain or sorrow; fear not you are not the first and will not be the last. It is a battle that can be won through love and prayer. Think about Isaac's sons Esau and Jacob. Could there have been more hatred between two people? A brother who stole his fathers blessing and a brother mad with rage almost killing his brother and running him off to a distant land. However in the end Jacob goes to his brother and apologizes and knows that for him to prosper he must reconcile with his brother. His letter from war; a battle with God and a new name. Maybe the battle is a commitment that you are afraid to make to God or something. Do not fret to much about this struggle because you are not the first. Moses struggled with God's request to free his people, Peter struggled with staying faithful to Christ, and Jonah feared going where God would have him. Their letters of war were ones of submission and the joy that comes from obedience; even if it takes a little nudging. Third on finance; it may be a battle in giving back to God what is his, it may be that you are overwhelmed with the cost of living. Continue steadfast in prayer and do not let the enemy defeat you. The Bible says, “Where ever your treasure is so shall you heart be.” Be sure that your treasure is found in Christ. The letter from war you will write will be one of victory and rejoicing in the Lord.
There is a constant war raging for us as Christians. Condemnation for our beliefs, countries where if you speak of the Gospel you are punished or killed. Pray for these people that are out there following God and on the front lines of the battle field. Because the letters they send home from war; are ones stained with blood and sacrifices that we may never know.

Mission Trip

Hey everyone. It is good to be back in the states, but I am excited about getting back on the mission field. I spent my spring break in San Miguel, Mexico. Not the nice city but the one in Choa Mexico. In one word I would have to say Amazing; that is the way the whole trip was for me. There was tons of driving on long roads that seem to not lead anywhere, but we made it to the desert. I had a lot of anxiety before going on this mission trip and I spent many nights in prayer about the mission. My main concern was about the dangers that are going on in Mexico right now and me being able to eat the food without getting sick; plus a few other things. I have to be honest I made this commitment to go on the mission trip with much excitement, but as the time got closer I felt like there were things that were signs that maybe I should not go. Then after prayer and talking with friends it was very apparent that God was wanting me to go on this trip not matter what excuse I made to why I could not. With that said I am so glad that I was obedient to God and went; I was immensely blessed by this trip. Now a little bit of information about our trip into Mexico.
We headed into Mexico on Saturday morning and made it to the border about 3pm, we made our last calls to home and headed into Mexico. I should have known from the start what an amazing trip this was going to be. We were not 20 minuets into Mexico when Tony the guy guiding us to our location stopped at a church and dropped off a washer. The blessing was about to come to us. We went in to see the small church and there was a praise team doing a bible study. They asked if they could pray over us; they did and even though I could not understand most of what they were saying it showed me just how big the body of Christ is in the world. The prayers they prayed for us were filled with the power of the Spirit and you knew that their prayers were blessing to us. Our first night in Mexico was spent at a small church in Muzquez; what they call a city in that area. We were feed some great food there and we all spent the night on the roof of the church.
Our second day we spent most of the day on the road traveling through the mountains down long stretches of road. We made it to San Miguel about 1pm and got unloaded and made ourselves familiar a little bit with the town. Did a little work and made some dinner then spent the evening till sun went down; because there was no light or electricity in the area. We made plans for the next day for work; painting, working on the little church in one of the neighboring villages, and of course food for the next day since I was one of the cooks.
On the third day we started out bright and early or at least I did along with the other cook. The day was spent pretty much doing work in the areas that we had planned and preparing the food for the days to come. Later in the afternoon I got to travel to the other village, expecting to take pictures, but I ended up with another blessing in getting to work with some of the local men and then getting feed one of the better meals I had on the trip; fresh goat and rice. The day ended with continuing with work and we made it early to bed one because of it being dark and mostly because we were tired.
On the fourth day some exciting things happened. First The other cook and I got right to work on preparing food for the whole village. To me though the most exciting part was preparing lunch for the school there. The kids were so excited and it was lots of fun to feed the kids and get to see them in a school setting. Later that evening we feed all the village deer, hog, and other wild meats. This was really great combined with the service that was done also.
All in all the trip was great, I was ready for a bath and inside toilets and the absence of sand. It was so relaxing though not to have to be worried about e-mail, bills, or the craziness of American life. It makes me really appreciate the things I have and the luxuries that we have. I can not wait till our next mission.

I Long

As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. (Psalm 42:1)
Have you ever wanted something so bad that you could taste it or feel it. You know what I am talking about; it is that feeling you have when you are sixteen and you are about to get that first car. You can picture yourself driving down the road, playing your music louder than your mother ever let you play it in her car. Maybe it is to you like that very first date, now that is something you can feel; you feel nervous, at times you think that you are going to get sick, but under all those confused feelings there is excitement and you daydream about how the date will go. However when you get to drive or go on that first date, it is usually not like anything you pictured it would be when you were thinking about the driving or the date. This is very much how it is when we are longing for God. We have in our minds how things are going to be when we become a new Christian, get in God’s will or sit down and pray. I would say that most of the time it is not even close to the way we pictured things would be when we seek after God. I love this verse though; as the deer pants for streams of water. That deer is not just wanting a drink of water, this deer is down right thirsty and the deer knows without this stream of water he is not going to survive. Much like us, if we do not pant after the author of salvation we are going to thirst that cannot be quenched, no matter what we trying to put in the place of God.
This verse has spoken to me this week; I have not had much time to do my bible readings as I like to do during the week. Mostly because I have filled my time with other things, not terrible things just things that I have not done in a while like getting out and enjoying this great weather with a walk or working in the yard. It is just that time for schedule adjustments as the days get longer and warmer. My soul has been panting for my time with God. I know that many of you have very busy lives; work, kids, school and other activities. I encourage you though take a moment this week and give your soul a drink of the living water. I believe you will find yourself renewed with a new energy and outlook on the events happening in your life.