It's still hard

Life is not getting easier. Living for the Lord means Satan will be working overtime to trip me up...and even tho all he's doin now is throwing sticks and stones compared to what God is doin in me, they still trip me up once in a while.

Praying...

He's so good to me. Why can't I respond appropriately?

Things....

...that I'm currently trying to learn:

1) How to humble myself. Seriously, there are times when I can THINK that everything just points to the fact that i'm THAT good, or THAT much better than whoever at whatever...

2) How to TRUST a being who's perfect...namely GOD. I'm very impatient at times, and so when i see a problem in others, i go for it and try to help them. But i'm learning that, as a friend (or even family member), there only so much you can do for them while you stay within GOD's wisdom. Since God is timeless and at the same time loves us, I need to trust that His timing and His actions will do the trick. Sounds like i have it all down, but this is one of those things that definitely needs refining in me.

3) How to godly interact with worldly people.

4) How to godly interact with godly girls, without a hint disrespect or misunderstanding.

5) The full meaning of GRACE. And God's Love.


...I have learned:

1) Parents are wise, no matter how naive or old-fashioned their ways seem. Even if they do NOT know God, their experiences in life make them a very valid source of wisdom.

2) Old-fashioned morals and way of life ROCKS!! By "old" i mean the previous generation, not too old like the Crusades and witch hunting.

3) and this one's been hard to swallow... Facts over feelings...at all times. Not to say feelings have no merit, but facts must always precede feelings when it comes to decision-making. No matter how painful it might be to follow the facts and no matter how right and good you think it will feel to do what the feelings are guiding you towards. God is not predictable but there exists a ....uhh...template on which God has worked through. (i feel like i'm about to dig into something i'm totally not qualified to dig into) First, God provided His wisdom in a form in which it is possible for us humans to comprehend, and it's found in His WORD. Second, He uses the FACTS and situation that we can blatantly and obviously see and hear and know (so that we can't say God didn't make it clear) to help us GROW, ONLY IF WE STICK TO THE WISDOM HE INITIALLY PROVIDED. And the third thing that God will send, and MUST BE the LAST THING that comes up in OUR HUMANLY ANALYSIS of situations, are the EMOTIONS. They are provided by Him to help us .... to enjoy the reward for obeying Him....to see the beauty of HIS timing and planning.

uhh actually i think i'm gonna need to put the previous point in "Things I still have a lot of learn about"

holy _____!!

GOD IS SO HOLY!!!! I CAN'T GET OVER IT!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA...

how can i effectly communicate JUST HOW GOOD OUR LORD IS TO US?!?! I CAN'T CONTAIN MY JOY!!!

i was once one who got annoyed when i saw how excited and exuberant some of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ were. Just annoyed at the fact that they can't seem to keep to themselves and thought that they may as well be just trying to show off their spirituality. THat i have that joy but i just don't choose to show it every moment of my life!

If you think that way, think about this...

HOW ELSE CAN YOU SHOW THAT YOU HAVE THAT JOY OF YOUR SALVATION IF YOU DON'T SHOW IT?...ESPECIALLY WITH THE ISSUE OF AN EMOTION, HOW CAN YOU JUST SAY THAT YOU ARE JOYFUL, WITHOUT SHOWING IT IN THE WAY YOU DEAL WITH LIFE???

God, plz don't ever stop!!! Your movements move me!

Devo #2

Recently I've been attending Philpot Memorial Church. It's crazy how they're growing so fast and so much in their faith and walk and deeds and love in/with/for/of Christ. I love their worship, their commitment..just EVERYTHING! I do not plan on transferring membership from my church in 'sauga for them, but i'll definitely be taking big pieces of Philpot and hopefully help my home church grow in the same way.

This week's sermon is definitely something i'll be chewing on for a while and most definitely something i'll want to share with my homechurch.

The pastor was again speaking of MERCY. And the main point of the whole thing was that we were FIRST SHOWN MERCY by the perfect GOD. And our recognition of this initial act of GRACE will (or should) provide us with more than enough reason and motivation to GIVE MERCY.

MERCY is LOVE in action.

So here's the thing: When you read the parable of the Good Samaritan, what do you see? More specifically, who do YOU relate to the most?

Perhaps you see yourself as someone who's always been that Samaritan, or that the MAIN lesson is to be more like him. Or maybe you see that sometimes, if not most of the time, you've been that priest and that Levite, just ignorant to the needs of those God has placed in front of you. These have been my typical perspectives.
The pastor gave us (me, anyway) a new way of picturing it, in addition to the previous ones...

You and I, we are that dude left to die. The Father, the Samaritan, came to save us.

Jesus told us this parable not only to show us that we NEED to give mercy, but WE DESPERATELY NEED MERCY OURSELVES!!!....

Think about that.

And then pray about this:
"We know love by this, that He laid down His Life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our hearts before Him in whatever our hearts condemn us..."
1 John 3:16-20