Psalm 40

"I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry." -Psalm 40:1ESV.  
What kind of hard times does God bring people through?  David describes how God brought him out of hard time in his own life.  David waited on God patiently and trusted him.  God then brought him out of this time in his life to a solid ground where he could rejoice.  After he had brought David out of this time in his life, he praised God for his faithfulness.
God brought me out of two hard times in my life that have defined me.  During my junior year of high school, I was in a car wreck.  The wreck caused the other person to be hit and they were injured.  I could not judge the distance in front of the car between me.  From that time to through the summer of the year I went into a depression.  I felt as if God was not on my side and there was nowhere to turn.
God spoke to me in the beginning of my senior year, and I started reading the Bible again.  It was almost like  he revived me from the pit of where I was in.  It is also like the times where God revived David from the pit that he was in.
Another hard time in my life that God brought me out of was after I had graduated from college and was out in the world looking for a job.  God used the past summer at Discipleship Focus to help me desperately depend on him for everything.  I was able to present things and abide in Christ in this time.  God was revealing to me that I needed to be more reliant on him.  To use a cliche phrase God closed one area of my life that I thought would be my direction and God led me to another path in life.
David describes God's faithfulness in bringing him out of this time in his life by saying, "he lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." Psalm 40:1-3 NIV.
We do not know exactly what event in David's life he is writing about at the moment.  David saw God's faithfulness when God helped him defeat lions and bears tending his fathers sheep.  He trusted God and he helped me through this time.
David describes this event when he says, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep.  When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from its mouth, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth.  When it turned on me, I seized it by  its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the bear and lion; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the had of this Philistine."  1 Samuel 17:34-37
Another hard event in David's life was when he took on Goliath.  He went out to fight David with just five stones and his sling in his hand.  Goliath came out to battle with his huge sword, trying to intimidate him by yelling at him with insults upon insults.  Goliath only cared about himself and trusted in himself to defeat little David, while David trusted that God would lead him through this time and defeat Goliath.
David describes his trust in God to bring him through this time by saying, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head.  Today I will give you to the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.  All those gathered will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands."  1 Samuel 17:45-47
The character is the Pursuit of Happyness   struggled through a hard time in his life with trying to find a job and support his son.  He knew what it what like to be stuck in a pit like I did and David.  He did what he could to make it until he found job.  
Another hard event in David's life that God brought him out of was when he was fleeing from Saul.  God led him out of the hands of the King of Achish in Gath to the cave of Adullam.  David fled to Gath a second time to get away from Saul and time it was for a year and four months.
Ted Williams, the homeless man, who was a radio announcer and did voice-overs for a while before falling prey to drug and alcohol problems.  Somehow someone heard him on the street and record his voice.  The person from the newspaper that recorded his voice put it on the internet. From that he gained instant fame across the world.  Though he still struggles with his alcohol and drug problems, he has a job now as the official voice with the New England Cable News.
David heaps praise upon praise on God during Psalm 40.  He praises him of his faithfulness in Psalm 40:10.
David says "I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power.  I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness."  Psalm 40:10 NLT
What has God has done in your life?
David told others of what God had done in his life because of the fact that he trusted God and he brought him through those times.  David acknowledge that God was in control of all of his situations in his life despite what he was going through.  After God had given David a peace after those troubled times, he praised God for his faithfulness in his life.
We have to consistently tell others about what he has done in our life on day to day basis.  If we do this more people would want to come know what is different about us.  David praised God in Psalm 40:16, saying,
May those who love your salvation repeatedly shout saying "The Lord is great!"
Will you tell others about what God has done in your life? This is what I ask you my readers wherever and whoever you are.

Free-Will and the concept the God's in control

The main topic I will be discussing is the topic of free will and the fact that God is in control of our daily life.  This topic is very central to how we view life and God on a day to day basis.  This topic was bright to my attention by the movie the Adjustment Bureau.
First, I will begin my discussion my discussing the main Scripture references I see in this topic. These verses help you distinguish and sort out this topic of of God's Free Will in our life.  They also show how we do have free will in some aspects but God is in control of others.
The main verse about this topic is Ephesians 1:4-5.  This verse deals with free will in how God chose us before the creation of the world.  The verse says, "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with his pleasure his pleasure and will."
This verse describes how God chose us before the creation of the world.  He knew certain things about us before we would even be created.  It also reveals we have some measure of free will in deciding to follow Jesus but ultimately God has the greater plan and purpose.
Another verse that deals with these concepts is Romans 8:29-30. It says this on this concept, "For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified." This verse also deals with the fact that God chose us before we had decided to follow him.  It's almost like God knew what would happen in our life and what we would end up going through.
The last verse I will discuss in this post is Philemon 1:14.  It says this on this topic, "but without your consent I did not want to do anything, so that your goodness would not be by compulsion but of free will." Paul was saying to Philemon that it was his willing desire to keep Onesimus with him.  Paul inquires Philemon of his choice to give his slave Onesimus to him.  He hopes that it is his desire to release Onesiumus to him.
The first chapter of Romans discusses how we did not choose God because of our sinful nature.  Before we knew God we were consumed by our sinful nature and desires of our flesh.  It says in verse 1:21, For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."  This shows how we do not have to capacity or desire to choose God before we entered our life with him.  He always choose us even before time.
This movie describes Matt Damon, a politician, who sees this girl randomly in the bathroom before his concession speech after he had lost.  They kiss in a very quick way and she is chased by some people we would later find out are the Adjustment Bureau.  A short while after he makes his concessions speech he gets on a bus and randomly sees the same woman again.  Some would call this chance while others call this  coincidence.  The Adjustment Bureau said that this random event that occurred did not follow Matt Damon (the character)'s plan for his life by seeing this woman again.
The Adjustment Bureau was place to make sure things that were supposed to be in order happened.  The Bureau has this set plan that has to happen in order for each person's life to be in correct order.  Sometimes they are right, while other times they can guess wrong.  In some senses, the Bureau could be compared to God.  God wants this specific plan for our lives and at times we turn away from it.
All throughout the movie, the Adjustment Bureau does things to make sure that David Norris would not see the girl he falls in love with early in the movie (Elise).  They burn her number that they gave him.  Years later,  David Norris sees (Elise) on the street and ends up re-connecting with her.
David Norris leaves her in the hospital when she was hurt while dancing because the Bureau said that their relationship would hinder her future plans of dancing.  The Bureau says that somewhere (Matt Damon's character and Elise) are not supposed to be together because she takes him away from what he's supposed to be. Thompson said they gave humanity free will after the height of the Roman Empire but humanity brought the Dark Ages down.  This led to the Renaissance Thompson says.  One of the people in the Bureau that helps Damon finds out that there is a change in the plan where they are supposed to be together.
At the end of the movie, David Norris finds out she is marrying her ex boyfriend.   Harry from the Adjustment Bureau helps David Norris get to the courthouse where Elise is getting married through these doors that the Bureau uses.  David Norris finds her in the restroom and they go through all sorts of mazes before they are at the top of this building.  David Norris and Elise kiss then Harry and the chairman head guys from the Bureau shows up.  Harry then says something that stood out to me, he says something to the tune that we all choose our path in life though we may stray sometime we are always lead back to our path in life.  Harry concludes the movie saying that the Chairman has a bigger plan of restoration of humanity in the world.
God's in control of our daily life.  2 Chronicles 29:11, says "Yours O Lord is the greatness and  the power and the glory and the majesty and splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.  Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all."  God knows the paths we will take as evidenced by these verses above but he allows us some free will to choose our life if it lines up with his plans for our life.  If it doesn't he will align us back to where to where he wants us to go.

Thorn in the flesh in my life

This blog post is about a frustration in my life that has been going on for quite some time.  This frustration I will relate to a passage in the Bible when Paul discusses his Thorn in the flesh.
This Thorn/frustration in my life has plagued me since my high school years.  It has been my Achilles heel wherever I go and whatever that I do.  It is one of those where you just get so frustrated that you go crazy inside because it won't allow you do other things.  Thorn in flesh is a very simple act but involves a lot of quick thinking.  It takes a lot of reacting on the fly to things.
This Thorn in the flesh that I am describing is one of a problem dealing with my ability to drive myself.  It has been a frustrating thing for me all of my life.  It started my junior year in high school with a car wreck and then I had another wreck my senior year of high school.  The wreck in the middle senior year of high school wasn't my self though.  In between the first and second wreck I was really frustrated with my life though I ended up using my weakness as strength as Paul as in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.
Scholars debate what Paul's thorn in the flesh was.  Some believe it could be the result of physical conditions such as an epilepsy, convulsive attacks, malaria,and Malta fever.  Paul's thorn in the flesh also may be the result of an something to do with bad vision.  This is due to the reference to Paul's writing in large print in Galatians 6:1.  It is also discussed that Paul wrote the salutation to 2 Thessalonians 3:17 and 1 Cor 16:21.
Paul says this thorn was put in place in order that he not be conceited.  He believes that it was used as an instrument for his faith.
 In verses nine and 10 shows how God uses him in his weakness,he says in verse 9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."    "For when I am weak, then I am strong."
The apostle Paul gives us an example of how God used this frustrating thing in his life to grow in faith.  We are the delight in these hardships and frustrating things that are thrown at us in our life.  Paul was able to trust God in any and all situations.
God helped me my my strength in my weakness after I went through a hard time in my life at the end of junior year of high school before my senior year.   He gave me the strength to trust in him again when I was going through a hard time in my life.  God gave me the ability to trust in his power in my life again when I couldn't trust in him from the end of the spring that year to the summer of that year.  I was before that time in a mood of depression and despair of not knowing where life will take me anymore.  I wanted to be left alone before this awakening in my life occurred.
I still battle this thorn in the flesh today.  It still frustrates me that I am not able to drive by myself.  I have tried everything and it still has not worked out for me. I drove with a police officer while attending Alvin Community College.  I drove with this women from a driving school in the Fort Worth area and did well for a while before my bad reaction time came back to hunt me.
The only to do really is to try to trust in God's plan for the future.  That, God will use my weakness to help me  grow in some way though it is a frustrating thing for me right now.

Psalm 19

Today I will be blogging about Psalm 19. It is one of my favorite Psalms that David wrote.  It comes right after Psalm 18 where David praises God for bringing him out of the persecution of Saul.
In it, he praises God for his beauty and power throughout the universe.  This powerful description that David uses goes on from about verses 1-6 of the Psalm.   He never changes, he always stays the same throughout all of our days.
I first realized that God is this big and works in our life during my sophomore year in high school.  God lead to me this Young Life camp during the summer of my sophomore year.  One Thursday night, God revealed himself to me and helped me realize my sinful nature.  Looking back, it was the first time I recognized God in my life I looked at the sky reveling in who he is and how small we are.  
The verses I will be discussing mainly are Psalm 19:1-3.
Psalm 19 :1-2 says this, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."Day after day they pour forth speech; night after they display knowledge."
There are a 100 billion galaxies that contain a 100 billion stars in the universe.
God is too big and grand for us to handle.  His glory is too vast for us to comprehend and understand.
Psalm 19:3 3 describes God's depth and knowledge of us.
Psalm 19:3 says this, "There is no speech or knowledge where their voice is not heard."
In the same way when kids try to hide from their parents what they have done something wrong.  We as Christians can't hide from God when we have sinned.
God knows everything about us.  He knows when we fall into sin in life.  He hears our cries for mercy when everything in life is falling apart.
We have to remind ourselves of God's greatness and power in our life.  He works in us when we don't realize it.
In the New American Standard Bible 19:1 says, "The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of his hands."
How will you my readers realize God's greatness and movement in our life this week?

Psalms 18

Today I will be blogging about a Psalm 18 in the Bible. This has become one of my favorite Psalms so far during this Mighty Men study I have been going through.  Even though it is long, this Psalm is one I shall not forget when I have been delivered through certain struggles in my life.   
 This Psalm takes place right after David was delivered from the hands of Saul. This could also be written when David had been king and facing off against other nations. You can glean this assumption because David talks about how God saved him from his enemies. 
He praises God for blessing him through when David obeying him through this time of persecution as well. David describes his ability to obey God through these hard times he faces in Psalm 18:20.
It says in Psalm 18:20, The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me."
David also praises God for hearing him in this struggle in his life.  He recognizes in God's greatness that he hears his cries for help though God is so great and powerful.  He lavishes God in how he saved him through hardship.
He describes how God saved him through hardship and heard his pleas for mercy in verse 18:6.  In this verse great imagery and metaphor is given to God.
Psalm 18:6 says,  "In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help.  From his temple heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears."
David acknowledges that God is his rock through this time of persecution and hardship.  In the psalm he also recognizes his trust in God after he gets him through this time in his life.  In Psalm 18:2, David says,                    "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my deliverer; my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, and my stronghold."
Throughout the middle half of the Psalm David praises God for his ability to take him through this situation.  He using strong metaphors in this Psalm to get his point across of how great and glorious that God is in his life.  God saved him from this hardship because he trusted in God's plans and ways not his own.
This is personified in verse 19 when David praises God saying, "He brought me into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me."
This opening verse shows David's trust in God's plan to get him through anything in life.  He knows that he can depend in God in any and every situation.  God is our rock upon which our foundation is centered in life.
God brought me through certain hard times in my life and helped me trust him.  The first instance I can think of was the beginning of my senior year of high school after I had gone through a hard time in my life my junior year and the past summer.
Another instance occurred this past year when I was looking for a job in the Broadcast Journalism and God closed those paths in my life.  He lead me to seminary in that situation because he wanted me to get back into ministry because that is where he wanted me to be.   Looking back on the situation I could feel that God was moving in my life for me to go a different path than I wanted to go.
In both situations, God worked in my life helping me trust him more and more.  He reminded me that I can trust him in any and every situation that I may face in my life.
A rock does not move at all.  If we try to move a rock that is in place in the ground then it will stay there for a long period of time.  In the same way,  if we trust God in any and every situation then we can be our rock throughout all our life.               
God is good and he is trustworthy throughout all our life.  He reigns in and through our life though situation that we may face.  Nothing is too big for God to overcome or pull us through in life. 

Being apart of something bigger than us

Today I'm blogging about the chance to be apart of my best friend's advocacy team.  This is a great honor for me as his best friend.
This team bands together to pray for my best friend and his team in their ministry.  This prayer team will provide unity to the team as they go do ministry in North Africa.
I am blogging about this topic because I can't wait what God will do with this team I'm on.  We will be meeting each other on skype every month or so to pray for their ministry there.  We each have something we are praying for them about.
I will miss my best friend Andrew Boone a whole lot.  I can't wait for what God will do over there in their time in North Africa.  This prayer team I'm on is a reminder of how God can unite people together to pray for a common cause in ministry.
This prayer team of eclectic group of people banding together for the purposes of unity in God.  This kind of team will only produce a fruitful ministry for my best friend and his team.  This is the reason why I can't wait for what God will do over in North Africa for the next four years.
God is a bigger than us and our own desires or concerns.  He desires for everyone across the world to know his name and his power in their lives.  For he is God, ruler over all and he reigns in our life.
God reigns supreme everywhere despite persecution across the world.  God in in control of rulers, kings, princes, and all things in our life.

"To be in the world but not be of it"

This blog post is about we as Christians are supposed to live in the world but not be caught up in it.  The main point by this saying is that we can't get caught up in the world's ways of living.  The Holy Spirit wants us to conform to the image of Jesus Christ through Romans 8:28-29 daily.
This theme was discussed in some seminary classes I have taken and the book I just read A Christian Mind by Harry Blamires.  It is also a prevalent topic for those of us going into Christian ministry.  It is a call to focus on things that produce fruit in our lives such as truth and beauty in God's nature and to not focus on the way of the world that pull us in.  Traits of the world that may pulls us in include: money, power, sex, any indulgence, possessions, or just anything that the secular world desires not of God.
Sometimes we just focus on what we need and want while not focusing on others needs.  This could lead us into selfishness or greed.  We become consumed by needing or wanting this or that in life.  This effect pulls us away from loving and serving others needs.  Therefore, we are not what Christ calls us to be anymore.
Therefore, we can't be caught up in world's way and ideals.  If we don't think in a Christian mindset daily, then we will be walking aimlessly in life.
A Christian mindset focuses on eternity.  It is a call to focus on the God's love and power in our lives.  This mindset is also looks to our in our eternal future and not our present earthly state we are in right now.
The secular mindset only looks to itself and it's own needs and desires.  It only has room for it's secular or flesh desires.
There is also a difference for how truth is formed in a secular world and a Christian way of thinking .  In a Christian way of thinking truth is formed through divine revelation, while in a secular worldly way of thinking truth is formed intellectually.
Both of these forms of thinking in our world were discussed in detail in Harry Blamires book, The Christian Mind.  He gives an accurate description of how to live Christianly in a secular world.
Let us if you know Christ to put on a Christian mindset in this secular world that we live in.  We have to put on the character traits of Christ, and not fall into the world's traps that can easily ensnare us.