Jealousy- an emotion expressing possessiveness and related to zeal.

When we as people hear the word jealousy, we think of anger or maybe hatred. But Jealous is one of God’s names (Exodus 34:14). God’s jealousy is zealous.

Most of us have heard the song “How He Loves,” by Kim Walker, and there is a positive side to this emotion. As humans, we are to be jealous for the things of the Lord (Numbers 25:11-13, I Kings 19:10, 14). In Numbers 25, Phinehas turned God’s anger from the Israelites because he burned with zeal for God. He wanted the Israelites to honor God. God rewarded this with a covenant. Elijah was zealous as well.

Zeal and righteousness are a must in following God. We should all be zealous for the Church like in 2 Corinthians 11:2. Paul wants everyone to burn with passion for Jesus. This brings me to the point of marriage. Jesus is jealous for us because He is married to the Church. Just like a man is jealous for his wife, Jesus is jealous for us. Zephaniah 3:8 says “the whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.” Sometimes it’s hard for me to believe that God loves us that much. Crazy.

It is good and Godly to have a jealous love for the Church and for God. Because He is most definitely jealous for you and I.

My God is too good to me
He has saved and redeemed me
He showers me in His love
He brings joy to my soul.

Oh my soul, to be near Him-
the rock of my salvation,
the mountain of my refuge.

I shall not fear the coming storm
because my Lord is coming
with an army of host.
Though I may get wet, I will not leave His side
for it is better in the storm with righteousness
than the peace of foolishness.

Death awaits a fool,
but life awaits one who endures with God.

Its true that the Lord will carry our burdens for us and cleanse us of our mistakes.

But sometimes I feel that I have to stop and reflect on them so that I can truly understand. In that way, I can come to grips with my mistakes and understand the damage they have caused. When I stop to reflect on my sin it brings me to my knees. It is with that weight finally bearing down that I will then call upon the name of the Lord to take away the pain. I feel like most of the time I have no idea what I am doing and just try to keep up with the Lord the best I can.

Carry me, Lord, for my troubles are overwhelming. I need you- Your grace is the water that washes me clean. I can talk to you, Lord, and you hear me. I can be me to you and you love me all the more. Praise you with trumpets and drums, with strings and songs. O Lord, I know your near; I know you hear my cries. You found me in my weakness and yet lifted me up into your clouds. You gave me sight and blessed me. You told me “Go and do my will. Love and forget. Dance for me and sing of you salvation.” Praise you, Lord, until my last dying breath when you will be calling me home to spend the rest of eternity with You. Thank you, Lord, for loving me and letting me to love you.

Thank you for Calling!

Lately, I have noticed a change in myself. Normally this is seen as a good thing for Christians but for me it hasn’t been. I have lost something. Is it my flame? Is it my will, or even more, is it God’s will I have lost? As I walk, I look back to see how I have progressed toward the kingdom of God but now I look back at the fire I had for God and the change that God was going to use me for and find that it has long faded away. I know that I still love God and that Jesus is my one and only love. But what have I done for Him lately? His word felt so natural to my soul but now everything has changed. His word doesn’t seem to fit me anymore. I know this sounds terrible but bare with me for this because I don’t think I am the only one struggling. In fact, the more people I meet, the more I find this is happening to a lot of us. It’s as if I have given up on THE LIFE. My faith is still there and I love Jesus but my lifestyle has since departed from the Lord’s will. I have started to live for myself and I feel like I am dying from the inside out. Sadness and despair have filled my life and every time I seek God in His word and in prayer, I get an away message saying you have not lived the life and now you are on the outside. This is a scary thought but I have been getting it more and more lately.

Well, I have had enough. With 40 in progress and my life falling apart I must know the truth. I must trust that God is still as in love with me as He always has been. He loves me whether I am on the top of the mountain or lost in the valley. I must not give into the pressure of the world. I will overcome. We will all overcome the lies and seek the true face of God again. Can we all pray for each other over the upcoming weeks and that us flickering Christians will once again will be rekindled and burn brighter that ever imagined? Can you imagine this? I can. I can see the angels in heaven cheering us on as we pick up our heavy crosses that wore us down and yell out, “Hallelujah! The Lord has redeemed us!” I will go. I will live the life that Jesus died for. His life had purpose and I will fulfill it. I have God inside me and rest in the fact that there is nothing that we are unable to overcome.

So with this said I will need support from the other Christians to help build me and the others up and bring us back to the will of God. Let us seek God’s face together and fellowship in His name with His word. Let us correct each other saying this is the way. Let us become greater Christians in our own house so that we can see our own love and know that God is here and God will retrieve the misguided and weary souls that seek His name and comfort. I know that this is not a blog for everyone but some of us are here in the valley. We can’t do this on our own. Thank you for caring enough to read this blog and I pray that we awaken again.

As Christians we battle addictions and habit all day. If it’s not one, then it’s another. It’s an ongoing battle with what to do and what not to do. I’ve realized that no matter how hard we try, we can’t make it on our own- if we think we can, we are fooling ourselves.It is at this place where we meet the Grace of God. We should be focused on giving up these habits and addictions to Christ, rather than trying to fight them on our own. We should go ahead and say “I can’t do this” or “I can’t stop” even if we think we might be able to muster up the will to try.As Christians, prayer is our secret weapon against the works of the devil. We shouldn’t act as some TV power ranger that only pulls out the secret weapon last- we should use it first. Let us pray about our problem and ask God to give us strength. Ask Him to take away the problem before it becomes one, ask Him to crush the addictions we have fallen into. God loves the weak and He will surly lift us up. This should encourage us to come to Him for all of our needs.I’ve found that the more I seek the face of God, the easier it is to lose those things that separate us from Him. He will start to lead us in the right direction and take away our problems if we just seek Him and trust Him. We have an all-powerful God and if we put Him first and only Him, He will surly free us from the sin and chains of our daily life. The Holy Spirit works with us in His time and when He is ready to. Until then, find yourself and Him in the Word that He inspired for us. The answer is in black and white- it is in the silence of night, it is in the commune with the one true God, it is in the complete trust that He is going to lift us up and cure us of our illness.The works that we try so hard to do for Him are completely useless because it is only through His grace that we are healed. There are no deeds we could do to impress Him enough, just as there is no deed that can separate us from Him. Just look and talk to Him in your daily life and He will change you.He tells us- “Be still and Know that I am God.” He is almighty and all-powerful. Galaxies Drip from his fingers and there is nothing He can’t do for you if you just believe in His sovereignty.

Praise the Lord for all He has done for us! It’s overwhelming when I sit back and think about the Lord’s grace. I owe everything to Him for He alone has poured out the blessings in my life on me. First of all, I must thank Him for His greatest sacrifice He alone has made for me and us. The Lord has truly opened my eyes and showed me the true blessings of my life. I surely have done some of the worst deeds, destroyed and disfigured my life, but the Lord in His love and kindness has restored me and blessed me with some of the best family, friends and teachers. It is impossible to tell the members of Woodside Bible Church how much they mean to me.

I would not be where I am today had it not been for the love of Jesus. He has transformed me into something I could never have imagined. Forever I am in His debt because His grace is immeasurable. For Him to take an old, burnt-out junky and make him into a solider of faith and brother in Christ is beyond any work of man. This blog has been burning in my heart for a long time. I am sorry if this is unlike any of my other works but I feel that I must give thanks to the Lord and His arms and feet (that’s you people). Through Him, you all have show love and kindness that could not be found any where. I no longer feel ashamed.

It will be a long road ahead and I am sure that the road will be treacherous. However, I feel that with brothers and sisters that love Christ as much as you all do, nothing is impossible. I know that together we can change the world. Let us strike up the band and march to the tune of a Savior that gave everything for us. I will no longer hide in shame but walk in hope of a day when people will sing of the Lord and give thanks to an Almighty Lord whose love is unquenchable and unstoppable. Let bang our drums, strum our guitars, clap our hand and stomp our feet to an unrelenting Majesty that holds the stars in His hands and forgives the sinner.

In all of this I would like to conclude that I am truly blessed and surrounded by love. Who am I that the Lord of the universe should be mindful of me?

The statement “good enough” was a phrase in my youth that described me completely. Growing up, I was usually an A or B student. I never really had to try hard at school and never had homework. If I did have homework, I rushed through it, claiming it was “good enough” by the time I finished. Since then I have really changed. I believe when I was born again, I died to that “good enough” nature and was reborn to a “perfection” nature. Nothing is ever good enough. Everything can be improved. This is a big part of the reason that a Christian may be down but never out. A Christian should never give up- we should always focus on improving and pushing forward. The Lord wants all of our hearts and if you are just giving “just enough”, you will never make it. As a child, I could not understand the word “all”. It just was not there for me. Even in the Air Force, “all” just seemed like a word for most or a lot. Never did I grasp this more then now. If God wants my all, then I must live and breathe Him in everything everyday.I don’t go to church once a week to find out how to figure my life out and to make it known I am a Christian. My relationship with God isn’t there to insure my way into heaven or keep me out of hell. I strive to live for Him who loves me. I want Christian friends that share my passion. I want to live and breathe Him. I want to write blogs for Him; I want to listen to Him; I want to praise Him. You get the picture. “Good enough” doesn’t cut it. “Good enough” isn’t enough. What would Jesus do? He would never say that. Can you picture Him nailed to the cross with the only words out of His mouth being “Good enough”? Or on the seventh day of creation, God saying, “Good enough”? No way! As Christians, we are called to be the best we can be and to excel in everything we do.So in all I am blessed with my new nature and died in the old good enough ways of the world.

So many of us are quiet Christians that get nervous about telling our friends about Jesus because it may make them mad or get on their nerves. I can understand because I do the same thing. This week I want to ask you to consider something that is going to look very strange to the average non-believer. I would ask you carry on your personal relationship in front of them. Make Jesus very real. Live Him, talk to Him, pray to Him in public. Let it be known that the Spirit of God is alive and all around. Wouldn’t it be great if someone asked you what you were doing and you replied something like this. “Oh, Just checking in with God. Do you want to join me? It’s easy; just close your eyes and talk to Him!” OK, so maybe you won’t say those exact words but you get the point. Let everyone know that God is closer than you think. He is large, in charge and cares what you think.

I believe that most people think that God is sitting somewhere far away not concerned with the happenings in their lives. On the contrary, He is very concerned and your behavior will help people to understand. Especially if they join or even ask for that matter. This will also greatly improve your prayer life and make you either a bold or crazy for Christ Christian. Think of this as a call to arms: we are at war with the enemy. As little as we are, we can make a difference in a big way. We do the praying and God will do the influencing. I look at it this way: if Jesus can die on the cross publicly for me, I can at least publicly raise His name up.

“Holy, Holy, Holy, The whole Earth is full of His Glory!”

I have been trying to act out this blog so if you see me talking to myself just come on over and join the conversation.

Have you ever been so angry that you say something that you didn’t mean? Your brain shuts off and you say something so undeserving and just plain dumb. It’s like all the blood in your body flows into your pride receptacle, and lets face it- pride has never really been too smart. I was going to write a blog about how angry I was but by the time I got to the end, I reread it and didn’t feel like that anymore.

Abraham Lincoln did something very similar. He would write a letter, place that piece of paper in his desk and wait for two days before sending it out. That is amazing discipline! How many hot-headed letters could we have saved by doing something like that? Maybe we don’t have to wait two full days like President Lincoln, but the idea of taking space to understand our emotions before we speak is a wise one. I remember back to Myspace arguments and the days of class notes, and wish that I had sat on those letters. I think that we should think about ALL or most the things we say before we say them.

Now if you know me at all, you know I don’t think very much about the words I say, though I’m working on it. That’s why President Lincoln’s practice has really impressed me. Imagine if this was a worldwide epidemic, if we stopped to think before we spoke. If everyone in a fight or argument would simply say “I will get back to you in a day or two”, what a difference we could make!

I can’t see Him. So how do I know that He exists?

I was asked that question at work the other week. It took me a second to ponder the question. I thought to myself how I knew that he existed. And then I answered him.

You see physical things with your eyes, like tables, lights, walls, doors, and chairs. But God is seen in love; He is seen with your heart, not your eyes. You can see with your eyes the effect of Him who loves us. He is the Love between two brothers, mother and father, husband and wife, even friends. Of course telling that to a person who has no idea what I am talking about can come off as kind of strange but I see it like this. Just as real as running, jumping, and playing sports like volleyball are the actions of God’s love in our hearts and in the world. The chills up the back and the extreme fluttering of a soul as God approaches is as real as anything else. You can call me crazy for thinking this is God but I am much happier then I have ever felt anywhere else.

In no way do I believe that this world could hold its own with out God’s constant hand in our lives. In true honesty, the fact that we are still alive is to see God, praise the Lord for the sun’s light, for the earth’s constant revolving. Without this we are a rock floating in space, one where life could not exist. I guess God could have put us in a glass ant farm and for some people that would be easier to understand, but our God is so great that he didn’t. Instead, He gave us the sky to marvel at. How fantastic! It is a true sign of wisdom to know the Lord. These people that believe we are evolving because of the technological advances the human race has made are standing in the dark about what life is anyway. They have lost sight of the Lord and everything he does for us. We are the computer and car age, with text messages flying all around and sending messages in split seconds. With all of this, we forget what it is to wait in anticipation. Now that is a great gift from God. If only we pulled our own heads away for this age of stuff we would see that God is visible everyday. He shows his face everyday and we are often too busy to see it. His brilliance is all over the world but we’re moving to fast to appreciate it.

I wrote this as a “duh” blog about visually seeing God but now I think I need to seek Him out and
gaze in awe at his works. How great is our God, really. The Master and Creator’s signing is signature on the greatest piece of art in all of existence.