True Love for God

The messages this morning was about true love for God. We studied 1 John 2:3-6.

By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, "I have come to know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

Having the "fuzzy-feelings" for God is not always love for God. When those feelings lead to obedience, that is true love for God. Pastor Tim gave us a great definition of love: "Selfish acts on someone else's behalf." In other words, wanting and acting on the absolute best of someone else for their benefit. In order to love God, we must pay careful attention to His Word, and be obedient to it. The word abide in this case literally means "to stay there." Just sitting and doing nothing is NOT abiding in Him! Sin can easily lure us away from God when we become stagnate in our relationship with Christ. Relationships require work, and a lot of it. A relationship with Christ requires work too! This work is pursuing Christ-likeness. There is no such thing as a healthy relationship with God without the pursuit of Christ-likeness. Let us press on to walk worthy of the calling with which we are called (Ephesians 4:1).

Long day

The four of us that were at home went to Cal baptist this morning and played ultimate frisbee. My team got pretty much slaughtered at the end. It was fun all the same. After that, we got some lunch and threw the baseball around a bit, and went to a play that was going on at Cal baptist. To be completely honest, I really didn't care for it. I found several things on the offensive end. I hate to say that when so many people I know have put so much work into this thing. The use of magic to manipulate people is really not appealing to me. Especially since we have been talking about this kind of thing in Bible study. We are not to take part in these things. I realize that it was just a play, but we aren't to have the appearance of evil. I think we need to be especially careful when we entertain ourselves with things that play around inappropriately in the spiritual realm. These thoughts are not healthy. The two things that come to mind off the top of my head are World of Warcraft, and Harry Potter. Both of these are generally accepted amongst Christians, but I would challenge you to consider what kind of things you entertain yourself with. Do these things really not have an effect on our minds? We are to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Are we doing this in our everyday lives? Just some things to think about.

Fellowship

I would have to say that Bible study definitely serves as good fellowship. It is an amazing blessing to be with like-minded people that are about the same age, studying God's word, praying, and singing together. It is such a refreshment after a not completely pleasant week (to put it mildly). We sang some Christmas songs tonight. I know, I know, it's not even Thanksgiving, but there are some incredible messages in Christmas songs. I tend to not like Christmas songs because a lot of them tend to be quite empty, but there are a lot of good ones too. I would encourage you to really think about what the Christmas songs are saying when you listen to and/or sing them in the coming month. It is easy to get in a pattern of just singing songs because that's what you do near Christmas time, but take the time to really think about what message is being communicated through the song.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul lists out some ways in which God punished Israel for their disobedience. It is easy to look at the nation of Israel and think that we would never do such a thing, but look at Paul's warning to us.

6 Now these things happened as examples for us, so that we would not crave evil things as they also craved.
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.
12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

We must recognize that we are never so far up that we cannot fall. If you look at Biblical characters and commitment to Christ, I would say Paul is among the top. Look at all the things he suffered for the sake of Christ. It is incredible! If Paul is recognizing that he isn't beyond falling, we are definetely not beyond falling in a major way. We must pursue Christ daily. At the Bible study tonight, Joel said, "There are no big decisions, there are a lot of little one's that make up a big one." I really think he is right! We are making big decisions for our future by the little decisions we make now. It is vital that we live for Christ now!

Encouragement

I was encouraged a great deal by 1 Corinthians 9:23-27 today.

I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

For me, this was a sobering reminder that we can be disqualified. I'm not exactly sure what Paul means when he says disqualified, but it is definitely some kind of fall into the flesh. If Paul realizes that he can fall, who are we to think that we are strong in the faith. We must constantly fight the battle of living for Christ. May we kill every hint of sin, and press on to Christ-likeness!

I wrote a song today called "Your Grace is Sufficient."

I’m faced with death again,
Oh Lord, I’ve lost a friend,
You know it’s hard to take,
But I know You’ll help me make,
Much of You, in this hard time I’m going through,
You are always faithful, You are always kind.

Chorus:
So I will sing, of Your mercy,
I will sing, cause You’re faithful,
Even when my heart is broken,
Your grace is sufficient for me.
Your grace is sufficient for me.

Lord, help me to move on,
Now that he is gone,
I know I should press on,
Lord, help me carry on, to make,
Much of You, in this hard time I’m going through,
You are always faithful, You are always kind.

There are many others here,
Who are overcome by fear,
Help them see Your grace,
In the death of Christ, so they’ll make,
Much of You, in this hard time they’re going through,
You are always faithful, You are always kind.

Trials and God's grace

After I got back from my Calculus class this morning, we got a call from my grandma (mom's side). She left a message saying that she had bad news. When mom called her back, she said that grandpa had died during the night. This was totally unexpected. They don't know the cause of death yet, but my guess is it was heart related. He has had several heart surgeries in the past. Regardless, it definitely hit us pretty hard. We are pretty sure that he did not know the Lord. That was the hardest thing for me. I can't explain the emptiness that I feel. It hurts so much to realize that he rejected the gospel. I just want to ask why anyone would refuse such an amazing free gift. I really don't know what to say. How do you respond when someone passes away without trusting in Christ as their savior? It leaves little room for peace.

Having said this, I must trust that this is God's plan and that He knows what He is doing. His plan is always the best plan. We have been blessed by many people already. Mrs. Lovegrove came over right after we found out, and took care of Jonathan while mom was making phone calls--a huge help. Mrs. Babb has also been a great encouragement to me personally--I am clinging to Psalm 46:1. Almost everyone from the Bible study talked with both Christina and I today at Cal baptist. Their love and words of encouragement has overwhelmed me. I know that there are a lot of people praying for us. Prayer is powerful! I am forever grateful for your prayers.

I know the question that you want to ask--"How is everyone doing?" In short, we are doing much better than I would have expected. Mom flew up to Sacramento with her brother to be with grandma, and make arrangements for the services. We are probably going to have the services down here in Southern CA, but I really don't know yet. God was gracious in the fact that mom's last communication with him was an email that said, "I love you dearly." Christina has shed quite a few tears, but I think she is doing fairly well now. We have been keeping Jonathan busy, and he is doing pretty well so far. Dad seems to be doing well, although I'm not sure that it has fully hit him yet. As for myself, God's grace has been sufficient as He promises in 2 Corinthians 12:9. My main prayer request now is that God would be working in the hearts of those that will attend the memorial service. Death causes people to really reevaluate their life. Pray that God would draw people to Himself through this hard time. Pray that God would give me opportunities to share the gospel, and boldness to do so. As the song "People Need the Lord" puts it so well, "What could be too great a cost, for sharing Life with one who's lost?" I don't want to go through this with more relatives. There is great peace when God takes one of His own home, but when someone dies without knowing Him, death does leave a stinger. I am not afraid to die, nor am I afraid of losing someone that knows the Lord. Not that it wouldn't be painful, but there is such an overwhelming peace that comes when someone has lived a life for Him. I want to have this peace for each of my relatives. As of now, I hardly have it for any of them. Please pray for them!

A new bat!

I ordered a baseball bat yesterday afternoon with the free shipping option, and it came this morning! I was quite pleasantly surprised! I am really looking forward to playing baseball again. I went out a couple times this last weekend to practice a bit. I have decided that it definitely helps when mom is watching. I hit 5 home runs out of the 20 pitches that mom watched. Before you are too amazed, realize that this was dad pitching to me, and the field is 20-30 feet smaller than a normal college field. I am more of a base hit person, not a home run hitter.

One of my friends and I had an interesting conversation last night. We were talking about Psalm 27:4-5.

One thing I have asked from the LORD, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to meditate in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will conceal me in His tabernacle; In the secret place of His tent He will hide me; He will lift me up on a rock.

The phrase "to meditate in His temple" caught my attention. I have been thinking about prayer and how it is not supposed to be one-way communication. It seems that when I pray, it goes something like, "God, do this... God, do that... God, do this, thanks again." We seem to be so rushed in our prayer life. Sometimes, I just like to lay down and think about stuff, and let God speak. I think the church is lacking in this area. I realize that church time is limited, and the main purposes are Biblical teaching, and fellowship, but I think we miss out on the listening aspect. I think we hinder ourselves when we don't take the time to "be still and know that He is God." He has so much to say in His Word, and yet we are often too busy to really think about what He is trying to say to us. God, help me be a good listener!

Making the most of singleness

We learned triple integrals in calculus today. I must say that they are actually quite fun. I know that calculus is a scary word, but it's not as bad as you think it is. If you haven't tried it, you probably should... you might actually like it.

I studied 1 Corinthians 7 today. Paul makes it very clear that he thinks it is better to remain single. It allows us to focus on Christ, and not worry about a marriage relationship. I don't feel called to singleness; however, if God changes that, I know that He will provide the necessary help to follow His plan with joyfulness. Since I do not think singleness is something I will have forever, I see this passage as an urge to make the most of the time I have as a single. Now is the time for preparation, and growing in Christ-likeness. I must take advantage of the time that God has given me alone with Him. When I get married someday (Lord willing), I will have the responsibility of being the spiritual leader in my home. This means that my service for God in the church is secondary to my service for God in leading my family in His ways. I will take this responsibility with great joy when it comes, but it will change some of my freedom to serve the Lord elsewhere. Since I am not split between leading a family, and serving Him elsewhere, I must press on to do what He calls me to do without delay.

A much needed message

I am really amazed at how God uses others to communicate to me exactly what I need to hear. The message today was a perfect follow-up on what I learned in Bible study. It was on 1 John 2:1-2.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin, and if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.

Note that it doesn't say so that you can do better, it says so that you man not sin. Our job is to aggressively pursue holiness. We must not ignore any kind of sin in our lives. The problem is that we have two truths that are very hard to put together. The aggressive pursuit of holiness, and the fact that we will sin anyway. In order to live with both of these truths, we must learn to rest upon the forgiveness of Christ, while not allowing even the smallest sin to be ignored. His mercy does NOT change His justice. I am again in awe of His amazing grace. He is our advocate (defense attorney), and yet He also died for us. We are completely guilty and without hope, and He died so that He could trade His righteousness for our punishment.

I have definitely been guilty of tolerating sin and setting artificial standards for myself. "Everyone does it" is not a good excuse. All throughout the New Testament, Jesus says, "Go and sin no more." Just because it is not possible to live completely without sin doesn't mean that we have an excuse for not aggressively pursing holiness. I have found such incredible joy in this transformation of my heart. I commit myself once again to pursuing God's standards of righteousness.

Grand Prix

This is going to be extremely short since it is so late at night. We had Awana Grand Prix today. All five of us designed cars. God was really gracious, we ended up taking 3 trophies home. Mom received 3rd place design, Christina won 2nd place speed, and I took 3rd in speed. Always losing to my sister (hehe). Actually, my car was a bit on the random side when it comes to performance. I designed it so that my weight would slide down a wire as the car went down the trace. The only problem is that my block of wood was a little bit off, so I only had 3 wheels touching the track. When the weight shifted, it would change which wheels were touching, which caused it to wobble a whole lot. It varied from race to race though. Anyway, I need to hit the sack. More to share tomorrow.

Conviction...

We have been talking a lot about foundational issues in Bible study. I was very convicted tonight about my ignorance of some very direct commands in scripture. Just because they aren't easy things to do, and I will never completely master them doesn't mean that I can ignore them entirely. For example, careless words that come out of my mouth. The other night, we were studying how we know that we have lost our first love. Some of these issues really cut to my heart. I found myself saying, "well, no one is fully obedient to all these things." Justification in my mind is not the solution. I must stop ignoring these small but totally clear things in scripture, and live for Him in the small areas of my life as well as the big. I need God's big hands to soften my hardened heart to the things that I have overlooked or just plain out ignored. I am so thankful that He doesn't give up on me when I fail Him. Great is His faithfulness!

Letting go of results

I'd have to say the one verse that dad has continually pounded into my head is Proverbs 16:1 which says that the plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer comes from the Lord. I am pretty sure that I did quite badly on this exam, but the results are God's. Honestly, I am very glad to be done. I am not stressed at all about it now (my teacher drops a test). I am very thankful for dad's continual reminders that the results are God's. God is good!

1 Corinthians 4:4-5 was a good reminder to me that I need to be very careful when making any kind of judgment.

For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord. Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts; and then each man's praise will come to him from God.

God sees the heart, I do not. It also reminds me that I need to focus my full attention on doing things to please God. I think it is safe to say that we all like being complimented. Compliments are a good way of encouraging others in Christ; however, we can become people-pleasers if we are not careful with our response to these compliments. We must use these responses as an opportunity to point people to God. He is the one that gives us life and breath.

A bit stressed

Physics exam is tomorrow. We have a whole lot to know for this exam. My brain has officially transferred all of it's potential energy into kinetic energy, and my brain is a non-conservative energy source (or something like that).

I enjoyed dinner with Christina at Cal baptist today. Usually we eat with other people, but it just worked out that we were alone. It was nice being able to spend some time with her. The choir continues to improve. I sang with them for a little while after getting tired of physics. ;)

1 Corinthians 3:18 really caught my attention today.

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this
age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.

It is so easy to feel good about myself for learning all these new things, but that is not what God desires. God knows infinitely more than I do. The Laws of physics are only there because He created them. I am very thankful for this humbling reminder. May we grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Teach me to love

I found myself in awe of God's love. I kind of let my mind wander as I thought about 1 Cor. 2:9 which says that "... things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him." I don't know about you, but I can imagine a lot of wonderful things, but God has prepared something far greater than we can even imagine. His love is too amazing for words to describe. I was thinking of the hymn called "The Love of God".

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade,
To write the love of God above,
Would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.

What an amazing picture. The ocean filled with ink, the whole sky is paper, everyone writing about the love of God, and still not having enough resources to fully express what His love is like. It really is over-whelming. God, teach us to love how You love.

Studying for physics... again

I have a quiz tomorrow afternoon, and an exam on Thursday in physics. I am not ready for either of them as of now. You know what I'll be doing all day tomorrow. :) All prayers would be greatly appreciated.

Once again, there has been a change to the Verse Memorization Tool. I finally found a free hosting site for asp.net pages. It definitely isn't the fastest hosting site ever, but it's free and easy. http://aspspider.info/VerseMemorization/ If you have any suggestions, I would love your feedback!

I have often thought about Christianity as we know it and wondered what kind of letter Paul would write to us. I read 1 Corinthians 1 today, which talks about Christian unity. I think this is something that Christianity around the world really struggles with. It is very difficult because there are many false doctrines within individual churches, and so we cannot be united with them. I wish that everyone would just stop their ideas and start reading God's Word so that they see what God's ideas are. Why do we always try to cram God into our own ideas? Why can't we read the Word, take what it says, and be obedient? Is it really that difficult? I pray for Christian unity because I know it will not come as a result of our "great" ideas. It will only happen by individual Christians being obedient to God's Word, and encouraging others to do the same.

Discipleship

We learned about discipleship in church today. Pastor Tim gave us a great definition of love: A commitment to the best of another person. The best for every person is always a right relationship with the Lord. True love is helping others find the greatest joy, which comes only from a right relationship with the Lord. According to Philippians 2:4, we are to look out for the interests of others. This means that we need to go out of our way to pay close attention in order to serve others effectively. We are also supposed to encourage others.

Hebrews 10:24-25

And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

The Greek word for encouraging is "parakaleo." This same word is used in 2 Cor. 5:20 (urging people to be reconciled to God), 1 Peter 5:12 (giving courage to others), Jude 1:3 (urging someone to contend earnestly for the faith), Rom. 12:1-2 (strongly encouraging others with God's mercy), etc. Sometimes encouragement is extremely difficult. Telling someone that they are going the wrong direction is very difficult, but it is the most loving thing to do! It needs to be done. I pray that God would give me the boldness to stand up for the truth of His word, and make a difference in the lives of others.

I finished an auto-notification system for the Verse Memorization Tool for when the link changes. The link will change, so if you want to have the latest link without having to contact me, please subscribe on the website. http://71.165.189.83:8222/

Moving...

David (one of three elders at church) and his family moved today into a very nice home. Moving is such a long process. It is one thing for us to help him get all of that stuff into his house and garage, but the work has just begun for him. I am very happy for them! :)

Now that I got this verse memorization tool up and running, I am working on creating a small program to notify people when my ip address changes. It would be nice to have a static (unchanging) ip address, but those cost more money. I have been working very slowly (slacking off) on memorizing Romans 12. Verse 10 caught my attention today as I read through it.

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

It is easy to be unselfish when our unselfishness is seen by others, but how about the small things when no one is looking? James 4:17 says that it is a sin to not do a good thing that we know we should do. Let's press on to be examples of unselfishness.

Lots of excercise

This morning, I actually got to play basketball without the rush of having to get to class at 7:50 am. It was one of those days that the ball just bounced the right way. I ended up winning all three games. I lost both games last time, so I guess it just goes that way sometimes. After that, I got to go out with pastor Tim and talk about life, and what God is doing--what a great encouragement he is. Then I went to the gym and worked out a little bit for baseball. I figure that I should be getting ready since practices start in December (yay!). This evening I ran around the lake (2.2 miles). I am a short distance person (50 yards sounds like a great race). Honestly, I was almost positive that I couldn't run that far without stopping, but I made it. Bible study was canceled this evening due to a power outage at Cal baptist. I think it was probably best anyway since Mr. Babb has been working 12 hr shifts due to the fires. I am definitely thankful for people like him--that would be exhausting! He can certainly use our prayers.

I finally made a web version of the Verse Memorization Tool. For those of you that don't know about this, Pastor Tim asked me to make a little program for verse memorization. The technique that he finds most effective is taking the first letter of each word in the verse to help you remember, and yet still make you think hard enough to memorize it in a relatively short amount of time. If you are interested, shoot me an email. :)

I read Ephesians 6 today (this is the passage that talks about the spiritual armor). Verse 18-20 caught my attention.

With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints, and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

The concept of praying at all times in the Spirit seems to be impossible; however, I have found that it really isn't that difficult. When we are focused on God, we are in constant communication with Him. It is a matter of continually communicating to God what my heart condition is, and asking Him to change my heart to desire what He desires. Paul sets a great example for us in wanting prayer for boldness. Here he is in prison, and he is still not giving up. He is pressing on to make the gospel known even in chains! Let us be an example to others with our boldness to proclaim the gospel.

It is Officially Smoky!

All my classes are canceled until Monday. We did not really have smoke this morning. It was above us, but not really in the air near the ground. Now, it has come to ground level and I don't find it too enjoyable. Having said this, I realize that I have absolutely nothing to complain about. There are so many people that have lost almost everything. At Cal baptist yesterday, I got to talk with a friend that lives near the fire. He said that the fire came within 100 feet of his house, but didn't touch his house. Unfortunately, most of his neighbor's houses burned down, but I praise the Lord that his house was left untouched. God is good!

Ephesians 5:15-16 was a much needed reminder today.

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.

Honestly, I didn't get much done today. God knew that I needed these verses this evening. I really do need to make better use of my time. I can't say that I wasted my time on anything in particular. I just avoided my responsibilities (homework). It is essential that I am diligent with the responsibilities that God has given me, not only because it is what He commands, but it prepares me for dealing with my future responsibilities as a husband, father, and provider in my home. That seems like such an overwhelming responsibility. It truly will be an act of God if I am ever able to fulfill those roles like my dad does. I need to press on to make the most of the time God has given me (prayers to this end are always appreciated).

No class!

I played basketball this morning... and I think I played just about as well as I ever have, and we still lost both games. I guess it just goes like that sometimes. My calculus teacher didn't show up today. This week has been long, so I really am not complaining about this. I got quite a bit of studying done for physics, but I still have a lot more to do. I took Christina to choral union today and had dinner at Cal baptist, which was joyous as usual. I had my first real (first-hand)MAC troubleshooting experience today. I was always told that everything "just works." Well, this isn't true. Actually, the internet wouldn't have worked if it were not for firefox saving the day (Safari fails life). Anyway, I got the internet working in Ally & Lauren's apartment. They didn't have internet since the semester began, so I'm glad they don't have to go outside and sit on the stair case and hope for wireless to work anymore.

Ephesians 4:14-16 caught my attention today.

As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

We must press on to know God's Word in such a way as to not be deceived by the constant false doctrine that is thrown at us. When it says that we are to speak the truth in love, I think we are to hit these false doctrines head-on, but do it with Christ-like love. The result of this is growth of the body of Christ. Let's press on to know the truth and then speak it boldly in love!

God is above all

We got an email concerning my great uncle Bert today. The ranch (the mobile home park that he owns) had 47 mobile homes, the office, and the barn burn down in the fire. Needless to say, it is a hard time for them. My prayer is that God would use this to draw them to Himself. When things like this happen, it really puts life in perspective for me. There are so many things in life that really don't matter. Eternity isn't one of them. I got sick the other day from breathing dust all night (I didn't realize all this dust was blowing in and I was breathing it), but it is so minor compared to things that people are having to deal with. I am reminded that God has a purpose for all of these trials. "What man intends for evil, God intends for good."

I was encouraged by these words from Ephesians 3:20-21.

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

We have such a powerful God. It gives me such incredible peace knowing that He is able to do far more than I can even imagine. Hope in Christ is the one thing that will never fail. Please continue to pray for hearts to be opened to the gospel, and for people to share it with them.