Great Encouragment

“Call now; is there anyone who will answer you?
To which of the holy ones will you turn?
²Surely vexation kills the fool,
and jealousy slays the simple.
³ I have seen the fool taking root,
but suddenly I cursed his dwelling.
⁴His children are far from safety;
they are crushed in the gate,
and there is no one to deliver them.
⁵The hungry eat his harvest,
and he takes it even out of thorns,
and the thirsty pant after his wealth.
⁶For affliction does not come from the dust,
nor does trouble sprout from the ground,
⁷but man is born to trouble
as the sparks fly upward.

⁸“As for me, I would seek God,
and to God would I commit my cause,
⁹who does great things and unsearchable,
marvelous things without number:
¹⁰he gives rain on the earth
and sends waters on the fields;
¹¹he sets on high those who are lowly,
and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
¹²He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
so that their hands achieve no success.
¹³He catches the wise in their own craftiness,
and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
¹⁴They meet with darkness in the daytime
and grope at noonday as in the night.
¹⁵But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth
and from the hand of the mighty.
¹⁶So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts her mouth.

¹⁷“Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves;
therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.
¹⁸For he wounds, but he binds up;
he shatters, but his hands heal.
¹⁹He will deliver you from six troubles;
in seven no evil shall touch you.
²⁰ In famine he will redeem you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword.
²¹You shall be hidden from the lash of the tongue,
and shall not fear destruction when it comes.
²²At destruction and famine you shall laugh,
and shall not fear the beasts of the earth.
²³For you shall be in league with the stones of the field,
and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with you.
²⁴You shall know that your tent is at peace,
and you shall inspect your fold and miss nothing.
²⁵You shall know also that your offspring shall be many,
and your descendants as the grass of the earth.
²⁶You shall come to your grave in ripe old age,
like a sheaf gathered up in its season.
²⁷Behold, this we have searched out; it is true.
Hear, and know it for your good.”

Job 5

Also, I started this Bible reading plan about a week ago. Different, but I’m loving it.

Excitement

God’s been laying on my heart a passion for the lost, specifically those around me that I see and interact daily. The past few nights I’ve been sitting in my bed praying for opportunities and God has surely been faithful to provide them. Tonight a guy from my german class, a professed atheist (I guess ‘professed’ isn’t the right word, since it’s a non belief…), willing came to abs. There wasn’t really time to ask how it went after but I hope to ask him tomorrow. I’ve talked to him many a time about what I believe. I pray I am allowing the Holy Spirit to speak. It’s such an encouragement to know I can’t botch the Holy Spirit’s work. Sidenote: I’m also so thankful for guys, like Trey, Brian and Riley, who are willing to demonstrate the love of Christ to him. I”m excited to see how God continues to work through all of us. I pray myself and others will become more aware of those around us who are spiritually dead and desperately in need of our Saviour Jesus Christ.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Romans 1:16

“When my body is healed, and the glory revealed still I can boast only Christ”

²⁶For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. ²⁷But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹so that, as it is written, ”Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Wow. Humbling. Our Almighty God, our El Shaddai, associating with the lowly so that it may bring Him glory.

Adonai

While completing Disciple’s prayer life for the developing prayer team in the student ministry(and hopefully becoming open to any one) we had to write our own 23rd Psalm. The point of it is to illustrate how each of us have a unique relationship with our Creator. Not one is the same! I actually enjoyed writing mine out and I’ll share it here. These were the instructions if some are curious how we had to go about writing it.

Verse 1: who God is in relation to you–two phrases. Verse 2: where He puts you– two phrases. Verse 3: the walk you have with Him–two phrases. Verse 4: potential danger and His protection–three phases. Verse 5: God’s provision–three phases. Verse 6: your future in this special relationship with God–two phrases.

The author of this study, T.W. Hunt, does a fantastic job with this particular book. It’s great. Anyway, here’s mine (my disclaimer, I’m not much of a writer, but this isn’t about rhetoric):

The Lord is my master. I will never cease to serve Him.

His abounding glory puts me on my knees. The Lord is so much greater than I.

You guide me through your will. I follow in submissiveness.

Sin may tempt but my Lord is there for escape. Evil will not conquer light. My strength rests in the Everlasting.

You answer my every prayer. My mind is renewed by you daily. Heaven awaits me as I await your arrival.

My master will not abandon me for He is good; His mercy is never ending. I will stand on the rock always.

Where I’ve Been

Haha, so thanks to DG, I’m updating.

The week after I started this blog I went on week long trip to Rome, Italy. (I went with a group a kids from my school and two teachers as the sponsors. Oh and my dad came ) It was great, to say the least. We hit all the majors sites; The Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon, The Vatican, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish Steps were among those. Then we bussed to Sorrento. On the way we stopped to tour the ruins of Pompeii and to a shop in Naples. While in Sorrento we took a boat to the island of Capri and spent the day there. Capri = so beautiful! I’ll a few pictures so you can see a little of Italy. I love their culture way more than the French (Sorry, molly). Overall a great place to visit. (And I just unintentionally gave a run a down of the trip…)

Going back to school, high school to be specific, was depressing. haha. 8 weeks of school left and I couldn’t be happier. Easter weekend was beautiful. I’m also getting back to biking more. I enjoy taking off and ending up miles from my house. Anyways, that’s my update from the last few weeks. I hope to get back into the habit of posting more.

Oh!  I read Everything is Illuminated a few days ago. I actually really enjoyed it. If you can get past some language, it’s actually a really good novel. Really different, though. It’s one of those books that you’ll either love or hate.

You are telling me who I really am
I’ve been crucified with Christ and I no longer live
but He lives in me and the life I live
in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.

Suggestions

After already having many books on my to read list, I’ve decided to compile an official list. And the reader’s job, if you desire to, is to recommend some books. Maybe just one or two books that you believe are really worth reading. I’m asking now because I’ll be on the plane for a number of hours this coming week and that means prime time reading. I’ll also have many hours to read the Word in semi-quietness. WOO!

To deny Jesus’ message while pursuing spirituality is to conjure an imaginary religion in an attempt to see heaven while sight is confined to the earth.

-Ravi Zacharias, Jesus Among Other Gods

Greetings, World.

I did it. I have a blog. I’m still wondering how it happened, but I’m here to stay. Let’s see how this goes. …I’m a little excited actually. Also, fellow WordPress users, I need help. I’m so confused about how all this works. Any helpful hints are welcome.

I’ll leave this first monumental post with a quote from Charles H. Spurgeon:

The condition of the church may be very accurately gauged by its prayer meetings. So is the prayer meeting a grace-ometer, and from it we may judge of the amount of divine working among a people. If God be near a church, it  must pray. And if he be not there, one of the first tokens of his absence will be a slothfulness in prayer.