"So the administrators and the satraps went as a group to the king and said: 'O King Darius, live forever! The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or man during the next thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into the lions' den. Now, O king, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered—in accordance with the laws of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.' So King Darius put the decree in writing.
Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before."
Why is it that I am not thankful enough when living in a free country (which is my own)? Here Daniel is, already exiled from his home country, under intense scrutiny and he's giving thanks. Wait, he just found out that prayer to anyone other than King Darius would result in death by carnivorous lions. And he's still giving thanks. To recap, he's giving thanks, even though he's an exile, and even though it may cost him his life.
You see, I forget that Ephesians 5 says to give thanks for for "everything." Literally, everything. There isn't a lot of wiggle room in that word. I mean, certainly there are things that seem to lend nothing to the idea of thankfulness, but I think the idea is that we realize that God has a plan for us that is better than anything that we can come up with.
God has given me more than I could ever deserve. Do I know why? No. But today, and everyday, thanking Him for that grace will be something I do more often.
11/26/08
11/19/08
the profundity of simplicity.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
~J.R.R. Tolkien.
Some of the most profound statements in life are expressed in the most simple forms.
here are some others to ponder:
"Love your neighbor as yourself."
-Jesus
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
-Jesus
"Love God, and do what you will."
-St. Augustine
~J.R.R. Tolkien.
Some of the most profound statements in life are expressed in the most simple forms.
here are some others to ponder:
"Love your neighbor as yourself."
-Jesus
"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
-Jesus
"Love God, and do what you will."
-St. Augustine
11/18/08
i am not, but i know I AM
"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."
~John 1:14
I just started reading Louie Giglio's book i am not, but i know I AM, and was reminded of this passage from earlier this year when Mark talked about it at CRU. The more i read that sentence, the more and more i realize just how intense it is.
The Word. It stands for everything about Jesus: His character; His purpose; His attributes. But do you see and? Jesus didn't just exist in heaven with all those things. On top of His love, His grace, His truth, His mercy, His kindness...and. And means action. It means that the Son of God left the riches of Heaven to put on skin. He is not a god represented by ideologies and human thought, and the reason why is that He is and He became. He is the only God, and the reason why is that He is the only God who has represented Himself--through Himself--in the human form which He created after Himself.
And. The second one is just as cool. Not only did He come, but He dwelt. He took up residence on the earth He created. On the earth in a tiny corner of a tiny galaxy in a tiny corner of an infinitesimal universe. On the earth filled with a bunch of iamnots who often think much more of ourselves than we ought.
I cannot, nor will I ever be able to grasp this. God dwelt among us. He did it so that you and i could know Him personally. Personally! He dwelt among those He created and thus among those who hated Him. And yet the very reason He left heaven was to die for the very people who hated Him. He came to show grace. And because He shows grace, He gives us the truth. The truth is that He came to give us life. And not only life, but life abundant and full!
do you know the God who created you?
~John 1:14
I just started reading Louie Giglio's book i am not, but i know I AM, and was reminded of this passage from earlier this year when Mark talked about it at CRU. The more i read that sentence, the more and more i realize just how intense it is.
The Word. It stands for everything about Jesus: His character; His purpose; His attributes. But do you see and? Jesus didn't just exist in heaven with all those things. On top of His love, His grace, His truth, His mercy, His kindness...and. And means action. It means that the Son of God left the riches of Heaven to put on skin. He is not a god represented by ideologies and human thought, and the reason why is that He is and He became. He is the only God, and the reason why is that He is the only God who has represented Himself--through Himself--in the human form which He created after Himself.
And. The second one is just as cool. Not only did He come, but He dwelt. He took up residence on the earth He created. On the earth in a tiny corner of a tiny galaxy in a tiny corner of an infinitesimal universe. On the earth filled with a bunch of iamnots who often think much more of ourselves than we ought.
I cannot, nor will I ever be able to grasp this. God dwelt among us. He did it so that you and i could know Him personally. Personally! He dwelt among those He created and thus among those who hated Him. And yet the very reason He left heaven was to die for the very people who hated Him. He came to show grace. And because He shows grace, He gives us the truth. The truth is that He came to give us life. And not only life, but life abundant and full!
do you know the God who created you?
8/2/08
Chains be broken, lives be healed
"Come, let us return to the LORD.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
~Hosea 6:1-3
What an amazing picture of God's grace! Knowing the whole story of Hosea makes this passage even more powerful, because it's an incredible picture of God's unfailing love and grace to His people Israel; the same love and grace He pours on us today.
This is the story of Hosea. He had married a woman named Gomer, and they had two children. Well, Gomer decided that she was done with Hosea. And so she became a prostitute. A prostitute. Can you imagine going through that? Can you imagine just how incredibly sickening it must have been for Hosea to see his own wife choose that lifestyle? I can't. All I can imagine is that that must be one of the very toughest things that could ever happen to anyone.
But the story doesn't end there, and this is where it gets really mind-boggling. Read this:
Wow. Here's Hosea--who for all intensive purposes is a widower because his wife was basically dead to him--making the conscious choice to love her still. And this is no cheap love. It's definitely not romantic, and I suspect it never was from then on. But it was still love, to be sure. He has to buy her back! He doesn't just say, "Oh yeah, I guess I love her, God." No, he has to buy her out of slavery!
The most exciting thing about this is that Jesus did the very same thing. We have prostituted ourselves to anything and everything. We've deliberately forgotten and even forsaken God. Yet He loves us so much that He sent His own willing son to die the death only we deserved. What love is this!
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
After two days he will revive us;
on the third day he will restore us,
that we may live in his presence.
Let us acknowledge the LORD;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth."
~Hosea 6:1-3
What an amazing picture of God's grace! Knowing the whole story of Hosea makes this passage even more powerful, because it's an incredible picture of God's unfailing love and grace to His people Israel; the same love and grace He pours on us today.
This is the story of Hosea. He had married a woman named Gomer, and they had two children. Well, Gomer decided that she was done with Hosea. And so she became a prostitute. A prostitute. Can you imagine going through that? Can you imagine just how incredibly sickening it must have been for Hosea to see his own wife choose that lifestyle? I can't. All I can imagine is that that must be one of the very toughest things that could ever happen to anyone.
But the story doesn't end there, and this is where it gets really mind-boggling. Read this:
The Lord said to me [Hosea], "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods..." So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and 10 bushels of barley.
Wow. Here's Hosea--who for all intensive purposes is a widower because his wife was basically dead to him--making the conscious choice to love her still. And this is no cheap love. It's definitely not romantic, and I suspect it never was from then on. But it was still love, to be sure. He has to buy her back! He doesn't just say, "Oh yeah, I guess I love her, God." No, he has to buy her out of slavery!
The most exciting thing about this is that Jesus did the very same thing. We have prostituted ourselves to anything and everything. We've deliberately forgotten and even forsaken God. Yet He loves us so much that He sent His own willing son to die the death only we deserved. What love is this!
7/19/08
7/15/08
i have been slacking in posting to this blog, and for this i am sorry. by now i've probably already lost the few people who actually read this blog to boredom. While I haven't written, I've been reminded of just how good, how great God always is, and how utterly disappointing I am. Just as I start getting comfortable and used to the status quo, unwilling to put effort into further growth towards my Savior, that is the very moment I have forsaken my first love. John talks to the church at Ephesus about that in Revelation 2. "Remember the height from which you have fallen!"
And yet even in this, the incredible grace of Jesus shines through. For whenever you or I realize that we have indeed forsaken our first love of the Redeemer, whenever we seek to re-climb the height from which have fallen, so the Father graciously greets us back into His open arms. Like the parable of the prodigal son, He actually runs to welcome us back into fellowship with Himself. I think that we sometimes forget this, at least I do. There is no end to God's grace. It is infinite.
David was a man who understood this concept very well, however. He experienced intense breaks in his fellowship with God, and yet he always rushed back to the One who created him and loved him. To sort of sum all my thoughts, I think what David wrote in Psalm 139 is perfect. We can't hide from God, so why not embrace Him?
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
And yet even in this, the incredible grace of Jesus shines through. For whenever you or I realize that we have indeed forsaken our first love of the Redeemer, whenever we seek to re-climb the height from which have fallen, so the Father graciously greets us back into His open arms. Like the parable of the prodigal son, He actually runs to welcome us back into fellowship with Himself. I think that we sometimes forget this, at least I do. There is no end to God's grace. It is infinite.
David was a man who understood this concept very well, however. He experienced intense breaks in his fellowship with God, and yet he always rushed back to the One who created him and loved him. To sort of sum all my thoughts, I think what David wrote in Psalm 139 is perfect. We can't hide from God, so why not embrace Him?
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!
7/2/08
"Why were we created? Was it that we deserved to be created? How can nothing deserve something? There was a time when there was no human race. How therefore could a human race that hadn't existed deserve something? How could a man that wasn't yet created earn anything or pile up any merit? It couldn't be so. God out of His goodness created us. Why were we not destroyed when we sinned? The only answer is that God of His goodness spared us. The cordial, kind-intentioned God spared us.
Why would God the Eternal Son bleed for us? The answer is, out of His goodness and lovingkindness. 'Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings' (Psalm 36:7). Why would God forgive me when I've sinned and then forgive me again and again? Because God out of His goodness acts according to that goodness and does what His loving heart dictates that He do."
That last question is one that we all would do well to ask of ourselves daily. Why would God forgive me when I've sinned and then forgive me again and again? The goodness of God is infinite and perfect. It has no beginning and no end, no height and no depth. It touches every atom in His vast universe and comes to rest in the hearts of men who allow it. Do you realize the implications of that? Do you understand how much that can impact a life? Yet it goes much deeper. In His goodness, it follows that God would be just and righteous. It follows that He has plans for us. What I'm saying is this: to realize (as much as our earthly minds can) the idea of God's goodness, there is a required reverence that believes in the miracle of His love and the necessity of His wrath. They are both equally perfect and eternal. To be less loving or less just would cause a forfeiture of His deity.
6/24/08
He is not small.
This little cheap god we've made up is one you can pal around with--"the Man upstairs," the fellow who helps you win baseball games. That god isn't the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He isn't the God who laid the foundations of the heaven and the earth; he's some other god....He's not the true God. He's not the infinite perfect, all-knowing, all-wise, all-loving, infinitely boundless, perfect God. He's something short of that. Christianity is decaying and going down into the gutter because the god of modern Christianity is not the God of the Bible. I don't mean to say that we do not pray to God; I mean to say that we pray to a god short of what he ought to be. We have got to think of God as being the perfect One.
~A.W. Tozer
That's convicting. At least it is to me. What's the use in claiming to follow a god if he isn't really God. THE God. Sure I'll tell you that God answers prayer and that He's faithful to keep His promises, but then I'll turn right around and neglect to give financially because I'm in a pinch. Last time I checked, God promises to meet our needs. The problem is that my mouth says one thing, but my heart follows my brain, which tells me I need to keep that money to myself and get myself out of my own bind. Personal pronouns abound. And there is a stench. I suppose when you and I stop focusing so much on our carnal selves and start giving God some attention and respect--fear even--then we will start seeing Him work in huge ways. You see, we can't limit God's attributes or characteristics, but we can to a certain extent limit how He impacts our lives. He won't force us to be blessed. He won't do big things in our lives if we make Him small in our eyes.
6/18/08
Kobe Bryant
if anyone ever compares Kobe Bryant to Michael Jordan ever again, I think I will kick them in the achilles tendon. He does not win championships (his three rings are due to the presence of Shaq). He scores points when it doesn't matter. He plays defense only when he feels like it. He licks his lips in a disturbing fashion wayyyy too often and I wonder how much chapstick he must use. Must i go on? I'm sorry, but i had to write that. Go Celtics.
6/17/08
I have no title for this post.
there is nowhere I can go
where You are not with me
and the beat of my heart
is for You and You only
I have nothing to offer You,
Savior, You are my everything
I have nothing to give You, Lord
But the life that You've given me
my soul cries out to You,
Mighty Conqueror of the grave
I am thirsty! Living Water
Come and fill me!
These eyes of mine are weak
But they are looking for You
O Lion of Judah, return
Rule Your Kingdom on this earth
That's all. just a little song/poem that came to me. Sometime i might put music to it. If anyone that reads this (and i don't know if there's enough of you to go past the fifth digit of my left foot to count you) ever has anything you've written--whether poetry or lyrics or prose or anything--i would be extremely happy to read it. Furthermore, I enjoy reading anything, so if there are blogs that you read or books or anything, I would love to get info about them. It would give me more to write this thing about.
goede nacht.
where You are not with me
and the beat of my heart
is for You and You only
I have nothing to offer You,
Savior, You are my everything
I have nothing to give You, Lord
But the life that You've given me
my soul cries out to You,
Mighty Conqueror of the grave
I am thirsty! Living Water
Come and fill me!
These eyes of mine are weak
But they are looking for You
O Lion of Judah, return
Rule Your Kingdom on this earth
That's all. just a little song/poem that came to me. Sometime i might put music to it. If anyone that reads this (and i don't know if there's enough of you to go past the fifth digit of my left foot to count you) ever has anything you've written--whether poetry or lyrics or prose or anything--i would be extremely happy to read it. Furthermore, I enjoy reading anything, so if there are blogs that you read or books or anything, I would love to get info about them. It would give me more to write this thing about.
goede nacht.
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