All Consuming Passion

This past Friday night of fishing for men was a fruitful one. God blessed us with some good conversations. Regardless of the fact that there were only 3 of us. Our first conversation was with three B-boys (breakdancers). They showed us some of theirs moves, and gave us a break down on dancing.....break dancing that is. So we said that dancing is their passion, pretty much, and they pretty much assured us that it is. We then proceeded to share the Gospel with them, and they listened intently for the most part. We pretty much shared with them our passion; which is Christ, the Gospel. It was a fun and good conversation at the same time!
Yet it got me thinking about something. As a Child of God I can boldly say that He is my passion. Christ & the Gospel are my passion. It's hard to go a day without thinking about Him; and I don't ever want to. I thank God for saving me, and in response to His phenomenal act of saving grace I try hard every day to live, fight, and die for and with this Passion.
He has given me some gifts too, gifts that I don't deserve, gifts I can use to share my All consuming passion, and glorify & honor my Father who saved me from Himself, for Himself, and by Himself.
I could easily say that these gifts; like writing & music for example are God given passion, but no. Now I consider these gifts that I can use to glorify God, and share His glorious mesage of redemption to the lost. So it is now my prayer that God will give me wisdom on how to use these gifts that's He's given me to do just that; to use them for my all consuming passion, which is Christ, and Him crucified!

Untitled

I'm a lying, thieving, murderous, adulterous, rebellious, blaspheming, idolater; and I don't deserve to be breathing the very breath I breathe right at this moment. I deserve nothing but God's wrath, I deserve nothing but to be cast into hell for breaking God's divine law. And God being a just judge would have to see to it that justice is served. Though He is also loving, and forgiving. And the way He displayed His phenomenal love towards me and still be just, seeing that justice is served is by sending His Son, Christ Jesus to take the punishment that I deserved. Christ was beaten, scourged, mocked, forced to carry His cross to the place of execution, and nailed to it. For my sin and the sins of the whole world were placed on Jesus ( "For our sake He made Him who new no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God'--2 Corinthians 5:21. ). Ultimately the Father's wrath was poured out on Him, so that I may be able enter into a relationship with the Father, and spend eternity with Him for time everlasting!
Now I have trusted Him, and continue to trust Him with my life, and I repent from my life of chasing after sin, and my own selfish desires to follow Christ down this narrow road no matter what the cost. Dying to self, taking up my cross daily. "But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count EVERYTHING as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ."
I will see to it that those who haven't heard this good news, from near and afar will hear, that they may come to know Him, that they too may become God's children. Nothing can hinder me from doing so; whether it be persecution, famine, sword, NOTHING! They can pluck out my eyes, cut out my tongue, burn me alive, hang me, shoot me up, behead me, but even in my death may the Gospel of Christ reach the ears that haven't heard! I will keep pressing on, with my eyes fixed on Him seated high above the heavens!
May God my Father be glorified in my this life that is not my own! May He be praised among every tribe nation, and tongue! One day I will be join with my brothers and sisters standing before Him who seated on His throne to worship and praise Him from everlasting to everlasting. But until that day comes I must keep running the race, and keep fighting the good fight! For I am unashamed of Christ and the Gospel!

I Weep Over My Sin

"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself prayed thus: 'God I thanks you that I'm not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift his eyes to heaven, but he beat his breast saying,'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' -- Luke 16:9-14

I must be completely honest here. Every time after I fall into sin, a great overwhelming feeling of grief and brokeness cover me. Why? Cause I have sinned against the One True God, the creator of the universe, my Father! Just the thought of what I've done, whether it was a little lie or having lustful thoughts towards a woman, or using His name flippantly, or whatever will make me put my head in my hands, to my knees, weeping, begging God to forgive me for doing such a wretched thing.
When you weep over your sin that sure sign that you are truly in the faith, that you are a true Christian. Though if you recognizably sin, yet dismiss it saying to yourself "Oh I need to make sure I don't do that again", or something like that then I suggest you read through 1 John to test yourself and see that your in the faith. If you truly are saved then you will hate sin to the point that whenever you fall into sin, you are broken and grieve over it.

"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted."-- Matthew 5:4

I Desire Him!!! cont. (To Know Him Is Life Everlasting)

I wrote this a couple weeks ago which shows how much I desire to know God more.

I have been, and still am to this very moment, unsatisfied with Satisfaction.
Who is this Satisfaction?
He is the God of the Universe.
The One who knows all, sees all, hears all, comprehends all, is control of all things, and holds everything big, small, and inbetween together.
I even heard it once said that, "He saved me from Himself, for Himself, and by Himself".
And it's because of this that have been able to enter into a relationship with Him.
Although I am with Him, and He with me, and though I hear about Him, doesn't mean I fully know Him.
So I say it's time that get to know Him, the one True God, more than what I've been told.
Yes, I long to know from the depths of my soul.
To know Him in every way humanly possible.
I thirst for Him as if I was a well that has been entirely dry for ages.
I long to chase after His heart. Love what He loves. Hate what He hates.
For there is no other I desire, nor long for.
He satisfies me; making me overflow way beyond the brim, yet I still can't get enough of Him.
Less of me, and more of Him.
For to know Him is life everlasting.

I Desire Him!!!!!!

Lately I have had this hunger, desire, this.....longing for God. To hear his voice, see his face, to be near His presence, and dig into His Word and devour it! No such feeling is better!
This song from Remedy Drive comes to mind (boy do I love my music): Get To Know You.

I heard so much of You I wrote a book
Thick with facts of You that I heard were true
The critic read my work and they reviewed
"He wrote of things he heard but never really knew."

I say its time that I get to know You
More than just what I've been told
I say its time that I get to know You
I wanna know from my soul

This is just the first verse and chorus. Yet from what you can see, it's easy to understand what the writer is trying to say. I feel the same way right now! I want to know God more than what I've been told, I wanna know Him from my soul!
Here's the phenomenal thing to ponder. The finite mind of man cannot grasp how GREAT and PHENOMENAL infinite nature and character of God! Even when we get to heaven we still won't be able to grasp it! Yet God being rich in His love and compassion, gives us just teeny bit of crumbs of Himself to us,. And when we receive these crumbs, and devour them, it satisfies us in a way that we have never been satisfied before! Yet we haven't even come anywhere near close of scratching the surface of Him. How insane is that?

I want You, Father
I need You, Father
My heart long for You, Father
All of You Father
Only You Father

'Never Be Ready' pt 2 (This Road That Is Narrow Is The One We Should Follow)

Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter it are MANY. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are FEW.--Matthew 7:13-14

The last phrase in the 2nd verse of Mat Kearney's song 'Never Be Ready' hits home to me as well. this is how it goes: "This road that is narrow is the one we should follow". How true is that? It's oh so relevant to Matthew 7:14. There's two roads in this life; and everybody will take one or the other.

Those who enter by the wide gate want to take the easy way out. Living life however they wish. Selfishly chasing after their own dreams and desires. Though what they don't know is that the end of the easy, smooth road will lead to their destruction as it say in Matthew 7:13. Also notice that there are MANY who chose to enter the wide gate and go down that easy road. It's like a crowd of people walking across a smooth desert ground heading towards a cliff. Many enter this wide gate unaware, or ignoring the fact that the way they chose to go will lead to their death.

Then there are those who enter by the narrow gate, who know that the way is hard, but it leads to life (Matthew 7:14). Yet note what it says at the end of the verse: "and those who find it are FEW". Yes it is sad that too few, way to few enter the narrow gate. It also says that the way is hard; yes those who chose to follow this road know that there will be much sacrifice, toil, hardships, and tears. In Matthew 10, Jesus is instructing and warning his disciples before He sends them out by 2. He tells them how they will be persecuted (Matthew 10:16-25), and also not to fear what man could do to them (Matthew 10:28). This also means that we must die to ourselves, our own fleshly desires every day, take up our cross, and follow Christ (Matthew 16: 24). Letting go of the life you once lived, and embracing the life that He set out front of you to live. Losing your life for the sake of Christ to find true life (Matthew 16:25). This is what happens when you enter the narrow gate. At the end on this hard road is life. Dead to yourself, but alive in Christ.

You're ok here with me
Here in the silence
With all of the violence crashing around
Saying we can't go
Saying we don't know
This road that is narrow
Is the one we should follow

'Never Be Ready' pt 1 (We Aren't Promised Tomorrow)

Mat Kearney has to be my favorite music artists right now. His first CD 'Nothing Left To Lose' is simply unique and phenomenal. His recent release 'City Of Black & White' is a bit different musically, but certainly not a disappointment.

My favorite song on 'City Of Black & White' has got me thinking. The last phrase in the First verse goes like this "We aren't promised tomorrow".

Yes, there are quite a few verses in the Bible that talk about how our lives here on this earth are short. Yet, this phrase in Mat Kearney's "Never Be Ready" really hit me hard, and got me thinking about how this applies to Christians and non-believers alike. Whether you are a Christian, atheist, muslim, agnostic, a Jehovah's witness........or whatever. Young, old, german, canadian, Scottish, Korean, Peruvian, Ethiopian etc. Regardless of how and where you grew up. This phrase applies to every human. on this earth.

So this appiles to Christians, in 2 ways. The first is that we don't know if when we're leaving this place to go home, so this phrase 'We Aren't Proimised Tomorrow' should remind and encourage us not to waste our lives. To live every day to the fullest, givng God our all, glorifying Him in everything we do, and not going through the motions. Read "Don't Waste Your Life" by John Piper. It's such a phenomenal book that has also encouraged me to get down on my hands and and knees and dig in the dirt every day.
The second way the phrase 'We Aren't Promised tomorrow' applies to Christians is by our calling to embrace and obey the Great Commission. The phrase applies to the lost & unsaved. Millions of people die everyday who haven't heard of the gospel. I say this phrase every time I leave to go out somewhere like, running an errand for my mom, work, or out witnessing, so I can be reminded that there are many people out there who haven't heard of the Gospel, and today could be their last day. Also the the importance and cruciality of the Great Commission.

Not all Christians are called to be evangelists, but all Christians are called to evangelize--Paul Washer

This Phrase applies to all non-believers out there too. I can't wait to see or hear the puzzled or confused reaction of a non-believer when I would ask them. "Hey did you know that we aren't promised tomorrow?" I think that it would get them thinking about life after death, and what they are living for, and ultimately draw them to repentance and trusting God with their lives. I wonder......

We Got our feet on the wire
Talking bout flying
Maybe we're diving in over our heads
Scared of what I'm feeling staring at the ceiling here tonight

Come on and lay down these arms
All our best defenses
We're taking our chnaces here on the run
If fear is an anchor
Then time is a stranger
If love isn't borrowed
We aren't promised tomorrow