Fellow Readers,
If this is your first time stumbling onto my little blog thingy here, then I welcome you. If this is not your first time, then welcome back. As those of you who read my last post, you will know that it has been over a year since I last banged out one of these entries. You may be thinking to yourselves (or to anyone else with you, I don not know who is around you presently, nor have the jurisdiction to disallow you to think aloud with them upon your pondering), "Why has it been so long? Why is he posting now? Why hasn't he kept up with this blog more often? Why does he think I have so many questions?" Well friends (and those of you I have never met), the answer to those questions is simple: I am not who I was back then. What? Yes, I am still Andrew, and I still have the same wonderful writing style (and the same arrogance), but something has changed: Back then, one could have met me and felt there was something different about me. One might have thought there was something there they wanted, something more in life. That something, actually someone, was Jesus. No, I have not stopped believing in Him, nor has He left me. But something has changed. If I am entirely honest with you all, as well as I myself, I find I am not pursuing Him as I should be. Well, pretty much not pursuing Him in general. Wow, that sounds crazy, but I am forced to agree with it. It is embarassing actually. For those of you who know me personally, know that I am a Christian and, in general, want to live a life according to His word. However, my life does not reflect that. I am faking out my life to resemble what living my life in accordance with Him would look like. I go to a campus ministry every week; I pray when I wake up, before I eat, before I go to bed, and whenever for whatever in between; I do not curse or cuss; I do not go party and get drunk or have sex or any of the sort; I even have been co-leading a Bible study. Some of you may think, "Gee Andrew, that sounds good to me. Maybe you are just being hard on yourself. We all go through down times in our faith, it will be okay." Well, let me digress a little bit here.
The campus ministry:
I attend Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) here at good ole Tennessee Tech every Wednesday night. I love this ministry and the impact it has had in my college career. I have met so many truly amazing people because of RUF. I can go on and on about what RUF has done for me and my experiences in it. Nevertheless, it seems like this semester I have been fronting myself with this facade of a "good" Christian. Honestly, I go there out of routine now more so than for the teaching. I go there to hang out with people before and after. I go there so people know I believe. But, for some reason I do not pay attention to the message. It is like I am out to eat, but only eat the free chips or rolls and then hit up the dessert at the end, but don't have any entree.
The praying:
It is true that I pray all of those times I mentioned previously, but often times I find them to be empty banter. What do I mean? Well, at night before I go to bed, I often find myself in this routine of a prayer that I do just because I feel like I should. It is usually a half-hearted checklist of points I need to hit in the prayer. I even just wonder off in my thoughts for minutes at a time, completely tabling my prayers for careless thought about trivial things. This all may sound extreme to be hard on myself
about this, but it's just another example of how I continually put myself first.
The extra-curriculars:
Like I said a little higher up on the page, I do not do those things that could lead to trouble. Even so, I may not physically be undressing women, but I do plenty of that with my eye-OFTEN. It is rare for a pretty girl to walk by and me not give her the "once-over." I also gander at pornography (there, I said it. I contemplated putting that in here for a while, but it is "Honesty Hour," and if I am to humble myself, I cannot leave out things just because I am afraid of what people might think.) off-and-on. What I want in life, above almost everything else, is to find my clichéd "soul mate." Yet, I cannot respect her, or women in general, to stop gazing on them inappropriately. I cannot respect them enough for that. I am sorry women, you deserve way more than that. You all are the most beautiful things God put on this earth and we men are lucky to have you here.
The Bible study:
When the semester began, our campus minister asked a few of us to lead Bible study small groups this semester. I immediately accepted and was ecstatic, because I had not been reading my Bible and thought it would force me to read it. I mean, how can you lead a Bible study and not read at least the passages you will be covering, right? Well, too often I find myself not reading until the day of, or just not reading at all. At the study, I would just sit like those who weren't leading it and leave it all to my co-leader. Nothing to harp on there.
So, the reason I have not kept up with this blog is because if I got on here to give some sort of message, I would be a hypocrite because I would not be walking the perverbial walk that coincides with that talk. My hopes, I suppose, are through this, if anyone is feeling these same sort of things can feel free to talk to me. I can obviously relate. Also, by putting this out there on the interweb, I can start making changes in my life. They always say admitting the problem is the first step. I just admitted those problems to the whole world, so maybe that will encourage me. I hope I did not offend anyone with this post or come off as trying to point a spotlight on me, or as any sort of formal invitation to a pitty party hosted by yours truly. By lighting the darkness in my heart can only reveal the true sin within, while also illuminating how much grace has truly atoned. Thank you all so much
for reading.
Signing off.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
So Much School Work, So Little Motivation
Fellow Readers,
Looking back on previous posts, I will refrain from my self-made cliche of "it's been so long since my last post. How are yall?" Instead...Hey everyone! An extended length of time has passed since my previous entry of words onto this here World Wide Web. How has my audience been? In all seriousness, it really has been an incredibly long time since my last post. School has been in full session for a couple of months now and it is brutal. It seems to me this year has been rough on everybody so far. The teachers must have convened over the summer and made a pact to give many more tests and readings than before. This is no joke people! However, it is going pretty well until this point. I am currently passing all of my classes, so all is good on the home front. Speaking of the home front, my dad is now currently residing in Peoria, Arizona! He was unemployed from April 3 of this year until the middle of July. God is the only reason we made it through that time and we are so thankful for Him and providing dad with a job. Mother, although, is still at home in Hendersonville. Needless-to-say she misses him. We all miss him. But, that is where God is using him right now and we must fully trust in His plan for our family. I would like to thank everyone who prayed for him to find a job. Anywho, he tries to come home once-a-month to visit with everybody, plane tickets aren't too cheap ya know. The anecdote part is quite short today ladies and gentlemen. Please forgive me of my lack of a whimsical tale today. I know all of yall just live to hear my stories, but I'm just really excited to get to my message!
The Message:
I am going a couple of directions with this message. First off, I've been talking with or have heard from a few people about the mistakes they have made in their pasts or what have you and how it is eating at them. We've all made mistakes. We all will continue to make mistakes. That's who we are. Our hearts are of sin. We are sinners. But, we are forgiven. Christ died for us. We are redeemed through Him. What does this mean for us? It means that nothing we have done matters. The past is the past, and it is not held against us. If we do not let it go, or think we don't deserve Jesus or that we have to compensate for our wrongs, then what did Jesus die for? His death was enough. It was enough. To cover all of our sins, past, present, and future. There are no exceptions. His grace is enough. 1 Corinthians 15:57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So what is next? Trust in Him! Give it to Him! All of it, good, bad, all to Him. Psalms 34:17-19 Yes, the Lord hears the good man when he calls to Him for help, and saves him out of all his troubles. The Lord is close to those whose heart is breaking; He rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins. The good man does not escape all troubles - he has them, too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one.
Secondly, we should pray that God reveals our sin to us. Pray that He would open your eyes to the darkest parts of your hearts to see how dirty we really are. Why? So that in doing so, it would truly open our eyes and hearts to see how amazing amd sustaining His grace is. How powerful it is that He would forgive us for everything we have done. He loves us no matter what. I love that song by Sidewalk Prophets, "You Love Me Anyway." Its message is so powerful, and so simple-He loves us no matter what. "I am Judas's kiss, but You love me anyway. I am the man who yelled out from the crowd, for Your blood to be spilled on this Earth shaken ground and I turned away with a smile on my face, with this sin in my heart tried to bury your grace...but You love me anyway..." How great is that? Those are arguably the worst acts we could have done, yet He loves us still! He loves us! We need to humble ourselves, then, knowing that He will love us anyways. Far too often, I find myself thinking of just the obvious sins in my life and how much worse other people are than me. But as I have prayed that He lightens the dark of my heart so I can see how screwed up I really am, I've become so much more aware of my sins and truly have to give thanks to God for sending His son to die for us, for me, so that I can be forgiven. If I am honest with myself, I am dirty. I lie, I cheat, I'm an adulterer, I degrade women, I strive for women, I am a hypocrite, I judge others for their sins over mine, I pursue God half-heartedly at best, I talk the talk but don't walk the walk, I love to sin. I am a sinner. But, His grace is enough. I encourage everyone to search the depths of your hearts. It sucks to think of it, but then it's so rewarding and fulfilling when you then think of how great it is that we are forgiven for every bit of it and that our Father loves us anyways. He loves us so much, He sent His only son to die for us. That's a crap ton of love. I mean, that is a lot of love! So trust in Him and seek him! Thank you all for reading.
Signing off.
The Message:
I am going a couple of directions with this message. First off, I've been talking with or have heard from a few people about the mistakes they have made in their pasts or what have you and how it is eating at them. We've all made mistakes. We all will continue to make mistakes. That's who we are. Our hearts are of sin. We are sinners. But, we are forgiven. Christ died for us. We are redeemed through Him. What does this mean for us? It means that nothing we have done matters. The past is the past, and it is not held against us. If we do not let it go, or think we don't deserve Jesus or that we have to compensate for our wrongs, then what did Jesus die for? His death was enough. It was enough. To cover all of our sins, past, present, and future. There are no exceptions. His grace is enough. 1 Corinthians 15:57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ. So what is next? Trust in Him! Give it to Him! All of it, good, bad, all to Him. Psalms 34:17-19 Yes, the Lord hears the good man when he calls to Him for help, and saves him out of all his troubles. The Lord is close to those whose heart is breaking; He rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins. The good man does not escape all troubles - he has them, too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one.
Secondly, we should pray that God reveals our sin to us. Pray that He would open your eyes to the darkest parts of your hearts to see how dirty we really are. Why? So that in doing so, it would truly open our eyes and hearts to see how amazing amd sustaining His grace is. How powerful it is that He would forgive us for everything we have done. He loves us no matter what. I love that song by Sidewalk Prophets, "You Love Me Anyway." Its message is so powerful, and so simple-He loves us no matter what. "I am Judas's kiss, but You love me anyway. I am the man who yelled out from the crowd, for Your blood to be spilled on this Earth shaken ground and I turned away with a smile on my face, with this sin in my heart tried to bury your grace...but You love me anyway..." How great is that? Those are arguably the worst acts we could have done, yet He loves us still! He loves us! We need to humble ourselves, then, knowing that He will love us anyways. Far too often, I find myself thinking of just the obvious sins in my life and how much worse other people are than me. But as I have prayed that He lightens the dark of my heart so I can see how screwed up I really am, I've become so much more aware of my sins and truly have to give thanks to God for sending His son to die for us, for me, so that I can be forgiven. If I am honest with myself, I am dirty. I lie, I cheat, I'm an adulterer, I degrade women, I strive for women, I am a hypocrite, I judge others for their sins over mine, I pursue God half-heartedly at best, I talk the talk but don't walk the walk, I love to sin. I am a sinner. But, His grace is enough. I encourage everyone to search the depths of your hearts. It sucks to think of it, but then it's so rewarding and fulfilling when you then think of how great it is that we are forgiven for every bit of it and that our Father loves us anyways. He loves us so much, He sent His only son to die for us. That's a crap ton of love. I mean, that is a lot of love! So trust in Him and seek him! Thank you all for reading.
Signing off.
Monday, June 18, 2012
"I Grew Up On VCR's. That Was My Time."
Fellow Readers,
Oh how it has been a while...Last post was in February! I cannot believe how the time has flown. For those of you who are seasoned readers of mine, you know I like to catch you all up on anything exciting or weird that has gone on in my life since the last post. I feel like it is safe to say that five months of catching up would just be ridiculous. So, I will just talk a little about Father's Day and maybe a couple of big things that have happened. Okay. One thing I talked about last time was unsuccessfully breaking into a pool on campus after hours. Well, we eventually did it! It was magical. We swam for a little bit, and even ended up with a canoe in it! Totally worth it. Another exciting thing to happen, is that my sister and I signed our lease on the apartment we will be living in next semester at school! I have also decided that I am switching my major from Math Teacher to either a History Teacher or a guidance counselor. I can't decide yet. Other than that, I can't think of anything else worth mentioning that would keep you all on the edge of your seats here. On to Father's Day. If you are reading this and are, or have been, or are in the process of becoming a father, Happy Father's Day! I apologize for my tardiness. Anyways, we celebrated our Pops by making him a feast of a breakfast filled with, not one, but two types of pancakes; french toast; bacon; sausage; eggs; and biscuits. Mm mmm...it was so good. Afterwards, we ventured into our past through home videos. This was not a planned event, nor even really related to Father's Day. The truth is, we just recently acquired a VCR/DVD/Recorder/Copier machine from a grand of a yard sale. After about a decade since our last one, we were extremely excited to be able to watch any of our plentiful, and dusty, VHS's-including home videos. The adventure started two nights ago in the middle of the night with my sisters and me. We were so pumped about our freshly purchased "time machine," so we decided we should hook it up and get the movies going. Well, like I mentioned, it has been a while... We tried, for two hours, hooking that thing up. We googled manuals for it and everything, but we just couldn't get the picture to work. We must have had nine different combinations of cables and hook-ups before we gave up-completely deflated. So then came yesterday, and Father. We grudgingly explained our failures to him and he chuckled a little bit and said, "Let me look at it." We laughed at that. This is a guy who never follows any instructions, thinks he can fix everything, rarely fixes anything, and who's last resort is the ever-so-popular beating method-as if hitting the contraption will fix it. So, he messes with it, and after a few minutes, has a video running in it and a picture on the screen. We were flabbergasted. Astonished, we tried to figure out how on Earth he got it so quickly, after our combined efforts on a piece of technology so simple compared to what we have nowadays failed. And his response, "I know VCR's, man. I grew up on VCR's. That was my time. Ever since '82." He was thinking one thing...."Winning!!" We were happy for him, though, and even happier for some home movies! We went from the marriage of the parentals, all the way up til about the time we reached that age where just watching us run around the back yard is exciting and new enough to want to capture it on film. It was awesome. We were all such dorks back then-and still are. It ended up being one of the best Father's Days of recent memory.
Message:
After watching those videos yesterday, it just really made me think about family and friends, and how blessed I am to have such great people in my life and to have the opportunity to spend time with them whenever I want. Looking back at our childhood(and I had known this already), our family was not made of money. But, our parents worked hard for everything they got and gave everything they had and then some, to lavish us with presents and make us happy. It made me so happy to look back and really understand how willing they were to sacrifice and how much they did. It made me proud to call them my parents-not that I wasn't proud before, it just refreshed my mind about it. "Where are you going with this Andrew?...." My point is: seeing how happy it made me to see how happy and willing they were to sacrifice and just give and love us, made me think about how much Jesus loves us, and how much he sacrificed for us, and how willing he was through all of it. And it just made me even happier and more excited, and brought me to tears. To that point, how happy does it make you to think about that? With it just being Father's Day, think about how much you love your dad and everything he gave you and how much he has loved you. Now how much greater is that feeling to know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us even more, and sacrifices and gives us even more?!! I urge you to just take time and think about that and just say thanks to our Father. Thank you for reading. Signing off.
Oh how it has been a while...Last post was in February! I cannot believe how the time has flown. For those of you who are seasoned readers of mine, you know I like to catch you all up on anything exciting or weird that has gone on in my life since the last post. I feel like it is safe to say that five months of catching up would just be ridiculous. So, I will just talk a little about Father's Day and maybe a couple of big things that have happened. Okay. One thing I talked about last time was unsuccessfully breaking into a pool on campus after hours. Well, we eventually did it! It was magical. We swam for a little bit, and even ended up with a canoe in it! Totally worth it. Another exciting thing to happen, is that my sister and I signed our lease on the apartment we will be living in next semester at school! I have also decided that I am switching my major from Math Teacher to either a History Teacher or a guidance counselor. I can't decide yet. Other than that, I can't think of anything else worth mentioning that would keep you all on the edge of your seats here. On to Father's Day. If you are reading this and are, or have been, or are in the process of becoming a father, Happy Father's Day! I apologize for my tardiness. Anyways, we celebrated our Pops by making him a feast of a breakfast filled with, not one, but two types of pancakes; french toast; bacon; sausage; eggs; and biscuits. Mm mmm...it was so good. Afterwards, we ventured into our past through home videos. This was not a planned event, nor even really related to Father's Day. The truth is, we just recently acquired a VCR/DVD/Recorder/Copier machine from a grand of a yard sale. After about a decade since our last one, we were extremely excited to be able to watch any of our plentiful, and dusty, VHS's-including home videos. The adventure started two nights ago in the middle of the night with my sisters and me. We were so pumped about our freshly purchased "time machine," so we decided we should hook it up and get the movies going. Well, like I mentioned, it has been a while... We tried, for two hours, hooking that thing up. We googled manuals for it and everything, but we just couldn't get the picture to work. We must have had nine different combinations of cables and hook-ups before we gave up-completely deflated. So then came yesterday, and Father. We grudgingly explained our failures to him and he chuckled a little bit and said, "Let me look at it." We laughed at that. This is a guy who never follows any instructions, thinks he can fix everything, rarely fixes anything, and who's last resort is the ever-so-popular beating method-as if hitting the contraption will fix it. So, he messes with it, and after a few minutes, has a video running in it and a picture on the screen. We were flabbergasted. Astonished, we tried to figure out how on Earth he got it so quickly, after our combined efforts on a piece of technology so simple compared to what we have nowadays failed. And his response, "I know VCR's, man. I grew up on VCR's. That was my time. Ever since '82." He was thinking one thing...."Winning!!" We were happy for him, though, and even happier for some home movies! We went from the marriage of the parentals, all the way up til about the time we reached that age where just watching us run around the back yard is exciting and new enough to want to capture it on film. It was awesome. We were all such dorks back then-and still are. It ended up being one of the best Father's Days of recent memory.
Message:
After watching those videos yesterday, it just really made me think about family and friends, and how blessed I am to have such great people in my life and to have the opportunity to spend time with them whenever I want. Looking back at our childhood(and I had known this already), our family was not made of money. But, our parents worked hard for everything they got and gave everything they had and then some, to lavish us with presents and make us happy. It made me so happy to look back and really understand how willing they were to sacrifice and how much they did. It made me proud to call them my parents-not that I wasn't proud before, it just refreshed my mind about it. "Where are you going with this Andrew?...." My point is: seeing how happy it made me to see how happy and willing they were to sacrifice and just give and love us, made me think about how much Jesus loves us, and how much he sacrificed for us, and how willing he was through all of it. And it just made me even happier and more excited, and brought me to tears. To that point, how happy does it make you to think about that? With it just being Father's Day, think about how much you love your dad and everything he gave you and how much he has loved you. Now how much greater is that feeling to know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us even more, and sacrifices and gives us even more?!! I urge you to just take time and think about that and just say thanks to our Father. Thank you for reading. Signing off.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
"Quick, Youtube How to Pick a Lock With a Bobby Pin." "Have You Seen the Ultimate Dog Teaser Video?"
Fellow readers,
Howdy! How has everyone been? I hope everybody is doing well in school right now-if you are in school. If you are not in school, then I also hope that your lives are going well...as well. How am I doing?(I know you guys were dying to ask me that.) Just as I typed that, I found out that a pillow works just as well as one of those laptop desk thingies. To answer your inquiry, I am doing very well. Thank you for asking. A lot has happened since we last parted. One unusual, yet good, thing that happened-I read a book! "Wow, that's good Andrew. We are so proud of you for being able to read." Sadly, that is what a lot of people who know me well thought when I mentioned this to them. I believe my mom even said, "What is that, like the first book you've ever read?" Close! It is no surprise to those who know me, I do not like to read. And yes, I have read more than just that one book. However, you can probably count on one hand the books I have read for pleasure, not for school(which I never read any of those anyways...oh the joys of the American school system, that you could be saved by an easy standardized test and pass your English classes without ever reading the books mandated and stressed throughout the semester.). But, the book is, Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working, by Craig Groeschel. Long story short, quote-unquote, normal, in today's society is premarital sex, partying, drinking, POLO by Ralph Lauren, iPads, texting, etc., etc., etc. The list goes on and on and on. But it very rarely includes: spending time with family, taking the time to study your Bible, praying, loving strangers, serving others, not being afraid to share your religion, saying, "no" to your friends when you feel like you shouldn't be doing what they want you to(could be anything, even saying no to dinner with them if you are trying to save money for stuff). I will hold the list at that. These things, when people see them, are weird. Anyways, the book just talks about how we get caught "following the beaten path," rather than full-force, seeking God's face and living a life for him. It is very well-written and funny, so I definitely encourage it. And I mean, if I read it for fun, anyone should be able to enjoy it. Moving on. So far this semester I have: attempted breaking and entering on campus to try to sneak into the pool after hours(probably shouldn't admit to that online, but I never actually did it so does that mean free from charges? I had accomplices!), went ghost-hunting in Monterey, TN, skipped my Friday class every Friday so far, made a putt-putt hole in my dorm room and later won the putt-putt game, stayed up countless times till at least three or four A.M. and then drug myself to class that day, got my fingers printed and a background check done-completely unrelated to the before-mentioned B&E, and that's just the beginning! For the rest of February I have Valentine's Day, two Math tests, The NEEDTOBREATHE concert, my girlfriend's play(she is a thespian), and helping lead a new campus ministry called Manna that starts up the 10th. I'm so excited and anxious for what God has in store for me this semester and am so blessed already! So that about wraps it up for the catch-up session. Now time for the message.
Message:
I already touched a little bit, while talking about the book, about not conforming to what is the standard in today's world. That's what inspired the title of this blog. We need to be the generation that cares more about our life with Christ, than what is "in." But, that is not my message today. My message today is just a simple one. I was studying my Bible today and read about the crucifixion of Jesus. This just really resonated with my this time while reading it, because of how much my relationship has grown with Him recently. It almost brought me to tears reading it. How they traded him for a criminal, with no reasoning other than His example made them feel bad about how they were living their lives. How they flogged Him and mocked Him, and were just incredibly and inconceivably cruel to Him. And He did it all for us! He endured it all for us!! So that we could be saved! So we could live a life worth living! How could you not just want to do everything you can to please someone who would do that for you? So, if you find yourself questioning, like I have myself before, "Why should I try so hard to live a 'good' Christian life? I know I'm saved." or "I'll do that, even though I know it's wrong, and will just ask for forgiveness afterwards. We are forgiven for our sins right?" The answer is simple: we are saved by His blood and forgiven for all our sins before we even commit them; but, why not do everything we possibly can to please someone who loves us so much? It becomes less of a burden, or task, when we realize how much He sacrificed and how much He loves us, and it becomes more and more of us showing how much we love Him!! Thank you all for reading, and I hope this will inspire you guys to become weird!
Signing off.
Howdy! How has everyone been? I hope everybody is doing well in school right now-if you are in school. If you are not in school, then I also hope that your lives are going well...as well. How am I doing?(I know you guys were dying to ask me that.) Just as I typed that, I found out that a pillow works just as well as one of those laptop desk thingies. To answer your inquiry, I am doing very well. Thank you for asking. A lot has happened since we last parted. One unusual, yet good, thing that happened-I read a book! "Wow, that's good Andrew. We are so proud of you for being able to read." Sadly, that is what a lot of people who know me well thought when I mentioned this to them. I believe my mom even said, "What is that, like the first book you've ever read?" Close! It is no surprise to those who know me, I do not like to read. And yes, I have read more than just that one book. However, you can probably count on one hand the books I have read for pleasure, not for school(which I never read any of those anyways...oh the joys of the American school system, that you could be saved by an easy standardized test and pass your English classes without ever reading the books mandated and stressed throughout the semester.). But, the book is, Weird: Because Normal Isn't Working, by Craig Groeschel. Long story short, quote-unquote, normal, in today's society is premarital sex, partying, drinking, POLO by Ralph Lauren, iPads, texting, etc., etc., etc. The list goes on and on and on. But it very rarely includes: spending time with family, taking the time to study your Bible, praying, loving strangers, serving others, not being afraid to share your religion, saying, "no" to your friends when you feel like you shouldn't be doing what they want you to(could be anything, even saying no to dinner with them if you are trying to save money for stuff). I will hold the list at that. These things, when people see them, are weird. Anyways, the book just talks about how we get caught "following the beaten path," rather than full-force, seeking God's face and living a life for him. It is very well-written and funny, so I definitely encourage it. And I mean, if I read it for fun, anyone should be able to enjoy it. Moving on. So far this semester I have: attempted breaking and entering on campus to try to sneak into the pool after hours(probably shouldn't admit to that online, but I never actually did it so does that mean free from charges? I had accomplices!), went ghost-hunting in Monterey, TN, skipped my Friday class every Friday so far, made a putt-putt hole in my dorm room and later won the putt-putt game, stayed up countless times till at least three or four A.M. and then drug myself to class that day, got my fingers printed and a background check done-completely unrelated to the before-mentioned B&E, and that's just the beginning! For the rest of February I have Valentine's Day, two Math tests, The NEEDTOBREATHE concert, my girlfriend's play(she is a thespian), and helping lead a new campus ministry called Manna that starts up the 10th. I'm so excited and anxious for what God has in store for me this semester and am so blessed already! So that about wraps it up for the catch-up session. Now time for the message.
Message:
I already touched a little bit, while talking about the book, about not conforming to what is the standard in today's world. That's what inspired the title of this blog. We need to be the generation that cares more about our life with Christ, than what is "in." But, that is not my message today. My message today is just a simple one. I was studying my Bible today and read about the crucifixion of Jesus. This just really resonated with my this time while reading it, because of how much my relationship has grown with Him recently. It almost brought me to tears reading it. How they traded him for a criminal, with no reasoning other than His example made them feel bad about how they were living their lives. How they flogged Him and mocked Him, and were just incredibly and inconceivably cruel to Him. And He did it all for us! He endured it all for us!! So that we could be saved! So we could live a life worth living! How could you not just want to do everything you can to please someone who would do that for you? So, if you find yourself questioning, like I have myself before, "Why should I try so hard to live a 'good' Christian life? I know I'm saved." or "I'll do that, even though I know it's wrong, and will just ask for forgiveness afterwards. We are forgiven for our sins right?" The answer is simple: we are saved by His blood and forgiven for all our sins before we even commit them; but, why not do everything we possibly can to please someone who loves us so much? It becomes less of a burden, or task, when we realize how much He sacrificed and how much He loves us, and it becomes more and more of us showing how much we love Him!! Thank you all for reading, and I hope this will inspire you guys to become weird!
Signing off.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
A New Year, Some New Jeer!
Fellow readers,
I hope everyone had a great and safe Christmas and New Years! It's not too late to say that is it? We aren't all the way through January yet. I'm going with yes. But, oh man, how January has flown by already! How have you all been? I had a very wonderful Christmas break filled with lots of family time, friends time, and even some time with my girlfriend. You read that correct ladies, I am now taken-you will have to look elsewhere(I say that as if there are lots of ladies who read this blog just dying to date me....). I kid though, but I am super pumped about it! Um, let's see here...what has happened since we last left off. Well, in my last post, I accidentally left out a shout out to my cousin and his wife. My cousin graduated from his basic training for the Air Force in December and now currently resides in California with his wife, going to school out there for his job in the Air Force. We are all SUPER proud of you Adam! I can't wait until the time arises when we can sit down and have a cigar together again. What else? Well, classes have now started back up. I have three math classes this semester, one being Calculus 3 which is all online. There was no specification that this class would be online. Some of you all might be wondering, "Is that a bad thing?" My answer, yes. Since we are dealing with math here, I will give you an equation which exemplifies why this is a bad thing: lazy student who never does homework + class which is nothing but homework taken for a grade = BAD!! The worst part of it is I have to teach it to myself by reading the textbook. It is going to be a very tough task this semester. Some better news: I started a Bible study in my dorm with my RA and neighbor. The inauguration of said Bible study was thursday night. It consisted of my RA and myself. Yeah, the neighbor bailed for to see a movie playing at one of the campus ministries. We forgave him, however. But, it was good! I am so stoked for what God has in store for us this semester and for everything He is already moving in us!
The Message:
Thursday night, at our previously mentioned Bible study, we went over 1 Corinthians 13-"Love is patient. Love is kind..." Love. Love is a very important subject to talk about. Jesus says we should love everyone as our brother or sister, no matter what they have done or done to us. That is a huge thing! According to that, we must love every person who has ever wronged us, ever come in contact with us. How many of you all struggle with this? I know I struggle with this. I know when I see someone who is doing bad things, or just acting immature or anything like that, my first thought is not, "I love you." That is what is so amazing about God. He loves us no matter what we do. No matter what. That is just awesome to think about. There is nothing you can do to make God say, "That was it man, I just don't love you anymore." Isn't that great? Does this mean you should just do whatever you want and feel right about it, because you know He loves you no matter what? No, it does not. I was reading out of a book yesterday(yes, I was reading. I know that is shocking to some people who know me well), called, Love Out Loud, by Joyce Meyer. It said, "God's plan is so simple...He said to receive and give love, to abide(live, dwell, and remain) in it, and make the pursuit of it your lifetime goal. As we do this God is pleased, we have more joy than we can imagine, and we are a success because we live to help others." As Christians, our main focus is living a life pleasing to God. Well that right there is a good start! He wants us to love everyone. So, what is stopping us? That is a question I will be trying to answer this whole semester in our Bible study. I think everyone should stop and think about that for a second. Thanks for reading
Signing off
I hope everyone had a great and safe Christmas and New Years! It's not too late to say that is it? We aren't all the way through January yet. I'm going with yes. But, oh man, how January has flown by already! How have you all been? I had a very wonderful Christmas break filled with lots of family time, friends time, and even some time with my girlfriend. You read that correct ladies, I am now taken-you will have to look elsewhere(I say that as if there are lots of ladies who read this blog just dying to date me....). I kid though, but I am super pumped about it! Um, let's see here...what has happened since we last left off. Well, in my last post, I accidentally left out a shout out to my cousin and his wife. My cousin graduated from his basic training for the Air Force in December and now currently resides in California with his wife, going to school out there for his job in the Air Force. We are all SUPER proud of you Adam! I can't wait until the time arises when we can sit down and have a cigar together again. What else? Well, classes have now started back up. I have three math classes this semester, one being Calculus 3 which is all online. There was no specification that this class would be online. Some of you all might be wondering, "Is that a bad thing?" My answer, yes. Since we are dealing with math here, I will give you an equation which exemplifies why this is a bad thing: lazy student who never does homework + class which is nothing but homework taken for a grade = BAD!! The worst part of it is I have to teach it to myself by reading the textbook. It is going to be a very tough task this semester. Some better news: I started a Bible study in my dorm with my RA and neighbor. The inauguration of said Bible study was thursday night. It consisted of my RA and myself. Yeah, the neighbor bailed for to see a movie playing at one of the campus ministries. We forgave him, however. But, it was good! I am so stoked for what God has in store for us this semester and for everything He is already moving in us!
The Message:
Thursday night, at our previously mentioned Bible study, we went over 1 Corinthians 13-"Love is patient. Love is kind..." Love. Love is a very important subject to talk about. Jesus says we should love everyone as our brother or sister, no matter what they have done or done to us. That is a huge thing! According to that, we must love every person who has ever wronged us, ever come in contact with us. How many of you all struggle with this? I know I struggle with this. I know when I see someone who is doing bad things, or just acting immature or anything like that, my first thought is not, "I love you." That is what is so amazing about God. He loves us no matter what we do. No matter what. That is just awesome to think about. There is nothing you can do to make God say, "That was it man, I just don't love you anymore." Isn't that great? Does this mean you should just do whatever you want and feel right about it, because you know He loves you no matter what? No, it does not. I was reading out of a book yesterday(yes, I was reading. I know that is shocking to some people who know me well), called, Love Out Loud, by Joyce Meyer. It said, "God's plan is so simple...He said to receive and give love, to abide(live, dwell, and remain) in it, and make the pursuit of it your lifetime goal. As we do this God is pleased, we have more joy than we can imagine, and we are a success because we live to help others." As Christians, our main focus is living a life pleasing to God. Well that right there is a good start! He wants us to love everyone. So, what is stopping us? That is a question I will be trying to answer this whole semester in our Bible study. I think everyone should stop and think about that for a second. Thanks for reading
Signing off
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Christmas Time of Year, Brings All Sorts of Strange Cheer
Fellow Readers,
Oh, how it has been quite a while...I am sorry for such a delay. To tell you what has happened since my last post on here would just take days to read. So, I will not tell you anything that has happened... Okay, that would not be fair to all of you who have eagerly been fastened to the edge of your seats. I promise, I will do my very best to sum up, without lolling, what I have experienced in the last month and one half. I last left you at my grandmother leaving for Oregon until the new year. Well, she still is gone. Nothing has changed there. We miss her though! Not a very good start, I know, but lets get out the most un-interesting stuff out first. Another not-so-interesting thing would be my phone broke on the last week of school. The cool thing, though, is that my brother is getting a new phone; so, he graciously gave me his phone which-he likes to remind me-is valued at $400 still. It is in great shape and is pretty much what I would have got in May when I get an upgrade. So, it opens up my birthday present options for me. All-in-all, not a bad deal for me. In other news, the school year finally ended and I am currently enjoying a long awaited month off-not to rub it in to any of you fellow high school students/workers who only get 13 days off.
Exciting Stuff Since Last Entry:
After Thanksgiving, I bought myself a TV for my dorm. Needless to say, studying was definitely put off 'til the last possible moments after that. My roommate was extremely happy for this as well. When I walked in with the TV, his face mimicked that of a little child on Christmas morning. In fact, I recall mentioning something along the lines of, "Christmas came early Michael." Speaking of Christmas, I got a gift from one of my friends that made top five gifts of all times! It was a package of GIANT Reece's Cups! They were the biggest Reece's cups I have ever seen, each weighing a 1/2 of a pound. Words cannot describe how I felt about those. Other exciting things include: ....well not too much exciting stuff has happened since then. It has been a long month or so filled with constant stuff going on at school. I came out with my head above the water and not dropping my GPA too much, thankfully. OH! Something exciting that has happened: my siblings and some friends had a Mustachio Bachio With a Snazzio Touch, Christmas party last Friday night. A mustachio what?? Some of you might be wondering. Well, it was a Christmas party; but, rather than wearing the ever-so-popular ugly Christmas sweater(a craze that's sweeping the nation), we all dressed up in our fanciest of attire, and drank from wine and brandy glasses custom-made by our sister Ashlee(no alcohol was consumed or even near this party). The catch, however, was that everyone either had to grow a mustache, or wear a fake one. Pictures of this amazing party can be found on my facebook page. If you need a link to that, leave a comment following this post. It was a great, great night.
Okay, now the Message:
This may sound like the very standard, maybe boring, message that you always hear, but especially this time of year I feel like we need to really understand this. Every day is a gift from God. Every time something happens that renders a reaction from you resembling, "I can't believe this. This is amazing!!" or just anything awesome that happens; that is a gift from God. Even when you don't think it is something good, God will always take care of you. Every day is truly a blessing. But, are we giving thanks every day? I like to give thanks when I wake up in the morning by saying a quick prayer thanking Him for the day and just asking for everyone to stay safe in their travels and endeavors that day. And I also like to say thanks in my nightly prayer. I feel like staying safe through the day is something to be thankful for. This time of year, most people are expecting to wake up on Christmas day to open gifts, and that's awesome! I am not excluding myself from that. I can't wait 'til Sunday! (wow, so close!) But, what if we treated every day like Christmas? I mean, Christmas is a time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, right? Why limit it to Christmas day? We should celebrate the life of Jesus that is in our hearts, every day! All-in-all, let's not forget that every day is a blessing, and truly appreciate every opportunity we are given, and enjoy the time we get to spend with family. Merry Christmas yall!! Thanks for reading.
Signing off.
Oh, how it has been quite a while...I am sorry for such a delay. To tell you what has happened since my last post on here would just take days to read. So, I will not tell you anything that has happened... Okay, that would not be fair to all of you who have eagerly been fastened to the edge of your seats. I promise, I will do my very best to sum up, without lolling, what I have experienced in the last month and one half. I last left you at my grandmother leaving for Oregon until the new year. Well, she still is gone. Nothing has changed there. We miss her though! Not a very good start, I know, but lets get out the most un-interesting stuff out first. Another not-so-interesting thing would be my phone broke on the last week of school. The cool thing, though, is that my brother is getting a new phone; so, he graciously gave me his phone which-he likes to remind me-is valued at $400 still. It is in great shape and is pretty much what I would have got in May when I get an upgrade. So, it opens up my birthday present options for me. All-in-all, not a bad deal for me. In other news, the school year finally ended and I am currently enjoying a long awaited month off-not to rub it in to any of you fellow high school students/workers who only get 13 days off.
Exciting Stuff Since Last Entry:
After Thanksgiving, I bought myself a TV for my dorm. Needless to say, studying was definitely put off 'til the last possible moments after that. My roommate was extremely happy for this as well. When I walked in with the TV, his face mimicked that of a little child on Christmas morning. In fact, I recall mentioning something along the lines of, "Christmas came early Michael." Speaking of Christmas, I got a gift from one of my friends that made top five gifts of all times! It was a package of GIANT Reece's Cups! They were the biggest Reece's cups I have ever seen, each weighing a 1/2 of a pound. Words cannot describe how I felt about those. Other exciting things include: ....well not too much exciting stuff has happened since then. It has been a long month or so filled with constant stuff going on at school. I came out with my head above the water and not dropping my GPA too much, thankfully. OH! Something exciting that has happened: my siblings and some friends had a Mustachio Bachio With a Snazzio Touch, Christmas party last Friday night. A mustachio what?? Some of you might be wondering. Well, it was a Christmas party; but, rather than wearing the ever-so-popular ugly Christmas sweater(a craze that's sweeping the nation), we all dressed up in our fanciest of attire, and drank from wine and brandy glasses custom-made by our sister Ashlee(no alcohol was consumed or even near this party). The catch, however, was that everyone either had to grow a mustache, or wear a fake one. Pictures of this amazing party can be found on my facebook page. If you need a link to that, leave a comment following this post. It was a great, great night.
Okay, now the Message:
This may sound like the very standard, maybe boring, message that you always hear, but especially this time of year I feel like we need to really understand this. Every day is a gift from God. Every time something happens that renders a reaction from you resembling, "I can't believe this. This is amazing!!" or just anything awesome that happens; that is a gift from God. Even when you don't think it is something good, God will always take care of you. Every day is truly a blessing. But, are we giving thanks every day? I like to give thanks when I wake up in the morning by saying a quick prayer thanking Him for the day and just asking for everyone to stay safe in their travels and endeavors that day. And I also like to say thanks in my nightly prayer. I feel like staying safe through the day is something to be thankful for. This time of year, most people are expecting to wake up on Christmas day to open gifts, and that's awesome! I am not excluding myself from that. I can't wait 'til Sunday! (wow, so close!) But, what if we treated every day like Christmas? I mean, Christmas is a time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, right? Why limit it to Christmas day? We should celebrate the life of Jesus that is in our hearts, every day! All-in-all, let's not forget that every day is a blessing, and truly appreciate every opportunity we are given, and enjoy the time we get to spend with family. Merry Christmas yall!! Thanks for reading.
Signing off.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Sin WILL Not Weigh Me Down...But Halloween Candy Just Might!
Fellow Readers,
Hey there. How are ya'll doin'? I hope all is well. Halloween has come and gone, and now, onto Christmas! Wait, we are forgetting Thanksgiving! It seems that all stores, and a lot of people I know, are thinking about is Christmas. I work at Kirkland's and we literally had our Thanksgiving decorations on sale for 75% off the day of Halloween. Just sad, however, this meant that all the Halloween candy was on sale! You better believe I went out and snagged me some Reece's! Anyways, so tonight was the big "Family and Friends Day" at Kirkland's. This is a fun little debacle that Kirkland's puts on every year around this time as a "sneak peek" of their Christmas decor. The big kicker is it is technically invite only, and that invite gets you 25% off your entire purchase. The whole night-7:00-9:00 PM- there are door prizes and giveaways and all sorts of shenanigans and what nots. Well, my parents, and Ashlee and my grandma, decided-after I asked and suckered them into coming up here-to drive on up to Cookeville(I say up when referring to any place other than Hendersonville, even though Cookeville is directly east of the ole H-Vegas) and see the rest of the crew that go to school up here. It turned out to be a really fun little shebang, actually. This was the last time we, as in my brother and sis that go here with me, get to see the old broad before she leaves us for the holidays-all three of them(Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years)-to go out to Oregon to spend time with our family up there. Some of you may be a little shocked that I would call my grandmother an old broad, but that's the kind of relationship our family has; we make fun of her, she dishes it back out, we are just really close and call each other names and that sort of stuff and I am truly thankful to be so close with all of them. God has truly blessed me with a family that I get to call my best friends and hang out with them a ton and actually thoroughly enjoy hanging out with them. Anywho, back to the elderly lady. This will now be the second time ever that she has left us for the holidays(first being the year before last) and we are truly going to miss her. So she mustered up the energy to drag her butt up here to C-town and say goodbye to her grandchildren, and she surely didn't just pass on that nice little discount she was getting while she was here. My family managed to win three door prizes and Brittnee also managed to be the closest to guessing how many peppermints were in this gumball machine, so she got to take home that sweet lil' gem as well.
The Message:
With this blog, I have been covering sin mostly. When preaching-for lack of a better word-about sin, I can't just speak of it from the outside, or just from the Bible, I must speak from my own personal battles and experiences with sin. I can't just write scripture in this blog and what I think about it with no real life accounts, using the blog as pedestal or something of that nature. I am not without sin. No one is. If we say we are, we are lying. We repent our sins and are forgiven through Jesus Christ, who died to take on our sin. So, here we go. Of recently, I have been in a funk; well, more of a roller-coaster actually. The roller-coaster's name, Righteousness. It seems like I am just fluctuating between leading a good, Christian life and falling into the grasps of sin. I will feel good, reading my Bible, praying, talking with God, loving, really just livin' right, how we are supposed to. I would feel like people could meet me and just know there is something about me, that something being God. But, I've been building myself up on a faulty foundation. Have I been reading my Bible? Yes. But, have I really read it for growth and learning and understanding, or have I just read it to, well, just read it? The answer, sadly, leans towards the latter. I want to read it for all those things, but sometimes I find myself just trying to "get it done," cause that's what you're supposed to do right? Read your Bible everyday? Well, no actually. That is where I've been getting it wrong. You're not supposed to read it everyday; no, you are supposed to STUDY it everyday. Study. So many times-and I say this from me, but also from people who have told me this as well-we find ourselves thinking the first one, reading it. A lot of times, when I am reading out of it(not studying it) it is so easy to get distracted. Not like flat out distracted where I just stop reading it, but it can be as simple as starting to think of something while reading it, continuing to read, but not focus on the word I am reading. I am reading it with a sense of, "Hey, I have to read this chapter for the day, or however much I decided I was going to read, and then I am done." Well there is so many things wrong with that train of thought. First of all, we have the before-mentioned reading not studying mess going on. Secondly, it is almost as if it is a big ordeal to have to read, that I would be counting down the time 'til I am through reading it. Tres-ly(for those Spanish speakers out there), is it really that good to have a preset cap on how much you're going to read? It doesn't sound that good. When I do all this stuff, like I stated earlier, I am building myself on a faulty foundation. That faulty foundation begins to crack, and then the devil seeps into those cracks and starts to spread them 'til it finally breaks all the way. That is what the devil is doing 24/7. He is constantly trying to squeeze himself into any crack possible, anything to tempt us and try to break us. He is crafty, sneaky, venomous, and so many other things. He will put thing after thing in front of you, temptation after temptation. Eventually, if we have built ourselves up on a faulty foundation, he will succeed, and we will crack and fall into sin. I am not removed from this. My weakness, lust. Is this personal? Maybe so, but testimonies aren't just colored pretty and full of goodness all the time. The devil will bring back things from my past; dark times in my life where he previously won, such things as porn, and heavy lusting on every attractive girl I see, things done with a girl or whatever it may be. Why not? He knows I am weak there. I will pray about it and fight it off, but eventually, because I didn't really study what I read, I will break. I give into temptation. Then I am left in defeat. I just went down the big drop in the roller-coaster. I'm left there, wondering why? Why did I let him win? Why was I not strong enough. Well there is the reason why. I am not strong enough, not by myself. I find my strength in the Lord. With him, I am strong enough to defeat blow after blow from the devil. The problem lies when I don't lean on the Lord. When I don't start asking for the strength to overcome the temptation shoved in my face. So my message to you all is: Call on the Lord in everything you do. Call on Him when you are about to do something you've never done before. Call on Him when you are about to take a test, just ask for recollection of what you already have learned. Call on Him to just be with you. Call on Him for guidance. Call on Him for strength. Just call on Him. If we are constantly talking to God, the devil can't whisper in our ear like the snake he is. And if we STUDY our Bible, we will remember what we have read, learned, and we will recall it when the situation arises and we will conquer anything thrown our way. We cannot make it without Him. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."-Phillipians 4:13.
Thanks for reading.
Signing Off.
Hey there. How are ya'll doin'? I hope all is well. Halloween has come and gone, and now, onto Christmas! Wait, we are forgetting Thanksgiving! It seems that all stores, and a lot of people I know, are thinking about is Christmas. I work at Kirkland's and we literally had our Thanksgiving decorations on sale for 75% off the day of Halloween. Just sad, however, this meant that all the Halloween candy was on sale! You better believe I went out and snagged me some Reece's! Anyways, so tonight was the big "Family and Friends Day" at Kirkland's. This is a fun little debacle that Kirkland's puts on every year around this time as a "sneak peek" of their Christmas decor. The big kicker is it is technically invite only, and that invite gets you 25% off your entire purchase. The whole night-7:00-9:00 PM- there are door prizes and giveaways and all sorts of shenanigans and what nots. Well, my parents, and Ashlee and my grandma, decided-after I asked and suckered them into coming up here-to drive on up to Cookeville(I say up when referring to any place other than Hendersonville, even though Cookeville is directly east of the ole H-Vegas) and see the rest of the crew that go to school up here. It turned out to be a really fun little shebang, actually. This was the last time we, as in my brother and sis that go here with me, get to see the old broad before she leaves us for the holidays-all three of them(Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years)-to go out to Oregon to spend time with our family up there. Some of you may be a little shocked that I would call my grandmother an old broad, but that's the kind of relationship our family has; we make fun of her, she dishes it back out, we are just really close and call each other names and that sort of stuff and I am truly thankful to be so close with all of them. God has truly blessed me with a family that I get to call my best friends and hang out with them a ton and actually thoroughly enjoy hanging out with them. Anywho, back to the elderly lady. This will now be the second time ever that she has left us for the holidays(first being the year before last) and we are truly going to miss her. So she mustered up the energy to drag her butt up here to C-town and say goodbye to her grandchildren, and she surely didn't just pass on that nice little discount she was getting while she was here. My family managed to win three door prizes and Brittnee also managed to be the closest to guessing how many peppermints were in this gumball machine, so she got to take home that sweet lil' gem as well.
The Message:
With this blog, I have been covering sin mostly. When preaching-for lack of a better word-about sin, I can't just speak of it from the outside, or just from the Bible, I must speak from my own personal battles and experiences with sin. I can't just write scripture in this blog and what I think about it with no real life accounts, using the blog as pedestal or something of that nature. I am not without sin. No one is. If we say we are, we are lying. We repent our sins and are forgiven through Jesus Christ, who died to take on our sin. So, here we go. Of recently, I have been in a funk; well, more of a roller-coaster actually. The roller-coaster's name, Righteousness. It seems like I am just fluctuating between leading a good, Christian life and falling into the grasps of sin. I will feel good, reading my Bible, praying, talking with God, loving, really just livin' right, how we are supposed to. I would feel like people could meet me and just know there is something about me, that something being God. But, I've been building myself up on a faulty foundation. Have I been reading my Bible? Yes. But, have I really read it for growth and learning and understanding, or have I just read it to, well, just read it? The answer, sadly, leans towards the latter. I want to read it for all those things, but sometimes I find myself just trying to "get it done," cause that's what you're supposed to do right? Read your Bible everyday? Well, no actually. That is where I've been getting it wrong. You're not supposed to read it everyday; no, you are supposed to STUDY it everyday. Study. So many times-and I say this from me, but also from people who have told me this as well-we find ourselves thinking the first one, reading it. A lot of times, when I am reading out of it(not studying it) it is so easy to get distracted. Not like flat out distracted where I just stop reading it, but it can be as simple as starting to think of something while reading it, continuing to read, but not focus on the word I am reading. I am reading it with a sense of, "Hey, I have to read this chapter for the day, or however much I decided I was going to read, and then I am done." Well there is so many things wrong with that train of thought. First of all, we have the before-mentioned reading not studying mess going on. Secondly, it is almost as if it is a big ordeal to have to read, that I would be counting down the time 'til I am through reading it. Tres-ly(for those Spanish speakers out there), is it really that good to have a preset cap on how much you're going to read? It doesn't sound that good. When I do all this stuff, like I stated earlier, I am building myself on a faulty foundation. That faulty foundation begins to crack, and then the devil seeps into those cracks and starts to spread them 'til it finally breaks all the way. That is what the devil is doing 24/7. He is constantly trying to squeeze himself into any crack possible, anything to tempt us and try to break us. He is crafty, sneaky, venomous, and so many other things. He will put thing after thing in front of you, temptation after temptation. Eventually, if we have built ourselves up on a faulty foundation, he will succeed, and we will crack and fall into sin. I am not removed from this. My weakness, lust. Is this personal? Maybe so, but testimonies aren't just colored pretty and full of goodness all the time. The devil will bring back things from my past; dark times in my life where he previously won, such things as porn, and heavy lusting on every attractive girl I see, things done with a girl or whatever it may be. Why not? He knows I am weak there. I will pray about it and fight it off, but eventually, because I didn't really study what I read, I will break. I give into temptation. Then I am left in defeat. I just went down the big drop in the roller-coaster. I'm left there, wondering why? Why did I let him win? Why was I not strong enough. Well there is the reason why. I am not strong enough, not by myself. I find my strength in the Lord. With him, I am strong enough to defeat blow after blow from the devil. The problem lies when I don't lean on the Lord. When I don't start asking for the strength to overcome the temptation shoved in my face. So my message to you all is: Call on the Lord in everything you do. Call on Him when you are about to do something you've never done before. Call on Him when you are about to take a test, just ask for recollection of what you already have learned. Call on Him to just be with you. Call on Him for guidance. Call on Him for strength. Just call on Him. If we are constantly talking to God, the devil can't whisper in our ear like the snake he is. And if we STUDY our Bible, we will remember what we have read, learned, and we will recall it when the situation arises and we will conquer anything thrown our way. We cannot make it without Him. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."-Phillipians 4:13.
Thanks for reading.
Signing Off.
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