Mark Driscoll is awesome!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Prayer
***I originally posted this on May 28th***
It's been a little while since I wrote one of these. To some of you, this may appear repititious but that's alright. I'm writing these just as much for my own benefit as for anyone else's.
I touched on fellowship and time spent reading the Word. Another invaluable asset of the Christian walk is prayer. Unfortunately, it has taken a bad experience in my life to understand the importance of urgent prayer. And I don't know if I've ever come to understand how much God WANTS to answer our prayers. On www.bible.com I looked up the word pray and found 365 references so I can't even begin to put some appropriate scripture verses into this. I'll attempt too but the truth of the matter is, there are so many parts of the Bible that talk about taking our requests to God, thanking God, and just simply talking to him.
In relationships with people around you, you build those relationships on interaction. You can't maintain a friendship with someone that you don't talk too. In this modern age, we use the phone, emails, texts, and even devices like Facebook if face-to-face encounters aren't so easy. I believe that God is more about the relationship than the religion. He wants to be our confidant, our best friend, our mentor, our Father, our companion. The way to build this relationship is too pray.
God wants us to acknowledge him and thank him for what he has done for us. He wants us to talk to him, to bring our requests to him, to ask him for our wants and needs. The problem some people have with this is that God will do what is best for us, our character, and our walk regardless of our desires (I'll touch on this in another devotional).
The point being that prayer is important. Even Jesus prayed to be saved from the burden of being crucified. It does things. It works. God uses our prayers in our own lives to grant our requests. God loves us so much and wants so desperately to answer our prayers. Unfortunately, at times, our prayers do not line up with his plan. The point being that not every prayer will receive the answer that you seek. But if you want a job, will you get it if you don't apply?
James 5:13 "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. "
Luke 22:44 "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."
Psalm 143:1 "O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief."
Psalm 86:6 "Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy."
Psalm 17:6 "I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer."
1 Timothy 2:1 "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—"
Phillipians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
It's been a little while since I wrote one of these. To some of you, this may appear repititious but that's alright. I'm writing these just as much for my own benefit as for anyone else's.
I touched on fellowship and time spent reading the Word. Another invaluable asset of the Christian walk is prayer. Unfortunately, it has taken a bad experience in my life to understand the importance of urgent prayer. And I don't know if I've ever come to understand how much God WANTS to answer our prayers. On www.bible.com I looked up the word pray and found 365 references so I can't even begin to put some appropriate scripture verses into this. I'll attempt too but the truth of the matter is, there are so many parts of the Bible that talk about taking our requests to God, thanking God, and just simply talking to him.
In relationships with people around you, you build those relationships on interaction. You can't maintain a friendship with someone that you don't talk too. In this modern age, we use the phone, emails, texts, and even devices like Facebook if face-to-face encounters aren't so easy. I believe that God is more about the relationship than the religion. He wants to be our confidant, our best friend, our mentor, our Father, our companion. The way to build this relationship is too pray.
God wants us to acknowledge him and thank him for what he has done for us. He wants us to talk to him, to bring our requests to him, to ask him for our wants and needs. The problem some people have with this is that God will do what is best for us, our character, and our walk regardless of our desires (I'll touch on this in another devotional).
The point being that prayer is important. Even Jesus prayed to be saved from the burden of being crucified. It does things. It works. God uses our prayers in our own lives to grant our requests. God loves us so much and wants so desperately to answer our prayers. Unfortunately, at times, our prayers do not line up with his plan. The point being that not every prayer will receive the answer that you seek. But if you want a job, will you get it if you don't apply?
James 5:13 "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. "
Luke 22:44 "And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground."
Psalm 143:1 "O LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief."
Psalm 86:6 "Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy."
Psalm 17:6 "I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer."
1 Timothy 2:1 "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone—"
Phillipians 4:6 "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Devotions
***I originally posted this on May 18th***
In the past, I have blogged about my emotions, my negative thoughts, and my silly little take on this broken world we live in. Some of you might be disappointed but I’m going to start blogging and writing about what God is doing in my life and others’ lives around me. But I will primarily be focusing on myself. I’m sorry if this isn’t what you wanted to be reading but I hope you can take something away from it. I feel like I’m learning so much right now and realizing all the key components to a spiritual walk that has an upward and forward movement, I just had to share it.
This first one is going to be about fellowship and the incredible importance of being around other Believers. (I’m horrible with Bible references but I’m going to try and work on this).
1 John 1:6-7 says “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
My NIV study Bible goes on to explain that Fellowship (Greek koinonia) is the spiritual union of the believer with Christ – as described in the figures of the vine and branches (Jn 15:1-5) and the body and the head (1Co 12:12; Col 1:18) – as well as communion with the Father and with fellow believers.
This is definitely something that I have taken for granted in the past. I was working two jobs, one of them taking up a fairly big chunk of my weekends so I was unable to attend church. My main job was a good one with decent pay. I had a girlfriend and was pretty busy. I had started hanging out with some friends on Wednesday nights and going to Lifeline on Tuesdays, the young career/singles group at my church. Since I hardly had any free time to myself, I decided to cut something out and, of course, I chose Lifeline.
Now, my wrong decision wasn’t cutting out Lifeline. Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes life makes us busy and we can’t make it to some groups or events or whatever. It was a bad choice because I had no other substantial spiritual input in my life. I wasn’t meeting with anybody for accountability, I wasn't going to any Bible studies, and I wasn’t going to church. I had let go of most of those important connections to God that he gives us here on earth.
We have not been designed to make it through this life alone. God gave us people for encouragement, advice, wisdom, leadership, counsel, and understanding. I can’t even begin to list the incalculable benefits from having other Believers to walk alongside.
God has been showing me how invaluable this can be in our lives. 1 Peter 5:8-9 says “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” In the study section it goes on to mention that they are not isolated; they belong to a fellowship of suffering. This has been immensely encouraging to me!
When life hits you hard, it can be so encouraging and uplifting to hear what is going on in other people’s lives. You are not alone in your suffering. God is there for you, through thick and thin, of course, but this is something that is hard to “feel” at times. We need these other people in our lives. Not to mention that it is so comforting to know that there are countless other Believers going through similar things.
God has been bringing so many people into my life that have been such a blessing. We can’t finish this race without these people. Non-Christians and even Christians who are lukewarm can’t do much for us in this aspect. Though these do have a place in our lives, we need the positive atmosphere and benefit from fellowship with other Believers. Even Jesus had this with his disciples.
Ok, I’m going to go watch this Indiana Jones marathon in preparation for the new one coming out!
God loves you and he is always there for you. Never forget that. Until next time…
In the past, I have blogged about my emotions, my negative thoughts, and my silly little take on this broken world we live in. Some of you might be disappointed but I’m going to start blogging and writing about what God is doing in my life and others’ lives around me. But I will primarily be focusing on myself. I’m sorry if this isn’t what you wanted to be reading but I hope you can take something away from it. I feel like I’m learning so much right now and realizing all the key components to a spiritual walk that has an upward and forward movement, I just had to share it.
This first one is going to be about fellowship and the incredible importance of being around other Believers. (I’m horrible with Bible references but I’m going to try and work on this).
1 John 1:6-7 says “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
My NIV study Bible goes on to explain that Fellowship (Greek koinonia) is the spiritual union of the believer with Christ – as described in the figures of the vine and branches (Jn 15:1-5) and the body and the head (1Co 12:12; Col 1:18) – as well as communion with the Father and with fellow believers.
This is definitely something that I have taken for granted in the past. I was working two jobs, one of them taking up a fairly big chunk of my weekends so I was unable to attend church. My main job was a good one with decent pay. I had a girlfriend and was pretty busy. I had started hanging out with some friends on Wednesday nights and going to Lifeline on Tuesdays, the young career/singles group at my church. Since I hardly had any free time to myself, I decided to cut something out and, of course, I chose Lifeline.
Now, my wrong decision wasn’t cutting out Lifeline. Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes life makes us busy and we can’t make it to some groups or events or whatever. It was a bad choice because I had no other substantial spiritual input in my life. I wasn’t meeting with anybody for accountability, I wasn't going to any Bible studies, and I wasn’t going to church. I had let go of most of those important connections to God that he gives us here on earth.
We have not been designed to make it through this life alone. God gave us people for encouragement, advice, wisdom, leadership, counsel, and understanding. I can’t even begin to list the incalculable benefits from having other Believers to walk alongside.
God has been showing me how invaluable this can be in our lives. 1 Peter 5:8-9 says “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.” In the study section it goes on to mention that they are not isolated; they belong to a fellowship of suffering. This has been immensely encouraging to me!
When life hits you hard, it can be so encouraging and uplifting to hear what is going on in other people’s lives. You are not alone in your suffering. God is there for you, through thick and thin, of course, but this is something that is hard to “feel” at times. We need these other people in our lives. Not to mention that it is so comforting to know that there are countless other Believers going through similar things.
God has been bringing so many people into my life that have been such a blessing. We can’t finish this race without these people. Non-Christians and even Christians who are lukewarm can’t do much for us in this aspect. Though these do have a place in our lives, we need the positive atmosphere and benefit from fellowship with other Believers. Even Jesus had this with his disciples.
Ok, I’m going to go watch this Indiana Jones marathon in preparation for the new one coming out!
God loves you and he is always there for you. Never forget that. Until next time…
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