John 8:12 "... I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
Jesus IS the true and ultimate light. He destroys darkness by his brightness. With him, darkness must flee. He shines on and illuminates the path of righteousness when we choose to follow him. When we choose to follow Jesus, by abandoning our way of darkness, and begin traveling life on the road illuminated by Jesus, we are freed from the darkness of sin! Now the next part of this verse is convicting. "Whoever follows me..." I'm not good at grammar, but, what I have been studying shows that this is a present participle. Meaning, it calls for a continuous action. In other words, this verse says "whoever keeps on following." Being a Christian, or a follower of Christ, isn't a one time experience in the altars. It doesn't mean you pray a prayer and boom! you bought your ticket for heaven. Being a Christian is a way of life! Praying and confessing your sins to Jesus and asking him to be The Lord of your life is just step one. It is one thing to find a trail in the woods, and it's a completely different thing to actually take that trail to where it leads. Finding the trail is just step one, you have to get on the trail and follow it to actually follow the trail. That sounds so simple, but why do we treat Christianity any different? We "find" Jesus, and we may get on the trail Jesus lays out for us, but we don't follow it all of the way. We don't keep pushing forward to where God is leading us. Instead, we set up camp at a comfortable spot on the trail of following of Jesus and just stay there. Following Jesus is a continuous way of life. We must keep pressing on the path God has laid out for us! Don't get comfortable where you are at in your walk with Jesus, keep pressing on!
Psalm 42:1 "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
The Universe Sings His Praise
Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Our planet, is 1 million times smaller than the sun. 1 Million! The sun, that huge ball of fire in the sky that when it burps, a solar flare, it shuts down our satellites, is not even the smallest star in our galaxy! There is a star that is so much bigger than the sun, the similarities would be: if the sun was the size of a globe, this star would be the size of earth. Can you imagine this??? We don't even see this star! It's just a small light in the sky on nights that there aren't any clouds. Check this out: There are from anywhere between 200 billion to 400 billion stars in our galaxy. There are just so many that we can only estimate. From any point on earth, the most stars you will ever be able to see, without a telescope, is only 2500. Out of all of the billions of stars in the milky way galaxy, you can only see 2500. Wow. Our Galaxy, is 120,000 light years wide. A light year travels 186,000 miles/second. 120 thousand light years traveling at 186 thousand miles per second. The milky way galaxy is HUGE! Our galaxy, the one thats 120,000 light years wide, is only 1 of 350 billion galaxies. AND THIS IS A CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE! The largest KNOWN galaxy contains 12 trillion stars! The smallest galaxy KNOWN, only contains 10 billion stars. ALL OF THIS, and we can only see with our naked eye 2500 stars. Our God is SO humungous, his love is so deep and wide. It goes beyond all comprehension.
Can I reverse things?
A caterpillar has 248 separate muscles in its head. It has 2000 total. A spider can spin 3 different types of web, while at the same time a special oil comes out of its feet to keep the spider from sticking to its own web. A slug has 4 noses. Some dragonflies can fly at speeds up to 50 miles/hour. I've gotten a speeding ticket for going this fast! There are 35 different species of ants in the world. But catch this: there are 300,000 different species of beetles. The heaviest of all insects only weighs 100 grams.
Our God put in so much detail in things that if you are a boy, you try to find so that you can squish to see it splatter. Does this amaze anyone else besides me? That God would take so much time to shape and form a little insect, just to show US how much he loves us, and cares for us. To show us how creative he is! If he would take this much to shape and mold an insect, how much more does he have a purpose for your life?!
God knows the number of hairs on our heads. He collects our tears in a jar! How can a God this HUGE this ENORMOUS even consider loving a sinner like me? And to think, the same hands that threw the stars into the sky, are the same hands that took nails in them for my sins, and the same breath that breathed out these galaxies is the same breath that breathed life into me. Guys, we serve such an AMAZING God. To think, that i have done nothing at all to deserve his love, yet, he pours it out onto me anyways. One of my favorite songs is "How Deep the Father's Love for Us" I encourage you to click the link and listen to it. How vast and deep is our father's love for us!
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Our planet, is 1 million times smaller than the sun. 1 Million! The sun, that huge ball of fire in the sky that when it burps, a solar flare, it shuts down our satellites, is not even the smallest star in our galaxy! There is a star that is so much bigger than the sun, the similarities would be: if the sun was the size of a globe, this star would be the size of earth. Can you imagine this??? We don't even see this star! It's just a small light in the sky on nights that there aren't any clouds. Check this out: There are from anywhere between 200 billion to 400 billion stars in our galaxy. There are just so many that we can only estimate. From any point on earth, the most stars you will ever be able to see, without a telescope, is only 2500. Out of all of the billions of stars in the milky way galaxy, you can only see 2500. Wow. Our Galaxy, is 120,000 light years wide. A light year travels 186,000 miles/second. 120 thousand light years traveling at 186 thousand miles per second. The milky way galaxy is HUGE! Our galaxy, the one thats 120,000 light years wide, is only 1 of 350 billion galaxies. AND THIS IS A CONSERVATIVE ESTIMATE! The largest KNOWN galaxy contains 12 trillion stars! The smallest galaxy KNOWN, only contains 10 billion stars. ALL OF THIS, and we can only see with our naked eye 2500 stars. Our God is SO humungous, his love is so deep and wide. It goes beyond all comprehension.
Can I reverse things?
A caterpillar has 248 separate muscles in its head. It has 2000 total. A spider can spin 3 different types of web, while at the same time a special oil comes out of its feet to keep the spider from sticking to its own web. A slug has 4 noses. Some dragonflies can fly at speeds up to 50 miles/hour. I've gotten a speeding ticket for going this fast! There are 35 different species of ants in the world. But catch this: there are 300,000 different species of beetles. The heaviest of all insects only weighs 100 grams.
Our God put in so much detail in things that if you are a boy, you try to find so that you can squish to see it splatter. Does this amaze anyone else besides me? That God would take so much time to shape and form a little insect, just to show US how much he loves us, and cares for us. To show us how creative he is! If he would take this much to shape and mold an insect, how much more does he have a purpose for your life?!
God knows the number of hairs on our heads. He collects our tears in a jar! How can a God this HUGE this ENORMOUS even consider loving a sinner like me? And to think, the same hands that threw the stars into the sky, are the same hands that took nails in them for my sins, and the same breath that breathed out these galaxies is the same breath that breathed life into me. Guys, we serve such an AMAZING God. To think, that i have done nothing at all to deserve his love, yet, he pours it out onto me anyways. One of my favorite songs is "How Deep the Father's Love for Us" I encourage you to click the link and listen to it. How vast and deep is our father's love for us!
"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."
Psalm 42:1
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
The farmer and the well
Romans 12:2 "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
There was a farmer who had a very loyal dog. The dog grew to be one of the farmers most faithful companions. One day, this dog was playing outside, but was unaware that the farmer had just dug a well. As the farmer was finished up, he headed back to grab lunch. Before he reached the front door of his home, he heard a yelp, and turned just in time to see his faithful companion falling down this new well. The farmer had no way to get the dog back up, as days passed with every effort failing and seeing the dog suffering a great deal from starvation and dehydration, the farmer made up his mind to put his faithful dog out of his misery. Unable to shoot the dog because he had no weapon, the farmer decided the best way was too bury the dog underneath. The farmer, with tears in his eyes, grabbed his shovel and began to heave mounds of dirt into this well which poured ontop of his dog. But something strange was happening. Instead of allowing the dirt to stay on top of him, this dog would shake it off, and step on the dirt. With each shovel load that came raining down on him, the dog began to rise up, as the ground beneath him began to fill up. Eventually, the farmer shoveled enough dirt that the dog was able to jump out of the well.
Life can be difficult. It can be extremely hard. But it's important that we don't let it bury us. It's easy to let the troubles of life overwhelm us so that we can feel sorry for ourselves and waste away, but that's not what men and women of God do. When life comes raining down on you, trying to overcome you, it's so important that we shake it off and continue to rise to what God has called us to be. Temptation comes the same way, trying to overcome you, bury you, and destroy you. With God, we have the power to shake off the temptation by being in "constant prayer" and spending extravagant time in Gods word. Stand tall! Shake off what the world and the enemy throws at you, and rise to what God has called you to be. As we overcome struggles in life and overcome temptation, our spiritual strength will grow exponentially. Rejoice when struggles come your way, for they will help you become stronger! What the enemy means for harm, God will turn around for good if you stand your ground.
Psalm 42:1 "As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."
There was a farmer who had a very loyal dog. The dog grew to be one of the farmers most faithful companions. One day, this dog was playing outside, but was unaware that the farmer had just dug a well. As the farmer was finished up, he headed back to grab lunch. Before he reached the front door of his home, he heard a yelp, and turned just in time to see his faithful companion falling down this new well. The farmer had no way to get the dog back up, as days passed with every effort failing and seeing the dog suffering a great deal from starvation and dehydration, the farmer made up his mind to put his faithful dog out of his misery. Unable to shoot the dog because he had no weapon, the farmer decided the best way was too bury the dog underneath. The farmer, with tears in his eyes, grabbed his shovel and began to heave mounds of dirt into this well which poured ontop of his dog. But something strange was happening. Instead of allowing the dirt to stay on top of him, this dog would shake it off, and step on the dirt. With each shovel load that came raining down on him, the dog began to rise up, as the ground beneath him began to fill up. Eventually, the farmer shoveled enough dirt that the dog was able to jump out of the well.
Life can be difficult. It can be extremely hard. But it's important that we don't let it bury us. It's easy to let the troubles of life overwhelm us so that we can feel sorry for ourselves and waste away, but that's not what men and women of God do. When life comes raining down on you, trying to overcome you, it's so important that we shake it off and continue to rise to what God has called us to be. Temptation comes the same way, trying to overcome you, bury you, and destroy you. With God, we have the power to shake off the temptation by being in "constant prayer" and spending extravagant time in Gods word. Stand tall! Shake off what the world and the enemy throws at you, and rise to what God has called you to be. As we overcome struggles in life and overcome temptation, our spiritual strength will grow exponentially. Rejoice when struggles come your way, for they will help you become stronger! What the enemy means for harm, God will turn around for good if you stand your ground.
Psalm 42:1 "As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God."
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