A peculiar people....thats what the King James Version says. Websters gives the definition of peculiar as "different from the usual, different from normal. Peculiar, hugh? I think i like that word...i would pray that people call me peculiar. You see we aren't called to be like every other person in the world, we are called to be like Christ. The One the world is against, the name that raises the greatest of debates, yet the name is not even debateable. We are set aside, called to be different, strange, odd, wierd, crazy, and the list goes on...do any of these words describe you? Why not? They should.....in the eyes of the world I should be wierd, which is fine with me!
I love you God
1st Peter 2:9
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light"
Shine the praise of Him who called you....be wierd, be crazy, do things different, and be like Jesus!
just a quick thought...
so tonight during youth group we were studying the authenticity of the Bible. My attention span lacks sometimes and since all the youth had the books it was kinda hard for me to concentrate on the reading, but a comment was made about all the people who have died for the sake of the Bible. I'm not just talking about Jesus, his disciples, Paul; I'm talking about everyone..all the guys who made sure it was passed on, everyone who died for the sake of the gospel. It kinda hit me that we take that book for granted...i mean we live in a country were we can basically do and say what we please, yet we choose to remain still, we choose to be silent. Sometimes its as if we use Jesus when we need Him and then we say "i'll take it from here." I put myself on top of that list. What are we so scared of? We all wear these great t-shirts with a christian message and in some ways i think we believe we are witnessing, that we are evangelizing...but truthfully we're not. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with christian shirts and i'll probably wear one tomorrow, but is that what "go be disciples to all nations" has come down too? A neat t-shirt...maybe I should do something more....
Oh' God please burden me to do a greater work for you! I want to please you, I want to be closer to you. Equip me with the courage and strength to face this world. Strike my soul with fire from Heaven and I pray that fire is never quenched!
Oh' God please burden me to do a greater work for you! I want to please you, I want to be closer to you. Equip me with the courage and strength to face this world. Strike my soul with fire from Heaven and I pray that fire is never quenched!
Eternity
we are only a mist, a vapor that vanishes....i think about that when i look at the vastness of God's creation and then i look at myself. just little ole me in this great big world..in this creation that is bigger than me, bigger than the world, greater than the universe. i think about God's Kingdom. How great it is..how little am i. I think of the ant or the fly and how it lives and dies very quickly. My life compared to the ant is "like" an eternity...and God's Kingdom compared to my life IS ETERNITY. it is impossible for my mind to comprehend that word. i speak about it in church, in conversation, at youth...but do i really understand eternity? there are moments when the fact i'm going to die hits me and i have to catch my breath, but then i remember another word....EVERLASTING.
A word that means "no end", it continues and nothing can stop it, the beginning is the same as the end, but there is no end. Its everlasting life....life is the keyword here. You see we will all pass from this world...we are even called pilgrims and strangers, so there is somewhere we are going. And when the brief comprehension of death hits me and i lose my breath i remember that there is everlasting life waiting for me. a life in the presence of the King, a space reserved for me in His Kingdom...i will finally be able to perfectly serve and worship God the way He intended, the way I desire...."Be holy, for I am Holy"... i weep for the moment that my life will be perfected and i will come to be totally seperate from the sins that battle each of us. I weep for everlasting life in His presence...
I heard a man say once that we will either be born twice and die once, or be born once and die twice...because the opposite of everlasting life is everlasting death. A death that will continue for eternity. Christ sacrificed His life to be the sacrifice for my wretchedness, a sacrifice for the sin that has infected my flesh....He sacrificed His life for me and for His own Kingdom...he saw my sins upon the cross, he wept at the sinful pain we inflict upon ourselves. He suffered so that I may live.
This is no fairytale story, nothing from a movie or dr. seuss book...its real, its true, He is the only explanation of my life...people hate the truth, so they hate Him, but regardless of how much a person hates the conviction He lays on thier heart, it doesn't change "the truth". And the truth is He loves you, He loves me....He loves us just as we are, but way too much to let us stay that way....so He shapes us, He molds us...He is the potter, we are the clay and many times we have to be reshaped because the clay that God is dealing with is rough, gritty, dirty, hard, and in order for us to become soft and workable we must go through some suffering...some pain...some distress...but its the hands of love that molds us, that holds us during that pain, that forms the perfect and everlasting pot that contains His spirit and holds the rewards of His sacrifice.
A word that means "no end", it continues and nothing can stop it, the beginning is the same as the end, but there is no end. Its everlasting life....life is the keyword here. You see we will all pass from this world...we are even called pilgrims and strangers, so there is somewhere we are going. And when the brief comprehension of death hits me and i lose my breath i remember that there is everlasting life waiting for me. a life in the presence of the King, a space reserved for me in His Kingdom...i will finally be able to perfectly serve and worship God the way He intended, the way I desire...."Be holy, for I am Holy"... i weep for the moment that my life will be perfected and i will come to be totally seperate from the sins that battle each of us. I weep for everlasting life in His presence...
I heard a man say once that we will either be born twice and die once, or be born once and die twice...because the opposite of everlasting life is everlasting death. A death that will continue for eternity. Christ sacrificed His life to be the sacrifice for my wretchedness, a sacrifice for the sin that has infected my flesh....He sacrificed His life for me and for His own Kingdom...he saw my sins upon the cross, he wept at the sinful pain we inflict upon ourselves. He suffered so that I may live.
This is no fairytale story, nothing from a movie or dr. seuss book...its real, its true, He is the only explanation of my life...people hate the truth, so they hate Him, but regardless of how much a person hates the conviction He lays on thier heart, it doesn't change "the truth". And the truth is He loves you, He loves me....He loves us just as we are, but way too much to let us stay that way....so He shapes us, He molds us...He is the potter, we are the clay and many times we have to be reshaped because the clay that God is dealing with is rough, gritty, dirty, hard, and in order for us to become soft and workable we must go through some suffering...some pain...some distress...but its the hands of love that molds us, that holds us during that pain, that forms the perfect and everlasting pot that contains His spirit and holds the rewards of His sacrifice.
Ughhh...
ok...so here we go, i guess...i have to think of something great to say since this is my first blog. So what would be something great? How bouts i just ask a question....would you be willing to answer?? There was time when the disciples came Jesus and Jesus asked the question, "who do the people say that I am?" After throwing out a handful of names Jesus quickly asked a different question to the disciples..."who do you say that I am?"
So who is He? This a question we are all faced with at some point in time, in some fashion or other..this is the question that life depends on..to give the wrong answer cancels out everything else we will ever do in life. But even though we are asked this question at some time in our life, Jesus wasn't just asking the people, the crowds, the jews, the lost..he was asking his disciples, his followers, those he prayed with, those he taught. So it is me that he asks this question..it is you. Our life gives the answer of who we say He is.
So what is your life saying...don't get me wrong, we all screw up, but where is our heart and what are our actions...who do we desire to serve? Our answer comes through our faith, our love, our actions...Jesus said He was the light of the world and we reflect His precious light. How great is my reflection of Jesus? Am i really doing all that I should, all that I can? I'm positive I'm not, so whats holding me back? Whats holdin you back? Are we afraid of failing? Because we won't if He is leading...Are we afraid of what they'll think? What they think doesn't matter...or are we afraid of what we will lose? Jesus gave his life while weeping for the sins that I was going to commit.....and I'm afraid to sacrifice to my time, my pride, my life for Him...doesn't quite seem fair, does it? Not fair to Jesus anyway, after all that he gave me....
"Who do you say that I am?" or better yet, Who does my life say He is? I face this question everyday...do you? Ask yourself....
So who is He? This a question we are all faced with at some point in time, in some fashion or other..this is the question that life depends on..to give the wrong answer cancels out everything else we will ever do in life. But even though we are asked this question at some time in our life, Jesus wasn't just asking the people, the crowds, the jews, the lost..he was asking his disciples, his followers, those he prayed with, those he taught. So it is me that he asks this question..it is you. Our life gives the answer of who we say He is.
So what is your life saying...don't get me wrong, we all screw up, but where is our heart and what are our actions...who do we desire to serve? Our answer comes through our faith, our love, our actions...Jesus said He was the light of the world and we reflect His precious light. How great is my reflection of Jesus? Am i really doing all that I should, all that I can? I'm positive I'm not, so whats holding me back? Whats holdin you back? Are we afraid of failing? Because we won't if He is leading...Are we afraid of what they'll think? What they think doesn't matter...or are we afraid of what we will lose? Jesus gave his life while weeping for the sins that I was going to commit.....and I'm afraid to sacrifice to my time, my pride, my life for Him...doesn't quite seem fair, does it? Not fair to Jesus anyway, after all that he gave me....
"Who do you say that I am?" or better yet, Who does my life say He is? I face this question everyday...do you? Ask yourself....
