Destiny

I have this passion that God gave me long ago and I'm sick and tired of holding it inside!  I want to be a mighty man of leadership who loves Christ!  I want to love and lead my family and others who are in my life!  I want to share Christ like the world is about to end tomorrow...  I don't want to worry about what others think about me because I don't want to be like others...  I want to be set apart and different!  I want to stand out in the crowd and bring Hope to the broken...  I want my life to matter!  I will not let satan and society define me...  I am a child of God and He has called me to Shine like a light on a hill!  I will take hold of what He has in store for me and run!  I refuse to look back!  My prayer is the same for you!  I pray that your life will be full of visions and pursuits!  Don't keep what you have to offer inside!  God has a Destiny for your life!  Will you take hold of it?

God Bless and Be Encouraged!

Joshua

Been reading out of the book of Joshua lately and it really is a great book!  The first chapter of Joshua is so encouraging to me!  It says all through it "be courageous, & don't be terrified or discouraged... Because I am with you."  For me this is something I need to hear so often!  Because so often I get discouraged & fearful...  I'm fearful that I'll mess something up or let people down...  I know that God has called me to do a couple of things for sure and sometimes I mess up and fall so short of how I think it should be done...  And I'm worried that because of that I'm going to let those people down & then they may not like me...  And I worry about the future so often because I want to know what is going to happen...  And discouragement is something I continuously face... It's so easy to feel beat up & broken down...  I get thoughts of quitting what I'm doing because for some reason I feel like that would fix everything.  And in those time's I forget about what God is calling me to...  I say all of this because it's true about me...  And I think it's true for a lot of us but we may be afraid to say it because of pride or what not...

The truth is that we, as humans, get hurt and we have fears of hurting others or not being liked...  But God wants us to know that He is there and that He sent His son to die for us because He loves us!  We are going to let people down & some will not like us...  We will feel discouraged & fearful but we must know that God is there and that He has our back!  Following Christ is not easy but it is so worth it!  HE LOVES YOU SO MUCH!  We have no idea the magnitude of the Fathers love!  I want you to be encouraged and know that your not alone in what ever you are doing!  Know that others deal with what you are dealing with & that there is healing in bringing to the light your short comings!  Go ENCOURAGE & SUPPORT!  I love you but most of all CHRIST LOVES YOU! God Bless!

Fire

Fire is a super cool and powerful thing... It can destroy stuff in the matter of seconds! Think about what it does just in a fire pit... It engulfs the wood! The heat from it is hot enough to back us up away from the ring... It's intense! California experiences forest fires quite often actually... And how about the fire here in Myrtle Beach a couple years ago? It destroyed miles and miles of land... These fires are very difficult to fight! There are ppl who have careers fighting fires... They go to school to be able to be a fire fighter! Its a huge danger... Every 175 minutes someone is killed by fire... And someone is injured every 31 minutes... In the Bible when it talks about hell it usually mentions fire... It talks about the pain inflicted by the fire... But the purpose of this post is about a diff kind of fire... This week I have been in the book of Leviticus... The first couple of chapters especially... It talks about offering... And in this time when someone would sin they would have to make an offering of some type... In chapter 1 verse's 9, & 13 say... "He is to wash the inner parts and the legs with water, and the priest is to burn all of it on the altar. It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD." As I was reading this I kept thinking of us today and how we are called to Repent, "wash the inner parts and the legs with water", & then we are to offer ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1-2), "to burn all of it on the altar." All of that sin that we repent of burns... Bc of Jesus that sin is burnt and disappears! Just like the wood in the fire pit! And then reading that second part all I can think of is about how alot of times we talk about being on fire for the Lord! And how when we are going hard for the Lord & giving Him all that we are & staying in His will, It's a pleasing aroma to our God! How Awesome! Be Encouraged! God Bless!

Livin' the Dream

Hey Everyone! It's been a while since my last post & I've missed it! It has been busy since my Grandpa died being in Michigan & then getting back & having lot's to catch up on! Anyways... Being in Michigan was a great time for me! I got to see family that I have not seen in years & it was the first time seeing most since God saved me... I had some very good opportunities to talk with my family about spiritual matters, which can be very intimidating... It was great to see how God's strength carried me through & I was able to stay strong through the entire process... I had wonderful opportunities to lead my family in prayer & also a short scripture reading & explanation when we all first seen my Grandpa @ the funeral home! I read out of 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 which talks about running the race (life) to get the prize (eternity)... I talked about ho my Grandpa was a man who ran the race with endurance & perseverance! He was a man that had a lot of the same qualities that Jesus had! I believe that my Grandpa did receive the crown of life! He was a man that produced much fruit! This is an exciting thing! When I first seen his body in the casket I was not overcome by grief like I thought I would be (not sayin' it's bad to be)... I knew that was not my Grandpa... It was only his shell bc my Grandpa was already with Jesus! His soul was absent from his body... All I could think about was how glorious it must have been to first see Jesus face to face! I really enjoy living but I could not help but to be a lil jealous... I knelled by the casket the first night with a couple of my cousins & sang the song "I Can Only Imagine" It as a beautiful time for me! It will be a wonderful day when @ the end of this time on earth we will stand face to face with the one who created All things! But it will only be a wonderful day if we have been transformed by the life that God gave us through Jesus Christ! John 10:10 says that Jesus came so that we may have life and have it to the fullest! It's not a bunch of do's or dont's but rather it's living to Glorify the creator of All! My prayer is that you would be transformed by the blood of Jesus! The life that you get to live NOW is so worth it! So my question to you is... Are you livin' the dream?

My Grandpa

My Grandpa died today... It hurts so bad... I Love him so much! Him and my Nanna are two of my favorite people in the entire world! When I was younger I spent a good bit of time with them & I loved it! They have been so good to me for my whole life! I was their very first grand kid! I was spoiled, lol... I sit here and think of all the memories I had with him! He loved to fix things & so he would love to sow me how to do diff things! Whether it was fixing cars or just a watch I would love to be with him! And he would love to show me! He loved me so much & I could tell! I can almost hear his voice now telling me he loves me! I talked to him about a week ago... He sounded good! Today my Grandma was going to church & so Grandpa went & laid down to take a nap... & that was it... He was dead... He stood @ Jesus' feet! He got to see Jesus face to face today! Praise God! It does hurt very bad with out a doubt but one thing I know is that he got to see Jesus today & I'm happy for him about that! Just bc we are Christians and someone dies it does not mean it is not a sad time... We enjoyed that person & that's why we are sad... But it is a lil diff bc we have Hope! We have Hope that the end of our life on earth is not the absolute end but rather its just a continuation of our life! Our life will then be spent with God! Amazing! We are never promised another day, hour, minute, or second... We are not promised work tomorrow, your kids sports program, graduation, college, buying our first house, marriage, and so on... So if you are a believer I want to encourage you to keep this a reality in your mind! Let's try not to spend all our time on those things that are not going to matter in a million years... Rather let's start spending more time with God! Building our relationship with Him! Leading others to Him! These things will matter! In saying that... Don't make an excuse to not spend time on other things bc your lazy... God has given us opportunities to have a family, go to school, and what not... Glorify God in those things! Just don't bank all that you are on those things bc they will eventually fade away... And if you are not a believer... You must understand that you will stand face to face with Jesus and if you have not accepted His blood to come & cover you... There is an eternal darkness... It's not to late right now but it could be tomorrow... Jesus came to give you life! And all you have to do is admit that you are a sinner, repent of your sins, and ask Jesus to come in and start to mold you into who He wants you to be... Not everything gets better but you do have a Hope! I would rather be poor & have Jesus then have all the money in the world and do whatever I want... Be set free from the bondage of sin! Be made white as snow by the precious blood of the perfect lamb! He is worthy! I'm always available to talk! Please say a prayer for my family! I Leave for Michigan in the morning... Pray for safety on my way up there! Thank You! God Bless!

I WILL

I WILL not give up... Christ is worth all of my effort! He stood strong even to the point of death! There have been countless followers who have continued to fight for their fight even to the oint of death! I will be that commited! I want to be some one who is truly looked @ as holy (holy means to be set apart)! I want tobe a modern day Paul! I want to lead like Jesus lead! I want to teach like Jesus taught! I want my life to leave a mark! I have 80 years if I'm lucky! I'm going to live it Glorifing the God who created all! I don't care what my situation is... I WILL follow to the death!
I WILL tell others... I can not just sit back & watch as others die with out knowing the truth! I must warn those I come in contact with! This does not mean I need to be awkward about it but it does mean I have to take it seriously! I do believe there is a Heaven & a hell... I believe that if you do not repent & accept Jesus as your Savior & allow the Holy Spirit to come in and mold you that you are doomed & that you will be under God's Wrath spend Eternity in darkness! I must tke this seriously! How can I say I love Jesus yet not want others to know the good news of God's Grace, which is Jesus! I believe it to be reality! I have tasted how good God is! Nothing compares to Him! NOTHING will satisfy like He does!
I WILL be someone... Who stands up for what he believes in! I can not just stand around & watch as others are disrespected... It is not right & it is not fair to that person! I can not just sit around as someone bashes another person... I can not just be ok with all of the god's that ppl believe in... I will lift my voice & proclaim the ONE TRUE GOD!
I WILL be... A Husband & A Father who Loves my family and who sacrifices for them! I will stand up in the hardest of times and lead them with confidence! I will not just walk out during the hard times! I will fight untill death tears us apart! Untill that day I will everyday lead & pursue!
I WILL not... Be a perfect man by any mean but I will fight! I will make mistakes & I will sometimes fall flat on my face... But I will get back up, dust myself off, and move forward!
I WILL continue... To pray that the church will start to work with eachother instead of against... I will pray for those of you who read my blog that you will be encouraged! You are not in this alone! I'm here if no one else is! But most of all God is always there! I love you guys so much! I thank you fr reading this! Its encouraeing for me to hear the feedback and to see how many ppl view it! I pray it continues to be an encouragement! Stand Strong in His Strength! God Bless!

Rebel vs Conformist

As I go around day 2 day I look around & I'm heart broken bc so many ppl are so mistaken... So many ppl are looking for joy in all the wrong places... We look for it in sex, drugs, relationships, music, tv shows, promotions, money, friends, family, and so on... And I'm so sorry for them bc the only joy is found in Christ alone! And even those who call temselves "Christians" are so caught up in this world... This is what I call a "facebok Christian" Its true on their facebook page but if it were not for that no one would even know... Bc your life does not reflect it... You are just like everyone else... You are a conformist! Think about it... You call yourself a rebel but you are not rebeling @ all... Everyone is already doing it! You walk around as if the world belongs to you & that you are owed something but I have news for you! You do not own the world the one who is in control is God! We talk so much about how loving God is... But we forget about His wrath! We all think were going to Heaven but in reality you may be under God's wrath and headed for destruction! Yes God loves us... ALL OF US! But if we do not turn our backs to this world and start walking in step with Christ & living our lives through Him we are going to be destructed... We should not just follow Jesus bc of the reality of Hell, but bc of the life that we recieve when we do start to follow Him! I say all of this bc I do believe it with all my heart and bc I do not want anyone to be suprised when they see Jesus face to face! You want to be a Rebel? Start following Jesus out loud! How many of your friends are doing that? Its so much easier to just be sucked up by this world... Walkig with Christ is not going to solve all your problem but you will have Hope! Read John 10:10! Be encouraged! I'm living the life & my prayer is that you will also be transformed by His life!