a good summary

Philipians 3:12
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own because Christ Jesus has made me His own.

This is a big part of the reason that I came to the ranch. I remember while I was in Seattle, on our 8 hour lay over, I was hanging out with some friends that drove out to see me. Honestly a majority of the time was filled with ridiculous joking and just a laid back time, not much was really said about me going to Africa. However I remember on our way up the steps at the airport my buddy Cam got serious, he reminded me that before I left I had said that I felt like I needed to get out for a while. In all my excitement to get back to the Northwest, because it is the best place in the world, I had completely forgotten that I had that feeling. So when he said this to me I was taken back and replied with "I did?" Then I suddenly remembered that feeling of being depressed and confused, knowing that this Christianity thing had to be more personal, more real, then what it was in my life, but not knowing how to make it that way. So I knew what didn't work, I knew that Christianese didn't work, I knew that those camp highs that I used to get were nothing more then a feeling that I created that vanished once the world hit, I knew all the right answers but I did not know how it practically worked, how it really looked, and being a practical guy this was a problem. So this is the reason that I said this to Cam, sick of a lot of things, depressed, confused and longing for more I was ready to make this Christian thing my own. However I couldn't have been more wrong.
As I have said many times the biggest part about being here was the fact that God showed up, the fact that I care now. I am not one to pretend to care about something, so the fact that I do now means that something real happened, it means that God showed up and showed me what it is like to have a relationship with him. He gave me that Joy that I was looking for. He showed up and He did great things in my life not the other way around. So when I say I was wrong I mean that Christ Jesus made me His own not I made this my own. With this in mind the future does not scare me, I actually kind of look forward to the rough times, I really look forward to going home, finally knowing this truth, I may not have grown in a lot of ways, but God pursued me He made me His own and outside of that I could care less. Now this is getting long so I will wrap it up.
For a couple of months now I have been thinking about God in the old testament. I have a hard time understanding the meaning of a lot of it but the one thing that I did catch was how God always says to the Israelites, I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt. I was honestly shocked when I read how many times He says that to them, it got to the point where I was like "Ok ya we get it God you did that, but that was a while ago, and you have brought it up a thousand times." As if every time you bring something up it loses its value. However I now understand the importance of this, that when God, who is so big that we will never be able to comprehend, who is the creator and in the words of pastor John God who is Lord of the Universe, when He moves you pay attention and you don't ever forget it.  Through the good times you let it humble you and through the hard times you cling onto it. Well this time for me as I look back on it was when God made himself known to me, when he made himself real, when he brought me out of Egypt if you will. So as I think about this verse and about going home I get excited, excited to see what God has next.

Luke 17:10

This morning I got a little bit earlier to pray and read my Bible. As I went for the walk, I am not kidding, I had a little bit of a mind set of "I am sacrificing sleep to be here God has to show up." Matthew 23:37 "And he said to them you love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with all your strength." Lord fix my heart and as I wake up tomorrow to go for a walk remind me that I am doing it to search after you and that I am an unworthy servant.

Luke 17:9

Luke 17:9

 does he thank the servant because he did what he was commanded?

"I am sorry" and "thank you" are two words that mean a lot to me. I am not sure why but it seems that it is important to be noticed especially when you are doing something nice or good.  However does a master thank his servant for the things that he is supposed to do? The answer is obviously no. So what will Christ, my master, say to me when I die? Hopefully He will say well done good and faithful servant. So how does this apply to today? Well if Jesus can look at me and acknowledge my life by saying good job then I can say thank you when people serve me, because I all to often just think of it as something that should be done.

Luke 17:8

8: Will he rather say to him; prepare supper for me, and dress properly and serve e while I eat and drink?

Here I see a servant after a work day not getting an opportunity to eat but instead to work more. It would seem that the term bond servant has been on my mind the last couple days because what I see in this verse is the fact that he would not have a choice. There are many times that I do not want to serve people and that usually happens in the little things. The application from this is to serve in the little things even if I don't want to or think that it is meaningless.

Luke 17:7

Today is just one of those days that it seems like everything has gone wrong. The word in this verse that has stuck out to me the most is the word servant. I know that I am a willing bond servant but all day today I can feel myself fighting this. However I do know that His way is better. Although I can feel my fleshly desires fighting even more today I will continue to strive towards Christ.

Application: Today it is more important to follow Ephesians and to not give any opportunity to the devil. This realistically looks like me praising God remembering that I am growing.

luke 17:6

Luke 17:6

And the Lord said, "if you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

As we are now only weeks away from being on the mission field this verse really speaks to me. Since we are so close to leaving, whenever I talk to people back home the questions that I get the most are about the trip, these incude whether I have enough money or I am just mentally prepared. I don't have a problem with these questions, in fact I like talking about the things that are going on in my life. However these questions do get to me in some ways. As I start to think about it I realize that I am not as prepared as I could be mostly because I can not prepare everything. However this verse shows me how much simply having faith in Jesus Christ can do. My application for today is to not let a single thought about the trip stress me out but to have faith that he is preparing me as much as is needed.

Ephesians 4:31

31Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slandor be put away from you, along with malice.

Here Paul is explaining just about every way of having a problem with someone. I have mentioned in past blogs that I have a problem with holding onto and thinking about these things. So now I come to a part of scripture where Paul is describing how serious this is by repeating himself over and over again. In the past when I was convicted of this I just prayed about it and asked God to take it away. This time however is a different story, prayer is neccesary but there is also a part that I must act in. Today when these problems come up I will pray about it first but then start working for the family that we all want.

Ephesians 4:30

30:And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.

When I was first reading this verse I could not think about what to write. Although as I started to think about applying it to my life it started to make sense. The point of this verse for me is to realize that not everything I do is going to have an eternal effect. My application for today is to remember that I am sealed by the Holy Spirit which means that not every little thing is a big deal but that I am in fact saved and guided through each day.

Ephesians 4:29

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

All talk that comes out of our mouths should lift each other up. This is not some or even just when we want to but whenever we talk to other people. From a distant look on life this seems easy but once you get into those moments where you get frustrated with someone it is a lot harder. This has happened to me many times where I have gotten frustrated with people and my reaction is to openly say things against them. This does not build up people or do anything constructive. Today and from now on I will shut my mouth when anything destructive is about to come out.

Ephesians 4:28

Ephesians 4:28
28: Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need
When I first read this verse I think of the times back when I had a job. My immediate reaction is to think about how I was making a good amount of money and was not even tithing non the less sharing with those in need. However this does not apply to today. As for today and this next year I can not give money but I can share time and energy.
Application: To use my time wisely because that is what I have to share and give.

Ephesians 4:27

27:and give no oppurtunity to the devil.

This verse is the verse that is immediately following the verse that talks about not letting the sun go down on your anger. Now it is saying to not give any oppurtunity to the devil which shows the ergency of getting rid of your anger. This is now saying that this is something that is not supposed to be taken lightly but to be done immediately. Giving no oppurtunity shows that we should leave nothing open. In the last verse I talked about not sleeping on my problems but this verse takes it a step farther. Today I will give no oppurtunity to problems growing between me and other people.

Ephesians 4:26

Ephesians 4:26
Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger.
"Just sleep on it." This is a phrase that I often used when people are angry. I myself have gotten into the habbit of doing this, any time a prblem comes up I go to bed and I usually wake up great. So when I come to this verse I realize that from past experiences this has been great for me. Then I realize that God knows more then I do therefore I am wrong with thus said thought process. I have come to realize that sleeping on a problem or anger does not fix them but simply masks them, and this masking can be a short fix but will end up blowing up at one point or another.
Application: Dealing with anger is something that the Bible tells us to do but is also a smart thing. From now on I will deal with my problems as they come up, instead of storing them up.

Ephesians 4:25

Ephesians 4:25
Therefore having put away falsehood let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.
The truth is not always a fun thing to tell someone When you see a problem that needs to be fixed, I do not always want to say something about it. So because of this I usually say "oh that will just work itself out, I don't need to say anything." This is just a cop out, or a lie to get myself out of the situation.

Application: To cowboy up and say what needs to be said

Ephesians 4:24

Ephesians 4:24
to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

When I read this passage I think about one thing and that is how often I have to put on this new self. This is not only a day to day thing but a moment to moment thing. I must constantly be in fellowship with Jesus to have this new self put on. The way I do this is through reading the Word and praying.
Application: To not only start off the day by reading but to constatly chew on what He is teaching me.

Ephesians 4:23

23:and to be in the spirit of your minds.

This is something that has been hitting hard this week. I know that I am a knew creation in Christ but I often have trouble actually believing that because I carry around the weight of my past sins and problems. I say that I want to be well, that I want all these problems to go away but the fact is that they have already been covered and thrown away. This verse to me is just more confirmation that I need a renewed mind that stops holding onto everything but simply says thank you to Jesus for all that he has and is doing.

Ephesians 4:22

22: to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires

Compared to my "former self" I have grown a lot and given up a lot of my "deceitful" since I have been at Potters Field. The only problem with this is I can not compare myself with myself. I should be comparing myself with Jesus. I understand that it is good to see how much you have grown but I tend to use that as a place to be content with how much work has been done already.
Application: To not be content with the amount of progress that has been made but to keep searching to for more.

Romans 12:10

10: Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Proverbs 18:24 "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer then a brother."  I think that by saying brotherly affection Paul means being brothers in Christ which is much closer then I often think of when we think of our actual brothers and sisters.  John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Jesus loved us by not only giving up His life but doing it in a horribly graphic way. Beat to the point of not even being able to tell that He was a man. Not only that but he had the weight of all of our sins on his soldiers. Jesus didn't have a bad mind set about this instead he asked the Father to forgive us. All through out the new testament Jesus talks about the importance of loving people even to the point of saying it is the second greatest commandment. On the outside I can do this well, but once I realize what I actually think about people I realize how I do not have the same mind set of Christ. I was a middle school leader this last year and one of my favorite parts was watching how innocent they were. These kids get alog so well because they are not picking apart everything about each other.

Application: I have come to realize that I can catch my thoughts but that is about the extent of what I can do. All of these thoughts come from a heart problem. I pray that I can have a heart like Christ, loving every person for who they are.

Mark 8:38

38: For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the Holy angels.

This verse says a couple different things to me. The first thing that sticks out is the fact that he talks about how he is coming back and this gives me hope because it reminds me of Revelation 21:1-7. The second thing that stands out is how I am no longer ashamed of Him but that is not by my own doing it is because He has called and shown Himself to me. It amazes me that we serve a God who wants to help me come to Him. The application today is a little different, it is in fact to keep in mind that we win in the end but also to remember that all the Glory belongs to him because it is not my own doing.

Mark 8:37

37: For what can a man give in return for his soul?

When I first look at this verse my first reaction is that there is nothing that I can give in return. All I can do is "deny myself." This phrase however is becoming christianese to me. As soon as people asking me what I am learning I say how to deny myself. This is kind of an easy way out and I am not a fan of that so I must practically ask myself what I can do to deny myself. There are of course a lot of things I could do but the thing that sticks out the most is praying more. I need to set aside time each day to pray for others and for myself. This is not it though I need to set aside my doubts and trust that I have a faithful God who will answer.

Mark 8:36

36: For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

It looks here like Jesus is asking a rhetorical question. Obviously there is not profit if you forfeit your soul, in other words forfeit eternal life for the things of this world. It seems simple when we are asked this question straight forward. Although we are asked this question daily even in the little things and I so often choose to forfeit my soul. This is a verse that I should ask myself with each step of the day, asking myself if I am going the way of Jesus or trying to gain the world piece by piece.