Faith Leads to Action

source: http://danielstinson.theworldrace.org/?filename=lets-see-the-power-of-prayer

Announcements:

1) Beware of Christians - Event Showing in West Lafayette on April 24, 2012. (You do not want to miss this. Join the facebook group if you can make it: http://www.facebook.com/events/167040963409647/)

2) www.mywhiteflag.com (coming soon! promise)

Hey all! How have the past few weeks been? It has been a really busy couple of weeks, but God has been at work and He has been moving so much! I really want to encourage each and every one of you to continue to look for God in the everyday because He is definitely working and making Himself known to us each and every day. We just don't hear or see it because our hearts have become calloused and we have become accustomed to the pattern of this world (Acts 28:27, Romans 12:2)This won't be a super long blog post, but I just wanted to take the opportunity tonight to talk about some thoughts that have been on my mind that relate to faith, and more specifically faith leading to action. So let's move to the deep end of the pool because we're about to dive in!

What is faith? What does faith look like in your individual life? What are the ways that you are living by faith, and are there examples in your life where you are completely relying on God? Pause for a second and take some time to answer these questions for yourself. Multiple verses throughout scripture call us to "always be ready to give an answer to the reason why we have hope" or faith (1st Peter 3:15, Colossians 4:6). Have an answer for what faith looks like in your life. You never know when God may call you to tell someone about your faith.

I received a text message the other night that said, "What if we sought God and believed in Him with 100% of who we are." And then it hit me: What if we had 100% faith? The bible clearly says with a tiny faith, we can move mountains. We are so good at allocating our faith to different things. In so many situations, we allow God to have most of the control, but very rarely do we find ourselves in a circumstance where we have to COMPLETELY rely on God for who He is. But God is greater than our circumstances. He is greater than death, temptation, sin, time, human wisdom, success, failure, happiness, and infinitely more. He is supreme in everything. What keeps us back from having complete faith? Here are a few things:

1) Comfort

We live comfortably. Complete faith in God is something that we don't think as comfortable. By human standards, it's not. But I think that if we allowed God to provide for us all that He promises, we would find that we couldn't ever imagine being more comfortable and peaceful than we are when He is holding us in His mighty hands.

2) Fear

We are afraid of the unknown. We are afraid of risk and of possibilites. But this fear is just a lack of faith in God. If we truly believe that God is who He says He is, the only thing we should ever be afraid of is living an insignificant live for His kingdom. He is provident over everything. 1st Corinthians 3:21-22 puts this in a great perspective:

"So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future -- all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God."

We are of Christ, and Christ is of God. We have no reason to be afraid.

3) Self

Since we are young, we are taught to fend for ourselves. We are taught that we are strong enough, smart enough, to be able to handle things on our own. Ephesians 2 says that "you were once dead." The meaning of us being dead is that we cannot do anything on our own strength. We must die to ourselves, and allow Christ to live in us. That is when we discover true strength.

So how does 100% faith lead to action. My roommate and I have a whiteboard in our room (ya it's a pretty sweet set up) and we put verses up that stick out to us. Two verses are currently up on the board that talk exactly about how faith leads to action. 1st Corinthians 4:20 and Proverbs 14:23. Those are as follows, respectively:

"For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of Power."

"All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty."

With a faith that is 100% in Christ Jesus, we cannot help but act. The true Kingdom as stated in 1st Corinthians is a matter of power and not just talk. Sometimes our action leads to faith, as we step out in faith to something unknown. What I do know for sure is that when we have a faith that can move the mountains, we ARE going to move mountains because that is what Christ has intended for each of us.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out "This Guy Over Here." As you saw, I added an announcement section to the top of the blog. Be sure that you read those and took note of them! I'd like to start blogging more again, so if you have any ideas about what you want to see in a blogpost, leave it in the comments below or email me at jdaghe@gmail.com!

They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love,

Signing off,

JD

If You Believe..

Hey everyone. Welcome back to "This Guy Over Here." I hope that everyone has had a good transition getting back into the swing of school as this spring semester gets kicked off. Over Christmas break, I had the opportunity to go to Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. I was fortunate enough to go last year and that completely rocked me and this year was no different. Passion really helped refocus my image of who God is to me and what He means to me in my daily everyday life. I have been meaning to blog sooner about some of the stuff that God taught me and others that I have talked to at Passion Conference; however, I have spent the past few weeks really diving into what I learned and organizing it into some main points of what I think that you need to hear. This is the first of those main points. Today I will be talking about the topic of "If you believe.."

Last spring, I did a mini-segment called "What if we..." and in one of those posts I tackeled the subject of "What if we... believed?" This post will have some similarities to that, yet I think that this is something that has really been on my heart, and I believe that we need to recognize the urgency of this issue. So, if you get nothing else from this blogpost, or for some odd reason you have to stop reading, make sure to at least read this next sentence:

IF YOU BELIEVE IN THE GOD YOU SAY YOU BELIEVE IN, LIVE LIKE IT.

This is supposed to criticize people, myself included. Some of us have grown up reading the scriptures and have been raised in the Christian Church yet we do nothing on a day to day basis that would tell the world that we are christians. I like to sign off my blogs with the phrase, "They'll know we are christians by our love." What a joke. Now a days, it is more, "They'll know we are christians by our idleness." I must make the disclaimer that there are people out there who are living for God and are chasing after him in such manner of true worship that they are shining their lights brilliantly for the Name of Christ. But on a whole, we have become dead, lukewarm, lacking faith, and idle.

A verse that has really been on my mind a lot recently is 2nd Timothy 1:7:

"For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline."

When we read scriptures like these, are we just reading them or are we taking them to heart and applying them to our lives. Scriptures such as these are the LIVING WORD OF GOD and they appy to each and every one of us. Note that the "S" in Spirit is capitalized. That is because Paul is talking about the Holy Spirit, which God gave to us at Pentacost. This is the same Spirit that rests inside you and I and every other Christian in this world. Through this Spirit, we are given power. The same power that parted the Red Sea, that collapsed the city of Jericho, that killed Goliath, that healed the blind and make the lame walk, that raised Christ from the dead. This same power is given to us by God himself, and we do not even use it. Much more than that, this power is given to us for the sake of being bold and proclaiming the gospel of Christ. The verse very clearly says that the Spirit given to us by God DOES NOT make us timid. Rather, through the power of Christ, we are to stand and declare His resurrection and His salvation.

We also are given love, because the ONLY way to use the power of Christ is through love. In everything that we do, we are to clothe ourselves with love and "take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of us." Do we realize that Christ did everything for us out of love? Christ loved us, each and everyone of us, so much that he "died for us while we were still sinners." Talk about the ultimate sacrifice. And we are too afraid to be laughed at, ignored, or rejected on our campuses that we continally refuse to sacrifice for Him? We are given power to be bold and preach the Gospel and love as a vessel through which to preach the Gospel to the world.

Finally, we are given self-discipline. This seems like a weird thing to be given after power and love; however, it completes the first two and ends out the gift of God. For some of you, you know what it feels like to be on fire for God. You may come back from a huge church camp or conference, you may have just been saved, or you may just be on a spiritual high. If you have ever experienced that feeling, then you almost guarenteed know the feeling of coming down off of that spiritual high. Why is it that we always fade back into our everyday lives after we are so on fire for Christ? Well, the third part of this gift takes care of that. Christ gives us self-discipline so that for all times, through eternity, we may continue to MAKE THE MOST of the power and love that He has given us in His Holy Spirit.

I have been reading in Acts, and one verse has really just stood out to me. Acts 4:13 says:

"When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."

How incredible is that, and how challenging should that verse be to our everyday lives. When they (the Sanhedrin- or the lawmakers of our day) saw the COURAGE that Peter and John had, even though they were just two regular guys, they were astonished and took note that they HAD BEEN WITH JESUS. If someone saw your life today, would they be astonished and could they know that you had been with Jesus?

The picture at the beginning is of a clouded sunset with light poking out of the bottom of the picture above the trees. Our campus is currently clouded over. It is overcast. However, there is a glorious sunset that is waiting right behind the darkened clouds, and all it takes is one ray of light to pierce the darkness. Will you be that ray of light? Will you live what you believe in? Let's awake sleepers, for the kingdom of God is at hand.

Final words. Be on the lookout for the launching of a new website, http://www.mywhiteflag.com/. It is not up yet so if you click on the link you will go to a empty page; however, it is coming soon to Purdue University and hopefully other campuses. We are raising our white flags in complete surrender to Christ and we want you to join along with us.

Have a great week.

They'll KNOW we are Christians by our Love,
Signing off,


JD

Immediately

Hey everyone! I hope that you have all had a great Christmas and that this break has been a time of relaxation and catching up with family and friends. I also hope that this break you have taken the time to do some things that you normally wouldn't have the free time to do. I know for myself I have been reading like a madman over this past week and a half because I don't really have a ton of time to read for pleasure up at school. I also plan on starting a puzzle tomorrow that will consume a large amount of my free time, but for any puzzlers (Yes this is actually a word, and an fun one at that) out there, I think you can share in my excitement. Anyways, another really neat aspect of break that I have really seen is a renewed passion for getting into the Word of God. It has really been a great time of spiritual growth and I just wanted to take some time today to share with you all one of the things that has really been on my mind these past few days.

Today, I want to talk about the word "immediately," what it means to our culture, and what it should mean to our spiritual lives. In a couple of days, I will be going to Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and kind of in a preparation for that, I have been reading through the four gospels again to really kind of re-vamp my awe for what Christ did for us on the Cross and the power of the Holy Spirit. It has been a fantastic study and I would highly recommend it. As I have been reading through the gospels, I started to notice the word "immediately" written a lot throughout the gospels, so I did a little research and I found some really interesting stuff. Now I have the NIV bible, so different versions may translate the exact words differently; however, the concept is still the same. What I found was that the word "immediately" is found in the bible a total of 54 times. Ten times it is found in Matthew, twelve times in Mark, eleven times in Luke, and once in John. So therefore, 34 of the 54 times that the word "immediately" is mentioned in the bible is within the four Gospels. So I started thinking, well what does this word mean to me and what should it mean to my faith?

When I thought about what the word "immediately" meant to me, I decided to first approach things from a cultural stand point. What I have found out or realized is kind of disturbing. There are very few things that I do on a daily basis that I do immediately. The world condones immediate behaviors, except in one crucial area: gratification. Everything in advertising and marketing is pushing us to believe that we should get what we want, and we should get it now. When we have to wait, we get frustrated. When we want something, the idea of society is to go out and buy it. Instant gratification is the message that the world so deviously and cunningly speaks into our lives on a daily basis. However, when someone asks me to do something, how often do I drop everything and simply do it "immediately" or right away. And I think that most of us can agree with that. We are a generation, born into this mindset that although we want things immediately for us, our time is our own and we can pick and choose when to give it to others. It was this observation that made me turn to the bible and see what Jesus says about the word "immediately," and how it should relate to the everyday faith.

In Matthew 4:22, which reads like this:

"and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him."

Jesus is walking and he walks past two brothers, James and John, that are working in their boat with their father Zebedee. Jesus, while walking past, calls out to the two brothers. Matthew does not record what Jesus called out, it simply says that he called, but notice the reaction from the brothers. IMMEDIATELY they left not only the boat but their own father as well and followed Christ. That my friends is a perfect example of what our faith should be on a daily basis. Think about it like this. In leaving, James and John effectively left their boat or their place of work, their father or their family, and you can even go as far as to say that they left their future. All to follow the one true king. Why is this a perfect example of how we are to live our daily lives? Because James and John knew where their priorities were. They not only trusted in God, but they put that faith into action when they immediately dropped everything and followed Christ. If Christ walked by and called out to you today, could you and would you immediately drop everything and follow Him?

The second way that this word impacts our everyday faiths is demonstrated in Mark 2:8:

"Immediately, Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, "Why are you thinking these things?""

This verse is in the middle of a passage that is talking about when Jesus heals a paralyzed man, and the Pharisees that are there are discussing among themselves how they think that Jesus was blaspheming. Jesus calls them out on their thoughts, and I think that it was really interesting how Mark noted that Jesus knew these Pharisees thoughts. It wasn't that Jesus overheard them whispering. No instead, Jesus IMMEDIATELY knew in his spirit what they were thinking in their hearts. How cool is that? However, we also must take note of this as Christians. There is no hiding from Christ. He knows our thoughts and the ways of our hearts speak immediately to his spirit. Therefore, let us everyday conduct ourselves in a manner that is makes his spirit joyous. Let us live each and every day with the mindset of honoring the Heavenly Father in all that we do, because when we stand before Him, every action, thought, and deed will be laid out and we want to be able to hear the Father say to us, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."

Thanks for reading through this segment of "This Guy Over Here." I hope that the remainder of your Christmas Break is relaxing and enjoyable. Take some time in these next few days to reflect on how 2011 went, where you are compared to where you were almost a year ago, and then set some goals for 2012 that you'd like to accomplish. Almost like a bucket list for 2012.

Here is a great verse to take with you! Remember to write the word on your minds and on your hearts!

"Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans."

Proverbs 16:3

They'll Know We are Christians By Our Love

Singing off,

JD

Speak Loud

Hey everyone. Thanks for stopping by "This Guy Over Here." I hope that this blog finds you doing well. It's been a while since the last post, and this semester overall was a bit on the skimpy side when it came to blogging. I guess that is what college can do to you though. However, since I am officially done with finals, I thought I should once again pull out the old laptop and fire away some words that are currently filling my brain and any moment should if you continue to read fill yours. As you can see from the title, the topic of this blogpost is "Speak Loud." This blog was inspired by one of my closest friends and mentors.

Speak loud. In most situations this would be considered an impolite standard and a rather obnoxious statement to ask of someone. However, I am not referring to the actual volume of the the speaking. Rather, I am referencing that we need to be focused on making our actions reflect our words. In every circumstance. A man or woman can be and is measuered by a lot of different scales in today's society. Through the venier of outward beauty, through wealth, through all of the judgements that we cast on each other, there is a man and there is his word. There is a woman and there is her promise. When that goes, there is little left. So today, I want to encourage you all to be individauls who stand by their words. To live a life that is reflective of who you say you are.

To be perfectly clear, this is not something that I can call myself an expert on, and so I would ask that you would not look at this as a lecture or a reprimand, but rather as an encouragement and a rekindling of a sense of honesty and integrity. Recently, I read through the book of Daniel, and my eyes were really opened to what it meant to really stand by your word or what you say you believe in. Two very distinct examples stood out to me that I would like to highlight.

Daniel 3 is the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace. If you aren't familiar with this story, basically King Nebuchadnezzar (what a name) builds this giant golden statue and commands that every one worship it. Anyone who doesn't is to be thrown into this huge fiery furnace. Enter Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, three faithful men of God, who stand for what they believe in and refuse to worship the idolic statue. There are two verses that I wanted to put particular emphasis on.

"But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up."

Daniel 3:12

"If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand."

Daniel 3:17

There are multiple things that really stick out about these particular verses. First in verse 3:12, I want to put emphasis on the words, "who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty." Now, I am in no way advocating lack of respect for authorities; however, these three men knew what they stood for in Christ, and because of this, they lived out their belief by not listening to what the KING commanded. I feel like so often, we know what we believe in, then we let society whisper to us how we should act, and we conform. Or we allow others to convince us to do this or that and we go against who we have said we are. If you say you are going to do something, do it. If you claim to be someone who acts a certain way, act that way. Even if it means going against the social norm or in this case the King's command. Some may be wondering where or how to draw the gumption to make such a stand. Well verse 3:17 answers that pretty well. What a powerful statement these three make. Not only is God "able to save, but He WILL." Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew what they believed in, and their actions reflected those beliefs. They Spoke Loud.

If you continue to read on in Daniel, you soon come to another biblically common story in Daniel and the Lion's Den. Again if you haven't heard this, here is a quick synopsis. Daniel is a devoted man of God. God has blessed him and Daniel is quickly becoming a man of power and importance. Some administrators get really jealous and beg the King to pass a decree that says that no one can pray to anyone or thing besides the king himself. Daniel continues to pray to God and is convicted of the crime of breaking the decree. Again, a few verses stood out to me in particular that I would like to share.

"Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before."

Daniel 6:10

"Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day."

Daniel 6:13

A couple of really neat things there too. Daniel, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, stood for what he believed in. Well in this case he kneeled, but the point is the same. Verse 6:10 tells us that even though Daniel knew about the decree, he still went home and prayed three times a day, "just as he had done before." Talk about living out what you believe in. Daniel talked the talk and walked the walk. Then in verse 6:13, when the administrators are trying to accuse Daniel, they say that Daniel "pays no attention to you, Your Majesty." Sound familiar? This is word for word the exact statement made in the verse 3:12 above. See a common theme here? Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego knew what they believed in. They knew who they claimed to be. And they weren't going to let anything come in the way of that, not even a King. They spoke loud, and they let their actions do the talking.

So over this Christmas break, take some time to think if you are living a lifestyle where your actions are reflecting your words. As the famous basketball coach John Wooden once said, "be someone who is more concerened with your character than your reputation, because your character is who you really are, while your reputation is merely who others think you are." Stand firm in your beliefs, and live a life that reflects your words. As these four men all knew, Our God is strong enough to save us and He will. We only have to rely on Him.

Thanks for stopping by! Have a fantastic winter break and enjoy the time to rest and refuel! You all are wonderful and delightful people.

"King of wonders, we stand amazed. There's no other, other than You"

They'll Know We Are Christians by Our Love.
Signing off,

JD

Go Forth

Go Forth

Matthew 28:19

"Go forth and make disciples of all nations."

Brothers and sisters, rise up.
Rise up in this world

of corruption and shadow;
take up your armor

and join in the battle.

Today is not just another day.
We can't afford to think that way,
not when there are people around us
with eternity at stake.

Rise up. Our God is a fire
that cannot be tamed,
so who are we to go about
and try to hide His name?

You're in or out
there's no more in between.
The enemy's best weapon
is found in routine.

MEN, you are the sons of God,
and the prayer of a righteous man
is both powerful and effective.
Just let me put this into perspective.

Today, display a strength like Samson,
a wisdom like Solomon,
a heart like David,
and a courage to follow Him.
Live out your faith like Noah,
Be persecuted like Steven.
Pray like Daniel,
and live what you believe in.
We are warriors like Gideon,
leaders like Moses,
rescued like Paul,
and loved by Jehovah.

No longer will we watch from the edge.
No longer can we continue to blend in.
We are called to GO FORTH
and live like Christ has risen.

WOMEN, you are the daughters of God,

you are Queens, and this is your time,
to stand in His love, and let His light shine.

Today, be brave, draw courage from Rahab.
Be found in favor like Mary,
practice faith like Sarah;
in His arms you are carried.
Be loyal like Ruth,
Anoint Him like Mary Magdeline.

Lead like Esther.
Spread the word like the Samaritan.

Your beauty should not come
from anything outside,
for each of you is beautiful
in the eyes of Christ.

So rise up. GO FORTH.
Our God will come through.

Let's shine for His Glory;
He's making us new.

Rainy Day Rants

Welcome back! Thanks for stopping by to the "This Guy Over Here," and some of the random thoughts that cross my mind. I am sitting at this AWESOME coffee shop at Purdue University called "Greyhouse." You've probably heard of it. If not, you need to. So I am just hanging out, breathing deep the coffee aroma that hangs so heavily in the air. I've always found it kind of funny that I legitimately do not like coffee, but I can tolerate the smell. Considering that tasting something is something like 70% smell, those calculations don't really add up. Oh well! I'm just sitting here, looking out the window and watching a drizzling rain fall down. And I thought to myself, "self, I should blog about rainy days." So that is what I am doing. Enjoy the mysteries of a rainy day!

95% of the time, the first thing that always come to my mind when it is raining outside is "blah." I mean seriously, getting rained on is inconvenient. It's annoying and a hassle. Especially the light drizzle rain. It's just enough to get you wet, but not really enough to make you stay inside and not leave. It's not enough to be like a rainstorm, so it's not really cool. And usually, it is perpetual. Like ALL day. I feel like people including myself are generally in more "blah" moods when it rains, and I wanted to write about this. Besides some general reasons that I listed above, why do we get down and saddened on a rainy day? A rainy day provides so much for us that we don't even realize. "Oh really," you ask. "Like what?" Well, let me tell you dear friends. Let me tell you.

Five Things that Can be Accomplished on a Rainy Day.

1. indoor picnic

Hello? How awesome is this? The first glance may cause you to say that every meal inside is an indoor picnic. Wrong. When I am talking about doing an indoor picnic, I mean like going all out. Red and white checkered blanket. Picnic basket. Sandwich meat or whatever else you eat on a picnic. And the hardwood or tiled floor. You'd be surprised by how fun this can be. Have a picnic with your roommates or some random strangers on your floor. Don't worry guys. If you are anything like myself, and don't have an official blanket or basket, be creative. Even sharing a meal with your bros on the floor can be a good time.

2. board games

So this is a pretty wide topic range, but basically, a rainy day gives you a perfect excuse to get out some of those board games we don't really have any other time to open. The next time that it really starts to come down outside, pull out the Monopoly board and start one of those three hour games. Or, if Monopoly isn't your game, crack out Catchphrase, bring out the battleship, get out the Guess Who, deal out the deck of cards. There are so many board games, and so many other games that can simply be played with pencil and paper. Take advantage of the grey outside so create some laughs and fun times inside.

3. prayer

Although we shouldn't only pray on rainy days, it is true that a rainy day can provide the perfect opportunity to just hide away in your room, in your apartment, or even in the local coffee shop and just spend some serious quality time in prayer. Not only do you get to spend some time with the Creator of the Universe, but I have found that prayer is very good at cheering me up. Take the rainy day and make it a prayer day. Pray for your friends and family. Pray that God would work in the rain. Or like one of my friends, pray for complete strangers on a random island somewhere by the Easter Islands. Prayer is prayer. And we could all use it. So let's all give it.

4 Clean urp.
Yes. I know that no one really likes to clean up, but let's just face it. Sometimes it needs to be done. There isn't a better time than the world is deciding to take a shower. If you are going to be inside, you may as well get some things organized. BUT, just because I am advocating cleaning, does not mean that I am advocating the boringness or general ire that accompanies cleaning. No. Ask your roommates, boyfriend, girlfriend, friends, to just hang out with you while you clean. If you get lucky, they may even help! But just hanging out and being productive can lead to some pretty cool stories. Just take the time to talk and get to know your friends. The best part is that this can be done while folding laundry or organizing your desk.

5. Golashing.
definition: Golashing: The act of wearing rainboots (or other acceptable shoes for us men) and running outside, jumping or stepping in as many puddles as possible. Usually accompanied by extreme laughter and dancing. Sometimes accompanied by singing. Usually not accompanied by umbrellas or dry clothes.

SO there it is. Five perfectly acceptable, creative, and easy ways for you to enjoy this rainy day. I wanted to leave with a little bit of scripture that has been sticking out to me this week! Read it and think on it!

2nd Corinthians 6:4-10

^"Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."

They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love,

Signing Off,

JD

Letting Go.

I am sitting in a local McDonalds on Campus, and it's past 1 in the morning. I am surrounded by over 40 other college students, and I am just sitting here and taking everything in. In fact, I just had a neat conversation with three random strangers. I've had some of the best conversations with random strangers at McDonald's past midnight. It's about being open and willing to listen. I talked to God on the walk from my dorm room over to McDonald's, and I opened up my laptop, and began typing. I don't have a plan for this post, I don't have a direction of what I want to talk about. I just need write out some of the stuff that is rolling around in mind. So, here it is I guess.

I am sick and tired of trying to make sure that everything in my life is under control. It doesn't work. After time, I begin to realize that everything I think I have under control is slowly falling apart. The world is an inconsistant place, but you know what is always always always consistent? The fact that when I try to make my own plans, on my own wisdom, in my own time, they always always always fail. Recently, I've talked about this with a couple of good friends because it has really been on my heart, and one reference that I keep coming back to is that life isn't like some sports movie, where the coach gives this motivational speech claiming that "we may play these guys ten times, and lost nine, but this could be that one time." No, trying to handle life on our own will result in losing all 10 out of 10 games, every time. And I realize this. I know this, but yet I still try to do things on my own. It makes no sense.

God calls us to cast our worries and our stress on Him. The bible talks about how God is "mighty to save," but how often do we actually let Him save us? I feel like God has really been pulling on my heart recently to just LET GO. To let go of all of the control that I try to have on my life. When I try to do things according to my own power, I limit the power of God in me. I have the Holy Spirit inside my heart, and so often I don't even use it. I turn to my own knowledge or wisdom to try to get me through things. I feel like God is telling me to STEP BACK. To step back and examine my life, but this examination is by the Holy Spirit. What is in my life that I am trying to handle on my own? What am I not giving up completely to God? School? Relationships? Yea probably some of both. God is reaching out His hand, His unfailing hand, and He simply says, "I am enough." He is enough for me.

Sometimes, to actual put the practice of saying that God is enough for us into practice, we have to let go of certain things. We can't claim that we are letting God control our lives, but then keep the few things back that we are still really trying to maintain. It isn't a 90%-10% relationship. NO. Christ calls us and expects us to give Him 100% control. The problem with this is that letting go of things is usually painful and sucks. It is something that we are not very good at. And it is also something that will not happen in a day. I realize that by my very nature, I will still try and control certain aspects of my life. However, I am determined to go throughout my life in a state of surrendering everything. And little by little, I KNOW that God WILL work in my life for good. I KNOW that little by little, I will begin to rely on Him more and more until all that I am is under His control. I am tired of holding back. I am tired of trying to figure things out. God is not and He will not call me to have everything under control or planned out. I call myself to have everything under control. And God's calling is so much HIGHER than any calling I could every give myself.

Life is like a beautifully written poem: there always more layers to it, and some that we will never fully understand. But God doesn't ask that we understand all of the layers. He calls us to surrender UP every layer, every wrinkle, every word to His Glory. When we do this, we are truly SET FREE. We are set free in His mercy, grace, and salvation. What an amazing feeling.

I want to close this blog out with a prayer. This prayer is a combination of some of the things that were said in the morning prayer yesterday at Campus House. I wrote down some of what I prayed, and some of what others prayed. So I guess this is a compilation of prayers? Ya, we'll go with that.

"Lord,

Thank you for your provision and your care for us. We come here today to ask that you would keep our foundation strong for you. That you would burn in our hearts and our minds. That you would be our primary focus and that we would willingly lay down our lives. Please allow us to not get caught up in our business/our constant activities. I thank you for mercy and I thank you for grace. Thank you for the freedom to not have to do everything right. Give us the ability to fully embrace that freedom. Guard our thoughts Lord. We are your children. We thank you for the mystery of the Cross. Humble our hearts. LET OUR CONTROL GO. Teach us what it means to walk in worship, praising you with every step. May we honor the call to live to bring you glory. Teach us to worship the way that you intended us to. Help us to trust and love you in the now Lord. Break us out of this prison of being content. Help the body to communicate your love. BREAK US OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONE. We are in state of surrendering everything."

Letting Go,

Signing off,

JD