What if We...

Hey all, this is the latest from This Guy Over Here, and the second instillment in the 'What If We...' mini-series. So this weekend, I had the awesome experience of being able to travel to Chicago with a group of friends from Purdue. To say the least, it was a spiritual rejuvenation. To see how God was working in the lives of my friends was a major encouragement. I won't talk very long about the weekend, but I did want to highlight one event that happened that I thought was really awesome!

So how many people know what a flash mob is? Basically, a flash mob is a large group of people who gather in one spot and do some action at the exact same time. You may have seen television shows or commercials where one random person bursts out in song, and then all of these people follow in a choreographed fashion. That is one example of a flash mob. Anyways, when we were in Chicago on Saturday, we took a walk over from Navy Pier to Millenium Park because we had to get some pictures by the gigantic bean! Right when we walk up, we hear this loud whistle and people begin to lay down all around us! So, being naturally smooth, we lay down with the crowd. We look around and almost everyone is laying down! Now my second question for you is have you ever heard of planking? Planking the act of laying down as flat as possible, usually on some sort of sign or post. So here we were, laying down next to the Bean in Millenium Park, participating in a giant planking flashmob. The ordeal lasted for about three minutes and then everyone stood up and went on their way. The spectacle was big enough that it made ABC and NBC news in Chicago, and if you want proof, check out this website. Click over on the pictures 43 times and you will see us! Here is a picture of Amber Enyart planking, and you can see my right shoulder. I'm the guy in the multi-colored striped shirt. Whats up.

PLANKING FLASHMOB PROOF!

Anyways, onward to our dive into the mini-series 'What If We...' Today, the topic of discussion is going to be:

What If We... Stepped Forward?

And for this blog, I actually switched things up a bit. If I get tired of writing out my thoughts in paragraph form, I know that you as the reader eventually gets tired of reading in the same fashion. While in Chicago, on Saturday night when we were staying at my grandma's house, I couldn't sleep. Like most times when I can't sleep, I went to a lighted area and I pulled out a piece of paper and began to write. I prayed to God to show me what He was wanting me to write about, and all I kept getting or seeing from Him was this image of an army of us. An army of you and me, our friends, parents, teachers, co-workers, all lined up in marching formation before God. We had on armor. But it wasn't normal armor. This was the armor described in Ephesians 6. It was radiant and spotless silver. And I was in the front row. Seeing this, I put my pencil to the paper and a song came out. To this date, I have written 9 songs. But this song was different. In this song, almost every single line was directly from scripture. I'm talking almost every one. It was as if God was pouring scripture out to my heart to write line after line. Almost all of the scripture comes from Isaiah. It was incredible, and I want to share the song with you now, as well as the references. I will post the lyric on the left, and the reference on the right. Here we go:

Stepping Forward

(Prelude)

"Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Isaiah 6:8

"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"" Isaiah 6:8

I'm standing in the front row,

in my plate' of righteousness. Ephesians 6:14

The questions of my Savior, reference to Isaiah 6:8

are pounding through my chest. reference to Isaiah 6:8

My heart is full of fear, Psalm 143:4

but this fear is of the Lord. Isaiah 11:3

I breath deep, and with the

gospel of His peace, I step forward. Ephesians 6:15

and I said:

"Here am I. Send me." Isaiah 6:8

(Chorus)

God will fight, He will conquer, Isaiah 27:1
He will come to save the lost. Luke 19:10

By His righteous hand He'll raise us Isaiah 41:10

as His shoulders bear the cross. John 19:17

He will carry, He will rescue, Isaiah 46:4

He will shine in every splendor. Psalms 50:2
In His salvation we are found, Isaiah 12:2
He is our Yahweh forever.

In the battle at the gate Isaiah 28:6

He is my source of strength. Isaiah 28:6

Yet their arrows are too sharp Isaiah 5:28
and their darkness has no length. Isaiah 5:30
But amidst all the adversity, Isaiah 30:20

fire won't set me ablaze. Isaiah 43:2
Because my walls are His salvation, Isaiah 60:18
and my gates are made of praise. Isaiah 60:18

(Chorus)

God will fight, He will conquer, Isaiah 27:1
He will come to save the lost. Luke 19:10

By His righteous hand He'll raise us Isaiah 41:10

as His shoulders bear the cross. John 19:17

He will carry, He will rescue, Isaiah 46:4

He will shine in every splendor. Psalms 50:2
In His salvation we are found, Isaiah 12:2
He is our Yahweh forever.

By the 'Way of Holiness' Isaiah 35:8

His soldiers come back to the throne.
We will enter Zion with singing, Isaiah 35:10
and we'll dance to trumpets blown.
Crowned with everlasting joy, Isaiah 35:10
our gladness is overtaking. Isaiah 35:10
Sorrow and sighing will flee away, Isaiah 35:10
as his glory is breathtaking.
We will watch the rains of righteousness Isaiah 45:8
and hear the Lord proclaim: Isaiah 43:1

"Fear not, I have redeemed you. Isaiah 43:1
I have summoned you by name." Isaiah 43:1

"YOU ARE MINE." Isaiah 43:1

It is such a neat image to think of stepping forward, being clad in the armor of God, and calling out "Here am I. Send me!" The bible talks about how we will fight at the Gates of Zion and in many places, it talks about how God makes much of us by rewarding us, be it with everlasting joy or simply everlasting life with Him. So, I guess deep down, the meaning of this song was to be a question, asking if you would be the person to step forward from the front lines. Everyday, as Christians, we stand in God's army, and everyday, God issues the challenging questions in our life, asking "Who shall He send?". Well today is the day to STEP FORWARD for Christ. Imagine if we stepped forward everyday in our homes, our schools, or our offices. There is no better way to bring Glory to Him than laying our lives down on the line day in and day out.

I want to close this blog with the verse Psalms 27:1.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?"

Today, practice stepping forward. Ask God to give you the strength to be the soldier that He is calling you today. What if we... Stepped Forward?

Buried and Risen in Christ,

Signing off,

JD

What if We...

Hey everyone! I hope that you are finding ways to stay out of this awful heat that we are experiencing this week. I mean seriously, it's a tad ridiculous. So I wanted to tell one quick story before we begin tonight, and it involves me randomly getting hurt. Today, I decided that I would go swimming at one of my friend's houses after work. I got there, changed into my trunks, grabbed the pool basketball and jumped in. The water felt amazing. Anyways, I took one shot, a warm-up fade away, and then I went to go get the ball as it splashed down in the water. Little did I know that the basketball had recently been accepting housing applications from wasps, so as I reached out my hand to grab the ball, I was stung on the palm by this bee. I backed up, a little bit stunned all the while shaking my hand like it was on fire. I hadn't taken two steps back before a now angry wasp started flying right toward my face. I didn't even see it coming. Well technically I did, but the bee was so quick I never stood a chance. And just like that, I was stung again, this time right above my left eyebrow. Instantly, my eye swelled up like I was in a Rocky movie. SO needless to say, I now look like I got suckered punched in the eye, minus the black and blue bruising. I'm always looking for great new excuses to explain a swollen eye, so if you have any, leave them in the comments below.

Moving forward onto things that actually matter, I wanted to start off tonight by announcing that I am going to be doing a mini-series based on the title, "What if We..." If you've read this blog before, you probably know that I read the devotion 'My Utmost for His Highest' by Oswald Chambers because I make so many references to it; however, I read something that really stood out to me and I want to run with it for a bit. Saying that, the official title of this blog is..

What if We... Believe?

On July 9th, Oswald writes a really interesting couple of lines that I want to hinge this blog around; not so much the actual words, but the concepts. These lines are as follows:

"If we really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what we would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?"

These lines have been running through my mind the past few weeks and I finally felt like I was ready to discuss and digest them. Let's get started.

Oswald claims, "If we really believed." At first, I wanted to turn my head and scoff at this statement. Psh, please! If we really believe. Of course we really believe! If we didn't, why do we spend time in prayer or reading the word? Who is this man to say that we really don't believe? Although I am not proud of it, these were some of my very initial thoughts. It hurts for someone to come in and say "If you really believed." I'd like to think that I really believe. I wanted to see what the bible had to say about this, so I turned to some scripture that I will cite now.

The first scripture that I turned to was Luke 17:6, and I think that most of us should be familiar with this passage.

" ⁶ He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you."

As I read this, I thought it was so applicable to what Oswald was saying. Of course we believe, but do we really believe? We have faith, but why aren't we up moving trees? I'm sure the answer is probably yes, but just to clarify, do you realize how small a mustard seed is? I found this picture that I wanted to include just to justify the smallness:

This stinking small! Is it discouraging to know that in most cases our faith doesn't even amount to this size? Almost as much as being told that "if we really believed." However, I think that both of these statements can and are to be used as encouragements. Why don't we strive for a faith that is larger than a mustard seed? Why not strive for the life that we would know if we really believed in what Christ says. And the amazing thing is, is that these things that we strive for are totally realistic and are goals that can actually happen. How do I know this? Well, I think that John 14:12 backs me up pretty well (keep John 14:12 in your heads; there may or may not be a blog about it coming up!). John 14:12 says:

¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

Jesus directly says that we will do even greater things than the works that He did himself. But like with everything else and the central theme to this blog, what is the key to being able to perform those greater things? Nothing other than a belief in the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ. How cool is that?

Now we get into the second part of Oswald's statement: "Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?" This is an interesting challenge. Usually when people dare someone to do something, there is always a negative connotation to it. And this is no exception. Well... kinda. If we are brave enough and believe in Christ enough to allow Him to be everything He says the He will be, we are dying to ourselves and to the world, and committing to living for Him. So in reality, we are losing out on the pleasures and importances of this world, but we are gaining something that is so much more ever-lasting.

I am doing a study through some of the minor prophets, and I read through the book of Joel last night. It is a very short book and good study. I would recommend it to anyone! Anyways, I liked the way that Joel puts all that God says He will do in chapter 2, verse 23. Joel writes:

²³ Be glad, O people of Zion, rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given you the autumn rains in righteousness.^[a] He sends you abundant showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.

How amazing is that!? God calls us to rejoice in Him why? Because He has given us the autumn rains in righteousness. I don't know about you, but this verse gives me a great perspective of what God says He will do in my life. So, do I dare to let God give me the autumn rains in righteousness? You bet you bottom dollar that I do. But for real. Bet your bottom dollar. God blesses the poor. That is another topic for another day.

Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed the first installment in the "What if We..." mini-series. Stay tuned for more blogs coming up! If you are new to this blog and want to know when I will be putting up new posts, you can either go to facebook and add me: http://www.facebook.com/bobbalockinosmagockin, or you can follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jdaghe.

Later tonight I am going to go see the midnight release of Captain America! Hopefully I will stay awake! Have a great rest of your weekend and stay hydrated in this heat!

Buried and Risen with Christ,

Signing off,

JD

What do I Know of Holy

Before you get any further in this blog, I ask that you follow the below link and listen to this song. The remainder of this blog will hinge around the lyrics to this song. Also, keep the song open because we will be going back and forth to it.

WATCH THIS SONG FIRST!

I won't take up a ton of space by posting the lyrics to this song, but I do want to delve into some of lyrics and back them up with verses from the bible. I heard this song for the first time last fall and I instantly loved it. However, I have going through a big worship music kick for the past few weeks, and this song keeps sticking out to me. So I figured I would write about it. Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to share and breakdown the song by Addison Road, "What Do I Know of Holy."

I want to start the deep dive with the second line "I tried to hear from heaven, but I talked the whole time." Right away, I am drawn in because this is such a neat image. Obviously, not being able to hear from Heaven because we are "talking" the whole time is not a good image, but it's a perfect way to describe our actions. We are quick to pin our lack of hearing on God, claiming that He isn't answering our prayers, or even going as far as saying that He isn't listening. But how often do we take a step back and realize that the problem is with us. That we are talking so much that we block out what God is trying to say to us. Let's see what the Bible has to say about this.

A few blogs ago, I talked about James 1:21, and I think it's interesting because the first verse that I want to turn to is James 1:19. It reads:

"My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry."

God calls us to listen first and then speak. Yet we so often do it the other way around. I also wanted to cite 1st Kings 19:11-13 which reads:

"The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. ¹³When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave."

As we see here, so many times we expect God to meet us or speak to us in the same level of sound that we are making as we seek him. Yet as Elijah found out, God does not choose to speak in the power of a storm, but in the quiet of a whisper. Let's make sure that we are not talking the whole time as we try to hear from Heaven.

The second part of this song that really gets me are the next two lines: "I think I made you too small. I never feared you at all." How often do we confine God to our circumstances? When are we going to realize that our God is not a God of our circumstances. He is the maker of the galaxies, the Alpha and the Omega, the great I AM. Yet we can only see Him as this small God, trapped within the boundaries of what is going on in our lives. When we do this, we are showing that we really don't fear God at all. This is kind of a silly analogy, but how many of us would put a wild tiger in our cars? I'd like to think probably nobody. The reason we won't is because we know how dangerous tigers can be, especially in a small trapped place like your car. And obviously, our fear for tigers should not be the same as our fear of God, but do we realize that the phrase "Fear God" is used 10 times throughout scripture. The phrase "fear the Lord," is used 30 separate times. Obviously, God was trying to get something across here. Deuteronomy 6:24 shows a perfect example of what it means to fear the Lord, and why we should.

"The LORD commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear the LORD our God, so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today"

So one way that we can fear the Lord is to give Him our obedience in everything that we do. Why must we fear the Lord? So that we might always prosper and be kept alive. Think about that! A fear of the Lord is what keeps us alive. Have we ever even considered that or are we so wrapped up in our own lives that we forget to fear the Lord?

The next part of the song that I want to talk about are the lines, "I knew all the stories, and I learned to talk about how you were mighty to save, but those were only empty words on a page." This hits right at home for me and I am interested to see how you all react to it. There are some of us who spend time in the word, know all the right things to say, but we don't really mean it. We don't live our lives in a manner that reflects our dedication to Jesus Christ. We read and we know that God is Mighty to Save, but we don't apply that to our lives. It's like the comforts of this world entice us and blind us from the need for a Savior in our lives. Take these verses into consideration:

"The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17

"I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you."

Psalm 119:11

The first verse again emphasizes God's power and His might, but the second verse is where we tend to stray. We read verse after verse about God's grace, love, and power, but we so easily forget to hide His word in our hearts. That is the key. We must not only read, but read and do. Read and live our lives bases on God's commands.

The final part of the song that I want to talk about are the lines: "Then I caught a glimpse of who you might be. The slightest hint of you, brought me down to my knees." I think that this is such an amazing image. It is soooo powerful and soo true. God is magnificent. He is all knowing, perfect, just, loving, glorious, and worthy of all of our praise. He is. He is so holy. So holy that only the slightest hint of Him is enough to drive us to our knees. How do we at times go day after day without even considering the Holiness of God? This lyric brings images into my head of the second coming of Christ and of the verse Romans 14:11

It is written: “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’”

That is all that I have for today! I hope that you guys listened to the song before you read this blog or else most of it probably didn't make any sense. But, I pray that everyone can get something out of these words and that God will use this blog to His awe-inspiring glory. Have a great saturday!

Buried and Risen with Christ,

Signing off,

JD

The Mask

So often the people who try to give advice
are standing on the outside looking in
with their fairytale solutions that are obviously pretend.

Why do we listen to these scoffers and hecklers
when they decide to assume the character
of the wise advised oracle, dying to be the narrator?
See it’s an eye for an eye or so people say,
but the citizens of this time want a voice
yet they are too afraid to stand up next their choices.
You can’t steal a voice, and you can’t trade it either.
So many of us have tried but it’s never been done
because the search for an alternate you isn’t fun.
Well it can be for a spell, but we all know that’s magic.
When you stand at the edge of the cliff looking down,
there’s no tricks or allusions when its swim or be drown.
It’s a fight for the very essence of life.
We are so willing to hide behind a mask of a lie,
even though we can’t see we would rather be blind.
I can’t boast and say that I’m better than ‘us,’
on my wall there is mask after mask,
and I’ve stood at the edge of the cliff in the past.
I know what it’s like to believe in that flight;
to trod with my feet bound in chains up that mountain,
so desperate for the world to call me a ‘count in.’

Nobody likes to be counted out or cast away,
it’s a comedy how our differences make us unique,
but the joke’s on the audience as they laugh at the ‘geeks.’
A simple stutter can make you relish your speech,
as a gait in your trot makes every step an adventure,
this is just my thesis now I’ll get to the clincher.
So listen up while you can and look across the water,
there’s other mountains, with people atop seemingly just like you,
and they never even realize they’re within a telescopic view.
So take your mask and ablaze it like a beacon of hope,
even in the dark of the life we call ours,
a strand of light can ignite the remainder of stars.
It’s time we stood up and claimed our own shadow.
When we remove our masks and finally glance around,
we see we’re not the only ones throwing our blindness to the ground.
There’s now a turn in the tide, known as a driving aspiration.
No longer does the whisper of society take hold,
we’ve addressed our inner mess, and we’ve broke the potter’s mold.
Our conversations are now not dominated by a fake smile,
and authenticity exudes from every once muffled word
without the mask to block the passage we can finally be heard.
So let us loose a roar that will break through the sky.
Yet so often we allow our dreams to fade away too soon;
let’s ride this rocket of redemption all the way to the moon.
In a society that idolizes the concept of perfection,
we’re armed with our differences to fight against the scrutiny;
we’ve come together in our oddities to raise a misfit mutiny.
To dispel a misconception: freedom isn’t free,
if we pursue a mask-less life, then we better be prepared,
for harshness of their judgments is best exampled in their stares.
The world wields the weapons of temptation and a shield of gossip
and you best be on you guard at every passing hour,
your heartbeat drums to the chimes of the unwinding clock tower.
When the night is darkest, and you seem to be surrounded,
take up the flag of individuality and plant it in the soil,
you are a beautiful creation, to yourself be ever loyal.
We are hand drawn by The Architect who sketched the galaxies,
yet we believe our imperfections are His erasure shavings;
but the truth is, He drew in pen; our ink is never-fading.
See we are designed in the only image worthy of perfection,
so as we shuffle through our masks, wishing to better our physique
do we realize that we’re concealing the very thing that we seek.
It’s safe to say that sincerity has become a lost art these days.
Can we transform our outward expression to reflect what’s deep within?
We’re so ready to make a change, yet so hesitant to begin.
The road up the mountain is deceivingly wide,
but as we perch at the top looking over the way we came,
a return trip’s too dangerous through the rugged terrain.
And the worst thing about our masks is we pretend we don’t care
because if we cared we would have to acknowledge our need
for a radical change in the cores of our beliefs.
In most of our realities, our cares are dominated by other’s thoughts.
We care so much about what others say and think
that we allow the world to puppeteer us right up to the brink.
As we dance to our desires we realize happiness is fleeting.
Who we are now doesn’t match who we thought we’d be.
It’s a scary thought, but in a mask, you’re no longer me.
and you’re no longer you; instead you’re just a painted face.
What’s even scarier is we think every change was sacrifice,
like we were laying ourselves down to absorb some better life.
We error in our constant self-centered approach.
But don’t we get it: we don’t have to lay ourselves down
to the world, because there was a man who laid down His crown.
He laid down more that we can ever imagine,
including death in it’s grave; He took on all our worry
so that one day we could stand before the Father in His glory.
It’s not the mask who will be judged, but the person underneath;
in that moment every mask we had will not be able to hide
the thoughts conceived and the actions we’ve exemplified.
So let us rid ourselves of our masks and re-adjust our eyes;
for that one-day when the skies erupt in a flood of golden light,
we want to bend our knees, confess, and SEE that we’re riding home with Christ.

Signing Off,

JD

The Big 40! "Salvation-Garden"

This is my fortieth blog post and I just wanted to thank all of the people that read and make this blog what it is! When I started writing at the beginning of my freshman year, I never envisioned that I would still be scribbling down my thoughts today. From the beginning, my blogs started out a bit sporadic, and now more recently, they have found a center around the scripture and message of Jesus Christ. I love being able to share the thoughts and input that God puts on my heart, and my prayer is that anyone who reads this would be able to see the light of God shining through these words.

So, I just returned from my family excursion to Europe, and wow was that challenging. It was simply amazing, but having to navigate and 'live' in a country where you don't speak any of the language can cause some serious problems. When I returned home, I had a letter waiting for me from one of my best friends and future roommate Shane McGraw. It was great to hear from him, but what was really neat was the verse that he closed the letter with. It was James 1:21. I have studied James numerous times, each with a varying level of depth, but for some reason, that verse had never stuck out to me. This simple fact cracked a huge smile across my face because I love the depth of the bible. You can read a certain book over and over and still not get everything from it. At any moment, a verse can reveal a new meaning that you had never seen or understood before. And that is what happened with James 1:21. I was so inspired by this verse that I decided I should blog about it. So today, on my fortieth blog post, we will be delving into the book of James, chapter one, verse twenty-one.

Of course, I will begin by posting the verse:

²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

(NIV)

As indicated below the verse, this is the NIV version. When doing some research on a particular verse, one of the things I commonly like to do is look at the verse in different translations, just to see if anything new jumps out at me. On this particular verse, I was caught by The Message translation, so I will post that version also. I will be conducting the rest of this blog based mainly on The Message version, with a few tie backs to the NIV.

^19-21Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. God's righteousness doesn't grow from human anger. So throw all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil in the garbage. In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.

I know that this is James 1:19-21, but I wanted to get the full effect of James 1:21, so I included the two prior verses. Let's begin the breakdown.

In The Message version, the phrase "all spoiled virtue and cancerous evil," immediately jumps out at me. This is an interesting translation of the "moral filth" that James talks about in the NIV version. The first of these two filths is all of our "spoiled virtue" which is an awesome way to describe some of the garbage that is so prevalent in our lives. So many of us know the right way to act, and the right choices to make. In other words, we are virtuous people by nature. We have a desire to act in accordance with God's word, and we yearn to bring glory to Him by our actions. However, because we are human, some of that virtue that we possess becomes "spoiled" by our sin. We fade away, drifting from the Hand of Him who provides for our every need. So, one of the areas that we need to be looking out for in our individual lives is all of our spoiled virtue. Make sure to ask God for forgiveness in the areas that you are seeking him, but fall short (Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.") This was an interesting reminder of what exactly we need forgiveness for.

The next phrase that really stood out to me in The Message translation was "In simple humility." Since when has humility ever been simple? So many of us including myself struggle with the act of being humble, especially before God. Yet here, James calls us to act in "simple humility." So what does that look like? I think that it looks like two things. I have been doing a study through the book of Isaiah, and I love the way that he puts it in Isaiah 55:8-9. He says:

"8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts,

neither are your ways my ways,"

declares the Lord.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts higher than your thoughts."

I thought that this was an incredible call for our humility. Do we stop and think about what God is saying in these verses? Everything about God is so much higher and holier than we could ever wrap our minds around. So in reality, being humble should be something that is simple. "In simple humility" starts with a realization of how much more God is, and from that realization you move onto the second step, and that is the intentional laying down of ones self, not for personal gain, but because you are filled with the knowledge of the what life could be in Christ. When we do these two things, being humble in the presence of Christ is the easiest thing to do in the world.

Finally, this verse ends in fantastic fashion. "let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life." I don't know about you, but the picture of God as a gardener landscaping us with the Word makes me smile and want to dance in praise. It is so encouraging! The fact that God cares enough about us to make a "SALVATION-GARDEN" of our lives is like mind-blowing to me. This feeling is so overwhelming that I really can't even begin to put it into words. So I am just going to let you sit here and let it sink in a bit. If you can, spend a few minutes dwelling in those words. Simply amazing.

That's all I have for this blog. Thanks for tuning in, and for breaking down James 1:21 with me. Remember to rely on God with all of your cares and worries today. "If you knock, the door will be opened." Have a terrrrific Thursday and a great start to your weekend tomorrow!

Buried and Risen in Christ,

Signing Off,

JD

The Sea Of Compassion

The Sea

You made the light that burns at the skies collide

with the waves that are crashing in my life.

And as I walk on the water of your grace,

my sea of sin swirls and rises in my disgrace.

But the depth of your ocean is the depth of your love

no matter the storm, you are always enough.

So as the rain drives around, I will stretch my arms wide

I'm in your Sea of compassion; you're the God who provides.

Hey all! I am currently sitting on a hotel bed in Barcelona, Spain and it is past 1 a.m. in the morning. Since it is only 7 back home, I want to say have a wonderful rest of your Fourth of July night! The picture above was taken from the beach in Barcelona, and while the picture gives everyone an update as to what I am up to, it also ties nicely into my blog topic for today, and that is the Sea of Compassion! I have been thinking a lot about this concept, and last night I wrote out some lyrics to a song that I am going to finish sometime in the near future, but I posted the lyrics that I do have underneath the picture!

SO everyday, I try to read a quick devotional by Oswald Chambers in his book "My Utmost for His Highest." The material in these devotionals is really great stuff, and I would encourage anyone and everyone to check it out. You can even read the devotional online for the technologically advanced. Anyways, the devotional for July 4th was really good and I wanted to take the chance to post some of what it said on here. If you want to read the whole thing, once again, you can find it online.

"My Utmost for His Highest" - Oswald Chambers

July 4th, 2011

'One of God's Great "Don'ts"'

"Do not fret - it only causes harm" (Psalm 37:8)

It is easy to say, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7) until our own little world is turned upside down and we are forced to live in confusion and agony like so many other people.

Resting in the Lord is not dependent on your external conditions at all, but on your relationship with God Himself.

Worrying always results in sin. We tend to think that a little anxiety and worry are simply an indication of how wise we really are, yet it is actually a much better indication of just how wicked we are. Fretting rises from our determination to have our own way.

Set all of your opinions and speculations aside and "abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about whatever concerns you. All of our fretting and worrying is caused by planning without God.

I think that these concepts that Ozzie (Oswald Chambers) discusses are right on. When I think of this, my mind constantly returns to three main points: obedience, trust, and compassion.

The first thing that we must realize is the absolute necessity of being obedient to God. If we are obedient to God's will in our lives, we should not have to worry. Which leads to the second point and that is trust. We can be as obedient as we want, but unless we trust in our hearts with everything that we are that our obedience will result in plans that prosper and do not harm us, then we are missing the whole picture. And finally, I think of compassion, or for the sake of this blog, "the sea of compassion." We realize that even though we crave to be obedient to God, and even though we trust and know that His plan is the right one, we are unable to manage to follow through with our obedience and our trust. That is where God's compassion comes into the picture. There are so many times where we simply fall short of God's glory. In those times, it is his compassion that brings us back.

Those are just some quick thoughts for you on this wonderful Fourth of July. Take the chance today to praise God for the countless blessings that He has put into your life. If you actually stop and think about it, I guarantee you will realize more and more how He has provided and shown up, even in the smallest of matters. Thanks for reading and if you need me, I'll be relaxing on the beach, with my arms open wide, ready to set sail on God's Sea of Compassion!

Hasta Luego Amigos,

Singing off,

JD