How great is our God?

“This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: 'Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”- Jeremiah 33:2-3

What an amazing week, God has been unreal with His blessings this week. As I wrote in a previous blog prior to leaving Oklahoma, I was really struggling so much with do we live in California or are we suppose to stay in Oklahoma? This struggle hit me even harder after 2 days of driving and being exhausted and coming home to the reality of our circumstances. I remember so clearly going to bed almost angry in conversation with God about how things were going and then pleading with Him to help me find a job, find us a place of our own and work in a supernatural way to remind us how great He is... I needed it!!! Well, He did just that. Within a few days we had a place of our own and then after we already agreed to move, He blessed me with a phenomenal job only 5 minutes away!! WOW!! I am reminded of the importance of being transparent with our father, He knows our heart so why not be real with him when we are frustrated? It is almost like unless we truly expect Him to be present and work in supernatural ways we sometimes forget the frustration that can really come with those expectations. He loves us so much, and I pray that we are all challenged to be transparent with Him, I believe it just shows the depths of our relationship with Him.

Is HE faithful?

²³Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23 (NIV)

How long has it been since you stopped to see how faithful He is in your life? I came across this video tonight and the lyrics just made me stop and think beyond my current situation and think back to other times in my life where He has been so faithful. So often He brings us through something and it seems like it is so easy to take His faithfulness for granted. When times are tough it is so easy to be consistent in our spiritual lives yet once out of the storms we move on and almost all to easy forget where we just came from.... until it happens again. We all face challenges on a daily basis some seem much bigger than others but none the less they are simply that... challenges. What are the challenges you are facing? Here is what I would ask you to do... there is a link posted within his post. Click on it and then close your eyes and listen, do nothing else until it is over. As the song plays stop thinking about your current situation and think about what He has already carried you through. do this over and over until the end of the song. Then pray with a humbled heart about your current situation. I hope this helps, it helped me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jHrbXEcee8

Doubt comes naturally..... right?

Matthew 14:31 (NIV)

³¹Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

Tonight this verse speaks so loudly to me. After spending a week with family and friends in Oklahoma and preparing for our journey back to California, I must tell you this trip is harder than ever. I find myself in doubt. I know deep down that God has told us to go to California, in fact we sold everything except what would fit into a 6x12 trailer and went. But it has been tough... finding a job, finding a church home, finding a place of our own, etc. These things in addition to the great times we have been able to share with friends and family while we have been here definitely make it easy to doubt. I feel like I can relate to Peter in a whole new way tonight, you see for me the boat represents Oklahoma and the water represents His calling to California. What has changed? nothing.. except sometimes I think we prefer to stay in the boat because it in some weird way feels safe. Right now staying here in Oklahoma feels safe but we are already in the water (California) and as I doubt and find myself sinking I can feel His hand reaching out to me and saying "you of little faith". I know He has an amazing plan for my wife and I, and very soon I will hear Him say the rest of this scripture to me.... "why did you doubt?"

What does all this babbling mean....? What it reminds me is that we are natural born doubters. Jesus is calling all of us to step out of the boat, our safe place and walk on the water. Not only that but lets take it a step further. He is also showing us a picture of His faithfulness. He will not let us drown in the depths of the water or the unknown. God is still God and that is enough to overcome any doubts. My prayer is that we at some point in our lives get out of the boat..... until then we will never walk on water.

Serve Him 1st, everything else in your life will follow.

Joshua 22:5 (NIV)

⁵ But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul."

I met with an old friend today and I was so blessed. I met my friend Trent years ago when he was fresh out of college and taking on his first ministry position as a worship leader. Little did I know why God crossed our paths (we seldom do) but today I am so thankful. I witnessed someone with an amazing gift to lead worship, I am talking the kind of gift that you truly watch and see God working right in the very moment of worship. He had a tough road with his 1st ministry position but his faith could not be shaken, challenged ....of course. As I met with him today I am reminded of the importance of following God above and beyond anything else in this life. God is doing amazing things within my friend Trent and I believe it is only the beginning. You see Trent, just like many, had every reason in the WORLD to do something else, throw in the towel and give up.... but he didn't. I believe when we focus on God, we see things different, hear things different and say things different.

God should not have to ask for all of us, when we understand His amazing love and passion for us we should desire no less than to give Him all of us. I heard someone say once, If God is working in your life you do not have to tell others, they can simply see it. To my friend Trent.... I am so blessed to be a part of your journey, keep putting Him 1st. To others who may be in the midst of searching for Gods amazing plans for your life... I would tell you this, give Him all of you, not because He wants all of you but because He deserves it. He died for us to show us His amazing love for us, need I say more. Live for Him.... everything else will follow!

Another day, another dollar.... another cry for help.

¹⁴⁷ I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word. Psalm 119:147 (NIV)

For most of my life I have been blessed with the opportunities to thoroughly enjoy where I work. This is not the case right now, don't get me wrong I know we live in a time where people all over the country are unemployed and I am grateful for at least having a job but what happens when the place we work for exposes us to things that do not match up with our values, our beliefs and more importantly starts to affect our lives outside of work? You see we spend most of our days getting ready for work, going to work then leaving work and winding down from work just to go to bed and start all over again. Lately as time at my new job has progressed I feel like I wake up every morning just dazed and confused that I have to go to that crazy place again. It is almost like the psalmist says "I rise before dawn and cry for help". I believe that God is still in control and we can trust Him. Sometimes we need to suffer for the sake of another person who needs God in their life, sometimes we need to be challenged to step outside our Christ bubble and be exposed to people who need Him, this is why we live right, to share the gospel?

With that said, here is my final thought. Whether you love where you work or not, ask yourself.... why does God have me here? We serve an amazing God that loves each and every one of us so much and we can trust Him ALWAYS. My prayer is this, that no matter the circumstances, in this case work, that we "cry for help' and continue to put our hope in Him. It will be so worth it!

Love is......

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV)

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

The word love seems so hard to understand at times. I know we often talk about the depths of Gods love and how hard it is to understand that He could love us, but what about the idea that a person could love us and show us Gods love? My wife is an amazing woman, she shows me daily a love that I believe only God could put within her. I know this is the cheesy verse where we are told to replace the word love with our name but how about our spouse?

My wife is patient, my wife is kind. She does not envy, she does not boast, she is not proud. My wife is not rude, she is not self-seeking, she is not easily angered, my wife keeps no record of wrongs. My wife does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth. My wife always protects, always trusts, always hopes and she always perseveres.

I am realizing that she does not wake up everyday and remind herself to be these things, but instead she focuses on God. God within her makes her all these things and more important, God within her allows her to remind me how much He loves me. I understand experiencing love is difficult for most of us, and that is why I am so grateful to have a wife that loves the Lord more then she loves me, as a result she shows me a love that is so amazing to experience and so beautiful to see. I pray that we can all learn to put Him before the ones we love, it will allow us to love them so much more.

Our God is Amazing!

And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." Genesis 1:20 (NIV)

Today we went to the tide pools here in San Diego. It was soooo FUN! We got to skip rocks into the ocean, see a lobster and of course a bunch of crabs. Not to mention the amazing views of the ocean and all its beauty. I must admit when I stop and see things big and small, I am amazed and humbled to be loved by such an amazing God. I pray that I never stop seeing the wonders of our Father.