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.

Need a boost?

“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”- Philippians 1:6

We all have those moments when we wished we had more confidence, right? This scripture points out the importance of the confidence. Look at it this way, if the scripture read "I think that he has begun a good work and hopefully will carry it on to completion", it just doesn't resonate the same right? I find myself in this battle though, needing a boost of confidence from time to time. So, where do we get it? Simple, the more we get to know Him and fall in love with our father the more this happens naturally. We have an amazing father in Him, He is with us to the very end. Isn't that enough? Just to know that the God that created all things, the universe, cares about us so much that He desires not only to begin the process with us but to complete it. I pray that we find the time to just listen, talk and be with our Father. Then we can stand tall and be confident! He is Lord!!

Would you like more than you can imagine?

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”- Ephesians 3:20-21

I love taking a scripture an just looking at each key word and really letting it process. He can do "immeasurably more than we can imagine". Let that simmer for a moment. Now think about how we often pray for specific things, crazy to think about how often we are in a sense willing to settle for less than we need to. I love that we serve and worship a God that is so powerful and loves us so much. I think it can be hard to wrap our head around this because we take the person in our lives that best fits this description and then we compare God to them. Sounds crazy!! I don't know about you but I know that given the option, which we all have, I want more than I can imagine from a God who is more powerful than I can imagine. How bout you? I pray that we all would experience this in our lives........ immeasurably more, WOW!

Happy 6 1/2 years!

I know this is a little delayed but I have not been able to stop thinking about it. On July 4th, I woke up to a great saturday morning in San Diego with a suprise.. a card from my amazing wife that said Happy Anniversary! 6 1/2 years! So this made me think about a few things:
1. Thats more than halfway to our big 10!
2. Time really does fly when your in love.
3. When God is in the center, it just works!
4. I obviously have an amazing wife!!!!! who else gets cards for 6 1/2 years?
5. I am so blessed! I get to spend everyday with my wife, my best friend and the 1 person I can always count on!


So here's the thought.... God is so important in any relationship but I do believe there can be too much or not enough. It must be balanced with waking up everyday and being committed to not only Him as our 1st priority but each other. Lets face it, life happens. Of course a strong foundation in Christ helps but if you cant share Him with each other you are missing out! I am so thankful for this amazing gift called "marriage" I pray that everyone can experience a Loving relationship with God at the heart of it all. God bless!

you see it? sorry, its gone already....

James 4:14
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

On my way to work this morning I passed an accident that was a crude reminder of this scripture. In life we can take so much for granted. Our life is described as a mist, think about this. One day we are doing the things we do every day and then all of the sudden its all gone. It can happen to any of us. I feel as though sometimes we forget the importance of living a life for Him. We get so caught up in the daily stuff we forget what the top priority in our lives should be, God. I pray that we all would remember to live our lives for Him and ask yourself what will your mist look like?

How does "perfect" sound?

“As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.”- Psalm 18:30

This verse is such a blessing today! I was thinking this morning, what an amazing life I get to live. I know that sometimes it can be so easy to get wrapped up in all the things that could make life so much easier but then I realize... His way is PERFECT! I love the song "Here in my life" by Hillsong. It fits so perfect with this passage. I am so thankful for a God that I can trust wholeheartedly. Where would I be without Him? Maybe this is a question we should all ask ourselves when we start to think our way would be so much easier. I pray that this speaks to you in some way.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc0r_0Af4FU

Are we Seeking diligently?

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Proverbs 8:17 The Revised Standard Version

This is a great verse that hit me pretty hard this morning. The word that jumped off the page was diligently. You see I would think that for most of us we feel like we live a life that seeks Him, but when I read this this morning, meditated on it and took it in, I realized a scary thought. The definition of diligent means: constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doing anything. For me this is so important, with words like constant, attentive and persistent can we truly answer this with a wholehearted "yes"? I love the idea that we worship a God that makes himself so apparent in our lives yet we still find verses like this in scripture. My prayer is that as you read this you might take a moment and ask yourself, are you seeking Him diligently? I pray that even though it can be so easy at times to see Him that we never forget to seek Him diligently.