When Everything is in Your Hands….(2 Samuel 11)

"In the spring of the year, the time that kings go out to battle..."That right there, is the key phrase. It could read, " In the spring when the weather is good in the year. When rules usually head out to defend their country, David, the ruler of Israel took a break and stayed home." It's really easy to get complacent when you’re tired, everything is in your hands, and you get an opportunity to take a break. I think in my life when I sin the most is when I’m tired and everything in my hands. This life is tough sometimes, it’s very very simple to pity yourself. It’s simple, to give in to sin. Sin always seems to be pounding at the door, it can be subdued but it always seems be more loud when your weak. There is a good reason why Jesus says, “come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”- Matthew 11:28-29

    I love this verse quite a lot guys. When we’re stressed and life isn’t making sense (even the goldfish died). He is there for us. Don’t wait until you can feel Him give you comfort, just believe and have “faith” in His promise that He is holding you. Genesis 15:6 says that God called Abraham because He believed God, not in God, that is a given, believed in God’s words. That right there is salvation, when you believe who you believe your friend? If you don’t, you two probably aren’t even friends or even good friends if you don’t even believe them. It takes two  to make a relationship. If your friend already you a lot why don’t you believe them?

     Let’s bring this back to reality, God promised a lot. He didn’t just promise a lot, He’s a friend who gave a lot. So He has a good follow through history. He first gave us this beautiful world. He gave us the capability to see it, smell it, and even taste it. Then He historically came to the earth and died for us because it’s impossible to live perfectly. You can even examine history and see for yourself that God Himself stepped out of heaven and became a man to die for us. I personally suggest a reading of Josh McDowell’s “Evidence That Demands a Verdict.” It’s very good read. It’s not easy though, it’s a heavy examination of the evidence he found. Josh McDowell was once an atheist. That speaks volumes.

      Back to it, God gave us a rather large gift that we can see, taste, and touch but with the good comes the bad. He gave us choice to do what we want. That’s why there is good along with bad. True freewill will give us a choice. He (God) wanted true freewill. The possibility that there is good is a signature of design. Good and bad are like light and dark, cold and hot. Dark isn’t something, it’s the absence of something. Bad (definition: deficient, imperfect, defective, amateurish, neglectent) isn’t a “thing,” it’s the absence of good. Negligent is neglected (if you get my meaning of the word), it means someone didn’t pay attention to prepare it, or maintain it. Bad isn’t necessarily evil yet. Evil is deliberately trying NOT to do it the way that God designed. It means, you know in your head, the correct direction to go and deliberately try to go a different direction.

      If we don’t watch ourselves, we could move from bad to evil for our own selfish purposes. Thank God He gave us a way out.  Bad is by definition (or at least partially) “defective.” When we do bad or “sin” against Him (sin: “missing the mark”), our Father (cause our parents get hurt when their kids do wrong), we hurt ourselves too. Yes, ourselves! It’s like when your parents told you as a child not to play in the street. Why? We could get run over or injured.

Love, like no other (2 Samuel 7:18-29)

You are so great my Lord and my God! To be truthful, I am nothing but You my Father love me! Everything David says here is right. We are like nothing, David even says, “who am I O’ Lord God, and what is my house…? All of these things are so small in Your eyes! Who are we Lord, that You love us so much? Nothing we do is worth anything but You gave us something with eternal worth. That thing is so rare and different in the universe. You gave us the choice to love. Nothing other than God is this life, is worth it. Nothing we create , without freewill, can choose to love. That’s why the God of everything, who can have everything put value on us. Nothing is like this gift in our minds are hearts. 

Servanthood (1 Sammuel 25, pt. 2)

       Samuel died a loved man because of his service (notice in the chapter all of Israel’s mourning). That keeps hitting me. You are “a great man/woman” in the eyes of others when you become a servant to others. When it becomes about others and not yourself, life is good and full of purpose. Jesus taught the exact same thing.....

 "You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.  I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

 -John 13:14-20

We are to “wash others feet.” Not necessarily literally but to be a servant. That is who we should be. The result is love and do for others, loving one another. It keeps hitting me that God originally designed us for togetherness and love but sin messed that all up. Sin results in a breakdown of husband and wife (the primary unity designed), family (the second unity system designed) and then, the community. We find the first recreation of this unity in Acts 2:42:47, and Acts 4:32-37. This is the kind of community God designed us for. Servanthood is the beginning of this, well, it really began with Christ’s sacrifice and servanthood. He established us an avenue through with to follow. We can’t do it alone. I learned that a long time ago.  We can only do this through the Holy Spirit by the foundation Christ set for us in His death and resurrection from the dead. He is our life.

-Matthew

(preparing to wash my feet for pt. 1)

Servanthood (John 13:1-20 pt. 1)

   After work, every evening when I get home, my feet are always extremely dirty. There is always a black film glossing over my feet.

    I decided to take a shower to get off the grime. I remembered the story of Jesus at the last supper taking off His “outer garment” and beginning to wash the feet of His disciples. Think about it, these 12 had been through some amazing, amazing things. Water walking, the transfiguration, the feeding of a bunch of people and numerous healings of many different kinds of things, you name the illness. It was quite an amazing 3 years. They knew He was the messiah, the Christ, a king in the line of David in an earthly sense but now the King in a heavenly universal sense too! The God who made the earth , the seasons, little atoms was now washing their feet? What kind of God is this? What kind of humility? Doing the job of a servant? And now they are to be servants to each other as well as the world?

     It’s the Christmas season now, I look again at Jesus, the baby. God Himself made Himself into a man to come close to us, to be a servant? If you think about it, we can’t move forward with humanity if we focus on self. It’s really the best way to relate to other people. For example, to make conversation happen, a good strategy I actually learned from my dad is to ask other people questions. Where do you live? Do you like it? What do you like about it? People like to tell you. It also makes them feel like they had a good talk. Servanthood is a way to increase love to others, in turn that increases unity. God is all about unity, He always has been from the beginning. He’s taking us in incremental steps to this unity. Eventually His unity will be perfect. He always makes His way, in the end.

      -Matthew

(My actual photo of feet after work)

David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17)

I love David’s boldness as he confronts Goliath. His boldness isn’t his own will power, he spends a lot of time with God, alone, tending sheep. His confidence began when he found his strength in God. When men run in fear, David knows the truth. That’s the difference. David knows the truth. God is here for us. God is there for His people. He will conquer the giants in our lives. He is stronger than those issues. We can be confident to move forward when we truly know who our Father really is….I have some advice, decide to get to know your true Father. 

Good Mood?

    I realized God gave me a good strategy for dealing with tough issues. Why have a bad mood? How can that benefit to sulk?

    Everyday I remember God is good. Take a look outside yourself, it doesn’t matter if things are hard, if you die, God always has a hold of you when we trust on Him. Remember we have a choices to trust Him or not. You’re in His hands, He will provide for you no matter what happens. It doesn’t matter if you are forced to work hard, there is no benefit from being lazy, so why not give it your all? No matter what happens in life and death, He loves you and has ahold of you. Just rest in that.

  

That doesn’t mean, “don’t work or don’t work at things” He gave us work, so do your work and rest in the peace that our Father will always provide.

Matthew 11:29-30, Matthew 6:25-34, Luke 12:22-34, Ecclesiastes 9:10

Humble like a Lamb

      I've debated ALOT of people in my experience with trying to let people see what God did for us. One day I was thinking about people and my frustration. I thought, "why can't they see what God did for us. There is so much evidence scientifically, historically, socially and logically."
      I had since my 20's, gave up trying to convince people with logic. People can't initially believe with their minds. I'm not saying, "you can't think." I'm just saying our preconceived notions, our pride, and fear get in the way like a blockade.
      Jesus is brilliant. He said, "they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand, lest they should turn and be forgiven (mark 4:12). This is not a sad verse. God isn't preventing people from hearing and seeing. Jesus was just stating a fact. If "they" (people in general) humble themselves they can see and hear! We don't know anything about the spiritual world everybody. That is the truth. We've never seen it, I hope none of us are dead yet.
      I was recently thinking about my frustration with an individual, I thought, "It's like they're blind, how can I even show them Jesus? They'll die if I fail! They won't go to heaven!" Then God brought to my mind, "come as a little child (Matthew 18:3)." I realized God used stories to relate salvation to people and said, we need to humble ourselves and become like little children (to enter heaven)! What do little children do? They trust the one with authority and are humble. That doesn't mean, "never learn anything." He gave us brains to think. Our brains allow us to realize who He is, then we can turn and be amazed at the One who is all. At the start of knowing God, we need to come with our eyes and ears as a child. We aren't that cool. The Lord is perfect. He is our King, He is our ultimate provider, He is love, and our peace when the waters are out of control around us.
      Knowing the truth of who He is, is true humility.