What is.... (john 14....vs. 15)

Every so often, I come back to the main topic....

 What is love? Is it just some fluffiness? It's not chocolate, or sonnets, or midnight escapes. To God it's derived down to a very basic element. For God it's not all this earthly romance (although that's nice). In some way those things are a shadow of what it is. If you love God, you obey His commands, it's the same as if you love someone. In a way you satisfy the wishes of someone you care about romantically, you buy chocolates, you go on walks with them. Doing is proof of your emotions. We truly love God  when we do what He asks us to be, to follow His commands.

Lord,
I guess I've dug myself in a pit now...I've messed up. I'm just going to put that up front. I thank You for Your forgiveness. I feel like giving up. This is so hard now. Give me the strength to go on. I need to always pursue You.  Sometimes I don't show it. I love You Lord. Take my passion as a sign for how much I care and I'm so sorry. I slip up at my weak points. You have my whole life.

-Matthew

Man and Woman (genesis 2)

I wonder why women always (not 100% but it's fairly common) tend to marry a little earlier than men? Women, when they're just children, they're are playing with dolls, dressing them up, and marrying those dolls! I remember as a child being sucked into playing barbies with my sister. I was, of course, the ken doll. Every so often I'd try to sneak my GIjoe as the dad. I'd try to get my GIjoe hitched. Poor GIjoe is still a single commando. He couldn't make it past the eyes of mean ol' sister (probably spared him). Maybe it's a male and female nature to get married when they do, just maybe. I mean, the same system happened back when there were the only two humans in existence. Is that coincidental? Crazy, but maybe, even that was passed down. Look at Genesis 2:18. God knew what Adam needed after he went through the animal inventory of the world. Adam confirms this need as he says, "THIS AT LAST..." It's the naming of what "woman" should be called. Notice He's still in the naming mode. I imagine God led Eve to Adam in a very playful, kind of "magical way." Like you would for someone you love, without the magic part. Look at this, man was created first, he was in his job and career caring for the garden, Adam waited long enough to know enough to get lonely and proclaim "at last." He was looking for someone, "at last" the woman was born and already she's led to meet the man. Things haven't changed a whole bunch. I guess it's out of God's eternal wisdom. Women for some reason need that, men need to clear their plates, it's in both their natures and it's needed. Maybe you get the point of "need."

-matthew

sun rise on evil and good

6/25/11

This just popped into my head yesterday as I was walking into the dollar store and thought of some homeless dudes and the nice old guy who asked me for 50cents yesterday. I never really realized the way God loves us.

God loves us regardless. There is nothing that we can do to get that love more, He just loves and cares as His beloved children , or in our way of putting it, He loves His kids ALOT. Like how a homeless man might hold a sign up that relates to us in someway or makes us kind of chuckle. We might be inclined to help him out, in a sense he earns it. We think, "it doesn't matter what sign you hold up, I'll give because I want to give." The sign could make me laugh or not. It's the same to God, we are (in reality) just worthless, hardly even existing, dirty, smelly, and even not caring, and God gives to us all. He makes it rain and dry with the good and evil! This verse came to mind, Matthew 5:45. We are His and He loves us. It's not what we give that we get. It's who He is that we get. We are made in His likeness and therefore special.....you are important to Him. He will go to all lengths to save you. It's His amazing, fantastic love. It's because of His love that we must love.

-matthew

last few

I see the awful,terrible devastation of the days before God comes. There will be no question whatsoever as to " are these the days?" Everyone high and low will know that these are the "days." Look at

Revelation 6:15-17,

Then the kings of the earth, the princes,

the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone

else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among

the rocks of the mountains. 16 They called to the

mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us

from the face of him who sits on the throne and from

the wrath of the Lamb! 17 For the great day of their

wrath has come, and who can withstand it?”

Everyone high and low just knew it. And more than that, they were completely aware that God is real and powerful. Our wondering now for if "this is it" is all wrong, this isn't it. I know these aren't the "last days," I mean right up to the doorstep. These are the last days right after the crucifixion, but they aren't the last few.

Oceans of wisdom in a raindrop

"C'mon," said Jesus ,interrupting Mack's thoughts. " I know you enjoy looking at stars! Want to?" He sounded like a child full of anticipation and expectancy. (p. 110 "The Shack")

I like the purity of God's look of humility and thoughts portrayed here. He's not anything near small, by all rights God is the definition of greatness, but He lets us come close. He comes to the personal. God is so big He circled back around to simple joys in the purities of life. It's like once you get hugely big enough, you can look at the big picture and enjoy the simple things again. You can see then what's really important, like how certain ancient philosophers found true wisdom in the life observation of a single flower. So the big stuff is far to big and complicated for us,we just need to realize that. The big stuff only creates needless worries of things you can't do anything about. I think this point is well demonstrated in the "karate kid" (yes pop culture has some redemption) as the matter tells "daniel son" to focus on catching a fly with chopsticks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1gAHil89Z4. I don't want this clip to get you off track. The only point I'm trying to make is the soul focus on one thing to do can be very good. This is a bit of a humorous parallel demonstated with amercan pop-culture. But it's kind of true. For big things it's humanily impossible to have nearly enough focusing power to focus on the big stuff, but God can. It takes quite a bit more time and ability to see the big picture with big stuff, not missing deals. But with something small, it's not nearly as overwelming, we can get all the details and often times make big realiztions over a span of our lives. It's truly humbling to get big concepts out of something small. It's an accurate gague of our view point and ability to see, when compared to God. We see something small and need to spend our lives to dig concepts from it, but God digs all concepts from everything, science, philosophy, ways of life, and ways of doing things, He is infinately wise. He passes His wisdom on if we listen to His quiet voice. He speaks oceans of wisdom. We can hardly contain it.

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
(psalms 46:10)

fairy tale of the rock (1 Peter 2)

You know, it's like we live in a fairy tale where impossible things happen. They do. I've had this view for quite a while now. All around us something is put together that was nothing to become something else. A baby grows (it grows!!) into the most complicated thing that can never even be completely understood! It grows inside another human naturally, being fed by taking apart other organisms (the body does the work for it). The thought itself is "magic" but we're so accustomed to it, we just take it as ordinary. We dumb things like that down, through inventions, to make what we copy in nature, to look amazing (like planes are just non-organic birds)....what the heck, how can we do that? We live in a fairy tale where what was said actually happens. In Isaiah 28:16, God says that He will lay down a stone foundation, that is sure, that we can hope in. If you believe now, it's not believing to fast! You chase the sure path. He is the only One you don't need to walk down to see if it's ok to walk down. He is secure. "Give all your hope, it won't be a waste," He says. In this world of uncertainty, He is the exception, He's always been that. In this world where "impossible" things happen, it's not impossible when we stand on our rock. We can brave the journey, He gives us strength to do His will.

faith and actual action (James 2:14-26)

Works are the evidence of what I believe, It’s the clear full knowledge in action. A concept or theory like “relativity” remains just a thought until proven in the physical world. Words are just thoughts unless proved by action. It’s not enough that you just have “faith” in God. That doesn’t make you holy. It’s a life style change. It’s a life concept change. God does grab our hearts for His purposes. The way I see it, the only way we could be new for in God is in our mental state. That’s only thing that held us the strongest. Even that is weak, in “the Fall” it was easier for non-thinking matter (gen. 3:17-19) to be changed (thorns, sickness, all those things that came through “the Fall”) ,but for our minds, we have a fighting chance. Yes, we still “sin naturally,” we naturally are born with a pre-set mind to lie, this is an example of sin (which is why a little child will tell his/her “first lie”) but we have a fighting chance and more so now, God knows the one place that the destruction of sin isn’t as strong, our ability to have faith that something will happen Don’t get me wrong, even that was damaged, we could have had it stronger before. Our faith in Christ holds us from hell. Faith takes the greater portion of weight. We still need to try, but if we faulter and come back to our senses to what is right, God forgives us, and our faith holds what we couldn’t. Like if you say “ I have faith the mail man will bring the mail today” you believe on faith. You faulter by going to the post office and trying to get it yourself. But if you went down to the post office and came back, then sat down on your coach and thought, “why did I do that? of course the mail man will come!” God forgives us. We sin , come to our senses and ask for forgiveness, God forgives us. But we need to at least try to follow through with action. Our belief is not enough, it’s our heart change and predisposition to want to do more. It’s like naturally wanting to steal vs. naturally wanting to buy. Accepting Christ is like changing our natural urge to do wrong. Instead with Christ, we naturally want to do good.

Father, this is so amazing . Our minds must have had amazing strength before. I think it's that strength that hurt us. Eve's pure intention to be wise for You (Gen. 3:5), but in doing so, she didn't have faith in you're good intention that You had a good reason for why not to eat from the tree. Anyways, I love You Father, I believe in Your intentions for my life.

-matthew