James 1:17

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow."

James 1:17

The first chapter of James is by far my favorite chapter of scripture. James is all about the idea that the true power of scripture comes not just from hearing the word but putting it into practice and letting it effect every aspect of our lives. It has to define who we are.

Before this specific verse James was talking about temptation and the downfall giving in to it leads to. James tells us that the Lord isn't the one who tempts us but rather He, our Father, give's us every good thing we have. James then goes on to talk about the character of the God we serve, "With whom there is no variation or shifting shadow". James is saying, with God, you know what you are getting and it doesn't shift to something else when you get into it like temptation does. Temptation lures you in promising one thing but never having the ability to deliver on it while God's very character is based on the fact that He never fails to deliver on His promises or His word.

The mark of a Christian needs to be that they relay on the character of God especially during times of temptation and trials. That's the very definition of faith! It's not just a word but rather the very way we live our lives. By faith not by sight.

Love

"We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."

1 John 3:16

For me, there are some pieces of scripture that have so much power and influence in my life it's overwhelming. This is one of them. Is there a more beautiful picture painted in the entire Word of God than this? It's a verse I've known for a good awhile and one I routinely use to encourage myself of the Love the Lord has for me. I can remember talking about the Love God has for us and using this verse and all my mind could think about was the crucifixion of Jesus. What Jesus did on the cross is something that can never be overstated and that act of Love is exactly what Ephesians 3:19 refers to when says His love goes beyond all understanding but this verse covers more than just the crucifixion! 

"Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 

who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."

Philippians 2:5-8

While the crucifixion is one of the most humbling things to read about in scripture for me so shouldn't the very birth of the Savior in Luke 2:1-7. Jesus laid down his place in the heavens and placed himself into this world for me. The story of Jesus' birth is the greatest act of humility anyone will ever read. The Creator of everything chose to step into this world for my sake laying down his rights to meet the greatest need I ever had. The King of Kings entered this world that He created to serve as my perfect sacrifice. Is there a greater picture of Love than that? The very fact that Jesus entered this world at all should bring me to my knees let alone realizing why He came. If we miss the humility and pure perfect Love of our Savior this Christmas we have completely failed to grasp what this day is supposed to mean.

How do I miss the mark so badly when it comes to this day? When did this day become more about me than about Him? When did I get so selfish to think that my life belongs to me when He bought it with a price?

Father, how can I respond to this kind of perfect Love and humility but with my very life? Help me to live out 1 John 2:6 in light of these very things. Help my life be marked with this kind of love and this kind of humility that you have shown. My only purpose Lord is to tell Your story with my life and to be pleasing to you in every area of it.

Process

“Consider it all joy my brethren, when you encounter various trails,

knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”

James 1:2-3

*First of all I don’t expect this to make any sense to anyone who reads it and it’s really more for me.

Just thought I’d put this at the beginning as a little disclaimer.

It’s amazing and often times humbling to see God do what He does in my life. I look back over specific things and am just awestruck at how and why He did the things He has done in my life. Usually my relationship with God is going well and that has been especially true for the last couple of months. I honestly can say I’ve never sought the Lord more and walked closer to him than I have over this period of time. It’s been an incredible blessing to see Him answer prayer after prayer in ways I never thought He would. I think that’s why the last week has been one of the most strenuous and emotional draining one’s that I can remember. At first I was quite angry with God and I let Him know it. For me it wasn’t fair that I was having to do things this way at all and that it was completely His fault for allowing things to go this way. Looking back I see how ignorant and short sighted that was but it’s what I needed Him to know at that point. I wanted Him to hear “my piece” and I couldn’t help but feel like Job. Nothing in my circumstances even remotely resembled why Job was crying out to God but my heart cry felt just as justified in my own mind as Job’s did. I also fully understood that God could give me a verbal lashing as He did Job but I was ready for that and perhaps even wanted that just to know that He knew how much I was torn up on the inside over everything. I desired for Him to acknowledge the struggle I was going through and to comfort me even if it meant being beaten up by His word. While I was beaten up a little by His word throughout the past week and last couple of days I saw more of His comforter side through His word. I had already faced this scripture before but it was at a time where I was not currently going through a struggle in my life so it was all head knowledge that I so loathe. I now know what it is for this to hit my heart and to live it out which has been one of the many blessings He’s shown me through this particular trial. It’s actually hit me in the heart and now I can actually apply this scripture to my situation and look up to the Father and say “Ok God. I know you have me in this for a reason. I’m not asking you to get me out of it and I’m not even asking you to speed this up but rather what do you want me to get out of this?”. It took me a little bit to get to this point but I feel I’ve finally reached it and it feels amazingly joyful. I’m still not happy with it and I still don’t want to do it this way but I’ve found joy in it as James talks about in the verses above. Joy is not happiness in the Biblical sense but rather it’s that we as Christians know God has neither lost interest nor forgotten about the problem’s I’m going through even if I don’t necessarily feel happy. I know my God does care and that He is bringing me through this to teach me and show me things in my life which is bringing me closer to Him. It’s not something that happens overnight or quickly by any means but it’s a place we all have to reach during the period of time we face these obstacles.

This is a time that God has allowed to happen and my heart’s desire is to get out what He desires for me to get out of it. It’s not what I want to do nor the way I want to do it, but it’s something that God is using to bring me closer to Him. That’s the very definition of a blessing! It’s crazy how we as Christian’s and people in general are always looking forward to the next thing in life, whatever it may be, when the Lord is telling us to rather focus on what’s currently going on and use it to grow closer to Him. His desire for us is to be Holy and to not miss what He’s doing in the process! We are so used to asking the Lord, during these times, why I’m here and how the heck do I get out instead of focusing on what He wants us to get out of being in that spot to begin with! The process of the Lord leading us through things is so crucial to the entire story God is telling but most of the time we want to skip over that part so we can be comfortable. God never came to this world to make you comfortable or happy all the time. He came to build you into the person He desires you to be and these processes, as much as I can’t stand them and as much as the infuriate me, are exactly what we need to be used by Him. 

The Helper

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

John 16:7

Jesus’ words about the Holy Spirit here should excite us like no other scripture. Do you understand what Jesus is saying with these words? Jesus is telling his disciples “it’s better for you as disciples to have the Holy Spirit living inside of you than for Me to be walking through life by your side.” I think as Christians, at least for this Christian, it’s easy to jump to the conclusion that He’s wrong in this statement. I mean if I had Jesus literally walking with me and encouraging me and teaching me then life would be so much easier right? Jesus says otherwise and I think we need to live as if that is in fact true in our lives! It is something however we all need to work on and is an emotional thing.

Jesus has always understood the emotional aspect of what the disciples were doing. When Jesus called to Peter and Andrew while they were fishing and said to them “Follow Me” He understood the emotional toll that put on them. He also understood they wouldn’t be able to get through this journey without having Himself set the example first. See Jesus was very clear when He said “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men” that they wouldn’t be able to be fishers of men without Him. He’s the reason they became fishers of men and He didn’t expect them to become that without help from Him. It wasn’t in what they could or couldn’t do but rather what Christ could do through them and their surrendered hearts.

 Flip ahead a little bit to when the disciples had just seen Jesus crucified. Through the crucifixion they got a pretty graphic picture of what preaching the words of Jesus can do to your life. They understood that the road was a scary one that perhaps would not end in a happy or pleasant way. For a short period of time they also got to see what this journey was like without Jesus walking by their side. I mean when Jesus is resurrected we see Peter go back to fishing because it’s what he knew. He was scared and went back to His life before Jesus.  I think Jesus understood these feelings better than anyone and I think the perfect picture of His understanding is in Acts right before He is leaving to go back to the Father.

“Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father has promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard from Me;”

Acts 1:4

Jesus was telling them “Listen I want you to completely change the world, and you guys are going to flip it upside down but I want you to see you can’t do that on your own and I don’t want you to do it alone.”

Is that how you view the Holy Spirit is?

So they stay where they are and are waiting for this amazing gift from God. They are waiting for something big and supernatural to happen to indicate that the Holy Spirit has arrived. God did not disappoint either. What’s described here is one of those OMG moments. Not just for the disciples but scripture says that even the people in the town heard the noise and realized they need to check out what was going on. A giant rushing wind sound fills the room appearing like tongues of fire to the disciples and it landed on each of them and then they started speaking other languages and could communicate with people they never could before. Something crazy just happened. Can you imagine trying to explain that to someone? It blows my mind when I think if I were one of the disciples standing in that room just waiting and waiting for the Holy Spirit and then chaos ensues. A sense of awe and amazement falls over them and that’s the idea that we should get when we think about the Holy Spirit that is inside of each one of us. Awe and amazement over how powerful Jesus says the Holy Spirit is. God wanted the disciples to know they had the Holy Spirit but not only that He wanted them to know it was a big deal. It not only was to the disciples though but it was also amazing and powerful to the people in verse 7 that came to see what was going on. The words like amazed and astonished are used for the spectators that are hearing these men talk in a language that they understood even though they never had spoken it before. I don’t know about you guys but I’ve tried to learn Spanish and I’ve found it pretty difficult in the 2 years I took in Highschool and remember barely anything from it. These men picked up entire languages in a mere second. This blows Rosetta Stone out of the water.

The Holy Spirit is something that sometimes I don’t think we even think about on a daily basis. People who received the Holy Spirit in that time understood the immense Power that came with the Holy Spirit and that same Holy Spirit lives inside each of us. Part of the problem with us as Christians when it relates to the Holy Spirit is we don’t understand just how powerful and amazing the Holy Spirit is. That needs to change we need to realize that relying on the Holy Spirit in our life is better than Jesus actually walking beside us in our daily life.

If we view it as something small and useless it will have no impact in our lives but if we view the Holy Spirit through the eyes of the Disciples and Jesus then we realize exactly what 1^st John 4:4 is saying. “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world”. When we put the Holy Spirit in the place that is deserves and attribute the power that He deserves than following Jesus will be easier. We should realize that God never expected His disciples to do this walk without Him and He doesn’t expect you or I to do it on our own. He’s given us the Holy Spirit to rely on during this walk with Him. The question is how big do you think the Holy Spirit is? Is He like the disciples say He is or is He what Jesus says He is? Are you ready to rely on the power that is in the Spirit in your life to overcome the problems and difficulties you face?

Selfless

"She does him good not evil

All the days of her life"

Proverbs 31:12

I love the thought behind this verse not only for the wife but for the husband too. It's this idea that her life is no longer about what's best for her but what's best for them. Sometimes it's a good thing in the husband's eyes sometimes he's not a fan of it but her job is to do what's best for him. It's not just something she does once and while either but rather it's something that she is going to do all of her life. She is going to make it her goal to make sure that she is make decisions that are best for him. Life is no longer about just her or just him but rather about them.

In the same way we as men are called to be Christ for the wife. We literally give up things in our life to show what love is. The job that is placed in front of the husband is to make love more than a word to the wife just as Jesus did for the church. In order to that we as Christian men have to daily die to the selfishness we have in us. Christ was our example with His father and you can especially hear it when He is in the Garden of Gethsemane crying out to his Father to take this cup from Him but ONLY if it's His will. Jesus sacrificed His will for the will of His Father and husbands are called to do the same in many areas of our lives.

Why?

"The question of following Jesus maybe isn't so much about how we follow Jesus...maybe the question that most people struggle with is why? Why should I follow this Jesus if this road is so narrow and difficult, why should I follow Him?"

Francis Chan

 As a Christian why should I follow this Jesus the bible talks about? Is it because that's what the church tells me so I should listen? Is it because our parents say it's a good idea and He gives us a great role model? Francis Chan says that if he is perfectly honest he follows Jesus because He said that He was coming back and is going to judge the earth. A very valid response in my opinion as he points out the book of Revelation is terrifying to say the least. A big reason why we as Christian's follow God is due to two things in my opinion. His mighty power and acknowledgement that He is literally in control of everything along with realizing the love He has sent in the form of His Son Jesus Christ. His power and His love drive me into trusting Him with my life. It’s these two things that call me to call Him ‘Lord’ with confidence understanding that it means He’s master over my entire life, even if that means laying down my life. Jesus never promised His disciples that it was going to be an easy road rather He said it was going to be incredibly difficult. The one thing that gets us through this life is knowing He is with us throughout the entire journey.

In the book of Daniel there is a story most Christian’s have heard over and over. In chapter 3 of Daniel we find 3 men whose lives are not going the way they pictured them to go. They were put into positions that would test them and build them into the people that God wanted them to be. Think about it for a second the integrity that these men had. Just put yourself in their shoes! Taken from their home and put under an authority figure who is worshiping other gods and then you’re told that if you don’t bend your knee to this idol that he made your going to be thrown in a furnace in front of everyone. This is the path the Lord took them on as Godly men! They stood up and refused to bow down understanding fully that this would probably lead them to their physical death. They could have sank into the background and just bowed with everyone else and probably got away with it being in a strange place but they couldn’t do it and be right with the Lord. Following the Lord led these 3 men into a furnace, in what should have been their death. Now the Lord did save these 3 men and instead of burning in the furnace they stood with Jesus in the fire. The point that these men and everyone watching, including the King, saw through their obedience? It’s better to be in the fire with Jesus than outside the fire without him. God was showing everyone something in this piece of scripture whether it be the spectator watching, the King raging, or the men standing tall God was speaking! Through the obedience in these men’s lives God showed himself in the bleakest of situations  You see the reason I follow Jesus with my life is that I know that I’d rather be in this world walking the narrow road with him than I would walking the big wide road without Him. It’s worth following Jesus because when you do He walks this road with you. Speaking about this road of following Jesus Francis Chan puts it this way.

“If you follow me it’s not going to be this life of luxury, in fact I don’t even know where I’m going to sleep tonight and not only that people are going to hate you for following me and not only that there’s going to be all these temptations in the world that you’re going to have to fight and all these things and even your own family might be against you. If you follow me you might even end up getting crucified like I’m going to get crucified.” See sometimes we’re not that honest with people. We try to talk people into following Jesus by saying “Hey if you follow Jesus you can be forgiven, you can go to heaven, you can have intimacy with God.” and all those things are true but we neglect this other part that Jesus was very upfront about saying “Look it’s very very difficult to follow Me there’s this wide road that most are going to take this wide and easy road but there’s this narrow road that leads to life very few people will find and it’s a hard path” He says but He also says “I am worth it. I am so worth it.”

He is worth it because He doesn’t make you take this narrow road without help. He walks it with you daily and desires for you to lean on His strength as you combat this world. He gives us a choice of these two roads. One is going to be incredibly difficult but while that may be the case the other one, the easier one, is going to be taken without Him. The road I’m on may be a dangerous one where God could ask me in a minute to do something that scares me to death but at the same time I know He will be with me through it all. That’s why it’s worth every heartache, every pitfall, and every loss because I know that my God is with me! The question is do you believe that it’s better to be “in the fire” with Him than outside it without Him? 

So Good

"..."single ruse." By that I mean the tendency on the part of some (certainly not all) single young people to think that what they really need is to find "the one." Once their life mate is found, they assume, everything else will fall into place. Their loneliness, their insecurity, their worries about their own significance- all this and more will somehow mystically melt away in the fire of marital passion.

And, for a very short season, this might appear to be the case. Infatuation can be an intoxicating drug that temporarily covers up any number of inner weaknesses.

But marriage is a spotlight showing us that our search for another human being to "complete" us is misguided. When disillusionment breaks through, we have one of two choices: Dump our spouse and become infatuated with somebody new, or seek to understand the message behind the disillusionment-that we should seek our significance, meaning, and purpose in our Creator rather than in another human being.
Approached in the right way, marriage can cause us to reevaluate our dependency on other humans for our spiritual nourishment, and direct us to nurture our relationship with God instead. No human being can love us the way we long to be loved; it is just not possible for another human to reach and alleviate the spiritual ache that God has placed in all of us.  "

Have you ever felt something so strongly that when you try to put it into words it makes absolutely no sense? You fumble over the words in your mind but they escape you. You find yourself falling short time and time again trying to explain something that is incredibly important to you. That's how I felt with this passage. I've felt exactly this and it's something I still deal with. This is what I've been praying for so long and Mr. Thomas put it in such an eloquent way I had to share. As much as I don't want my life to be dictated by the idea of searching for "the one" to meet a need they can't meet, it's not an easy task. It's not an easy task by any means for me, considering that I feel the Lord has put such a desire to be a Godly husband and Godly Father. It's the truth though and it's also a temptation ,I believe, we all face. We as fallen people desperately seek to fill the void left during the fall that is inside of us all. It doesn't have to be "the one" but in many cases it is and it goes completely against the idea that Galatians 1:10 addresses.

"For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ."

As Christians our identity can't be found in another person but rather it must be found in the Lord. We can't live our lives to please other people but rather our main goal should be to please the Lord with our lives (2 Cor. 5:9). As a single person your at spot number two on the "what's most important" list behind God. When you take marriage into account however you become at the very highest number three. So far I must say I highly recommend the book "Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas. It's truly not only a book about marriage alone but a book about relationships in our lives. Some are clearly directed towards married life but the idea of dying to self and meeting others needs before your own is a biblical one we don't need to only apply to marriage but also to our brothers and sisters in Christ.  

Proverbs 31:11

"The heart of her husband trusts in her,.."

Proverbs 31:11a

As I pour over these scriptures I can't help but praying them. Honestly, for me it's obvious that God put this in scripture for a reason to show what characteristics we as men should be looking for in woman. I find myself going back to these verses a lot lately so I think it's only appropriate that my blogs reflect what I think the Lord is showing me in and through His word.

The first part of the verse is not only speaking to the woman but also to the man. This kind of woman clearly has the character that her husband can trust. What an important word trust is especially in a relationship between two fallen people. The man's heart doesn't need to worry about the faithfulness or how devoted his wife is because her life and actions reveal that to him. But how does the man get this point? The man trusts her with his heart because he sees how devoted and faithful she is to the Lord. Her life makes it obvious to the man that he can trust her as she trusts the Lord. The man is also spoken to through this verse as well. The woman could be exemplifying everything it is to be a Godly woman but the man still couldn't trust her. The man's heart needs to be right before he can trust her. The man's heart needs to be God's heart so he can truly trust her. Trust is the foundation that a relationship is built on but not the trust between the two people but rather the trust they have in the Lord. When the man is trusting in God his heart is going to be right and in turn trust his wife. When the woman is truly trusting in God her life is going to show that and it will be seen by the man. 

Happily Ever After.

"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord.' and do not do what I say?"

Luke 6:46

My heart breaks over this scripture. Not because I believe I'm not doing as He says to do, though through this study my eyes have viewed some areas in my life that this is the case, but rather for people in this world. It especially breaks for those who call themselves believers. It's amazing to me how so much of the church has this idea that they can have Christ but make up their own rules as it talks about in 1st John. Jesus' words are so crystal clear in most of the passages we read yet, we want to bend them to say something else when he comes off very stern.  Jesus didn't play around with following Him either you did or you didn't. He was so clear that when we as people accept Christ that the road before us is not going to be an easy one. 

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wise and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it."

Matthew 7:13-14

Jesus paints this beautiful picture in Matthew 7 and my mind immediately jumps to the movie Beauty and the Beast. Yes I know, I'm a nerd but bear with me here. Maurice, Belle's father, is traveling and he comes to a fork in the road he’s faced with a choice many characters in stories are faced with. One way look’s beautiful and easy to travel while the other is dimly lit and dangerous looking. The choice seems obvious right? Well he doesn't choose that path he actually chooses the rough path that no one in their right mind would choose. What the heck was that dude thinking was my instant reaction, which was his horse’s reaction too actually. If you've been lucky enough to see this work of art you would be quick to jump to the conclusion "Yea he took the scary road and look what happened to him! He got taken captive by a beast and if that wasn't bad enough his daughter takes his place and now he has to live without his daughter!" I totally agree with that, yes it looked bad, but have you ever stopped to think that his decision to take the dangerous looking road led to the greatest happiness in not only his life but also his daughters too? Because the man went down the road less traveled it resulted in some hard times, temporary loss, despair, and loneliness among other feelings and circumstance but all that didn't matter when the man got to see what going down that road led to. Spoiler alert the girl falls in love with the beast which breaks the spell of him looking like a beast and they live happily ever after. As stupid and silly as that seems it's a perfect analogy for our walk with the Lord that is spoken about in Matthew 7. 

Jesus is saying don't choose the gate that looks the safest or the easiest because it's going to lead you to destruction. He's calling us not to live this life for ourselves! He's calling us not to live this life by our own rules and to not be captured by our own desires but instead to go through the small gate. The smaller gate might not be as glamorous as the big amazing gate. It's not going to be as easy as the big gate and it's going to stretch you. You’re going to make decisions people are not only going to disagree with but just flat out not understand. The promise for taking this smaller more dangerous road however is Life. Eternal life, with Jesus! This eternal life starts when you understand that He is Lord and you are not. We do get heaven but we are eternal beings right now and if we are on this path our destination is eternity with Him!

This is not an easy topic to write about at all. It beats me up and breaks my heart to know that people I love more than anything else in this world are on the wrong path. It breaks my heart and beats me up to know that some of my youth group kids are on this path and believe that they are on the other. It scares me for them and it drives me to preach the world of God completely and to preach about a complete view of Jesus. 

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord', did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast our demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?"

"And I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me who practice lawlessness.'

Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus isn't playing around with these words. He's looking for people who follow Him not themselves. He is looking for people who are completely surrendered to Him and not themselves. He is looking for people who are led by Him and not by themselves. He is looking for people who follow His rules and not their own! Jesus says these are the characteristics of a believer. It's so easy for us as people to walk around and say we know Jesus because we've HEARD things He said. It's easy to walk around and SAY that I'm a Christian but the only opinion that really matters is if Jesus calls you one. That's the question you need to ask yourself after all of this myself included! Many people can look at what I do and say "yea that's a Christian" but if Jesus doesn't then I should be worried. We can fool many people but I'm not going to be in Hell saying well at least so and so thought I was a Christian. 

Do you understand that Jesus wants your life. He is not going to barter with you or negotiate about what He wants. Look at the Matthew 7:23 "And I will DECLARE to them,". He's not a God that negotiates with you once you’re done here, He's going to tell you. Matthew 10:37-39 sums this up better than I could ever think of doing.

"He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for my sake will find it."

Matthew 10:37-39

Very stern words by Jesus. If you love people more than Me then you’re not worthy of Me because I'm the one that put them in your life in the first place. That's what he's saying about our Parents and Kids and that is tough. The next part is where I think we have the most trouble. He's saying if you value your life more than Me then you’re not worthy of Me. He's saying listen if you’re not willing to pick up your cross and be crucified with Me than your not worthy of Me. If you’re not ready to go with Me and die with Me than you’re not worthy of Me.  Are we ready to do that? Are we ready to call Him Lord knowing what that means? It's by no means an easy road that lay ahead for those who answer Yes but the prize is worth every second of it. The opportunity to be called Son's of God. The opportunity to be called Royal Priests. The opportunity to live this life with the creator of the universe on your side! Romans 8:31 says it this way "If God is for us, then who can be against us," and it’s the idea that the power we have in God makes these problems we have in life seem so much smaller! The greatest gift God has ever given us is Love in the form of His son and what He asks for, is your entire life. That's the happy ending just like in the Beauty and the Beast story I told. It may not always be fun and easy but in the end NO ONE will regret  what they went through, what they gave up, what they sacrificed for God because when we see Him and hear the words "Well done good and faithful servant" and the kingdom of heaven becomes ours everything we went through will be worth it. Every pitfall and hurt will be worth it. Giving up your life will be worth it and as a Christian walking now I can say with confidence it IS worth it.

Water day and God is good

So our amazing college and career group got the opportunity to go to Parkcrest community and have a water day for the kids. It was a blast and the opportunity to serve those kids was such a humbling experience. For me it just reconfirmed things the Lord has been telling me for a little while now regarding the ministry's he wants me to focus on growing in. He’s put the burden on my heart to start preparing to be an amazing dad and an amazing husband and I can actually see situations He places in my life to mold me in these areas. From scripture that lights my heart on fire to a silly water day with a bunch of kids running around and wanting piggyback rides. It’s just amazing how blessed I am to have people in my life that build me up and help put me in the right direction. We were talking on Wednesday night at college and career it really hit me that my walk with the Lord may be the strongest it’s ever been and I’m more in love with the Lord than I’ve ever been and a big part of that is because of our group. The people that God has put into our college and career group are honestly some of the most talented and kind hearted people I’ve met. The fellowship we have in that group is really second to none and it’s amazing how compatible we all seem to be personality wise. I honestly can’t wait to see what God has in store for this group because never have I felt more part of a group then with these people. God is good.

With great power....

"Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord.

For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He Himself being the Savior of the body.

But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.

Husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church

and gave Himself up for her,

so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.

So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies.

He who loves his own wife loves himself;

for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church

because we are members of His body.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife and the two shall be one flesh.

This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband."

Ephesians 5:22-25

It's amazing to me the imagery that God uses in this verse. God has put it on my heart to start looking more intently on what a Godly Marriage looks like. It goes to the idea that we as Christian's need to be preparing for things that are in the future for us and at this time I clearly can tell He has put this on my heart for a reason. Not that I'm going to get married anytime soon or anything like that but, it gives us as Christians a better view of who God is and this verse I think does that better than most. I know one day, God willing, is calling me to be the best husband I can be and ,God willing, the best father I can be.

I love this passage of scripture. I hear so many people that use some of these scriptures to make sexist comments in a joking manner and it honestly makes me sick. I know, it's just a joke, but I don't see these kind of things as something to be joked about. The first part is a command and He says "Love your wife just as Christ loved the church."

Christ came to this world and was beaten, spit on, nailed to a cross, and laid down His life for others because of His love for us. This is the love that we as men are called to have for the wives in our life or will be. Not when we feel like it, not when she is being easy to love, not when everything else in my life is going good but all the time. This is something that NEEDS to be a constant thing and a daily thing as men, dying to ourselves and our own needs for that other person.

In this specific passage of scripture it's so clear to me that as a man I'm going to have an incredible responsibility in my life if I get married. God has put an incredible burden on the man basically saying "Hey you're in charge of this". It's an incredible amount of pressure and power in our lives as men to be a reflection of Christ's relationship with the church. We are called to show the world His relationship with the church through the idea of marriage! It's a picture of something greater and I'm called to represent that? That's a scary thing! See in the 21st century marriage is just another thing but what marriage is supposed to do in these verses of ch.5 is to represent to the world Him and the church becoming one!

My love for the other person is supposed to point to something bigger than just two people living the rest of their lives together, it's to paint a vivid picture of Christ's love for the church!

Marriage can't be an answer to the question "How can I be happy" because happiness isn't the design of marriage.

It's called be the most beautiful picture of surrender that people have ever seen!

Excited about Fear

We are starting a new series at youth group and I can't wait to see what God is going to do through it. Francis Chan came out with a new series called Basic: Who is God? and it's powerful stuff. This week and next week our group is going to be getting into a topic that I can honestly say I've not given much thought to.

What is it to Fear God?

This isn't a thought that I tend to drift to. I've been thinking about God's love a lot recently and I've even thought about just how big He is compared to my vision of Him but fearing Him? Fear is a different picture of the same God but it's just as important as our view of His love. We have to really get both to start to begin to understand His character. I love the passage in Revelation 1:9-17 because it really shows you an accurate example of the Lord's power and strength. Think about who is bowing down in amazed fear and awe at the feet of Jesus. We're talking about John, one of the disciples that Jesus had a relationship with and discipled. Jesus knew him and more importantly for this passage, he knew Jesus. This same John sees Jesus in His power and boom falls to his face. When you read this passage it's almost like John is trying to search for words to describe just how great what he's seeing is. Obviously he is using things he's seen while trying to relate it to the reader but it still seems like John just scratches the surface of how magnificent He is.

What's really amazing is that God doesn't leave us “on our face” but rather says "Oh no, don't be afraid." He almost gets us to the point of fear just to be "Ok, now that you have seen that part of Me, let Me reveal another part of Myself." which makes sense when you read the first part of Psalms 111:10. It says "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.". The psalmist is saying if you truly want to know who God is it has to begin with an acknowledgement of how powerful and amazing He is! It's an essential part of His character and who He is! To me it's comforting to know the power of my God. To know who I have on my side after seeing His power excites me and drives me to live a holy life that Peter talks about in 1^st Peter 1:13-16.

Where oh where?

Man I tell ya I can remember being in GCBI and reading a book on marriage. I distinctly remember a couple people, just joking of course, hassling me over and over about it. "You're not married why are you reading a book on it?". Great point, I must admit, I'm not married and I completely understand the quizzical (great word by the way) expressions I got from people. I've seen a lot growing up in the household I did in regards to marriage and how when it's really done in the wrong way it can physically and emotionally destroy people. I've seen, first hand, the hurt it can cause and the pain that remains with people to this day. The scars a broken marriage can leave are ones that I still struggle with. The ripping apart of two people who became one is painful to say the least and to me marriage is a serious thing. I step back and look at my life and I think to myself, "man I should hate marriage." Everything about it should rub me the wrong way, however when I think of marriage I have this joy that over flows.

Marriage is something God has put on my heart since the beginning of GCBI and it's still as heavy as ever laying in the same spot. One day, God willing I will become a husband and that junk pumps me up like crazy. I've even come to terms with the fact that it may never happen for me, as hard as that might be. however, I do think the Lord's plan for me includes marriage. It's something I've had to bring to God over and over again asking Him in humble prayer " Are these desires for marriage my feelings or your will Lord?".

I love working with kids. It's a passion of mine and I'm so incredibly blessed to work with them on a daily basis. He's blessed me so much just by having Bible Fellowship's Youth Group in my life that words can't do justice how good I truly know He is. With that being said I know that's not all He would have me do with my life. Marriage is one of the biggest ministry's a believer can have and I feel that call. Again I say I can't explain it to you and it feels much like I bet Paul felt in Ephesians 3:14-19. God's call in my life right now, is to be getting prepared for the husband I want to be. I've had so many people tell me "You have no idea how tough and difficult it is. Experience is a completely different thing for marriage." I understand that and I'm sure they are very right but I want to do everything possible I can do to be a Godly husband before I am one. I want to do everything I possibly can to be a Godly father before I am one.

Which brings me to the scriptures I've been going over and over.

"An excellent wife who can find? For her worth is far above jewels."

Proverbs 31:10

Proverbs 31 is a piece of scripture that most everyone has read and pointed to during some point in their life. What a power scripture! I love the way this verse starts as the writer begins with a great question. Who the heck can find an excellent wife?? As great the question is I think the writer is making a point with this statement. When you think about it the verse has the idea that this guy has been looking for a wife and his conclusion? It's not easy.

This verse emphasizes how much a wife should be worth in the eyes of a husband. The exact worth? Immeasurable!

Think about a jewel for a minute, now I acknowledge this may not be what the writer was going for but bare with me. When I think of jewels I think of things that you have to seek out. Things that are hard to find and are worth something. My mind can't help but travel to the parable Jesus talks about in Matthew 13:45-46. Jesus is talking about the kingdom of heaven in these verses but it talks about a pearl of great value. Something that's worth so much to you that you'd be willing to give up any material thing in this world to have. Because it's worth it. Nothing can compare to it.

Colossian Ch.1:1-12 Notes

Chapter 1:1-8

Got the Gospel! You’re excited, you’re spreading the word! It’s not just sitting there doing nothing but it’s producing fruit and growing in your lives.

Because of this….

Chapter 1:9-12

We are praying that you understand God’s desires for your life!

-Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord! His desire for my and your life is to be Holy! You’re not the same people anymore your lives are to be distinct in all areas! We need to pray for God’s guidance in all areas of our lives to be distinct! We’re here to please Him in all aspect of our lives! Every area needs to have his mark on it in your life. Nothing is yours anymore it’s His! When you’re walking this way your life is going to be used for His glory and it’s going to show. It’s not just words but it’s going to show in your life.

1 Peter 1:13-16

-You’re going to grow in your relationship with Him. You’re not going to be able to get enough of Him! You’re going to pray more and read His word more it’s the idea in 1^st John 3:1-2 where John says we are His children and if that’s the case we’re going to look more and more like our Father as we grow up in our faith!

- When you’re faced with tough times or trails that James says we are all going to face you’re going to be strengthened by His power. The more you understand who God is you’re going to realize like David did that man when my focus is on God I can take on Giants with no problem because I have God on my side and He knows what He’s doing and I can remain under pressure not because of my power but because of His power. When we’re not walking and growing that’s when we forget the strength and power of the living God! When I’m not in His word or praying to Him or walking as I’m called then I don’t understand how much power is on my side because my eyes aren’t on Him as Hebrews 12:2 but they’re on my problem!

- When we walking with God and growing in our knowledge of Him and relying on His power in our trails that’s when we as Christians can cry out at all times no matter what the situation with joy and give thanks to God for what He’s done in our lives making it possible to have a relationship with Him as did the saint’s!!

Consume my soul with a longing for your laws.

¹⁸ Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.
¹⁹ I am a stranger on earth;
do not hide your commands from me.
²⁰ My soul is consumed with longing
for your laws at all times.

Psalm 119:18-20

Isn't it funny to read verse 20? I mean Francis Chan pointed this out and it's so true in the lives of most of us as Christians. I don't treat his laws as something I long for, who longs for rules? In America we long for freedom we don't long for anyone to tell us what to do. It's funny because the way most Christians, I included, look at Christ is that he's an anchor we are carrying around. He keeps us from doing things that we want. He's keeping us down.

What is wrong with us?

This is the Lord who saved us from ourselves and whose love were told in Ephesians 3:19 surpasses my greatest ideas or thoughts or imagination.

He sent his Son to die for us which gives us a small picture into how much love we have in the Father but not even that completely encompasses his love for us!

The idea that John 15:9 says he loves me as much as He loves His Son is mind blowing to me and scripture says even at the amount He loves us more.

What an amazing love we have in the Father in which these rules that we are called to long for, we really reject and treat as if it's some kind of burden. His rules are their because He knows what is best for his children.

When we look at his commandments and live by them we can see, hey that actually works out for the better of me!

Help this be my prayer Lord.

Help me look at situations with your perspective.

Help me not treat you like an anchor but rather the amazing redeemer that you are that I can run to saying I want you more than anything else this world has to offer because I've seen your love and it's better than anything this world has to offer.

Holy!

"As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in your behavior; because it is written, "You shall be Holy for I Am Holy" "

1st Peter 1:14-16

This for me is such a powerful verse in so many ways to me. The Lord has called His people to be Holy and that word Holy simply means distinct. The Lord desires for his followers his disciples to be DISTINCT. The Father isn't hiding anything from us. He's not making it super complex so none of us small human beings can't understand what He wants.

There is however a difference between something being obvious and something being easy isn't there? There's actually a big difference.

So let's look at this how does a person actually be Holy or distinct for God?

How do I stand out for the Lord?

I think it is much more than listing everything the world does and doing the opposite of it which seems to be the idea going around more and more from what I've seen.

Rather I think Peter answers the question of how we should be distinct in the verse above the verses I already highlighted.

"Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

1st Peter 1:13

Without getting overly complex and breaking down every word God's desire for us is simply to be busy doing what He's called us to do! Look at the words! Prepare, keep, fix! These are things were are called to be doing. We need to be actively doing the Lord's work and sharing his love with the people I meet.

When I am actively doing what the Lord has called me to do I am being distinct!

When I'm not choosing to be lazy and I choose to prepare my mind and keep sober in spirit and fix my hope completely on what He has done for me I will not be able to look like everything around me! It will be impossibly not to stick out!

When we are actually living as the church that's when people will take notice. When we actually are the body and are meeting needs for people rather than meeting the needs of ourselves we are distinct.

When we are so overwhelmed by the Love that God has lavished on us that our perspectives change from what can I do for Me Me Me to what can I do for You You You Lord that's when the church and it's body will be distinct.

Authentic Faith in Action!

In Ch. 1 of 1st Thessalonians we have Paul speaking to the church at Thessalonica. The same place where Paul's relative Jason was dragged out of his house and threatened in Acts 17:1-10 resulting in Paul being sent away at night abruptly.

This first chapter shows Paul being thankful for those in the church as they have actually done something with their salvation. It's an amazing picture of how salvation isn't the "end of the race" so to speak and those at the church didn't view it that way at all.

The result of their salvation was an authentic faith in action!

I think Paul describes perfectly what Authentic Faith from salvation looks like in verse 3. It needs to be rooted in Christ (1:3c steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ), focused on Love,(1:3b- labor of Love) and has to influence our actions and how we live our lives.(1:3a- your work of faith).

Paul talks about the people;s work of Faith, seeing it the way God says it is not the way their eyes or the world is telling them, and they are clearly acting as if what the word of God is saying is the truth.

Paul get's specific and mentions in verse 5-9 how they have turned away from the idols they once served. They are being imitators of not only Paul, who the text talks about being a man who had proven himself by his faith to the people, but also of Christ where our faith is rooted. Their faith results in them being true examples to the nations around them by turning away from the idols they served and towards the living and true God. The nation's surrounding them could see their faith in action and they took notice of what was happening. The word of the Lord sounded fourth through these people in Thessalonica to the nations around them! They wanted the nations to meet this Living True savior because they loved Christ which meant they couldn't just keep it to themselves even if they wanted to. They desired to reach lost nations out of a love for them as well as a love for Christ.

You see the result of authentic faith in the Lord was action in their lives!In the same way as believers we are challenged to take our faith and have it affect our actions and how we handle situations in this life!

Decisions Decisions

It's amazing to go back over the birth of our Savior. It's one or those things that I think I take for granted but it's amazing how the Lord is teaching me things even before He's born. In Matthew 1:18-25 the story about the conception of Jesus is told and I really for the first time reflected on the trial that Joseph had to go through.

We all know the story of Mary becoming pregnant from the Holy Spirit. This leaves Joseph with a huge bombshell and he has to decide whether to go with what he wants, divorce her quietly, or go with what God wants, stay with her. It's a trial Joseph didn't ask for but a decision had to made...obey God or listen to himself.

We see through the story of history that Joseph listen's to God and is blessed in being the "step father" of the Messiah.

Amazing story that encourages me so much.

See it got me thinking what if Joseph had said, "No God I'd rather not." He would have lost out on all the blessings that the Lord had for Him. God desires to bless His children, He truly loves it but He also loves out obedience. See Joseph's obedience led to this amazing blessing in his life that wouldn't have been there for him.

The same can be said in our lives, perhaps not to the extreme of Joseph's but still. When we decide to do what we want as believers rather than what God has told us He want's from us, we are robbed of the blessings He desires to give us.

When faced with the truth of God's word He desires obedience and whats awesome about our God is when we walk in obedience not only do we have unmatchable joy but also God is able to put the things in our lives He wants! He truly blesses us with the things that He desires for us to have and it shapes us to who He wants us to be. Man what an awesome God we serve!

Malachi

Pastor Randy always finds a way to use scripture to kinda beat you up a little bit not to intentionally bring us down but rather challenge us with what the Lord is saying which calls us to better our relationship with the Lord and ourselves. Thats exactly what this book was for me. It's what I needed and I loved every minute of it because it brought this book to life for me again in a powerful way.

The people had taken God's blessing for granted and even ask the question, "How have you loved us?" Israel is asking the Lord how He has loved them! That's mind blowing to me but as the same time....that is me! God is the loving parent and I'm the spoiled child focusing on the things he hasn't given me yet, ignorant to the amazing blessings he has!

Interestingly enough I think God's word is clear in the first 5 verses that God has always provided and blessed His people. Beyond that I think His word is clear that He LOVES to bless his people. When we walk with God, He loves to bless us, as his kids, because when we walk with Him. That's when God gives us what He wants us to have! Things that grow us and makes us more and more look like Him like in 1st John 3 because He knows us! He knows us because He created us! He knows the plans for our lives and when we walk with Him that's when we truly get the blessing He desires for us to have.

Wanted: A Blameless Man

"There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

Seven sons and three daughters were born to him.

His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very any servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east.

His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one of his day, and the would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.

When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send and consecrate them, rising up early in the morning and offering burnt offerings according to the number of them all; Job said perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts."Thus Job did continually."

Job 1:1-5

A great opening to this book if your name is Job don't ya think? This book opens up telling you about this guy named Job who apparently, at least according to the Word of God, is a heck of a guy. 3 things in particular stick out in these 5 verses that we should desire for our Christian lives to look like.

1.) Job was a Blameless man.

Now when we look in the first verse of the book the first thing said about Job (other than where he's from) is that he is a blameless man. It's not that Job is a perfect man by any means but blameless carries the idea of being a complete man. An upright man who fears the Lord. A guy who instead of treading on the fine line of sin and trying to get as close as possible to the line between sinning and not acknowledges the power of the Lord and instead turns away from evil. He runs from it as far in the other direction as possible instead of entertaining it. So it's not a shock to me that we have our next point......

2.) Job was a Blessed man.

Clearly the writer is showing that Job is a blessed man! He has many children which in his time was seen as a great blessing but even beyond that it goes on to describe the possessions he has. Oxen, servants, and donkeys. It even goes on to say that he was the greatest man of the east. God has blessed Job abundantly and with only the first verses at or disposal this story seems to make sense is a good one. Job is a good guy and God is being good to him. Everything is going according to plan so far and everyone in the story is benefiting from Job which leads to our next point...

3.) Job was a Blessing.

In verses 4-5 we see that Job's response to blessing in his life is an encouraging and great one. Job's response to blessing in his life is to bless others! We get this from him being a good dad!! The impact that his relationship with God had on his life carried over to his children's lives! Job choose to walk in a way that honored God! Job raised great kids that got along and that loved each other! He was the kind of Dad that was proactive! He would offer sacrifices for his children "just in case" they sinned and he did this continually! Job was a blessing to his children and as a result of his relationship with the Lord his children were blessed through Job! Not only in a financial way but also in having a great Dad.

The beginning of the book looks right. It has a Godly man being blessed by God! The man in turn shows what we are called to do with blessings from God and turn them into blessings for others! Job was blessed so he could be a blessing to those he loved! What a fantastically perfect picture of family and how the world would work in a perfect world!

Sadly, as we will discover through the rest of the book, the point of Job is to show us that not always when I do good do I get good! Sometimes in this life I'm going to do good and just get bad and in reverse their are others in this life that are going to do bad and get good!! How frustrating! It's almost like what's the point!?!?!

The point is this:

Our walk with God can not depend on how our life is going at the moment!

The beauty of this book however is that God see's how we live our lives! As we will see later in the book God takes just about everything from him even though Job is doing the right things! Job responds initially with worship and a great proverb. Wait a minute.... Job did good and got bad.....but God bragged about him to Satan afterward!! God was happy with Job but Job got a terrible result? See Job was a wise man and knew that God had given him everything and had the authority to take it! Job knew that he served a good God even though it didn't seem like it because his relationship with the Lord was good! Sometimes God brings pain in our lives for purpose! Sometimes by doing good we get what looks like pain at the time but results in beautiful joy! We find out through the rest of this book that Job's relationship with God was good and he hadn't sinned against him but yet he still got bad! In his first reaction Job hits it out of the park!

When our walk with God is being worked on daily it's easier to see God the way we should.....He's good no matter our circumstances!!

Job's perspective is where it needs to be at first! God's plan for my life is bigger than what I can see now and as I trusted him in the good times I am to trust him in the bad because the God we serve is good!No matter our circumstances God has not changed and is always good!

Mediocrity

This post is a long time coming, a burden the Lord has put on my heart concerning my own life and the lives of others that make a claim to belong to the Lord. It's a fire he's put in my soul that can't be quenched and it has finally bubbled over not out of anger but of anguish for my heart. This is a flowing of words that come straight from this anguished heart...

I'm so sick and tired of mediocrity. At the moment my life is simply amazing. I have a loving church family that I would not trade for anything. Amazing friends that are the best a guy could ask for. A job that I have dreamed of having, doing something I'm truly passionate about and something I love doing. I'm so incredibly blessed that it's overwhelming. Though all of this is true this world is screaming at me and every Christian in this world to do one thing. Compromise. The world desires for believers of Christ to compromise what they believe in. To accept being lukewarm mediocre Christians by compromising things we stand for and how we live our lives. The world is asking us to give up ground piece by piece and in exchange what is it offering???In Exchange we will receive in TEMPORARY HAPPINESS. Not ever lasting happiness but rather temporary happiness. It's an epic battle that pits two warriors on a dirt terrain hacking back and fourth at each other. Every step we give up we get closer and closer to the edge of a crater we can not see because we are focused on this "temporary happiness" promised in whatever the world can hook us onto. The words of Paul scream out in the background during this battle urging us to "STAND FIRM!" as he does in Eph. 6.

I have chosen "mediocrity" as a title because I think it's the word that describe this generation of Christian soldiers, myself included. It's a word that literally brings me to my knees and makes me sick to my stomach. It defines what compromise in our walk with God leads to. It defines me in my life more often then it does not. It's a word that I have come to accept as an inevitability and I allow it to define who I am in Christ! It's this word that leads me to a place I do not belong. It's this word that convinces me to take step after step backward until I reach the point where everything around me seems to stop...because I look up and realize that compromise after compromise has left me at the very edge of the cliff in this battle! I come to the sudden realization that these small compromises have led to bigger ones and bigger ones! Now rather than standing firm for the Savior I no longer have any footing at all.....

I have chosen MEDIOCRITY.....

I have become lukewarm....

I have become the very thing I was called to stand out from........

I have become part of the world......

MAY IT NEVER BE!!

I am a CHILD OF GOD!

I am of a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD!

I am a SAINT!

I am a SOLDIER OF THE CROSS!

I am a BOND-SERVANT OF CHRIST!

I am a CHRISTIAN!

None of this by MY doing but because what HE did for me!!!

I go through this life and I accept compromises in my life and I get focused on ME and what I want which leads to even more compromise!

We accept things in our lives that are not acceptable to the name the Lord has allowed us to have!

My salvation thankfully does not depend on my actions or else I'd be in more trouble then I care to dwell on but rather BECAUSE of my salvation my life it to be different than this world and as of this moment this world is filled with people like me who are accepting mediocrity in their walks with God.

I'm not talking about just messing up here and there the Disciples of the Lord messed up plenty but they also did not allow mediocrity to hold them prisoner and they changed this world!!

American Christians this message is for us!!

Mediocrity is not what my Lord has called me to!

The call in my life as a Christian is throw off the chains of mediocrity that bind us and for us to live with high fidelity in our walks!!

It's a call to get face to face with Love.

True Love that goes beyond understanding and comprehension.

This Love that we know because He laid down His life for us because his Love has the power to change us!

It's a call to be what God has called us to be!

To show with our lives what God has said we are!