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!!