Teaching and Learning

Jesus replied, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again." 

- John 3:3

This one will be brief because I am pretty busy today, but I want to note what the Holy Spirit has revealed to me in reading from a study by Ray Comfort. If you would like to read it, the book is called "Faith is for Weak People" Responding to the Top 20 Objections to the Gospel. 

In the chapter addressing homosexuality, Ray describes the argument of gay people claiming they are born that way and how that argument can also be used to describe someone who commits adultery; they have resisted for years but finally gave in because they were born with that desire and had no choice. Then, Ray goes on to explain that argument is why, in order to resist this sin, we must be born again because we are born into a sinful nature. That's when it clicked for me; we are born into sin, therefore we must be born again so that we can be born into being free from that sin through Jesus Christ. I cannot say if I have written about something that the Holy Spirit revealed to me like this, but it was a powerful moment in my realization of this concept. Being born again is not physical, as Jesus taught Nicodemus in John 3, but it is a spiritual re-birth renewing our minds and spirit to be like Christ Jesus. When we are born, we have certain needs, wants, desires, etc. but when we are born again, those things change and Jesus becomes the center of our hierarchy of needs. After that everything falls into place because He can provide for us. 

Making my way through this study, I have been teaching, and learning, how we can respond to objections of the Gospel. I hope this explanation helps you, as this is something I have overlooked in the past, but being born again truly is being born into a new life, with Jesus. 

May the Holy Spirit move in you, and reveal what it is He wants you to know, that you can share your understand and faith with others. All glory to God, the one who saves. Amen.

Revisited

Welcome back. I think I'll skip the formalities here, and just get to the point. I don't always have a lot of time, so for the sake of me getting some things done tonight, I'll keep this one concise. 

It's the end of November, 2021 and almost 9 PM here. Our culture today is unravelling. The more "encouragement" I receive from Rex brings me anxiety yet also, motivation. He reminds me of the responsibility we have as Christians to stay constant in our faith and trusting in the Lord. For anyone who may read this and isn't a follower of Jesus, I'm sorry that I could not be more of a channel to you finding the faith. There is a God, and He loves you. The only thing He asks is that you love Him back.

Where I am at today, years later from my first post, is not far from where I was spiritually or [emotionally?]. I can't find the right word there. Yet, if anything has progressed in my character, it is my understanding of the need to preach the Gospel. I am learning that I am an anxious person when it comes to conflict or tension in, not only relationships, but also in conversation that may be a more serious topic. 

Addressing an issue is difficult, though I am continuing to gain experience there. Presenting a request is difficult for me. I am now engaged and will be married in about 11 months. I was very anxious about asking her father for his blessing, about asking her brothers for proposal planning assistance. I typically get anxious about a lot of things at my job. I have a reputation to uphold as a store manager, and I find it difficult... confrontation is difficult. That's it. I'm moving on here.

I am struggling to focus on the end reward that God calls us to in Heaven. I want to do my job, yet I want to share the Gospel, and any time I think of that I just talk myself out pretty quickly. Anyway, my point here is that I am not much further along in my faith journey after several years of light study and prayer. However, I don't want you to be discouraged. I would like you to know, regardless of you status of belief, God has a plan for you and he wants you to grow in your faith. We cannot afford to be stagnant here, especially now in the society we are faced with. Focus on Jesus, on what he has blessed you with and what God's grace has taken you away from. When we begin to understand the grace that God has for us, we begin to change and allow Him to work in us. He is working in me, maybe not as quickly as I expected but I know he has something for me. 

You are in my prayers. May God bless you and reveal the mystery of the Gospel to you. Amen.

Write and Wrong

It has been a long time since I have written anything here. I want to make this short but meaningful. A lot has happened since I last filled an entry, but not a lot at the same time. I have learned that I express my thoughts best when I write. God gives us talents and tools to glorify Him, and for me I find written words easiest to communicate with. I am still with the girl I bought a ring for. I am still at the job I started in high school. I am in a place of contentment. Where I need to be may be somewhere else, but for now I am looking to serve God where I am. Where am I? 

In my faith, not as far as I want to be. In my job, not as far as I want to be. In my relationship, not as far as I want to be. I said I was content, but am I wrong? I would say no. The flesh wants me to be discontent, but God calls me to serve Him where I am. A breakthrough would be nice. a raise would be nice. A simple life with a house would be nice. Yet God has a greater calling for us. To not be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. To have life in Christ, a purpose, a fulfillment. Those things come with trusing and obeying Him before we gain our desires, so that we may be blessed and content in His purpose for our life. 

May God lead you to surrender the areas of your life that he needs, so that we may serve him the most.

Beginning and End

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14

If you have been reading through my faith journey, I have not been witing as regularily as I would like. On such a note, I want this to be my last entry. Though that may be the case, I have continued to learn and grow in my faith in the last two years since I began this in the spring of 2018.

Much has changed not only in me, but also in the world today. Civil unrest continues to grow everywhere. The next presidential election is nearly here. The United States is in such a divide that many people are unsure as to what will come next. The one thing however that we can always be sure of is our Lord, Jesus Christ. Looking at my own life, I have certainly learned to lean more on the Holy Spirit and allowed him to lead me more each day. In my opinion, that is exactly what our nation needs.

As much as that is the case, I know we are at a time now, more than ever, when people are avoiding the idea of God. Yet today, I want to focus on the verse I posted. At the beginnig of this journal, I was conflicted as to where God wanted me. At the end of my journal, I want to ensure you, the reader, that I am certain that God has placed me in my job for a purpose. I will continue to serve him there and in my church as long as I am permitted. God allowed me to become the store manager of the grocery store I work for, as well as a small group leader of youg adults in my church. The youth group has been discontinued, and God has given me a small number of 20-something-year-old adults to minister to. Now, I do not have a degree in ministry but I do believe that the Lord has shown me a lot over the past few years that I can encourage others with. Not to mention, having fellowship with them allows me to learn from their stories as well.

God has certainly brought people into my life to teach me things; including a man who continuously encourages me to memorize scripture. Today, I wrote one of those verses as an encouragement to anyone who may read this. Let God be in your heart, and meditate on Him and his word, so that he can be your reasoning. With so much unsettled in our world today, having a God to give us peace in trying times is the only way I can see a positive result at the end of whatever you would call our current state.

Lastly, as I close out this journal, I want to encourage you that at the beginning and end of every faith journey for a believer, is God. He has always been there, and always will be. He is the God of Israel and, because of Jesus, he is the God of us today.

May you find peace in your meditation on the Rock. Amen.

Kings and Conviction

There is a time for everything... a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

Though I have not been keeping up on this blog, my faith journey is well underway. I am learning so much about God's faithfulness and the history of man's faithfulness to God from the Old Testament. I am currently in the book of 1 Kings. Samuel, Sual, David, and Solomon have all passed on, and we find the kingdom of Israel divided under the reign of Jeroboam and his many successors to follow. The convicting message from all these kings is that we are not much further ahead today. We have idols and a misdirected faith in ourselves before we look to God. We are divided, hoping to gain whatever we can for ourselves and let those who are left make the best of what they have.

The problem with self-made idols comes especially when we let ourselves down. I have been there. God feels out of reach, and we are unsure how to handle the situation we have fallen into. There becomes a personal conviction for something more, but without God we can not be sure what that is. We have no clear direction or foundation to steer us through wherever we may be. In these moments of being overwhelmed or unsure, we should certainly turn to the Lord to guide us. (Especially during this pandemic.) Yet today, I am faced with an opportunity to respond to something in my own life. My first thought of a response is the third chapter of Ecclesiastes, when we are told that life has a season for eveything.

Though this will be breif, I will explain this season in my life.

After a prolonged break-up with my most recent, former girlfriend, I was able to turn things around in my faith and have certainly developed a better relationship with God. My time of being single allowed God to show me who I could be outside of a relationship, and that I had responsibility as a 20-something to my church and to my family. Currently, I am in a relationship (with a different girl) and I do believe God allowed her to be in my life for a purpose. Regardless of my relationship status, reading through the book of 1 Kings (and Samuel) has shown me the seriousness of not following your conviction to repentance. God allowed Isreal so many times to repent, especially after King Jeroboam, yet they did not. Thereafter, God brought judgment on Isreal by dividing the tribes, and allowing the kings to fight with each other causing many to lose their lives in such a short time. Though sin can ruin much in a short time, it may us take a lifetime of faithfulness to begin our relationship with God. That is where the challenge lies.

Today, I am certainly entering a new season of life; the door of "my" youth group is beginning to close, the door to my career is fully opened, and everyday I am learning new mercies and direction from the word of God. By understanding the book of Kings and conviction they must have had, I long to never be like the example of Jeroboam the sinner, but like the example of David: a man after God's own heart.

Though there is a time to mourn, there is also a time to dance. God answers the prayers of the faithful, and strengthens those in need... His mysteries are great, yet His glory is greater. May God lead you and speak to you through His word. Be encouraged by nothing but the power of Christ. Peace to you. Amen.

Sin and Boldness

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived...
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

– 1 Corinthians 6:9,11

Hello, again. Thanks for making it this far in my faith journey. God has really spoken to me this morning, and I know I need to write this down so that I can look back on this time and know that God does have a call for me. Yesterday, I made a choice that resulted in sin going unpunished (by me). Officially being the store manager, I now have a greater responsibility to the store and ensuring everything is as it should be. After finishing the books of Samuel, I have began praying for boldness in my faith. Since I have been praying more regularly, God has certainly been allowing me the opportunities to be more bold in my character. I also believe he has been preparing me to take a step in my faith toward ministry, even where I am in my own life. Changes will come in His time, but we need to be the one to show we are faithful where he has us now.

Toward the end of my workday, a man came into the store and walked out with two bags and a backpack full of groceries, attempting to steal them. A cashier caught him and alerted the closer, assistant manager. Being paged to the front, I quickly was told and followed the man out of the store to confront him. The two bags in his hands were emptied, yet the backpack remained unopened, as he was trying to convince us that he had illegal things in there, including "guns and needles" that he did not want to show us. After reviewing the camera footage, it was obvious that he did put items into his backpack and would not admit to it. As I continued to ask for his bag, he kept backing further away. To my own fault, I let him go with the backpack. Of course, I did tell him not to come back to the store.

What happened yesterday made me very angry, yet I went straight to God after the situation resolved. I went to Him hoping he could magically fix the problem, getting the man to return with the stolen items. Many thoughts ran through my mind; "why did I not call the police?" (usually it takes too long for them to get there, it is faster to handle the situation yourself), "I should have took the bag off of his back", "why was I not more aggressive?" were some of the thoughts that made me regret letting him go. I was very frustrated and was wishing I could find him to pursue the cause further, maybe to teach him a lesson. Yet, God reminded me that He is in control and will have the final say on His day of righteous judgement. I had to let it go, there was nothing more I could do besides prepare for next time.

This is where God really spoke to me. In the morning, the thoughts were still on my mind and I knew I needed to pray more. So, I did. I once again was irritated that this man would steal and lie to me, yet I let him go with the items. I was at fault. Yet I also let him go without the chance to hear the Gospel. Looking into how God views theft, the first passage that I found was 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, giving the reminder of our own sins and how we can help right the wrongs of others by ministering to them. God told me to dust off my feet because I did confront him, but the situation was already over and he did not give anything back. However, reading the commentary on 1 Corinthians 6 really showed me that God has the final say when it comes to sin. Yet, as believers, we have the responsibility to confront sin, regardless of who it is, and to show boldness in our faith so that the sinner may repent. God may not be using me to minister at the grocery store right now, but he is certainly using the grocery store to minister to me.

May God lead you in your faith and his calling for you, so that others may see his love through you. Amen.

Thoughts and Prayers

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:8-9    

God always wants to bring us closer to Him, yet we fall short because of our own vices. I have now finished both books of Samuel, and have begun to read 1 Kings. As I am still learning about God's faithfulness and our own ability to serve Him through the characters in these books, I have begun to pray more often for God to show me His own will for my life, so that I may follow it with ease. Yet, I suppose I am missing the point of these readings in the two books of Samuel, because David is given clear instructions to be king, yet he still finds a way to go against God's will. I suppose we cannot truly follow His will for us all the time, because of our own sin. Yet, God's grace allows us to start over every day and make draw closer to Him when we feel furthest away.

Lately, I have been less stressed about my job for a number of reasons, though I still have a cloud of frustration hanging over me. My thoughts get the best of me when I go to work, and I cannot seem to be satisfied with how things are run, how product is displayed, how the employees act, etc. It all brings me to a point where I seem to get irritated over minute details and lack trust in my coworkers to do their job properly. This frustration is something I do not want in my life and I have been trying to redirect those frustrations onto God, in my prayers that is. My thoughts and prayers are in constant battle when it comes time to pray in the morning; "I should just sleep in to get more rest, but I know God wants me to spend time with him" I think as I am praying. There are a lot of things I need to find a solution for at work, yet I only have an hour or so in the morning to be in prayer with God, so why do I need to worry about that now? I wish I could just sit down in the morning and be completely focused on God and be in prayer to hear His words for me, rather than my own grumblings. However, as I looked up a verse about God's way in our lives, the only verse that I was brought to was the one at the top, from Isaiah. We cannot know how God will work in us, yet we must continue to let Him turn our ongoing thoughts into clarity of His direction for us. We cannot find better advice from anything than the word of God. However, His thoughts and ways are not ours, so knowing when He is speaking to us is what we need to understand if we are to follow His will in our lives.

May God guide your thoughts and prayers so that you may have clarity, and peace, in His holiness.
Amen.