The problem is....

The prophet Isaiah said about the Christ that "...He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed" (Is 53:5 NIV).

What we have failed to realize is that this verse isn't necessarily talking about peace in this lifetime. It is referring to peace in eternity. It is peace from the wages of our sin, which is death. In fact, Jesus specifically said that in this world we would face many trials.

John 16:33 (ESV): "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

He said..."In the world you will have tribulation".

I say this because we hurt. We go through some really tough times that suck in the worst way. Bad stuff happens. Our hearts break, but most of all, they long for the peace that Christ gives. I long to see my Father and go where there are no more tears, no death, no hurt and no pain. I long to be in the perfect, sin free creation.

Until then, I have the peace that I will get there. Mark my words, (and God's), there will never be peace on this earth, but one day, we will inherit the peace that was purchased for us.

Watch This: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRmBChQjZPs

Following A Path I Cannot See

I found this today while flipping through a journal. I wrote this about a year and a half ago on 1/15/10.

Decisions, Distractions, Insight and Insecurity
Following a path I cannot see,
Longing to finally reach my place,
Hoping I haven't taken a wrong turn.

I Trust, I Stumble, I Sprint and I Crawl
Love is blind and so am I,
Following a path I cannot see,
I chase a light I'm unable to grasp,
Sometimes so close it's barely out of reach,
Other times, so far away I squint for a glimpse.

I walk, I tread, I limp and I stride,
Following a path I cannot see,
Beautiful, Peaceful, United and Calm,
Those are Your plans for me,
Though I am blind, I have someone to lead,
Regardless of my understanding, stubbornness, hate or pride,
You did not fail to deliver Your love unconditional

You Led, You Pushed, You Towed and You Carried,
This blind, dead being and gave me life.
All because...
I followed a path I could not see.

First.

First.

They say there is a first time for everything and this year is the first time that I have given up something for Lent. My sacrifice has been varied as my goal was to blog each day during Lent. So, for the past 40+ days I have somehow found time to write. My sacrifices include time, sleep, time with my wife, and entertainment.

Thankfully I made it the entire time without missing a single day. There have been a few close calls and some very late night posts. Some of these posts have been done while sitting in a car, at work, at dinner and even in bed.

Here are a few things I have learned during this time:

1) Don't make a commitment unless you are going to see it through until the end.

2) Sacrifices aren't convenient or easy. This sounded easy but was more difficult than it seems.

3) You never know who might be reading.

4) it's hard to think of something to write each day.

5) sometimes you can have a positive impact on others without even realizing it.

6) typing out long blogs on my iPhone isn't fun.

7) I miss blogging and will purpose in my heart to do it more frequently than in the past.

It's been fun to write each day and i look forward to writing again sometime soon, but it'll be nice to take a couple of days off.

I hope you have a great Easter holiday. Take time to thank Christ for his sacrifice

God Bless.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Define.

Define.

As we approach Easter, I was wondering, what does Easter mean to you? We all know that it is the celebration of the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, but what does that
mean to you?

Does it mean salvation? Does it mean healing? Does it mean eternal life? Does it give you hope? What does it mean to you?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

What?

What?

There is a movement that is saying that May 21st, 2011 will be the final judgment day. I think it is ridiculous and opposite of what the Bible teaches when it clearly states that "...no man knows the day...". Regardless, their hypocrisy isn't the subject of my thoughts.

Our Pastor brought up this question tonight: If it was true that the world would end on 5-21-11 (it isn't), then what in your life would you change? What would you do different? Would you change anything at all?

Would you witness to others about Christ? Would you give everything away? Would you spend more time in prayer? Would you spend more time with your family, telling them how much you loved them? Would you work less?

What changes would you make if you knew you wouldn't be around much longer?

Relented.

Relented.

Today I finally relented and went to the doctor over something that was long overdue. For some reason, my months of home remedies and self surgery just didn't get the job done and it finally reached the point where it needed to get looked at by a professional.

How many times in our lives do we refuse the help that is available to us, especially in our spiritual lives? Whether it is sin, sickness, depression, hurt, confusion, a decision, etc... we wait and hope that things will get better but often times, things get worse because we haven't sought out the help we desperately need. The doctor I needed to see was only five minutes away, but I refused the help and technology that was available to me. We have immediate access to Christ (and no co-pays) yet many times we never even think about seeking Him for help. Rather than get the healing we need, we settle for a band-aid and hope the problem goes away.

The Bible says that God cannot lie, so, I cannot help but to believe that the following scripture is true (emphasis in red text)

1 Peter 5:5-11
⁵ Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”^[b]
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷ casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because^[c] your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. ¹⁰ But may^[d] the God of all grace, who called us^[e] to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. ¹¹ To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

A few years ago, I started singing the chorus to the Joe Cocker song "You Are So Beautiful" as a worship song. After some time, I decided to add a couple of verses to it and make a full song out of it, yet keep the original chorus. Below, I've embedded a very raw YouTube video of me singing it. The video quality is bad, as is the sound, however, as humbling as the performance is (its not good), the message remains.

What Christ did for us was beautiful. He was beaten beyond human recognition, yet He was beautiful. Have you ever seen a mangled animal lying on the side of the road? He probably looked worse than that, yet He was beautiful. He knew what was going to happen to Him, yet He did it anyway. During this Easter season, don't lose sight of His beauty. Lyrics are provided below the video.



Verse 1:
A face no one thought pretty
With nails in your hands
A crown of thorns sat on your head
As your blood dripped to the ground

Verse 2:
Everyone rejected Him
Said "He's not what we need"
"We'll trade Him for the murderer"
"Send Him to the tree"

Pre-Chorus:
How can I describe it?
What He means to me!
A portrait of the innocent!
Dying on the cross for me!

Chorus:
You are so beautiful to me
You are so beautiful to me
You're everything I've hoped for
You're everything I need
You are so beautiful to me!