I Stand In Awe

I wrote this a long time ago and I thought I would post it for everyone. Thanks to Shawna Gibson for the last line :-).

I Stand In Awe

the orange sun rising in the morning
the green leaves on the trees in the spring
the billowing clouds on a rainy day
I stand in awe

the earth in all it's beauty
the stars shining in the sky
the birds singing in the trees
I stand in awe

I stand in awe at all you've created
and all you've given to me
sometimes I just stand and wonder
how could you do this for me?

to create the sun and the sea and the sky
to create the moon and the stars
but most of all to create your son
the one who suffered the abuse for us all,
I Stand In Awe

Smile, it's contagious

As followers of christ it is important for us to stand out of the crowd. We should be living examples. We should make people wonder why we are so happy and what makes us so different. We should shine.


"A cheerful look brings joy to the heart and good news gives health to the bones." (Proverbs 5:30)


"shine
make 'em wonder what you've got
make 'em wish that they were not
on the outside looking bored
shine
let it shine before all men
let 'em see good works, and then
let 'em glorify the lord" - - Newsboys - Lyrics: Steve Taylor

Wisdom

I was going to write an entry on wisdom but then I thought it might be WISER to let God's word speak for itself.

Here are some passages from proverbs:

"The fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the holy one is understanding." (Proverbs 9:10)

The wise do not rebuke correction -
"Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you. Rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; Teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning." (Proverbs 9:8-9)

"The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin."(Proverbs 10:8)

There is much more to be found in the Bible about wisdom. If you find any more passages drop me a line and I will add them to this post.

How could God let this happen to me?

I think that sometimes we all wonder how God could ever let some of the tragic things in our lives happen. Sometimes life gets so tough that we begin to doubt God's existence. In my experience sharing God with others I have come across many people that just couldn't get past this question. Why does God allow Suffering? So, I decided to tackle this question here. And what better place to begin than the beginning.

When God created man he created him innocent. He placed him in a garden with no sin, pain, sorrow, or death. Through sin, man lost his trouble-free paradise. Genesis 3 shows how man's sin caused suffering to enter the world. Eve bit into the apple or the forbidden fruit. Because she disobeyed god, and so did Adam, suffering entered the world. Man - not god - through sin and rebellion, was responsible for bringing suffering into the world.

Today, we are directly the cause of 85% of all the suffering in the world. We inflict it upon ourselves. Some of this suffering includes lung cancer, murder, rape, drunken driving accidents, robbery, poverty that arises out of laziness, and more. Another cause of suffering is because the world is in a fallen state due to man's sin.


So if sin is causing all of these problems then why didn't God create us without the ability to sin?

If he created us without sin we would no longer be human. We would be like machines. There would never be any conflict or harsh words but there would never be any spontaneous love either.

God didn't want us to love him because we didn't have a choice. Love isn't really love if you do not have the ability to choose to love. So God gave us the ability to choose. By giving us the ability to choose to love Him, He also had to give us the choice to love other things. Through this choice, sin was created.


But isn't God doing something about the worlds suffering?

You bet he is.

He sent his son to suffer redemptively (Hebrews 2:18; 1 Peter 2:20-24)
He Gives grace to us when we suffer. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
He purifies through suffering when we mix it with faith (Romans 8:18, 28-29)
He uses us to help others face their suffering (James 1:27 and 5:14-16; Cor. 1:3,4)

God loves us so much that he gave us the choice of love and the choice of sin and then he suffered and paid the price for that sin so all that remains is his overflowing love. All you have to do is accept it and you will be 4Given.

Live for Him.

He never said that it would be easy.

It is not easier to walk the path of the righteous. It isn't easy to say no when everyone else is giving in to temptation. It's not easy to love your enemy even when you know they are wrong. It's not easy to be respectful to your parents. It's not easy to live as a christian example.

He didn't say it would be easy, but he did say that he would be there every second of the way.


Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."

Was that one for me?

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

It has been months since I have written. I get so busy with work and family and the demands of this world. I will try to write more often. I know I have written a lot about the cross and what happened on that day over 2000 years ago but I wanted to take a moment and reflect. As many of you have, I have recently gone to see Mel Gibson's controversial movie The Passion of the Christ. If you haven't seen this movie I recommend that you do. However, beware that it is a very graphic and powerful movie. For me this movie brought a sense of reality to what Jesus did for us on the cross.

As I watched the movie I began to gain a deeper understanding of the cost of my sins. With each crack of the whip and the piercing of flesh on the screen I flinched and wondered "Was that one for me? Was that one for my sins?". How much does forgiveness cost? It costs our lives. It costs everything we have in this world and in eternity.

But then there is Jesus, the only perfect man to ever walk the earth. He was sent here by God and died for our sins.

Most of you have heard this story before. Therefore, the words can have a hollow meaning to us sometimes. Watching the vivid images on the screen as they unfold this very same story brings those empty words to life and gives us a whole new perspective.