1 John 5:4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.
There is an old Dogwood song entitled More Than Conquerors. I always took this song as a rally cry for all Christians and every time I listened to it I remembered that we have victory through God. I have recently realized that my view of having being a “conqueror” of Christ has been skewed. The world’s measure of success and overcoming is far different than God’s ideas and this is where my error always lied. Cassia and I were just talking about how the world’s definition of success is always along the lines of obtaining many years of schooling, having a high paying job, being able to afford “things, going on amazing vacations, etc. And I think as a Christian it’s so easy to get caught up in all of those things and have them become our basis of whether or not God leading us to overcome the world.
Looking into what is happening in my life right now and what happened recently, I have seen where I missed the mark. I have expected God to help me overcome at work by giving me a different and higher paying job. That is not always the case, He may be keeping me here in order to overcome in my present circumstances despite everything else. Overcoming is not necessarily obtaining victory in the human sense, but rather in God’s design. I can do more to overcome the enemy by being diligent in my work where I am now than being taken out of the situation completely. I have the opportunity to show that regardless of where I am, I will look to God for strength and He will lead me to become a conqueror for HIM, not for the world.
And this is where our (my) faith comes in. I need to trust that God’s plans are greater than my own. He only allows circumstances so that we can become stronger in Him. I’ve learned a lot recently that I cannot fully grasp what He is up to. He sees so much more than I do, therefore I need to let Him lead the way. And lead me to victory.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
In His word I place my trust
"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless..." 2 Samuel 22:31
Reading is something that has never come natural to me. I have the ability to read well, but my mind is prone to wander to pretty outrageous places. So staying focused while reading is my problem. I can read through an entire page and then get to the end and realize I didn't remember a single thing from it. I enjoy reading now unlike earlier in my life, but it is still something that I struggle with.
The struggles are of course the same with the time I spend in God's Word. I've always had a difficult time motivating myself to daily get into the Bible, and when I do I still find my mind drifting off. It's frustrating but I can't let my "personality" be an excuse for a lack of quality time with God.
Recently there has been a shift in my attitude towards my devotions. I have yet to determine God's exact reasoning for it yet, but I'm excited to learn why. For some reason I feel pressed to make sure I am in the Word consistently right now. I think because of where I'm at in my life, I just really need to be entirely in tune with God's desires for me. I long to be a Godly man and a leader, more so than I ever have, and the Holy Spirit is reminding me it is through His words that I'll be taught. I've always had mentors who have spurred me on in this, but it is exciting to me because it is entirely from God this time.
I pray that this new found desire to want to hear from God through His word will not be fleeting and that I'll always find myself wanting to read and study. The past few days at work I've found myself just wanting to stop everything and read something, and that's exciting because that has never really been the case. I think God wants to take me to the next step in my relationship with Him, and I want to be ready for whatever that may entail.
Reading is something that has never come natural to me. I have the ability to read well, but my mind is prone to wander to pretty outrageous places. So staying focused while reading is my problem. I can read through an entire page and then get to the end and realize I didn't remember a single thing from it. I enjoy reading now unlike earlier in my life, but it is still something that I struggle with.
The struggles are of course the same with the time I spend in God's Word. I've always had a difficult time motivating myself to daily get into the Bible, and when I do I still find my mind drifting off. It's frustrating but I can't let my "personality" be an excuse for a lack of quality time with God.
Recently there has been a shift in my attitude towards my devotions. I have yet to determine God's exact reasoning for it yet, but I'm excited to learn why. For some reason I feel pressed to make sure I am in the Word consistently right now. I think because of where I'm at in my life, I just really need to be entirely in tune with God's desires for me. I long to be a Godly man and a leader, more so than I ever have, and the Holy Spirit is reminding me it is through His words that I'll be taught. I've always had mentors who have spurred me on in this, but it is exciting to me because it is entirely from God this time.
I pray that this new found desire to want to hear from God through His word will not be fleeting and that I'll always find myself wanting to read and study. The past few days at work I've found myself just wanting to stop everything and read something, and that's exciting because that has never really been the case. I think God wants to take me to the next step in my relationship with Him, and I want to be ready for whatever that may entail.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
"When I Remember
These lyrics are some of my favorite and most touching. I think they adequately represent several times in my life where I felt nothing, and had to be reminded that God has always been there to hold me in His arms
Blindside
When I remember
That boy is gone
Sometimes I miss the way he wept at night
To be still and not run
To be rocked to sleep in Your light
These days there is not much that will bring tears to my eyes
But when I remember who I am and who You are
When I remember
A cloud moves in, rain falls, thunder strikes, and sunshine breaks through the clouds
I am walking blind
So distracted that I dont even feel when You hold me
When did i grow such thick skin
You are my sunshine and rain
My joy and sweet pain
I'm a spotless stain
That boy is gone
But nobody moves me like You do
When I remember
A cloud moves in, rain falls, thunder strikes
And sunshine breaks through the clouds
I can cry out of sorrow and joy
Every drop of rain turns into a crystal in the sun
So wash my eyes, my clothes, my skin, my bones, my soul
My feet, my love
I'm not forgotten
I'm in Your thoughts cause I feel sunshine in the rain
To this day nobody moves
Nobody
Nobody moves me like You do
Blindside
When I remember
That boy is gone
Sometimes I miss the way he wept at night
To be still and not run
To be rocked to sleep in Your light
These days there is not much that will bring tears to my eyes
But when I remember who I am and who You are
When I remember
A cloud moves in, rain falls, thunder strikes, and sunshine breaks through the clouds
I am walking blind
So distracted that I dont even feel when You hold me
When did i grow such thick skin
You are my sunshine and rain
My joy and sweet pain
I'm a spotless stain
That boy is gone
But nobody moves me like You do
When I remember
A cloud moves in, rain falls, thunder strikes
And sunshine breaks through the clouds
I can cry out of sorrow and joy
Every drop of rain turns into a crystal in the sun
So wash my eyes, my clothes, my skin, my bones, my soul
My feet, my love
I'm not forgotten
I'm in Your thoughts cause I feel sunshine in the rain
To this day nobody moves
Nobody
Nobody moves me like You do
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
In His word I'll place my trust
"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless..." 2 Samuel 22:31
Reading is something that has never come natural to me. I have the ability to read well, but my mind is prone to wander to pretty outrageous places. So staying focused while reading is my problem. I can read through an entire page and then get to the end and realize I didn't remember a single thing from it. I enjoy reading now unlike earlier in my life, but it is still something that I struggle with.
The struggles are of course the same with the time I spend in God's Word. I've always had a difficult time motivating myself to daily get into the Bible, and when I do I still find my mind drifting off. It's frustrating but I can't let my "personality" be an excuse for a lack of quality time with God.
Recently there has been a shift in my attitude towards my devotions. I have yet to determine God's exact reasoning for it yet, but I'm excited to learn why. For some reason I feel pressed to make sure I am in the Word consistently right now. I think because of where I'm at in my life, I just really need to be entirely in tune with God's desires for me. I long to be a Godly man and a leader, more so than I ever have, and the Holy Spirit is reminding me it is through His words that I'll be taught. I've always had mentors who have spurred me on in this, but it is exciting to me because it is entirely from God this time.
I pray that this new found desire to want to hear from God through His word will not be fleeting and that I'll always find myself wanting to read and study. The past few days at work I've found myself just wanting to stop everything and read something, and that's exciting because that has never really been the case. I think God wants to take me to the next step in my relationship with Him, and I want to be ready for whatever that may entail.
Reading is something that has never come natural to me. I have the ability to read well, but my mind is prone to wander to pretty outrageous places. So staying focused while reading is my problem. I can read through an entire page and then get to the end and realize I didn't remember a single thing from it. I enjoy reading now unlike earlier in my life, but it is still something that I struggle with.
The struggles are of course the same with the time I spend in God's Word. I've always had a difficult time motivating myself to daily get into the Bible, and when I do I still find my mind drifting off. It's frustrating but I can't let my "personality" be an excuse for a lack of quality time with God.
Recently there has been a shift in my attitude towards my devotions. I have yet to determine God's exact reasoning for it yet, but I'm excited to learn why. For some reason I feel pressed to make sure I am in the Word consistently right now. I think because of where I'm at in my life, I just really need to be entirely in tune with God's desires for me. I long to be a Godly man and a leader, more so than I ever have, and the Holy Spirit is reminding me it is through His words that I'll be taught. I've always had mentors who have spurred me on in this, but it is exciting to me because it is entirely from God this time.
I pray that this new found desire to want to hear from God through His word will not be fleeting and that I'll always find myself wanting to read and study. The past few days at work I've found myself just wanting to stop everything and read something, and that's exciting because that has never really been the case. I think God wants to take me to the next step in my relationship with Him, and I want to be ready for whatever that may entail.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
A short oldie
"Love is the overflow of joy in God that meets the needs of others"
Without joy in my God, love as it was truly intended to be, will never be expressed in its fullness. There are many people in my life who deserve this perfect love and I will always fall short in giving it. Thankfully I have a God Who can and will love these people through me somehow. I don't understand how He does so, but I know it is a beautiful thing when I allow Him to.
Without joy in my God, love as it was truly intended to be, will never be expressed in its fullness. There are many people in my life who deserve this perfect love and I will always fall short in giving it. Thankfully I have a God Who can and will love these people through me somehow. I don't understand how He does so, but I know it is a beautiful thing when I allow Him to.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
The battle of work
The position I'm in at work essentially gives me no authority for much of anything. I'm considered a "temporary" employee and a lot of what I do, I actually shouldn't be doing according to district regulations. For example, all money handling needs to be done under the supervision of a "board approved" employee, of which there are none, and I shouldn't be counting the money from the events and depositing it.
My current boss continues to try to put more responsibilities on me and other employees think I am the one to go to, to make decisions. Part of me wants to just move everything up the chain of command past me. Not for the sake of being lazy, but just kind of saying "hey I still shouldn't be making these decisions, but if you'd like move me into a position that can, I'd be okay with that" Then the other part of me wants to take on all these responsibilities despite not being rewarded for doing so to be an example to everyone around. I have every right to do only a "temporary" employees duties, and nothing more, since anything is beyond my domain.
I may never be recognized for the work I put in here at the college, but as I stick it out and do get these new responsibilities and tasks put before me, I gain experience that I didn't have before. And God is teaching me to be diligent regardless of not being noticed for it, and I think that'll help me when I am in a job where there is the possibility of promotion and having this time to look back on will keep me motivated to glorify Him in my performance at work.
My current boss continues to try to put more responsibilities on me and other employees think I am the one to go to, to make decisions. Part of me wants to just move everything up the chain of command past me. Not for the sake of being lazy, but just kind of saying "hey I still shouldn't be making these decisions, but if you'd like move me into a position that can, I'd be okay with that" Then the other part of me wants to take on all these responsibilities despite not being rewarded for doing so to be an example to everyone around. I have every right to do only a "temporary" employees duties, and nothing more, since anything is beyond my domain.
I may never be recognized for the work I put in here at the college, but as I stick it out and do get these new responsibilities and tasks put before me, I gain experience that I didn't have before. And God is teaching me to be diligent regardless of not being noticed for it, and I think that'll help me when I am in a job where there is the possibility of promotion and having this time to look back on will keep me motivated to glorify Him in my performance at work.
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