Posts Tagged ‘grace’

hearing and doing

matthew 7:24-27 – “everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. and everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” over the month of january i read the sermon on the mount every day. it was a great discipline for me, and i learned many things about the gospel. one thing that continually stuck out to me was the way… [Read More]

Mountains to molehills

if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ~1 Corinthians 13:2 A while back God really pressed upon my heart to pray for someone. I was in a broken place, a place where God’s voice and direction could not have been any clearer. And so I prayed. I prayed ferverently, both day and night, when I woke, when I went to bed, any moment I thought about this person, I prayed. Sometimes it was just a quick thought other times it was a long conversation but I have never prayed that hard in my entire life. For 6 weeks this went on, day after day. And then one day I was given some information that forced me to a decision. You see, Satan whispers in our ears, and sometimes those words come out in our conversations with others. I should have seen… [Read More]

We make it far to easy

Now they sin more and more; ~Hosea 13:2 Over the past couple of weeks I have been working in Boston for a company near the Garden. While I do feel blessed to have a job in this economy, I also hate getting up that early to do something I don’t feel benefits the kingdom of God in any respect. Early Thursday morning, after rolling out of bed at 5am I began my trek to the train station in the center of town. There was a fresh coat of snow on the ground and it continued to fall from the sky. I threw on my jacket and pulled my hat down over my head. As is generally the case when I’m alone with my thoughts, I had an epiphany. About halfway to the train station I realized I had been following earlier footsteps in the snow. Some were freshly stomped, as… [Read More]

legislate this

John 8:2-11 (esv) - ”Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard… [Read More]

Let the horse do the work

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.. ~Matt 11:28   “I want you to take your hands off the reigns and trot over the bars without holding on.” The instructor said. “You want me to do what?” I looked down at her perplexed from atop a beautiful, large horse. I hadn’t ridden on a horse in over 20 years and I had only been on this one for about 15 minutes. “You’re leaning forward with your shoulders, using your own power to keep you up.” She replied. “You need to sit back more and allow the horse to do the work.” I’m a sports guy, I’ve played them my entire life. The instructor went on to explain that in sports you are trained to lead with your shoulder and in horseback riding it’s the complete opposite. There’s this large, powerful horse… [Read More]

Get off your butt

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. ~2 Corinthians 12:9 Any one who’s ever been in a relationship long enough or who is married has seen this scenario. You both are exhausted, you can barely keep your eyes open. Maybe you’re lounging on the couch or falling asleep in bed. And then men, you hear “Honey, could you get me a glass of water?” Perhaps if your relationship is young you jump up and grab that glass of water or whatever she asked for. But the day comes later on when you’ve been together so long that the voice in your head wants to tell her “Your legs aren’t broken, I’m tired.” See, the Bible tells us to die to self(1 Peter 2:24) but inevitable our selfish nature creeps back in. When we started out as new Christians with our baby relationship we… [Read More]

I met someone

I will lead the blind along ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. – Isaiah 42:16 Coming back from lunch, I parked in my familiar spot and reclined my chair. David Crowder was playing through my ipod as I day dreamed for the last 20 minutes of lunch. I like to zone out during lunch, take my mind off of things and just relax. I stare at a computer screen for 8hrs a day so breathing in some fresh air and closing my eyes does wonders to break up the day. Moments later I caught a silhouette in my side mirror, followed it through my rear view mirror, and then suddenly through the passenger side mirror… She was walking up to my door! She caught me off guard, with a… [Read More]

We’re all searching

For in the image of God has God made man. – Genesis 9:6 Our DNA is hard coded to worship Jesus. For any of us who follow Christ daily this fact is undeniable. When we worship it stirs up emotions we don’t feel at any other time. At points it drives us to tears of repentance, sometimes tears of joy, and other times tears of shear awe. For those who don’t serve this God, who have doubt, who have questions, this seems perplexing. How can worshiping something no one can see help me? How can it possible change my life? How do I know it’s even real? John 16:13 says “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth.” When Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended to heaven God sent His Spirit as our guide.(John 16:5-11) In worshiping God and surrendering your… [Read More]

It smells so good!

Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. -Romans 6:11 A couple of months ago I was walking to my car after work and recognized an unmistakable smell; The smell of autumn. It was 45-50 degrees, the sun was beginning to set, and it just smelled like fall. I love that smell for some reason. Maybe it’s memories, maybe it’s the changing landscape but something about that smell seems calming. I started thinking about what the smell actually was and it dawned on me that it was leaves. And I started thinking about why leaves die and regrow, why they change color, and why do they smell so good in the fall. God gives us a perfect example of His word in a real world visual. See, leaves bud, the sun gives them light and they grow. They mature and turn in to a vibrant color… [Read More]

Don’t play house

Therefore what God has joined together, let man not seperate. – Matthew 19:6 I feel I must get on my soap box after having a conversation a couple of days ago with several non-believers. Two are around my age, one around my dad’s age. It troubled me to the point I needed a few days to grapple with what it really means. Recalling how the conversation actually started is difficult, and probably irrelevant, but we all somehow managed to get on the conversation of marriage. One spoke up and said he and his wife moved in together and then got married so marriage wasn’t a “big decision” for them. Another chimed in and confirmed, saying her and her husband even bought a house together before getting married. The older of the 3, in partial disbelief, said “what is the world coming to?”. And proclaimed that it was much different in… [Read More]