You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September, 2008.
Light\ˈlīt\
1 a: something that makes vision possible b: the sensation aroused by stimulation of the visual receptors c: an electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range including infrared, visible, ultraviolet, and X rays and traveling in a vacuum with a speed of about 186,281 miles(300,000 kilometers) per second; specif : the part of this range that is visible to the human eye
“For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.” ~Psalm 18:28
“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” ~Psalm 27:1
“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” ~Matthew 5:14
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” ~John 8:12
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” ~2 Corinthians 4:6
“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” ~Ephesians 5:14
“This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.” ~1 John 1:5
I got up this morning with a kind of loneliness in my heart. So, I was lying in my bed mulling over all the wonderful things the LORD has given me: my family, my friends, my life. All these things HE has given to me, and I realized that He cares for me so much. Jehovah has given me these things because He loves me. That made me so happy, and the loneliness didn’t seem so strong anymore. I hopped out of bed and grabbed my Bible, a pen, and my journal. I felt a surge of creative energy and new found love within my fingers, and all I wanted to do was spend time with Him. So I crept outside into our living room and sat on our little couch and began to pray. The LORD is my friend and I so like to talk with Him. I can tell Him anything, ask Him anything, and He is always there to listen, no matter how much or how little I have to say. After that, I began to read His Word. Lately, I’ve been in the Pslams. When I got to the end of the first chapter I read, there was the verse right there, and it stuck out so much to my heart!
“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”
~Psalm 43:5
The three simple words that burned withing me were “hope in God”. Simple, quiet, and so encouraging. It was right then I realized that my hope is in Him. I had never thought of it very deeply, but my hope is in the Living God. My hope is in a living, breathing, life-giving God. The One who made all things, the One who is my salvation! Because my hope is in Him, I have no reason to doubt! He deserves all my praise and my heart could not help but sing of the most awesome God I serve. Here are some things I jotted down in my journal:
~Praise Him who has delivered a sinner from the depths
of hell! Praise Him who is only good and wraps His
lovingkindness around my soul. Praise the One who
delivers the oppressed! O praise Him for all the wonders
He has done. Give honour to Jehovah who is all, and in all,
and above all…..
This morning has been quite a beautiful one, and my love for the Saviour has only been made stronger. I woke up this morning with a longing, only to be filled with the quiet words of my God.
-alex
“As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.”
~Psalm17:15
“For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
~Jeremiah 29:11-13
These verse have become very dear to my heart. Jehovah gave them to me when I was going through a hard time. The thing I love about them most though, is the promise that is them. There is the promise that if we seek the LORD then we will find Him. We need to be doing it with all of our heart though. A few weeks ago, my daily reading had become really monotonous, and I felt like I was getting nothing out of it. So one morning, I picked up the Word of God with a new frame of mind: to seek the LORD out. Any verse that I come across that has anything to do with the LORD, I underline it. By doing this, my time with Him has become so sweet. I’m not just going through the motions, I’m really paying attention to what I’m reading now. I’d like to encourage you to read the Scriptures like you are searching for something. We should not go through the Bible just to get through it. If we do that, then we are sadly missing the whole point. The Bible is God’s love letter to us. Read it. Listen. Love.
-alex
Last time I worked in the soup kitchen, this man came in that had been brutally beaten. My mom asked him what had happened, and he told her that some young kids had jumped him. The man was walking on the bike path, and he ended walking away with 4 cracked ribs and lots of other injuries. The cruelty of men is getting worse. How are our hearts doing?
I spend time with the homeless, the drunken, the beat up, and the broken. In this place these people are family, and I am part of their family. So what am I outside of the kitchen? Am I a hypocrite and a judge? Do I see the people I feed and just ignore them? My friends, I want to encourage you to look past what these people look like, and what they smell like, and just listen to them. There is a cry for Jesus, we can’t ignore it. If we don’t imitate Him, then how are the people going to hear? This society looks down on the homeless. Don’t fall into this trap. We need to love like Jesus did. He “came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”*luke 5:32* In our own selfishness we forget those that we walk upon. They are hurting. Those dirty, grimy sinners are what Jesus wants. He wants a “broken and contrite heart”. He is a merciful God, and He wants to forgive sin. Let us be a merciful people and hear the cry of those in need.
-alex
Today we planted the garden. The little children enjoyed it very much. When they came in though, they were quite out of sorts. The reason was mother wanted them to remove their dirty clothes, and they just wouldn’t! It made mother very angry and that only made the children more upset. Finally, they were persuaded to take off their dirty attire. I began to think this is much like we are towards God. He tells us to remove all the “dirt” and we retort back saying we aren’t dirty at all. When really, in reality, we are completely filthy! God continues to tell us that we need to remove the dirt, but our own stubborn flesh persists to hold on. To be clean we need to repent. We need to admit that we were wrong, and ask forgiveness. The LORD is faithful to forgive those who ask. When we admit that we are dirty, the blood of the Lamb is what washes us clean. When we are clear of all the grime we can see, and understand more clearly than ever.
-alex
So, I sit here wondering why I am attempting to do this, but I feel as though I will completely break if I write nothing. For if we have nothing to say, we have nothing to write. If we have nothing to write then our lives are just a piece of broken glass, for the LORD has so blessed us with freedom of speech and a heart of passion.
Lately, the LORD has been teaching me quite a bit about waiting on Him, and depending upon Him and Him alone for all my provision. He has shown me that my faith is weak, and that without Him I can do nothing. We all know that right? So why do we try so hard to do it all ourselves? It’s like we are trying to kill ourselves, but then we lie and say we aren’t! We need to let go of all that we are so that Jesus can be all that He is in us. If we don’t, we fail. It’s as simple as that. In my weakness, He is made strong. The LORD has impressed upon my heart that I need to bring everything before Him before I take action. He has been teaching me that I need to get on my knees every single day and look to Him for my need. I can do nothing in myself, and I have finally been able to realize that. It’s my stubbornness that has kept me from turning it all over to Him. Friends, please don’t be stubborn. God really does want to talk to you. Nothing can amount to the love that He offers.
God has also been stirring my heart for my generation. All I see is apathy and really it breaks my heart. If we cannot get to know God at a young age, how can we know Him when we are grown older? I want to encourage whoever is reading this to truly seek the LORD, NOW. Do not wait till you are older, it is only wasting time. I wish I would have begun to serve God at a younger age. He has broken me completely, but I am no longer a slave to sin! I am free from the chains which once tore at my skin, from the darkness that filled my eyes. It is a awesome thing to know the Living God. There are those crying for freedom, just as I was, yet they still walk in darkness, because they have not known true Light. The young people, the ones who are most able bodied and zealous have fallen. They have fallen to the fearful though. I was contemplating this, and I think the church in America has completely missed the point of the Gospel. The Gospel that is true, and pure, and beautiful they have turned into a 5 min. deal where you can get saved by “saying this prayer”. Think of all the people who died for the Gospel. Who gave their lives to spread the name of Jesus. Those who spent countless hours in prison and torture just because of their faith. What are we doing to spread the fire? How long will we go on putting it out?
…..
-alex
I am going to be doing a series of posts today that I wrote a while back. Hope they provoke your mind and your soul. (o:
This world is full of diversity. There are all kinds of different people, with different stories, and different experiences in life. Thinking about all this has given me an idea. I am going to start writing about different people I’ve met in my life that have really impacted me. So, my first person is going to be a man named Carl…
Carl is a homeless drunk that I serve in the soup kitchen twice a month. Being a servant to Carl has taught me so much about loving those who are completely broken. I know his name, but no matter how many times I tell him mine, he just can’t remember it. Carl has no home, he sleeps by the creek. He comes into the kitchen wreaking of alcohol, and is quite a loud man. Despite all the circumstances though, Carl is still alive. He still is a living breathing person, and I think I know why. It’s because Jesus wants Carl. Carl doesn’t want Jesus though. Half the time he isn’t sober enough to hear the Gospel, but he still needs to hear it no matter what. Instead of looking down on Carl, people should be helping him. He is a person just like you and I, so why is it so hard for us to relate to what a mess he is in? Before we got saved, we were the same helpless wretches that need to be washed in the blood of Christ. Jesus is the only one who can set us free. Jesus is the only one who will be able to soften Carl’s stone cold heart. Pray for Carl. His eyes need to be opened, and his heart needs to be broken.
“Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.”
~Matthew 22:9
-alex
“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; and gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south. They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses. And he led them forth by the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. Such as sit in darkness and in the shawdo of death, being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the word of God, and contemned the counsel of the most High: Therefore he brought down their heart with lanour; they fell down, and there was none to help. Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat; and they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses. He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea in ships, that do buisness in great waters; these see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heavens, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men! Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. He turneth rivers into a wilderness, and the watersprings into dry ground; a fruitful land into barreness, for the wicked of them that dwell therein. He turnth the wilderness into standing water, and dry ground into watersprings. And there he maketh thehungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation; and sow the fields, and plant vineyards, which may yield fruits of increase. Again, they are minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow. He poureth contempt upon princes, and causeth them to wander in the wilderness, where there is no way. Yet setteth he the poor on high from affliction, and maketh him families like a flock. The righteous shall see it, and rejoice: and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD.”
~Psalm 107
