when we persevere we are guaranteed wild success. Perseverance= to believe in and seek god and his way for me over the long haul. Luke 8:15. James 1:2-4. Romans 5:3
(Steve Shoff)
Friday, June 12, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
5. Solomon was a PIMP
700 wives and 300 concubines (messing around without being married) but according to 1 Kings 11, the numbers weren't what made God mad, but it was the fact that they were from other places that worshiped other God's. Just as God warned Solomon, the ladies did turn his heart away from the Lord.
Recently I've also learned that it can be hard to keep up with this blog thing.
Something I've realized I really really need to work on though is my faith. Its easy to have faith, but hard to have NO doubt. Something I've been really struggling with lately is praying for stuff and having ZERO doubt in the back of my head that God will follow through. A scripture I wish I could easily live out is James 1:
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
It's so clear and seems like a no-brainer but at the same time it's so hard to just do. No matter how many times I tell myself just have faith, I don't know if it works. But that's just Satan trying to ruin me. God, please help me out on this one I really need your help.
Recently I've also learned that it can be hard to keep up with this blog thing.
Something I've realized I really really need to work on though is my faith. Its easy to have faith, but hard to have NO doubt. Something I've been really struggling with lately is praying for stuff and having ZERO doubt in the back of my head that God will follow through. A scripture I wish I could easily live out is James 1:
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
It's so clear and seems like a no-brainer but at the same time it's so hard to just do. No matter how many times I tell myself just have faith, I don't know if it works. But that's just Satan trying to ruin me. God, please help me out on this one I really need your help.
Monday, June 1, 2009
4. 24 hours with Sam
It started with us meeting at my house yesterday to carpool to the Carillo's around 5:30. They had the campus/teens over for dinner (bomb burgers) and a movie (i am legend). It was an amazing night all around, but the highlight was definitely towards the end when we all went to this park and sang praises to God in this gazebo thing with great acoustics. We were jammin, and I truly believe God was proud. We also saw a couple coyotes, and Naila couldn't stop laughing in the car.
After we finished taking out the trash and getting our last few minutes in down South, we decided Sam should spend the night at my place so we could have a QT and surf with Pete in the morning. The only bad part was he had to take the car home so his fam. could use it, so I drove up there and gave him a ride back down. But driving is not always a bad thing, especially when you get in some super deep talks. Got home and shared some poetry with him and then finally went to bed around 1:30.
I woke up at 5:30 that morning, couldn't fall back asleep so finally got up at 6We were supposed to meet Pete at 7, and he showed at the beach but I gotta be honest I wasnt expecting him to get there on time so I let Sam sleep in a little. Pete called to let us know the waves were terrible. Normally when the waves are terrible I get pretty depressed, but today wasn't quite that way. Pete came over once he found out how bad the surf was. we all had a bomb breakfast and then had a QT at my spot on Soledad. This was one of the best QT's in awhile, mainly because we all inspired one another on, got deep, and analyzed the beginning of David's life.
After the QT Sam and I went back to my house and just chilled for most of the morning--best out of 7 ping pong (he won 4-1, but I got him back at pool). We actually ended up watching a little tennis (thinking of Daniel the entire time), and then he showed me Quizlet and I tried memorizing the US capitals. We ended up chillen with Russ at his old ranch for quite awhile, which was really cool. And then I took him home at about 5:30
Today I feel like I learned a lot of things. But most importantly I think I learned that getting vulnerable with someone is a great way to grow in your relationship. Spending a great amount of time with that person helps too. We learned that we need to stop overanalyzing life, trust God more, and stop trying to predict the outcome of our life before we live it. We can't observe our own lives, see some pattern, and just assume that's the way it will always be. If we want change, we must take initiative, really seeking that change through God, and not making claims from past experiences.
In addition, we decided that we WILL NOT ever be fake Christians. We will become absolutely solid in our beliefs, but always remember that we will never know everything, and need constant progression in our wisdom. Were gonna start be starting up this thing that Sam's campus ministry did back in the day--were hoping it will transform us into firm leaders, with a constant service to the ministry--even though we may not necessarily get paid to do it. Talk to Russ about that!!
After we finished taking out the trash and getting our last few minutes in down South, we decided Sam should spend the night at my place so we could have a QT and surf with Pete in the morning. The only bad part was he had to take the car home so his fam. could use it, so I drove up there and gave him a ride back down. But driving is not always a bad thing, especially when you get in some super deep talks. Got home and shared some poetry with him and then finally went to bed around 1:30.
I woke up at 5:30 that morning, couldn't fall back asleep so finally got up at 6We were supposed to meet Pete at 7, and he showed at the beach but I gotta be honest I wasnt expecting him to get there on time so I let Sam sleep in a little. Pete called to let us know the waves were terrible. Normally when the waves are terrible I get pretty depressed, but today wasn't quite that way. Pete came over once he found out how bad the surf was. we all had a bomb breakfast and then had a QT at my spot on Soledad. This was one of the best QT's in awhile, mainly because we all inspired one another on, got deep, and analyzed the beginning of David's life.
After the QT Sam and I went back to my house and just chilled for most of the morning--best out of 7 ping pong (he won 4-1, but I got him back at pool). We actually ended up watching a little tennis (thinking of Daniel the entire time), and then he showed me Quizlet and I tried memorizing the US capitals. We ended up chillen with Russ at his old ranch for quite awhile, which was really cool. And then I took him home at about 5:30
Today I feel like I learned a lot of things. But most importantly I think I learned that getting vulnerable with someone is a great way to grow in your relationship. Spending a great amount of time with that person helps too. We learned that we need to stop overanalyzing life, trust God more, and stop trying to predict the outcome of our life before we live it. We can't observe our own lives, see some pattern, and just assume that's the way it will always be. If we want change, we must take initiative, really seeking that change through God, and not making claims from past experiences.
In addition, we decided that we WILL NOT ever be fake Christians. We will become absolutely solid in our beliefs, but always remember that we will never know everything, and need constant progression in our wisdom. Were gonna start be starting up this thing that Sam's campus ministry did back in the day--were hoping it will transform us into firm leaders, with a constant service to the ministry--even though we may not necessarily get paid to do it. Talk to Russ about that!!
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