Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord, I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me
Lead me to the cross
How on fire are you for God?
God Bless,
Taylor
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
God's Love
I am about to start a small group study of the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. The first chapter is all about how big God is and how big His love for us is. It is amazing to think that the same God who created the universe also created the earthworm and EVERYTHING in between. He is the same God who loves each and every one of us SO MUCH that He sent His son to die on the cross for us.
~Matthew 10:27-33 (NIV) - What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be aftraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
God loves us so much that He knows how many hairs are on our heads. He takes notice of the tiny, insignificant things in our lives. Why, then, do we doubt that He cares about us when hard times come? Why do we forget that He never leaves us? He never loses track of us. He knows exactly what we're going through, and it's up to us to remember to look to Him for the guidance to get through whatever situation we're in.
~Proverbs 15:3 (NIV) - The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
God knows where you are right now. He knows exactly what you need in your life. Can you trust Him enough to ask him for guidance and then follow His words to you?
~Psalm 46:10-11 (KJV) - Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
God will never leave you, never forsake you. All we have to do is place our trust and our faith in Him.
God Bless,
Taylor
~Matthew 10:27-33 (NIV) - What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be aftraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.
God loves us so much that He knows how many hairs are on our heads. He takes notice of the tiny, insignificant things in our lives. Why, then, do we doubt that He cares about us when hard times come? Why do we forget that He never leaves us? He never loses track of us. He knows exactly what we're going through, and it's up to us to remember to look to Him for the guidance to get through whatever situation we're in.
~Proverbs 15:3 (NIV) - The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good.
God knows where you are right now. He knows exactly what you need in your life. Can you trust Him enough to ask him for guidance and then follow His words to you?
~Psalm 46:10-11 (KJV) - Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.
God will never leave you, never forsake you. All we have to do is place our trust and our faith in Him.
God Bless,
Taylor
Monday, September 13, 2010
Creationism v. Evolution
1 Peter 3:15 - But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear
This was the message delivered at BCM tonight. We had a guest speaker, Mr. Robert Carter, who talked about basic Biblical truths that support creationism over evolution. My notes are in bullet format, so that's what I'm going to do here. I will try to elaborate on everything as much as I can.
~Scientists tell us that the world is billions of years old. They use the layers of rock (1 layer = 1 year theory) to trick people into believing that the world is much older than it is. This way they can explain evolution as a slow and gradual process and they can leave out God and His miracle creation of our planet.
~John 3:12 - If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
~If we can't believe what God tells us about creating the earth, how can we grasp concepts like the Trinity and his plan of salvation for us?
~According to Biblical scientists, the world is approximately 6000 years old. Not billions of years.
~6 C's have happened since the beginning of time --> Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, and Cross. The last C has yet to happen --> Consummation
~Genesis gives us explanations for a lot of historical happenings.
~Romans 5:12 - Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Death through Adam, Life through Christ)
~Death and suffering are punishments for SIN. There is a reason for them.
~Genesis 2:15-17 - And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
~Non-creationists will try to use this against Christians. They'll say, "God told Adam that if he ate off that tree that he'd die. But God didn't kill him right when he ate the fruit, so therefore God must have been lying." But God didn't say that Adam would die immediately. Rather, after Adam ate the fruit, and introduced sin into the world, God was forced to introduce death to the world. We believe that before the sin, there was no death. There was no reason for death. God had created this world and called it "very good."
~1 Corinthian 15:26 - The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
~The spirit is eternal and everlasting, but the body is finite and will pass away.
~Genesis 3:17 - And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life
~Romans 8:22 (NIV) - We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
~God plainly tells us that humankind suffers and dies because of Adam and his sin.
~Revelation 21:4 - And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
~Revelation gives us hope that one day, after Christ returns, there will be no more death, pain, or suffering. Isn't that an amazing promise? Can you even imagine what your life would be like without those things?
~Out of the people that call themselves Christians, 70% will stop claiming Christianity by the time they graduate from college. Much of this is attributable to the teachings of evolution in science classes.
~There are 2 kinds of science: Operational (experimental) and Historical
~Operational Science is observable, testable, repeatable, and doable in the present day. (Keep in mind that most branches of science were originally founded by Bible believing Christians)
~Historical Science - no observers, not repeatable, only found in the past.
~Something that you might be taught goes like this --> "Here is a dinosaur bone. It is hard, physical evidence that something lived here. I interpret that it is 70,000,000 years old. This interpretation is completely based on assumption and plausible information that has been taught. (Remember, there are no age tags on dinosaur bones and fossils)
~Genesis 1:31 - And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
~God created the entire universe in six days. He did not slowly and gradually create.
~Genesis 6:11-13 - The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked up on the earth, and behold, it is corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
~God saw that the earth was filled with corruption and sin and therefore told Noah that He was going to destroy it with a great flood.
~Genesis 7:11-12;21-22 - In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
~God describes, with great detail, the events of the great flood throughout Genesis chapters 7, 8, and 9. This writing is historical and true because God cannot lie. He gives us a lot of description about what happened, just like you would find in a history textbook.
~Remember, Noah's flood destroyed the earth. It was not a gentle rain. It was tumultuous and crashing.
~Noah was in the ark. It was a huge (about 140 meters long) and extremely stable structure. It did not look like the modern day, story book description. He was saved because he listened to God's instructions.
~But how does this fit in with our earth's history?
~"Polystrate fossils are formed by rapid sedimentation. These fossils are of structures and creatures in their upright positions. If the fossils were formed over hundreds of years, the structures and animals would have fallen over in death, but since they are found upright and standing, it is correct to believe that they were buried rapidly. Likely, there were buried in mud. Mud that was the product of a fantastic amount of rain.
~See where we're going with this?
~Scientists have found fossilized trees that were upright. Trees that had no branches or limbs. It is believe that these trees were ripped out of the ground and thrown about before being buried quickly (upright because the base of the trunk is the heaviest) in mud.
~Psalm 104:7-9 (NIV) - But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.
~This is a description of erosion. Massive amounts of erosion. Enough erosion and sedimentation to cause enough mud to rapidly bury things. It is scientific fact that there are miles of sediment at the bottom of oceans and gulfs. Much of that was probably washed down there as the flood waters receded andland began to dry out again.
~Evolutionary scientists try to tell us that millions of rock layers have built up over millions of years. It is obvious, however, that erosion is eating away these rocks. So we can correctly conclude that something besides natural and common erosion caused all these rocks to form. Something else had to happen to form these rock structures.
~A good operational science example of the forming of large rock masses is the 1980 eruption of Mt. Saint Helen. Within 2 years giant rock structures were formed from the falling and settling of volcanic rock and ash. This did not happen over millions of years. It happened in 2.
~There is an attraction here called "The Little Grand Canyon of Georgia." It was formed by water erosion. Can you imagine what kind of landscape changes the flood made?
~Still having a hard time wrapping your head around this? Okay. Let's look at how fossils are made. Fossils only form under special conditions. In order for a complete fossil to be formed, the thing being fossilized must be buried rapidly.
~Many fossilized animals are found in a position where their head is back and their chests are bowed forward. This is the classic suffocation pose. These animals were buried in mud very rapidly and suffocated to death in a lot of cases.
~ There are even fossils of octopi and jellyfish (soft animals). It is also interesting to see that the fossilized octopi and jellyfish are exactly the same or startlingly similar to today's octopi and jellyfish. There is no evidence of evolution in the fossil record.
~What about "cave men?"
~If you look at the picture of a "cave man," you will find that his skeleton will look A LOT like a human skeleton. Many times, cave men are positioned with their knees bent and their shoulders hunched to make them look more like monkeys, but you can't walk or function in a position like that and neither could they. Cave men were completely human. They were a bit taller and larger than average humans today, but they were more conditioned to live in their time period. They needed to be strong and fast to survive. There is no evidence that "cave men" were not fully human. They weren't primitive beings. They were just early.
~Neanderthals are human and are related to people living in Eurasia. They are Eurasian ancestors, and therefore most of our ancestors as well. Reconstructions have been done on neanderthal skulls and with the DNA processing that we have now, it has been found that some neanderthals had green eyes and even freckles.
~So why are there different races in humans today?
~The answer is simply genetics. We all came from Adam and Eve. They are the parents of the earth. Farther down the line, we all stemmed from Noah, since everyone was killed except for him, his wife, and his children. If you'll notice, every human being is a shade of brown. We don't come in red or purple or blue. Different shades of brown are very easy to explain with simple genetics.
~Let's assume Adam and Eve had skin color genes of AaBb (the lower case letters being code for lighter skin and the upper case letters being code for darker skin). If they had 4 children, they could have looked like this --> #1) aabb (very light skin), #2) aaBb (medium light skin), #3) AaBb (medium dark skin), #4) AABB (very dark skin).
~Even though these 4 children had the same parents, they all had different skin colors. Therefore we can conclude that even though humans can look radically different, there is only one true race, since we all stemmed from a common ancestor. Also, it is important to note that according to Bible scholars, Noah was only about 150 generations ago. All the different skin colors branched out from him and his family.
~Need more proof? Check this out. http://creation.com/two-tone-twins
~I think that it's pretty obvious that we don't need to make up billions of years to explain the earth's history.
I hope that this has opened your eyes to an alternative perspective to the evolution that it taught in a lot of school settings, or maybe that it has reinforced what you already believe. If there is anything that is unclear, or that you would like more of an explanation on, please don't hesitate to comment. =)
God Bless,
Taylor
This was the message delivered at BCM tonight. We had a guest speaker, Mr. Robert Carter, who talked about basic Biblical truths that support creationism over evolution. My notes are in bullet format, so that's what I'm going to do here. I will try to elaborate on everything as much as I can.
~Scientists tell us that the world is billions of years old. They use the layers of rock (1 layer = 1 year theory) to trick people into believing that the world is much older than it is. This way they can explain evolution as a slow and gradual process and they can leave out God and His miracle creation of our planet.
~John 3:12 - If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?
~If we can't believe what God tells us about creating the earth, how can we grasp concepts like the Trinity and his plan of salvation for us?
~According to Biblical scientists, the world is approximately 6000 years old. Not billions of years.
~6 C's have happened since the beginning of time --> Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, and Cross. The last C has yet to happen --> Consummation
~Genesis gives us explanations for a lot of historical happenings.
~Romans 5:12 - Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned (Death through Adam, Life through Christ)
~Death and suffering are punishments for SIN. There is a reason for them.
~Genesis 2:15-17 - And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
~Non-creationists will try to use this against Christians. They'll say, "God told Adam that if he ate off that tree that he'd die. But God didn't kill him right when he ate the fruit, so therefore God must have been lying." But God didn't say that Adam would die immediately. Rather, after Adam ate the fruit, and introduced sin into the world, God was forced to introduce death to the world. We believe that before the sin, there was no death. There was no reason for death. God had created this world and called it "very good."
~1 Corinthian 15:26 - The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
~The spirit is eternal and everlasting, but the body is finite and will pass away.
~Genesis 3:17 - And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life
~Romans 8:22 (NIV) - We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
~God plainly tells us that humankind suffers and dies because of Adam and his sin.
~Revelation 21:4 - And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
~Revelation gives us hope that one day, after Christ returns, there will be no more death, pain, or suffering. Isn't that an amazing promise? Can you even imagine what your life would be like without those things?
~Out of the people that call themselves Christians, 70% will stop claiming Christianity by the time they graduate from college. Much of this is attributable to the teachings of evolution in science classes.
~There are 2 kinds of science: Operational (experimental) and Historical
~Operational Science is observable, testable, repeatable, and doable in the present day. (Keep in mind that most branches of science were originally founded by Bible believing Christians)
~Historical Science - no observers, not repeatable, only found in the past.
~Something that you might be taught goes like this --> "Here is a dinosaur bone. It is hard, physical evidence that something lived here. I interpret that it is 70,000,000 years old. This interpretation is completely based on assumption and plausible information that has been taught. (Remember, there are no age tags on dinosaur bones and fossils)
~Genesis 1:31 - And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
~God created the entire universe in six days. He did not slowly and gradually create.
~Genesis 6:11-13 - The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked up on the earth, and behold, it is corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
~God saw that the earth was filled with corruption and sin and therefore told Noah that He was going to destroy it with a great flood.
~Genesis 7:11-12;21-22 - In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died.
~God describes, with great detail, the events of the great flood throughout Genesis chapters 7, 8, and 9. This writing is historical and true because God cannot lie. He gives us a lot of description about what happened, just like you would find in a history textbook.
~Remember, Noah's flood destroyed the earth. It was not a gentle rain. It was tumultuous and crashing.
~Noah was in the ark. It was a huge (about 140 meters long) and extremely stable structure. It did not look like the modern day, story book description. He was saved because he listened to God's instructions.
~But how does this fit in with our earth's history?
~"Polystrate fossils are formed by rapid sedimentation. These fossils are of structures and creatures in their upright positions. If the fossils were formed over hundreds of years, the structures and animals would have fallen over in death, but since they are found upright and standing, it is correct to believe that they were buried rapidly. Likely, there were buried in mud. Mud that was the product of a fantastic amount of rain.
~See where we're going with this?
~Scientists have found fossilized trees that were upright. Trees that had no branches or limbs. It is believe that these trees were ripped out of the ground and thrown about before being buried quickly (upright because the base of the trunk is the heaviest) in mud.
~Psalm 104:7-9 (NIV) - But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them. You set a boundary they cannot cross; never again will they cover the earth.
~This is a description of erosion. Massive amounts of erosion. Enough erosion and sedimentation to cause enough mud to rapidly bury things. It is scientific fact that there are miles of sediment at the bottom of oceans and gulfs. Much of that was probably washed down there as the flood waters receded andland began to dry out again.
~Evolutionary scientists try to tell us that millions of rock layers have built up over millions of years. It is obvious, however, that erosion is eating away these rocks. So we can correctly conclude that something besides natural and common erosion caused all these rocks to form. Something else had to happen to form these rock structures.
~A good operational science example of the forming of large rock masses is the 1980 eruption of Mt. Saint Helen. Within 2 years giant rock structures were formed from the falling and settling of volcanic rock and ash. This did not happen over millions of years. It happened in 2.
~There is an attraction here called "The Little Grand Canyon of Georgia." It was formed by water erosion. Can you imagine what kind of landscape changes the flood made?
~Still having a hard time wrapping your head around this? Okay. Let's look at how fossils are made. Fossils only form under special conditions. In order for a complete fossil to be formed, the thing being fossilized must be buried rapidly.
~Many fossilized animals are found in a position where their head is back and their chests are bowed forward. This is the classic suffocation pose. These animals were buried in mud very rapidly and suffocated to death in a lot of cases.
~ There are even fossils of octopi and jellyfish (soft animals). It is also interesting to see that the fossilized octopi and jellyfish are exactly the same or startlingly similar to today's octopi and jellyfish. There is no evidence of evolution in the fossil record.
~What about "cave men?"
~If you look at the picture of a "cave man," you will find that his skeleton will look A LOT like a human skeleton. Many times, cave men are positioned with their knees bent and their shoulders hunched to make them look more like monkeys, but you can't walk or function in a position like that and neither could they. Cave men were completely human. They were a bit taller and larger than average humans today, but they were more conditioned to live in their time period. They needed to be strong and fast to survive. There is no evidence that "cave men" were not fully human. They weren't primitive beings. They were just early.
~Neanderthals are human and are related to people living in Eurasia. They are Eurasian ancestors, and therefore most of our ancestors as well. Reconstructions have been done on neanderthal skulls and with the DNA processing that we have now, it has been found that some neanderthals had green eyes and even freckles.
~So why are there different races in humans today?
~The answer is simply genetics. We all came from Adam and Eve. They are the parents of the earth. Farther down the line, we all stemmed from Noah, since everyone was killed except for him, his wife, and his children. If you'll notice, every human being is a shade of brown. We don't come in red or purple or blue. Different shades of brown are very easy to explain with simple genetics.
~Let's assume Adam and Eve had skin color genes of AaBb (the lower case letters being code for lighter skin and the upper case letters being code for darker skin). If they had 4 children, they could have looked like this --> #1) aabb (very light skin), #2) aaBb (medium light skin), #3) AaBb (medium dark skin), #4) AABB (very dark skin).
~Even though these 4 children had the same parents, they all had different skin colors. Therefore we can conclude that even though humans can look radically different, there is only one true race, since we all stemmed from a common ancestor. Also, it is important to note that according to Bible scholars, Noah was only about 150 generations ago. All the different skin colors branched out from him and his family.
~Need more proof? Check this out. http://creation.com/two-tone-twins
~I think that it's pretty obvious that we don't need to make up billions of years to explain the earth's history.
I hope that this has opened your eyes to an alternative perspective to the evolution that it taught in a lot of school settings, or maybe that it has reinforced what you already believe. If there is anything that is unclear, or that you would like more of an explanation on, please don't hesitate to comment. =)
God Bless,
Taylor
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Beauty
Have you ever taken a moment to step outside and just look at the world? Taken a moment to just stop and stare at God's masterpiece? Sometimes when we get too caught up in life, we forget all the beauty around us. I mean... I could lay down in God's green grass and stare up as His magnificent clouds all day, and as day turned to night I could look up at the stars that God has placed in the sky one by one. As I was outside today, walking and looking at the clouds, trees, flowers, everything, I was reminded of the verse in Matthew that talks about how God provides for the birds and how He provides so much more for us as His children.
Matthew 6:25 - Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; not yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
God says it all, right there. We, as Gentiles, worry about ALL of these things. I know that there are a lot of times that I, personally, worry about too many things. I worry about money. I worry about school. I worry about life in general. But I know that I have no reason to worry about anything. I'm God's child and He cares about me more than I could ever imagine! I know deep down that He will supply all my needs and that He will never face me with a challenge that He won't equip me for. I just have to constantly be seeking His guidance and wisdom.
So this is my challenge for you: When you get discouraged or worried about this life, try to remember that God has a plan for you, and that everything happens for a reason. Our purpose in life is to further God's kingdom, and He knows exactly what we need to do for Him. There is always a plan, even if we don't know what it is.
God Bless,
Taylor
Matthew 6:25 - Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; not yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
God says it all, right there. We, as Gentiles, worry about ALL of these things. I know that there are a lot of times that I, personally, worry about too many things. I worry about money. I worry about school. I worry about life in general. But I know that I have no reason to worry about anything. I'm God's child and He cares about me more than I could ever imagine! I know deep down that He will supply all my needs and that He will never face me with a challenge that He won't equip me for. I just have to constantly be seeking His guidance and wisdom.
So this is my challenge for you: When you get discouraged or worried about this life, try to remember that God has a plan for you, and that everything happens for a reason. Our purpose in life is to further God's kingdom, and He knows exactly what we need to do for Him. There is always a plan, even if we don't know what it is.
God Bless,
Taylor
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Lose Your Soul?
And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. ~Matthew 8:34-38
If you had to give something in order to save your soul, what would you give? What could we Possibly give that would be good enough? What exists that would be good enough? We have nothing that we could give God that would be good enough to save ourselves. That's why He had to send His own son to save us. So why on earth would we want to fill our lives with the things of this world? Why would we choose to gorge ourselves with things that are meaningless to God? Being rich in this life will get you nowhere when it comes to Heaven. Having fancy cars, houses, expensive food and clothing... What does any of that mean to God? All He wants is us. He wants all of us. All that He asks is that we dedicate our lives to Him. Does He deserve any less? After He gave up His son to walk on this earth and feel our pain. After He sent His son to DIE for us so that we have a door to Heaven. We do live in an adulterous and sinful generation. Increasingly so. And it is up to us as Christians to hold onto our faith. It's up to us to cling to God and His promises and to spread them as far as He would have us to.
These verses always remind me of the Casting Crowns song "American Dream." It's a good song. You should check it out. =)
God Bless,
Taylor
If you had to give something in order to save your soul, what would you give? What could we Possibly give that would be good enough? What exists that would be good enough? We have nothing that we could give God that would be good enough to save ourselves. That's why He had to send His own son to save us. So why on earth would we want to fill our lives with the things of this world? Why would we choose to gorge ourselves with things that are meaningless to God? Being rich in this life will get you nowhere when it comes to Heaven. Having fancy cars, houses, expensive food and clothing... What does any of that mean to God? All He wants is us. He wants all of us. All that He asks is that we dedicate our lives to Him. Does He deserve any less? After He gave up His son to walk on this earth and feel our pain. After He sent His son to DIE for us so that we have a door to Heaven. We do live in an adulterous and sinful generation. Increasingly so. And it is up to us as Christians to hold onto our faith. It's up to us to cling to God and His promises and to spread them as far as He would have us to.
These verses always remind me of the Casting Crowns song "American Dream." It's a good song. You should check it out. =)
God Bless,
Taylor
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Straight and Narrow
So... I have been severly lacking in the blog department. Summer and its complete lack of a steady schedule have definitely thrown me off the band wagon. If I've learned anything from the time I last wrote a blog until now, it's that humans are fickle and weak. We can easily be derailed and redirected. However, I guess that makes a lot of sense in regard to the fact that Jesus tells us, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." ~Matthew 7:13-14
Anyone can do the things that she wants to, but it takes a strong and dedicated person to do the will of the Lord. I think of all the great things that I have, all the things God has given me, and I wonder where I would be without Him. It doesn't take much thought to see that I would be in a much different, much worse, place without His hand at work in my life. Because of this, I get angry with myself for being so fickle. I get angry for not putting God first in my life each and every day. I know that as a human being I make, and will continue to make, mistakes. I wish that there was a way that I could be perfect for God, but I know that wish won't become a reality until I'm with Him face to face. So until then, I will continue to walk, stumble, fall, get back up, and walk for Him again. I need to become better at laying down my own life daily and picking up the cross. God never said this life would be easy, but it will be worth it when I get to spend forever with Him in eternity. I know that God will never bring me to something that He won't take me through. I just have to remember that He is in control of my life. I have to remember that I have been bought with a price, and that I am no longer my own.
God Bless,
Taylor
Anyone can do the things that she wants to, but it takes a strong and dedicated person to do the will of the Lord. I think of all the great things that I have, all the things God has given me, and I wonder where I would be without Him. It doesn't take much thought to see that I would be in a much different, much worse, place without His hand at work in my life. Because of this, I get angry with myself for being so fickle. I get angry for not putting God first in my life each and every day. I know that as a human being I make, and will continue to make, mistakes. I wish that there was a way that I could be perfect for God, but I know that wish won't become a reality until I'm with Him face to face. So until then, I will continue to walk, stumble, fall, get back up, and walk for Him again. I need to become better at laying down my own life daily and picking up the cross. God never said this life would be easy, but it will be worth it when I get to spend forever with Him in eternity. I know that God will never bring me to something that He won't take me through. I just have to remember that He is in control of my life. I have to remember that I have been bought with a price, and that I am no longer my own.
God Bless,
Taylor
Friday, May 14, 2010
What Right Do We Have...
I was thinking today about God and about the relationship we're supposed to have with Him. More specifically, I was thinking about how, as Christians, we sometimes get the idea in our heads that God is only with us or for us when He makes everything work out just like we had it planned out in our heads. And how sometimes we get angry, or at least get close to getting angry, with God at times when He shows us something that we want to do and can't, or that we don't want to do and have to do. But what gives us the right to be mad at God just because something doesn't work out exactly how WE would like it to? And, the flip side to that is, what gives us the right to ONLY be happy when God puts us into situations that we want to be in? He's GOD. He knows what is best for us. And we should be happy no matter what situation He puts us in, as long as it is truly Him who is putting us there. We have no right to complain when we don't get things just the way we wanted them, and we have no right to not be happy in any situation that God puts us in. We should praise and thank Him regardless of what our current situation is. If we are in the place that God wants us to be in, He put us there for a reason, and that is indeed where we are supposed to be. Nothing will ever work out exactly as we plan it, because we're not God. We can't see all the variables, all the outcomes, all the things that could happen if things worked out the way WE wanted them to. But God CAN see EVERYTHING! He knows exactly where we should be, what we should be doing, and when we should be doing it. There is nothing that He doesn't know. And as His children, He wants the best for each and every one of us. There is no doubting that. So while we may not always particularly like the situations we are in, we should be praising God because He is the one that put us there, and He has a reason for doing so. We should praise Him all the time: when things work out the way we would have liked them to, and when they don't work out as we planned.
Job 42:2 - "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted."
Psalm 21:30 - There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.
If there's anything that I would want us to keep in mind, it's that our plans are nothing compared to God's plans. He knows what is best for you and for me. And on top of that, He knows exactly what needs to happen in us, for us, with us, in order for us to get to where He would have us to be.
God Bless,
Taylor
Job 42:2 - "I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted."
Psalm 21:30 - There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord.
If there's anything that I would want us to keep in mind, it's that our plans are nothing compared to God's plans. He knows what is best for you and for me. And on top of that, He knows exactly what needs to happen in us, for us, with us, in order for us to get to where He would have us to be.
God Bless,
Taylor
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