What Do You Have Down There?

Hahaha as I was thinking of the title for this post. I actually busted out laughing when I thought of it.
It just seemed really funny, but relative to what has to do with what God has revealed to me today.
God has a sense of humor. lol

so wait. Before I start saying anything. I just wanna say thank God for everything!
Thank Him for He is an amazing God.
Things that have been bothering me through out the week are starting to unravel and work out.
So God, I love you. Simply put, I love you.
You are amazing, and I praise you for everything You have done for me.

So today, it was more school. and that was probably it.
But i got to go to my Bible Study today, and it was a blessing.
One of the quotes from Joe
"God's will is shown through prayer, the word, and fellowship"
God uses all these things to show us that He is there
plus everything else because He can use anything and everything.

For the study we focused on the end of Chapter 6 and the beginning of Chapter 7 of Luke.

So the title, as humorous as it is, asks a legitimate question?
So I'll repeat it.
What do you have down there?

Luke 6:46-49

"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on my ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

It is the story of the man who build his house on solid rock, while the other built his on the sand. There are Sunday school songs about it and such. It is not a obscure teaching. It is actually well known.
But the way I saw it today went like this.
I saw this as how i used to be, and what i am trying to get stay away from and how a lot of teenagers are now. And not just teenagers, many people.
The man who built his house on the sand.
I see the house as being faith. The belief in God. The belief that Jesus came down to earth and died for our sins.
If you look, both men built houses. So this is not talking about people who have not heard about Christ. But people in the church. People that proclaim that they are Christians which means "belonging to Christ"

As we talked about this, and as I reread this teaching, something that came into my mind was a facade. The specific image was a cardboard cutout of a house.
Earlier today, I was talking with a friend about living double lives.
One that is put on for church. The other for everything else.
And this is what i thought of. The faith built upon the shifty sand.
When I was in high school, this was how i lived.
Yeah, i went to church on sundays, and put on that smile, and was polite to people.
Then at school, and everywhere else, it was the complete opposite.
I was singing the worship songs, then turning around and spitting out poison from my lips.

Hypocrite


Thats what i was.
Thats how I feel that some people if not many are today. Especially the teenagers and the young adults.
I know how they feel. I grew up in the same things they did.
It isnt easy to be a Christian in today's society.
Things like parties, drugs, alcohol are all things very prevalent in the school system today.
and to be "popular," it is common for that to be a necessity.
Satan is ruling this world and it is apparent everywhere.

If we build our house on anything else, but the Father himself, as soon as any troubles come our way, our cardboard cutout house is going to fall down, and we are going to be revealed for who we really are.
When the trial comes, we will have nothing to rely on.
But if we depend on God, and make him the foundation of our life, and build up from there,
"when a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built."

But I think that it should go farther than this.

The idea is that we as Christians should sometimes be the "flood" and the "torrent."
This may sound weird at first, but to me it makes sense.
If we see a brother or someone who claims to be a brother, living a double life, and not living with God, we, as a family, should call them out on it.
There is too much emphasis of being polite, not wanting to get involved, and reputation in the church today.
As in the family and body of Christ
We should be the one to shake down their faulty house to show them that this is not the way.
That the road they are living on will lead to death.
By revealing that they are living the wrong way, then they can start walking back towards God.

God says in His Word that those who know about God and yet still walk the other way will be punished more.
I know there is a better verse than this, but this is the one i can find at the moment

Luke 12:47-48

That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

NOW

Do not take this the wrong way. I am not saying we should be spying on people to catch them doing wrong, because that in itself is creepy, and also not what God has in mind. 

Of course everyone is going to mess up sometimes. The goal is to keep those mistakes to a minimum.

But if a brother is walking in the complete wrong direction, it is our duty to help them come back. 

As a family, we should support each other, and if that means getting into your brothers' face to wake them up, it should be done.

If you are living comfortably in your life now,

PANIC.

This world is not for us. We are not of this world.

John 15:18,19

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

The world will hate us if we proclaiming the name of God.

So if you are comfortable, again PANIC.

Face your brother, so you may grow together in Christ.

Feel out of place, feel uncomfortable

Because He has chosen us to be out of this world.

So I'll ask again.

What do you have down there?

Is your life built on the Solid Rock of God?

I want to keep building on Him

One of the testimonies at Men's Camp

"God gets better and better over time"

That was a lot longer than I have planned. Because that was only the first part i wanted to talk about... lol

So i think i will end it here. 

Before I end this, I have a prayer request. My friend has been involved in an accident and has been majorly hurt. He is no longer in the hospital, but I pray for a speedy recovery so that God's name can be glorified.

Second Chance?

So I have just got from Men's Camp.
And i am exhausted/tired/drained BUT i am blessed and that makes up for it all
I got to hang out with my dad for a bit at camp and I thank God.

God has revealed things to me this weekend.
The people I talked to, including my dad, have helped me realize this.
I praise Him for it for that is what I have been praying for for quite a while.
But it isnt such a happy topic.

So what I wanted to talk about this time was God's will.
But it is a bit more specific than that.
Recently, I have truly tried to step into God's will and wanted to live by what he wanted me to do.
Last time, I talked about the different choices that people can choose in God
and having the reasoning to be able to move in God without specific, implicit directions from Him.

This time I want to talk about using God's will for your own benefit.
Some may ask "What the heck does this mean? I thought God wanted to benefit us."
He does. He has the greatest plan in mind for us.

Jeremiah 29:11
"'For I know what I have planned for you,' says the Lord. 'I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.'"

But now the problem is when we will tweak God's will because we think that we know better.
These things can happen when we are scared of what God is telling us to do, or just dont understand God's bigger plan.
At the moment, I have been suffering greatly for trying to change God's will.
God told me to do something. But now, this weekend, I realized that I took it farther than He wanted because I thought that i knew better. It wasnt apparent at first because I have already tricked myself into believing that God has told me what i thought.
The All Knowing Heavenly Father told me something, and I, the know nothing person, decided that wasnt good enough.
When I look back, I want to punch myself for being so stupid and egotistical.
If I had followed God's will without changing it, I wouldnt have hurt some people i care about.
I came to this realization as I talked to my dad. It was actually heart wrenching as it slowly sunk in that it was all my fault.
My dad actually called me stupid... hahaha yeah you just read it right
At first i was so angry because i truly tricked myself into thinking I did exactly as God wanted me to do.
Then my dad reminded me what Jeremiah 29:11 was truly about.
Since I rededicated, i was so enthralled with that verse.
But i missed an important part when it came to this situation.
"I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you."
What I did for "God's will" actually hurt me a lot. So if i actually focused, i would have seen that it couldnt have been God. He doesnt hurt you. He wants to see you happy.
Dang... crazy slap in the face for me.

Now if this was the ending of the story, this would be a sad story, and i wouldnt be writing about it.
Because none of this would be to the glory of God. It would be about the human mistakes that i have made using the name of God's will.

Now is the part when God's power and love shows.
God's will is all powerful. Nothing we do can change the outcome.
God truly cares about us
no matter what we do, he can work with us.
No matter what we do, he will never stop loving us.

When i realized that I messed up bad, I could imagine God just shaking his head saying
"David... really? Alright I'll fix it"
So now God has reopened the door that I thought I have closed.
No one can open doors that the Lord has closed
No one can close doors that the Lord has opened.
Yes, it is painful right now, but it wouldnt have been if I havent screwed up.
But right now, I thank God for opening this door again.
I thank Him for giving me the second chance.

And hopefully I would get the second chance that i dont deserve from her

Why now?

So at the moment, I am sitting in the empty, quiet chapel of Camp Ponderosa Ranch because there is WiFi in here, and no where else.
Its actually very calming in here, clearing the mind.
and maybe, just maybe have some time with God.

Last time, I wrote about James 1:5-8.
and interesting enough it came up into my life once again.
I dont know what God is trying to do...
Thats probably how I'm going to feel for many moments in my life.
But right now, as I have recently came closer to God, this might be one of the first major incidents
of feeling this way.
Verse 6. It starts with "But he must ask in faith without doubting..."
I do not doubt that God is the Almighty Father that knows all.

But one problem i see in myself is patience.
Through this experience, maybe God is trying to teach me patience to wait for his answers and accept them happily in their own time, rather than demand for them in my time.
But once again, I dont know.
I dont know. I dont know. I dont know. I dont know.
I say that a lot. I feel that a lot. and sometimes it tears me apart.
The way i am is I want to know what is going on. Maybe even the smaller details that most people dont worry themselves over. I analyze and most of time I overanalyze. Every little thing goes under a microscope and me thinking how could I have done that better.
And now, being in this position of not knowing and just trusting in God is new to me.
I like to think that I can make a difference in something
BUT i cant. and God reminds me of that over and over. I am nothing without him.

One thing i learned today that I have to keep in my life is that God is not a "rigid" God.
This seems obvious because no matter how many times we screw up, God still can accomplish his plan for us no matter what. But this was a little different.

At first when i thought about God's will, I thought of a one way street that God has in mind that would lead to blessings and glory for Him. No exceptions, just God having his perfect will
When people said, God gave us a choice. I thought of just black and white. Either I make a choice to glory God, or my choice was walking away from Him.
But as I think about it, maybe i was wrong. Maybe God gives us choices that are both white.
More than 1 choice to glory God.
God wants to give us choices.
Its not just the one choice of deciding between God or the world.
But within God, theres different choices that will lead to his ultimate blessing and glory.
This actually scares me... but it makes sense.
I cant hide behind God, and just ask for directions for every step in my life.
That would be like the toddler stage of life.
As we grow in our faith, we should have the Holy Spirit inside of us, giving us the general direction to take.
Of course we should talk to God through prayer to see whether we are heading in the right direction, but we shouldnt be needing implicit directions.
God doesnt want robots that he controls through a remote. He wants living human beings that can show that they can overcome temptation and sin by their own choice. Then He also wants people that can grow in him, still depending on him, but not completely attached.

Its like the first day of kindergarden.
The crying child holding on to their dad's leg, refusing to let go.
No matter how cute that may be at first, a crying baby starts to get annoying.
When the child does let go, they go into their class, and they represent the things that their parents have taught them. They are not completely separated from their Father. They are out into the world, showing others how well their parents have taught them, so when others see them, they will represent the image of their Father.

Yes, i understand that was a silly metaphor. But i want to be the big kid kindergardener.
I have noticed in myself that I am depending on God to tell me the exact actions I should take for him.
How many steps should i take in that direction? How many times do i have to blink?
How many breaths should I take so it would be perfect for your will?
(this is obviously a hyperbole to make a point if you couldnt tell.... :D)
I can guess that certain points in life would be the life changing decision, so God has specific directions for those
But me, right now, I wouldnt know if a life changing decision was there even if it slapped me in the face.
God gives me a direction to follow and I should follow in his Will.
As a child of God, I know what God expects of us. Because I am his son.
I know right from wrong because he has instilled that in me.
David Oh, Just follow God.

Mind Blown

Whoa...
Today has been a very stressed day. 3 tests just melted my brain to a mush like substance that can be spooned out.
2 more days of school then Men's Camp. Im so excited to get close to God with other guys to fellowship with. EXCITED, if u couldnt tell.

Today's little blurb is going to be short.
All it is today is
"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, be cause he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does."
James 1:5-8

Dear Heavenly Father,
      Today i come to you asking for your wisdom for it is greatly needed at this moment. Things are happening in my life that I have no idea what it means or what it is supposed to lead to. I know that you, Almighty God, know everything that has to do with my life and where it is going. If this is part of Your will, reveal yourself to me, so i can be absolutely sure. If it isnt, Lord, tell me so i may refocus on you.
Let me not be double minded, for that is dangerous and counterproductive. Thank you so much for what you have done today. I really do hope it is you though. And if it is, I thank you so much for it. If it isnt, dang it. but i will still refocus on u.
Amen

You know. One thing that i noticed this weekend was worship songs.
Last weekend, at Lost Canyon, the worship times hit me the hardest. They caused tears every time there was worship. And the crazy part is that they were all songs i have sang before. There were familiar songs that I have heard the song my entire life, but the words especially hit me hard. Maybe it was the fact that i could read the words closely, or something. Watever it was, it was def different. One song i remember was Blessed Be Your Name.
"You give and take away. You give and take away"
"Every Blessing You pour out I turn back to Praise"
Hit me very deep. It was attached to me.
Lord, you are the one to give me everything. So why do i complain when you take it away?
And when you do take away, you are making room for better or improved.
Let me keep ur will and the bigger picture in mind as I live my life.

Once again, if you are reading this and have any prayer requests or comments, please leave them so i can keep you in my prayers. God Bless

The Day of Today

So i just created this blog and i think it will be a pretty cool way to express myself in the ways that God is changing me and revealing things to me. If you are reading this, I ask for prayer in the problems I have been having. And if you would like, you can leave prayer requests and i will try my best to pray for you as often as possible.

So....
Today I reading my bible, and something struck me like no other.
Recently I have been reading the books of the gospel and I was reading the latter part of John.

As I read I like to highlight things that stick out to me or things that I should work on to be more like Christ.

What I read today, I had to highlight the number of the chapter itself cuz there was so much to ponder.
John 17.
Setting = Jesus is praying before him and his disciples go to the mount of olives.

MIND BLOWING PART = Jesus prays specifically for US!
YEAH! i know! its crazy.
Here he is. He knows wats coming. He knows that the time for him to betrayed is coming up. That has to be a stressful situation. Yes, He is the Son of God but he also had human emotions. It says in other gospels that "his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground" (Luke 22:44) when he was praying before he was arrested.
So in summary, he is in a very stressed situation.

BUT, in spite of this, he prays for us.
"For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are ours... I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name ... so that they may be one as we are one" John 17:8-12

this is crazy! crazy crazy crazy! Jesus knows at this point that he will be leaving this world, and He knows that as humans living on this earth for Him, we will find ourselves in trial. So he prayed to our Almighty Father to protect us.

And again
"I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and loved them even as you have loved me." John 17:23
Complete unity. Thats what Jesus expected of us as a Body of Christ. As a family in God.
But if I look at myself right now, am i really being an advocate for this? or am I just being an obstruction to it?
On Monday, I went to a Bible Study and we were studying Luke 6.
and what i learned there really clicked with this.
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.... For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Yikes... from judging at first sight to even fellow Christians, this is something i def need to work on
How can I say that I want to live 100% for God and do His Will while this is holding me back?
Dear Heavenly Father, with this day of today, allow me to let this bad habit go. Dont let me carry it around with me. By judging others, I limit myself to the people that i would get to meet and to talk to God about. By judging others, I hold myself and my other brothers and sisters in Christ back. That is def not something I want to do.

Well, first blog post. feel pretty good sharing this though.
If i could share a prayer request, it would be for patience as I wait for God to reveal to me His Will for me, and the truth of a situation I have been going through (so i guess the second one is a unspoken one) but God knows. I would greatly appreciate it.