For the past few months I’ve been reading through scripture. I didn’t know where to start as I’ve read all over the place so I asked my dad where to start. He said “it’s always good to start from the beginning.”

As of late I’ve been in the book of Exodus and I’m just baffled at what God did for the Israelites. A passage that keeps showing up is that of Exodus 14:14 “The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest” (amplified bible). 

What I think is incredible is the fact that just 5 verses later we have this from our Lord: 

And the Angel of God Who went before the host of Israel moved and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before them and stood behind them, Coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. It was a cloud and darkness to the Egyptians, but it gave light by night to the Israelites; and the one host did not come near the other all night. [Exodus chapter 14 verses 19-20].

God literally came between Israel and their enemies and held them off with supernatural power. I can’t imagine what the Egyptians must have been thinking as they were standing in the presence of God, watching their former slaves walk through a parted sea while a pillar of fire, along with the Angel of God, blocked them from pursuit of Israel. 

How incredible is that?! He wasn’t kidding in verse 14 when He said we need only be still. God is basically saying “get out of my way…I got this.” We tend to try and handle things ourselves, yet we are so short sighted. We fail to see where the power truly lies and where the path of safety is. It isn’t until we cry out to Abba that we then are told “move.” It is out of our obedience that God’s power and Love can be displayed. 

Someone put it to me like this: Love is a fruit and obedience is the labor that allows more Love to be grown. Christ is Love and when we are obedient to Him/His father, then we allow God to move in and through us.

We bind ourselves to things of this world and then grumble when God frees us. We see His power, we know His strength, yet when hardships come, we forget everything we’ve learned until we have been brought to our knees. Why does it have to be this way? I also think this is why at times we feel as if we don’t hear or feel God. If He always spoke to our hearts the same way, we would learn to ignore Him. When He speaks in different ways, we learn to yearn for Him and long to recognize His voice again. 

Going back to Exodus, I guess I just want to point out one thing that struck true for me while reading this passage. God was, is, and is to come. What I mean by that is: God never changes [ever]. So the same God that supernaturally defended the Israelites is the same today. His power has not diminished, it has not changed, it has not swayed. He will defend our hearts and His children with the same power and fervor as He did in Exodus. We need only “hold our peace and remain at rest.” [I like this translation better because it doesn't say to be physically still and wait for God to do everything...it says to remain steadfast, at peace, and to hold fast in obedience for what God WILL do.]

Hold fast. Help is on the way. 

Peace

Rest

Freedom

I used to desire conflict. I desired to be in arguments or debates so that my faith and knowledge could be tested and proven true. Yet what really happened, was that though my knowledge continued to grow, my faith had not moved. 

A high school senior ministered to his entire youth group a few weeks back saying “our first order of business is to go and make disciples of Jesus Christ. After that, we can argue/debate/discuss the semantics of it all, but how can we even begin to argue biblical truth before someone has accepted Christ?”

In the past I had often spent much of my time debating theology and trying to understand more and more about why things happened and how I could then debate and defend this new truth to an imminent attacker. Guys watch too many fighting shows and play too many video games that inspire us to want to be fighters with our own power.

All this to say, after serving 12th grade guys at disciple now a few weekends ago, I realized even further how useless all my past debating was. God’s wisdom is infinite and He has shared a little bit with us. Our Father’s wisdom is like an endless ocean…and we all have but a thimble of water….and we’re comparing thimbles.

I’ve heard this saying so many times and only now do I understand more of what He is saying.

The book of James outlines several ways to improve our witness and also outlines who we are to ask for wisdom. If we are lacking wisdom we are to ask God for it [James1:5] and not rely on our own understanding of anything.

Lately, I’ve made several visits to Athens Ga to visit friends and to make new ones. I get to meet different aspects of Christ that I am lacking in. Humility. Wisdom. Patience. Yet God has made these attributes abundant in several of His children that I have come to know and love. He has continued to pour into me each time I step out of the way. I have found no reason to debate or argue truth as it defends itself. The Word never said “go and logically argue your way into making disciples of Christ” it just says “go.”

As spring peers around the corner more and more I am nudged by that fever that spreads so quickly. A sickness that is hard to ignore. Spring Fever. For once in my life, God has allowed me to be content with growing in Him and Him alone. He is  training me to be the Godly example I need to be in a future friend, boyfriend, husband, and father. Though it is difficult at times to ignore “spring fever,” there is no comparison to the love my Jesus has for me and all of His children. 

There will be a day when Christ sees me fit and ready to join hearts with another, and I will be on guard and waiting forward for that day, but until that day comes, Jesus and I will be training and growing in our relationship so that the distinction between the two of us becomes less and less. I want people to see less of me and more of Christ. 

I may only have a thimble of water taken from the endless wisdom of God, but I’m going to make sure that Christ fills that thimble to the brim so that His work can be done and not mine. I desire to walk closely with my Lord so that the conflict of my human heart and desires can be overcome by the grace, mercy, peace, love, patience, kindness, joy, and everlasting life that is in Christ Jesus. 

I pray for peace. Contentment. Reassurance. Devotion.

He has taken care of everything and everyone in our lives. We need only trust and obey.

Serve Him well today and I promise I will do my best to be fully armored and trained on my sword to battle along side you.

There are no sidelines on the battlefield. 

Isaiah 63:1

¹Who is this who comes from Edom,
   in crimsoned garments from Bozrah,
he who is splendid in his apparel,
   marching in the greatness of his strength?
“It is I, speaking in righteousness,
   mighty to save.”

The last few days I’ve heard the song “Mighty To Save” every single time I’ve turned on the Radio. We’ve even played it at my home church during our sunday morning worship hour. I think it’s powerful mostly because this song gets straight to the point. 

We could spend days/months/years debating theology but the fundamental point of Christianity is that Christ came to live the life we couldn’t live, bear the pain and suffering we couldn’t handle, and die the death we should have died, so that we could have everlasting life in Him and have it abundantly.

Theology and all the awesome cool points about Jesus are there to help those of us that know Christ, get to know Him better. Yet, the important first step is to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19-20).

The song Mighty to save is an amazing song and what I learned from my friend Ben who speaks Hebrew is that Jesus (from the greek) or Joshua (from the Hebrew) means “salvation” or one who comes in the name of Yahweh (he who causes to be). Jewish people do not recognize the name Yahshua as a name unless you clarify “Yahshua the person.”  So it’s interesting to sing this song with the words “Savior, he can move the mountains” because it’s actually using the name of Christ [savior]. 

Anyway, here are the lyrics to meditate on and just take in, for those that happen to read this. 

God bless you all and I’d love to pray for you if you have anything at all you’d love to share with the body.

“Mighty To Save” -Hillsong United

Everyone needs compassion 
A love that’s never failing
Let mercy fall on me

Everyone needs forgiveness 
The kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

Savior
He can move the mountains 
My God is mighty to save 
He is mighty to save
Forever 
Author of Salvation 
He rose & conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as You find me
All my fears & failures
Fill my life again

I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender (I surrender)

Savior
He can move the mountains 
My God is mighty to save 
He is mighty to save
Forever 
Author of Salvation 
He rose & conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

Shine Your light &
Let the whole world see
We’re singing
For the glory 
Of the risen King
Jesus

You’re the Savior
You can move the mountains 
Lord You are mighty to save 
You are mighty to save
Forever 
Author of Salvation 
You rose & conquered the grave
Yes You conquered the grave

Jesus Rules. Such an awesome savior, king, and lover. He never gives up and He never fails. Ever. 

It’s amazing to see how God awakens His children. He calls to them and teaches them new things every single day. Passion, fire, desire, thirst, authenticity, are all amazing tools of power when used the right way.

Too often have I seen people “renewed” in Christ, but come to the point where their attitudes become self-righteous. I say this because I am guilty as well. Christians tend to gain new knowledge and understanding of God [good] and apply it to their lives and how they treat others [good], but often handle this situation in arrogance and self-righteousness [not good at all].

The funny part is that this attitude is most often displayed towards other Christians/fellow brothers and sisters. At times this attitude is displayed in front of those that are wrestling with who God is and because of this, we turn away fellow Christians as well as those that would seek to know Christ for the first time.

God gives us lessons in moderation as we are able to handle them, and as such, we cannot assume that anyone else is at the same spiritual understanding that we are and must approach everything in prayer and supplication so as not to go to any extreme. It is our job to preach the word through our actions and if necessary, use words.

This is just a lesson I learned today and wanted to share. 1 Corinthians 13:4 starts with “Love [Jesus] is patient” for a reason. It is step one in knowing “Love” and knowing how to love. We must learn to love patiently, before we can master loving in a kind way.

Let us be bold in Christ….not arrogant in our knowledge of Him.

Win new hearts for Christ, lift up the other parts of the body of Christ and support them as best you can, but remember this analogy: God is the endless ocean of wisdom, knowledge, and power. We, as humans, each hold but a thimble of water, and we’re comparing thimbles.

How ridiculous is that?!

Peace.

For the Guys:

We must strive to be a “priest, prophet, provider, and protector” for her in the name of Christ. What this means is that we are to teach and witness to our future family as the earthly example of Christ. As a provider it means if e’er there’s a point in life where someone has to go without….we’re first. As a protector we are to guard the heart of the one Christ allows us to marry and we are to defend His truth within our family as well as outside. We must protect our future marriage with our lives.

And to all guys that may be reading this, it doesn’t stop there. These are just qualities we MUST have to even be worthy in the eyes of a woman of God. God knows we won’t be perfect at them, but He doesn’t want us to ever stop working at it. 

Aside from this, we need to be aware of and learn the love language of that significant other. We may not be “quality time” people or “gifts” people but “she” may be. So speak her “language” and let her know that you love her as Christ does, not as your flesh desires to. 

Christ’s life and all through scripture we are given examples of how to treat the woman God has placed in our lives/will place in our lives, but let me just say this as a regular guy:

Unless she loves football, sports, nerd stuff, and random guy things….DON’T TALK ABOUT THEM! Time after time I have to hold myself back from laughing when a group of single guys somehow is blessed to be sitting at a table/hanging out/etc. with a larger group of single girls…and the guys talk about sports and are inconsiderate of the girls around them. One would think that a guy’s first inkling would be to introduce themselves to these girls, nevermind the fact that they may be incredibly attractive in Christ, but no. Instead they retreat to talking about sports and inso doing, prolong their single-ness which they will later complain about.

Guys, read this carefully. Girls are people too. I know it’s hard to believe that at times they can carry on a conversation more interesting than college football, but believe me, there are greater things in life than football and a woman who loves God with all her heart is definitely….DEFINITELY one of them. 

To the girls:

The word “submissive” is so often taught as the “get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich” mentality and it disgusts me. What the root of the word is that a woman must be willing to love and support the most Godly man in their lives, someone who loves Christ with every ounce of passion they have in them. What kind of girl wouldn’t want that kinda guy?!

In Genesis, when Adam and Eve fell, what God said to Eve was “you will desire the position of your husband but he will be over you.” That does not mean better, but what it means is that God has placed a certain man in your life who will be charged with teaching you, learning with you, and diving into God’s word more and more so that you two grow closer together. You are a team and as a team there are different “positions” to play. It does not mean guys are better, we just have a different role to play and will sacrifice our lives to make sure that you and the future family know the love of Jesus Christ. 

Be the woman in Proverbs 31 that God outlines. No, it doesn’t mean you have to knit or all that other fun stuff. Proverbs is describing the woman’s heart, not her actions. Actions are just examples of where the woman of God’s heart is. “Let your heart be so hidden that a man has to be seeking Christ to find it.”

One of my friends shared an awesome quote that I want to share. It goes along the lines of impatience. I know it’s crazy hard to wait for that perfect 10/10 that God is building up, but NEVER settle for a 9/10. God never fails and God doesn’t ever disappoint so hold out for Him.

The quote reads: “Dance with Jesus and He’ll let the perfect guy cut in.” You don’t have to worry about finding the dance partner, Christ is already doing that for you and life situations that hurt, cause you to question who you are , whether you’ll be alone, are just situations that Christ is using to strengthen you so that when He brings your dance partner along, you will KNOW how much you are loved by Him and by our Lord. Just remember though, for this lifetime you get to dance with the guy Christ points out, but at the end of the dance we call life, Christ is still the man taking you home. Christ always comes before your dance partner…ALWAYS.

Lastly [from me] guys don’t speak “hint” language. We speak “blunt” and “obnoxious.” That’s the only way to get through to us, but if you are both in Christ, it shouldn’t even be an issue to speak truth to one another even if it makes you feel weird.

To both: Love one another as Christ has loved you no matter what. A husband and wife’s relationship is more important than the relationship from father to child. If the mother to father relationship is not established in Christ then how could we even begin to teach future kids?

Here are some interesting statistics I will leave you with:

In a family of four [father.mother.son.daughter]:

If the daughter is a Christian and no one else is, the chance the family will follow her is around 7%

If the mother is a Christian and no one else is, the chance the family will follow her is around 9%

If the son is a Christian and no one else is, the chance the family will follow him is around 11%-13%

Now I want you to read this carefully: If the father is a Christian, the chance that the family will follow his leadership is 98%

So guys, do you see what it’s so important for you to be the most Godly man/father you can be? And girls, do you see why it’s so very important that you support his leadership? The percentages aren’t even close. from 13%-98%….I don’t know about you but I’m not willing to play with those odds.

Love authentically. Love in truth. Love without a reason. Love as Christ loved. Love your enemies until they ask “why?”, and Love one another as Christ has Loved you. 

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All around friends are dating, getting engaged, or married. 

I find myself wondering at times “am I behind in the game?”

As a musician it’s tough not to hear a song that reminds you of some specific event in the past. It’s like a second sense of smell that speaks to the heart rather than just the brain. 

When a song or type of song is played with just the right kind blend of pitches, harmonies, etc. then it speaks to the soul. All the tones on a piano vibrate at the same frequency as the chemicals that make up your body. So music literally “moves” you. 

Sometimes this Music is an exciting movement. Other times, it’s painful because it used to be exciting and now has become a reminder of what’s been lost and left behind. Musicians are keenly aware of this and hear music in everything. There is a song everywhere you go and in every situation of life. Music is pervasive.

In any event, it is merely a part of the heartbeat of Christ.

Cool fact:

Baby’s fall asleep on your chest because the rhythm of a heartbeat is what they were closest to for 9 months and it comforts them. 

The world is trying to remember it’s creator’s heartbeat though many will create substitutes for the real thing. Our comfort is in Him and Him alone. It is His heartbeat that quiets all the pain, suffering, calamity, turmoil and sin in our lives. 

So what does this have to do with relationships? To put it simply “Happy Feet.” I am jealous at times that others seem to have found their heart songs and have found someone to sing with. Being an “oddball” is a tough blessing to come by. It teaches me patience, allows me to be broken in Christ, and makes for a tough journey to understanding God’s will for my life. 

Passage Psalm 37:5-6:
⁵Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.    ⁶And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.

Words from the Word are always encouraging. It’s a reassurance that God is seeking after me, and after you with all of His [infinite] heart. He will bring to pass the [way] He has set out for each of our lives. 

It’s always tough to understand this because it seems as though everyone else finds joy much easier and that I am left with a deeper search, but I think my Jesus for this. I am not called to be like everyone else, but to be set apart. If that means I must remain only in Christ and with no other right now so that I can help lead worship with no hindrances, then so be it. He knows what’s best for His kingdom and I will serve as He commands so that He gets the best of me and uses me as He pleases to point His children back to Him. 

One day He will bless me with someone to care for, someone to lead in love, in intimacy, in the Word, and in action. Someone that I will be able to be a “priest, prophet, provider, and protector” for. 

He will allow me to take my place as a guard to the walls of her heart that I might keep it hidden and safe for Christ. 

 I look forward to that day as I anxiously and authentically serve my Lord.

γνησιότητας (gnisiotita) 

There are many definitions of Authenticity that relate to being genuine and reliable. Yet I found it best described as:

“The process of ensuring that a message received is the same message that was sent and has not been tampered with or altered.”

Matthew 5:17-18  (Amplified Bible)

Mt 22:37-40

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Passage Mark 12:30:
30And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’

Interestingly enough this passage does have an interesting connection to tithing. It’s easy to grasp how to love God with all your heart, soul and with all your strength. These visual pictures at least give us a way to understand what we are giving to God. However, there are always questions when it comes to loving the Lord with all of our minds. It seems almost impossible to do. We cannot go a single day without sin, without thinking things we should not, whether intentional or not. So how is it that God can ask something of us that we could never achieve? 

Well for one, we shouldn’t be surprised because He asks us to live as His son did and that’s impossible for us to perfectly do, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t constantly try. 

So here’s the interesting kicker:

The average human being “controls” 10% of their brain whereas the other 90% is already being used to our benefit. This follows right along side our paychecks. God says we can technically keep 90% and just wants to demonstrate how powerful He is with 10% or a tithe of our income. This is the only place in the bible where God says “test me in this.” 

What is interesting here is how the two correlate. If we control 10% of our brains and the other parts are involuntary, then it means God is asking for a tithe of our brains too. In fact, He’s asking for the part that we control. When God says to love Him with all our mind, it means to relinquish the part that we control, use to think, make decisions, etc. We’re not giving up the right to choose, we are giving up our own will for God’s will. 

This isn’t something that God specifically states (that we should tithe our brains) but it makes sense when given the percentages. God doesn’t merely ask for 10% because to much that is given much is expected. We know that people who we consider “geniuses” may use more of their brains and as such, more is required for God’s will to be done. So it’s not too farfetched to think that offering our minds as a tithing to God would be something out of the ordinary. 

We are to relinquish control so that He might begin a new work in us that can be carried on to completion so that we might know Him better and get out of the way so that we allow His work to be done rather than our own. 

Just interesting food for thought.

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