Procrastinating.

We all procrastinate. From school work to doing chores.
But with God... Does he really want us to procrastinate on HIS works? NO! He gives us time to think about certain things but if we don't act upon them then, we won't be able to accept the challenges that He has given to us.

It may take a while to get things done but, in the end, it will be done. It takes time. We have to know our limitations and work with them. If we just sit back and relax things won't get done. For example, if your parents tell you to wash the dishes or clean your room and you sit sleep or watch TV. Will anything be get done? NOPE! NOT AT ALL.

We need to work to achieve the goals that we have received. We CAN'T procrastinate on the tasks that God has given us. Being a servant of God we need to be sacrificial, obedient, patient, and everything in the Fruit of the Spirit (and many more characteristics).

God wants us to do that, too. He gave us what we have for a reason: to make a difference for him in the world. To do that most effectively, we have to be wise.

-Rick Warren.

Challenger.

One attribute of God.

ONE? that's too hard. But it's possible. For TC training we had to think of ONE attribute of God and write a reflection on it.
God's amazing, caring, loving, and just indescribable.

I picked challenger as the ONE attribute. why? The past year was a MISSION! He put me through so much. dislocating my knee 2 times, getting asthma, and a fire alarm before show time (SNA).
What more is there to say. I've never experienced this many challenges in less than 9 months. It was A LOT. I realized that he gave me these challenges because he's amazing. He knows that we can do it. Although we may not think that but in HIS PLAN we can.

We need to have patience and be obedient to Him. He guides us and strengthens us.

I Got This. Trust.

Don’t See How? God Will Make a Way.

Rick Warren

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

(Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV)

You may be facing a dead end right now — financial, emotional, or relational — but if you will trust God and keep on moving in faith, even when you don’t see a way, he will make a way.

It will become more understandable as you head down the path he sets before you, but understanding is not a requirement for you to start down the path. Proverbs 4:18 says, “The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day” (NIV). One day you will stand in the full light of eternity and view the big picture. You’ll see God’s purpose behind the path he specifically chose for you.

In the meantime, do what Proverbs 3 says: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Be patient. God knows what he’s doing. God knows what is best for you. He can see the end result. You can’t. All those problems, heartaches, difficulties and delays — all the things that make you ask “why” — will one day be clear in the light of God’s love.

But for now, we’re learning to trust God.

TRUST. It’s something that we all have. May be big or small but we call have it. There may be times where we don’t trust anyone or the opposite of that, we trust someone a lot.

It’s something that we all have to work upon and can’t just leave it as that. When we say trust in the LORD with all our heart do we really do that or just say it. I know for me, it’s a struggle. I’ve faced many challenges and it seems that sometimes I ask God “Why Me?” then it all goes downhill.

He purposely chose these struggles for each and every one of us because he knows that there’s a way to get you out of it. It takes time and patience to work with God. Obedience is key in this relationship. If He tells us to go somewhere (for example a mission field) and we don’t want to we have to make a big decision.

We may not see the path that he has made for us right away but we need to stay focused and be mature about what he has set for us.

I hear you!

God Designed You to Hear His Voice

Rick Warren

“God does speak—sometimes one way and sometimes another—
even though people may not understand it.”
(Job 33:14 NCV)

God designed you to hear his voice. In a sense, there is a “receiver” in you that allows you to get guidance from God.

What channels does God use? The primary way that God speaks is through the Bible. This is why we need to read the Bible every day. God’s will is found in God’s Word.

God also speaks through godly Bible teachers. Have you ever been in church or at a Bible study and you feel like the teacher is speaking directly to you? In that moment, God is speaking directly to you.

God also speaks through other Christians. He even speaks through you. If you’ll stay in tune to him and learn his Word, sometimes God will use you to say things to people that he wants to say to them. It’s not something special reserved only for pastors; God speaks through every believer at different times.

God also speaks through your circumstances and your pain. God is speaking all the time. But we must listen. Tune in to God and he will lead you on the right path.

Hearing God's voice is what many people find difficult. For me, it is a challenge. Sometimes i don't exactly know if it's God himself or someone else just messing with me. We always have to keep in mind that He never stops talking.

Through thick and thin, he's there for us. He's the one that keeps us accountable and he's the one that helps us while we are in pain. It may be hard to understand what he's saying but, using his Word, it helps us give us a better understanding of who he is and what he's done.

He may be hard to understand at first but we have to accept it. Keep in mind that without Him you wouldn't be here. He made us who we are and we need to keep our ears open because he made us so that we can listen to him and be obedient to him.

We all have our different struggles and obstacles that we've faced or we are facing now but just remember that God is there for you 24/7.

He never leaves you.

That you God?

You always hear those intense stories where something tragic happen then someone came to Christ or heard his voice. Those happen to some people, not all. Personally, I’ve never been through any of those hardcore “I touched Christ” or “He was standing right in front of me” moments.

We’ve all been through challenges and through Christ we overcome them. From as simple as walking up those many stairs to struggling with a relationship. Believe it or not He’s by our side every single second of our lives. From when we were in our mother’s wombs till now. Young and old.

It may be hard to hear God’s still voice and we have to be careful with what we are listening to. Satan’s voice can be very similar to Christ’s but those tricks and obstacles that he makes us face involve him. Everyone has a purpose in their life, from striving to become your dream career to serving God in your own community. He speaks to everyone in a different and unique way, whether it be from an incident or through worship, He knows how to speak to you. We have to be patient and obedient with God.

Christ is accepting and He’s always happy to hear you confess your sins to Him. Overcoming an obstacle is very challenging and sometimes we may take the wrong path and regret it. Christ gave that reason for you to take that way, He’s willing to forgive your every move but only if you are willing to confess and come up front to Him about it. Be honest to Him and don’t lie.

Fully rely on Him because he creates your every move.

Keep In Step!

This reminds me of that familiar song we sang years ago at church when we were young. "The fruit of the spirit, is love joy peace, patience kindess, goodness, the fruit of the spirit is faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." What fruits are you bearing in your life and what fruits are you lacking?

Let Us Keep In Step With The Spirit

Jon Walker

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25 NIV)

When we ignore the Holy Spirit, there's little difference between the way we live our lives and non-believers who live their lives disconnected and independent from God.

"But people who aren't spiritual can't receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means" (1 Corinthians 2:14 NLT).

Our objective is to become sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Ask God to teach you to hear his still small voice and to be sensitive to promptings from the Spirit that he's placed inside you. Then, believe the truth that he will guide you through the decisions and details of your life.

As you learn to walk in the Spirit, God will never ask you to do anything that violates his Word. Promptings from the Holy Spirit will always line up with the Bible; however, they may not line up with your church-ianity traditions or pre-conceived notions.

For the next few weeks, keep a list of all the times you sense the Spirit prompting you. This will help you learn to be sensitive to the Spirit, but it will also strengthen your resolve to be obedient to God's guidance as you see his constant, loving interest in the details of your life.

And what if you blow it? Remember God's grace! If you misunderstand the Holy Spirit's prompting or disobey it, then confess your failure to God; he is faithful to forgive (1 John 1:9). Fall on his grace and remember that you are in the school of Christ. He knows you're learning; he sent the Holy Spirit to teach you.

The holy spirit has been given to us by God to guide us and to lead us through life. We alone cannot do much, we dont know, but with God's tools, His Word and The Holy Spirit, we are able to make the right decisions that will be pleasing and will bring us good for God knows what's best for us. We must also learn to have faith in Him. If we dont trust the savior of all creation, the maker of the universe, how are we able to give up our decisions, our wants for Him?

This last part i think is CRUCIAL for every Christian to be constantly reminding themselves of. That God is faithful to forgive because he loves us. Personally, i have times where after a "big sin", guilt will come and eat me up, and then i'd ask for forgiveness. But we should be repent on a daily basis if not hourly. We need to be constantly reminding ourselves that we are sinners and that we cant do anything without Christ.

The Fruit of The Spirit. Its quite the list, but learn to bear all the fruits equally. I've posted about the individual fruits themselves, click HERE to check it out! :)

keep in step with the spirit. a day at a time.

Jason