Haggai

Have you ever read Haggai? Well I haven't, nor many of the other minor prophets for that matter. There are some Old Testament books that can really speak to me, Genesis, Numbers, 1 and 2 Samuel, Job, Jonah, but never did I think that God would use the prophet Haggai to get my attention the way He did.

Haggai was the prophet at the time the first wave of Israelites left Babylon and returned to Jerusalem. God spoke to Haggai, to warn the Israelites that it was unacceptable to build their houses before God's house was built.

4 Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?

How does this apply to me?

It made me realize how much I think of myself and what I want before I think of what God desires and what He wants me to do. I mean how often am I listening and obeying because He said so? Or am I obeying because it lines up with what I want to do, first? Where does my heart lie?

5 Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways.

This should impact everything I do, from what I buy, to what I eat, to how I act, and to why I do the things I do.

The Israelites were called to rebuild the temple, but why?

8 Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD.

They were to build it so that God would be glorified... the exact reason we were made, to glorify the LORD.

The reason Haggai, goes on, to why they are always thirsty and hungry is because the temple laid in ruins while they went along with their day, building their own homes. What if this exact thing happens to us. Seeing that our bodies are now called temples where God's Spirit dwells.(1 Corinthians 6:19-20) When we separate ourselves from God by disobedience and selfish ambition, we grow spiritually thirsty and hungry. But praise God there is repentance and that He truly never leaves us or forsakes us. (Hebrews 13:5)

So how do I put "considering my ways" into action? I don't have prophet on hand to tell me when I screw up and fall away from God, no, I have something even better. I have the Holy Spirit that lives in me and directs and guides me. I believe also convicts me of my sin. How do I know what the Spirit is saying? I read God's Word and be obedient to it.

Lord, show me the times where I am putting myself before you, that I might repent. I need help keeping God as my focus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through Christ.

Wreckin Shop

So God has been wrecking me lately on a number of different sin issues, and it has not been an easy road. But the amazing thing is the truth of what we are told in Scripture, that for those who love God, He works all things for the good of those called according to His purpose.(Romans 8:28) He is still working on me but what has been awesome is how He has changes my perspectives.

The first thing God has been revealing to me is that though I have been waiting for years to pursue a girl I am still ridiculously impatient. I have lacked the trust that He will provide, I have not rested in the truth that I am His child and that He will provide for me in such a way that He will get the glory and I will have to rely on Him. It has been awesome to see God take the control, I want to have, from me. That is the second things He has been working on me.

I want to be in control that is how I have grown up all my life. This has affected the way I view friendships, relationships, and the way I act. All my life I would never do anything unless I knew I could accomplish it or that it would work out the way I wanted it to. As an adopted son of God that view is no longer acceptable. He has taken so much control from me and continues to ruin me, in such a great way. The more I trust in Him the more at peace I am about being single and what I am suppose to do with my life.

As a church we are going through Galatians and the resounding theme is "sola fide" by faith alone. That there is no other way in which we can come to God except for through faith alone, by grace alone,in Christ alone, for the glory of God. This affects everything I do on a daily basis. Why I do the things I do and my heart behind it all.

So my prayer is that God continues to wreck me to the point that my desire and all that I can do is trust in Him through the finished and complete work of Christ. Because truly there is rest and peace when I trust in Him.

Amazon is amazing

I have an addiction to Amazon. I don't really think I am much of a spender but when it comes to this site I am weak. I have a pile of books just waiting to be read on my desk. Even as we speak I am looking at them and being enticed to open one up. Here is the list of book I am planning on reading before the end of the year:








Pretty certain I am not going get them all done by the end of the year, but I am pretty excited about each one of them.

The Struggle

Right now I am in a battle.

God has me in a place where I am single and the option of doing a lot of different things is possible. Three things keep whirling around in my head, the idea of being a church planter/pastor (scary enough in Vidor), missionary to Central America with Living Water or an organization like them, and working in the business world. Any of these things I would love to do, so how do I choose and is God leading me towards one more than the other two? Right now I have no clue.

There is a deep desire to be a pastor, to lead a church, speak truth to a community, and examine Scripture. My fear of being a pastor is the pride that would well up inside of me. That people would think that I am an amazing speaker, and my focus would be taken off Jesus and on to myself. I have had a lot of pride in my life and it is always something that I have to be careful of. But we are all sinners and God uses sinners,and through His power I can get over myself and fall at His feet. Scripture tells us that pastors are held to a higher standard seeing that they are over a group of people (James 3:1), that excites me and challenges me. I want that.

I have always had a passion for Central America, most likely because I grew up going down there and the mission trips I have been on were there. Their culture astounds me, they know what true community is, plus it is just way warmer down there. That is just an extra seeing that I get cold at anything lower than 70 degrees. Most of my reasons for going down there are more for myself, such as I want to live on less and have less things (I could do that here it is just easier down there), I want to learn Spanish (also could do that here), and just want to be in a different cultural. See not very good reasons, but I would love to work side by side with them to bring fresh water to areas that don't have it while bringing the Gospel to villages who don't know it or have a false gospel.

The corporate world needs Jesus as well, and working a job is an awesome opportunity to be a light to an area who sees money and promotion as god. I have already had great conversations with guys I work with about Christ. I definitely see the need for believers in the world of business, but I am not sure if that is where I am suppose to be. Though for now I am there and I need to stay focused on preserving and proclaiming the Gospel.

In the end I just want to be used by God where ever He has me and I want to be satisfied with Him and do all that I can to honor Him. I continually am seeking God's direction through prayer, while trying not to miss out on opportunities that present them self now. All in all Christ needs to be my focus.

Water of the Word

Have you heard of it? Well if not then you should. No matter if you are single without a prospect (unfortunately such as myself) or if you are already married, this is a great book that teaching a guy how to be praying for his wife.

What Andrew Case does is take actual scripture and applies it towards his wife, praying for discernment, that her heart be focused solely on God and that God would continue to reveal Himself to her.

From what I last heard this guy is just as single as me and yet he is praying for his future wife in a way that amazes me. This is something 6 months ago I would never have thought about doing, but as I read and make these words my prayer I have found a comfort, assurance, and excitement about meeting my future wife.

Here are some excerpts,

"Grant her continual patience and forbearance to live with me, a wicked husband."

"Give her boldness and wisdom to rebuke and exhort me when I am unfaithful to Your Word, when I neglect prayer, fail to redeem the time, speak carelessly, walk foolishly, fail to hope in You, seek great things for myself, become anxious about tomorrow."

"Please ignite such joy in her that she must praise You with an upright heart when she learns Your righteous rules."

"O that her eyes would sparkle with pure and deep delight when Your Truth is shone into them out of grace."

"Confirm to her Your promise, that she may fear You - fear You with every fiber of her beautiful heart."

What has been good in praying through this book is the recognition that I want this for my wife, but also I want to be this for my wife. That I would be a husband that would fear the Lord and find great joy in His words. That I would be patient, kind, and loving towards her and that I would lead her to Christ each and every day.

The 12

Bible trivia time!

Can you name the 12 original disciples and then can you name the replacement disciple?

My roommate and I were up at Mugwalls reading, when my mind started going off trying to name the 12 disciples. I quickly realized that I could get to 8, but only after some serious thinking and that was it. My roommate got to 11, I am not bitter, he might be younger than me but he can be pretty knowledgeable when he wants to.

But that's not the point, the point is I felt convicted for not knowing the Word I love and desire to follow.

This is not an unhealthy conviction, and by unhealthy I mean a selfish desire to know all of Scripture so that I might look smart or people would come to me for answers. Just a confession, I have thought that at times especially when I am selfish.

And this is also not about the 12 disciples in particular, rather this is about Scripture in general. That I need to know it, meditate on it, and live it out daily. I know that I will never fully know all of Scripture and I will continually be learning about the traits of God and my interaction with Him until the day I die, but my desire is to know the Word in such a way that I might be able to spot false doctrine the instant I here it, and not only that but to honor and worship Him in the way He has laid out for me.

It is kinda funny how God uses a simple example of naming the disciples to teach me about knowing the Bible better. The fact that I don't know all of them at a given moment, tells me I have a long way to go.

I never want to think that I know the Bible so well that I no longer need to study it.

Along the same note a new movie is out called "The Book of Eli", which is a pretty amazing movie. One of the best moments in the movie for me was when Eli realized that for 30 years he had been reading the Bible and trying to keep it safe, but that he had forgotten to put what he read in to practice.

Bingo!

I got to play Bingo tonight with some friends from church and some retired folk at Esperanza Senior Living and I have to say it was a great time.

There is something about being in my 70's, 80's, or perhaps even 90's that I can't wait to experience. As I got to talk to some of them I realized that they have been through a lot of stuff. A man named Frank served in World War 2, lived in Australia, taught at Cornell, and was also a professor of Mechanical Engineering for 40 years at Texas A&M! Now that is amazing.

I just can't wait to be that age, hopefully I will be sitting on a porch somewhere widdling a piece of wood in a rocking chair.

On my way home though I had another thought come in to my head.

How does a person that is placed in a retirement home worship God with a body of believers? I mean they aren't able to drive and some are bed ridden. How are they worshiping and living for God? I mean there is no such thing as the lone ranger Christian, so what is going on? Are there hundreds, maybe thousands, of retired people who confessed Christ all there life and are now suffering spiritually because they can no longer be with a body of believers that can spur them on and encourage them? I am so thankful for the people around me that encourage me. So perhaps it is on us as believers not to forget these people, but yet take time to go spend time with them and talk about Christ with them.

I want to ask them what it looks like living for Christ at the age of 93, because I can't wait to do it.