Confession and Repentance

con·fes·sion

1.

acknowledgment; avowal; admission: a confession of incompetence.

2.

acknowledgment or disclosure of sin or sinfulness,

                          Re-pen-tance

1.

to relent or change mind and heart.

2.

to be sorry, TO MAKE A MORAL U-TURN FROM SIN TO GOD

Confession and repentance are not the same thing. One is not to be mistaken for the other. You may not need to confess everyday, however you do need to repent everyday.

Temptation is not sin. You are not a sinner who is saved, but rather a Saint being tempted by Satan everyday sometimes falls. Get back up again.

Doing Hard Things

DOING HARD THINGS….is hard. The more I give Jesus the more He asks from me. Some days I just flat out ask Him, “What more do you want from me?!” He calmly answers me EVERY time… “Everything.”

Living a life completely submitted to God is the hardest thing you could ever do. We as Christians make fun of our extremist brothers and sisters and label them radicals, when in actuality if we were doing our true job we would be right along side of them with the same label. When God gave us His EVERYTHING He didn’t expect us to give Him a little bit of ourselves He expects we give what He did. Got it? We say stupid things like, “Oh if I just don’t cuss” or “I’ll try to stop lying” as if that’s good enough. WRONG!!! Jesus wants your heart, your relationships, your entertainment (which means movies, music, etc.), your emotions, your mind/thoughts, your time, your body, your clothes, your possessions, your family…..YOU! He gave His all. Does the God of the universe not deserve that little bit from us? We live a lie when we say we are Christians. Christ followers?!? Do we not understand what He meant when He said we must deny ourselves….that we must pick up our CROSS and follow Him…everyday? (Matthew 16:24)

Take a minute and reflect upon your life. Does it resemble what your non-believing friends’? Do you watch the same things the world does? Do you say the same things and do the same things, wear the same things? I was horrified when I did this myself. We are to reflect Jesus in the world. To simply live in it but not be of it.  This is HARD…REALLY HARD. But it’s not impossible. (Matthew 19:26)

Matthew 13:
45Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:

46Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.

When Jesus sees you, He sees a pearl of great price. He sees your true value, and He gave everything so that He could have you. He knows that you were worth the cost.

Jesus is THE PEARL of THE GREATEST PRICE. He is worth the cost.

08/10/11

"God, why wont You do something?!" "I'm trying. Why don't you get off the couch?"

[This passage of scripture has many different lessons to teach but this is something the Lord revealed to me through it this past time reading it. I thought it was worth sharing. Feel free to post comments.]

Luke 9:10-13  6

“And the apostles, when they were returned, told Him all that they had done. And He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. And the people, when they knew it, followed Him: and He received them , and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto Him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. But He said unto them, Give ye them to eat.”

Waiting on the Lord is a very good thing…sometimes. There are other times….a lot of times….when God is waiting….ON US! He gives us a head start and shows us how to go about things and we just expect Him to lay everything out for us when we aren’t willing to make any effort. We wait on others to make the first move and hope that those in need will somehow obtain what they so desperately need. What does Yeshua have to say about this? “Give ye them to eat.” He has endowed you with power from on high (well…hopefully you’re there)! Yeshua promised to stand by our sides as long as we stand by Him. He does not however promise to hold our hands and baby us for the rest of our lives. How many people does it take to start a revolution? How many people does it take to make an entire congregation stand in worship to God? How many people does it take to change the world? ONE! Be that one where you are. Yeshua believes in you.

07/15/11

Beautiful Things

“All this pain. I wonder if I’ll ever find my way. I wonder if my life could

really change at all. All this earth. Could all that is lost ever be found?

Could a garden come up from this ground, at all?

You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of the dust.

You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of us.

All around hope is springing up from this old ground.

Out of chaos life is being found in You.

You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of the dust.

You make beautiful things. You make beautiful things out of us.

You make me new. You are making me new.

You make me new. You are making me new.” BEAUTIFUL THINGS – GUNGOR

I’ve played this song many times in youth group and honestly I’ve never

paid as much attention to the words as I did a few days ago. I’ve always

understood this song on the surface, but Yeshua revealed something really

awesome to me with this song. I believe this song speaks of our generation.

Our generation is filled with pain. We are LOST. Never before have there been so many

hurting hearts and broken families. Sadly, teenagers are seldom looked on

as individuals but as statistics. Many adults have such low expectations

of us. I know how depressing and painful this can feel. Teenagers want to

be challenged and if all we have to live for is to be a disappointment,

then that is exactly what we as a whole will end up being. This world may

not believe in you and not expect much out of you, but Yeshua does. He

knows that each and every one of us has an amazing potential. This song

really describes the poor state our world is in, but it also shows the

glimmers of hope. What is that hope? It is Yeshua making a difference

through US! Yeshua can spring up plants in this desert.

All we have to do is ask in faith.

Will you let Him make you beautiful?

BEHOLD! He makes ALL THINGS NEW!

06/22/11

Check out the song!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OR7VOKQ0xJY