A Father's Love

In the words of Jesus:

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:7-11

Through the Eyes of God

Susan Boyle is an awesome reminder that what's on the outside may not be indicative of what's going on inside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk

James 2:1-9

My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers.

It is important to see others as God sees them, looking at the inside not the outside.

If Not Now, When?

I don’t wanna go through the motions

I don’t wanna go one more day

Without Your all consuming passion inside of me

I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking

What if I had given everything?

Instead of going through the motions

This is my heart's cry now and when I heard this song this morning on K-LOVE, I just knew I had to share it. I had heard this song before but it had not yet touched me like this morning.

I know it's difficult, painful, and scary to give up everything to God, but that's what he requires of us. Anyone who does not give up everything he (or she) has CANNOT be Jesus' disciple. The Master said it himself, in Luke 14:33 if you want to check. Jesus left no doubt as to what kind of person a disciple is.

So if what Jesus says is true, and it certainly is, what does that make you and me?

Let us journey together in giving our all for the One who gave his all for us. Carpe diem!

Here's the song, with a little about the season of uncertainty that Matthew West himself went through:

The Story of Your Life

Author John Eldredge in his book Epic writes:

Life, you'll notice, is a story.

Life doesn't come to us like a math problem. It comes to us the way that a story does, scene by scene. You wake up. What will happen next? You don't get to know - you have to enter in, take the journey as it comes. The sun might be shining. There might be a tornado outside. Your friends might call and invite you to go sailing. You might lose your job.

Life unfolds like a drama. Doesn't it? Each day has a beginning and an end. There are all sorts of characters, all sorts of settings. A year goes by like a chapter from a novel. Sometimes it seems like a tragedy. Sometimes like a comedy. Most of it feels like a soap opera. Whatever happens, it's a story through and through.

Although you no longer have control over what has been written in your story up until today, what has been written doesn't necessarily have to dictate what will be written.

When you stand before the Almighty, what do you hope will be read aloud in the story that was your life? What will you give up in order to make that story happen?