Give us this day our daily bread.

I feel that there are two main reasons this portion is worded by CHrist the way it is. THere is so much in this short little prayer that we go right by the true meaning. I pray this prayer before every football game at Pedro Menendez High School with the whole team, I took the time to teach it to them, and explain it to them before we did so. I'm so worried when we do things like this and they're just a ritual and not full of meaning in our hearts.
FIrst, Jesus stated the obvious and that is that we need to submit to God on a daily basis in exemplifying our dependency on Him. We are to view Him as our provider, not just of the big things in life but in every need that is met. God is right there seeing to it that our needs are met and we need to acknowledge Him in everything, every meal and every crumb that comes accross our plates.
Second, Jesus stated this because we need to remember how God reveals Himself to His people. He does it on a daily basis. Each day we are revealed a little more of what God has in store for us.
THe best way I know to explain all of this is a puzzle. Each day we are given a puzzle, each day that puzzle piece is a new piece fitting perfectly into the final product. Only this puzzle is totally different in many ways. First, it is different because we have no idea if it is a 500 piece, 1,000 piece or million piece. Why don't we know that, because we have no idea the number of our days here on earth, and because only God is holding the box. You know when you put a puzzle together you spend your time piecing it together, but you also spend a lot of time looking at the box to see the final product. Only God knows what our final product looks like, and He reveals it day by day, which is why we are to pray to Him day by day!
So take today's puzzle piece adjoin it to yesterday's and know that it is part of God's Plan and thank Him for that, and pray for your needs on a daily basis as you will soon understand your true dependency lies on Him alone.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done

Here we are at a crossroad in the model prayer that Jesus taught His disciples. They had asked Him how they should pray. He had responded with this model prayer and it had many components that make for both meaningful and effective prayer. The next portion after we establish exactly who we are praying to, and what He actually is it is time to move on to our petitions. BUt notice, we start out with petitions for Him. We don't just tell God how great He is, acknowledge His power and wisdom and dive in, we still have work to do before that.
Many believe this is a direct quote of what Issaiah had discussed in chapter 9 verses 6-7 when he states that the coming Messiah will establish His kingdom, and the government will be on His shoulders.
Saying "Thy kingdom come" is a protest prayer we are saying that we do not want to submit to anything that is not of God's will. It's also a submissive prayer, stating that we do not want anything fleshly, we only want what God wants for our lives and His people. It's a comforting way to pray because we are casting all of our anxieties, our pains and our striving on God. It gives us the understanding that if it isn't God's will then we don't need or want it. Finally, saying "Thy Kingdom Come, thy will be done" is a unifying prayer. If every day we pray for nothing else as believers than God's will, then together we are all striving for and wanting for the same results. For God to be in diving control and have all the glory for what goes on in our lives. Instead, what we have is people praying for their economic status, praying for sick ones, loved ones who are usaved and a laundry list of things they want from life. This is in no way unifying outside of giving God the glory, and praying His will in all things.
We'll talk more about heaven next week. Have a great weekend and remember to pray God's will for your life, and the lives of others.

Hallowed?

Hallowed be thy name, that's the next part of the prayer Jesus told His disciples to pray. Why would we need to remind GOd who He is and what we see Him as? We know He is above all, we know that He knows all, and we know that He is all powerful, so why?
Jesus put this important piece of prayer in place so that we would remind ourselves who it is we are talking to. This was an attempt to keep us from humanizing and weakening God in our own hearts and minds. When you meet someone that is a dignitary or king, queen royalty of any sort you talk, walk and act differently automatically because you are respectful of who you are talking to. It's should be the same with our prayer times with God. We should be mindful of just who we are talking to.
This part of the prayer also takes us all the way back to a couple of tablets that were walked down a mountain in the Old Testament. We were given the 10 commandments and the first 2 dealt with God and our understanding of Him. We are to have no other Gods before Him, and we are not to take His name in vain.
Any time we do either of these we are de-valueing God and His name. When we put something in front of God, and seemingly worship it whether it is a job, money, relationship, position of power, or just a hobby we are devaluing God in our own lives. Same with cussing and taking His name in vain, we are devaluing Him and His name in our own lives. It's important that GOd's name remain above all other names, above all other things and especially in our prayer life. How can we honestly repent in our prayers, and ask for forgiveness if we are in a sense forgetting some of His most important commandments? We can't.
So when you pray today, or tonight make sure you remind yourself of just who it is you are talking to. Give Him the respect and reverence that is needed and then drift into your requests and petitions. Your prayer life will change drastically, I promise!

The Prayer

Our Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name
Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven
Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
Lead not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
For thine is the Kingdom forever and ever. Amen

This is the model prayer, when Jesus' disciples asked him how to pray, he told them to pray like the prayer listed above. It is my hope in the coming days to break down this prayer and disect it verse by verse to better understand just what He was wanting us to do with our prayers. I can't see where praying for a new car, more money or the wants of our lives are listed here, but they do play a major role in our prayers don't they.
Our Father which art in Heaven gives us perspective. We are told by Jesus, God's own Son exactly where the person receiving our prayers is. He is in Heaven and that is important. It's important that we put God right where He is in our minds so that we don't stray from the basic components of our prayers and petitions to Him. This is a direct attempt to avoid the humanizing that we some times do. Let me ask you this, when you talk to God do you ever picture Him? This can be very dangerous in a sense because we must picture God as Supremely God, in HEaven. He is not some Gandolf looking older wiseman. He is not some king on a thrown ruling with an iron fist, he's simply God. We must in every way avoid humanizing God to the point of ranting in our prayers, or begging or grovelling. Those things are not needed simply because we are worshiping Him with our lives and He knows every aspect of our lives. He knows the motives of the heart, so when you pray, pray to the One who knows your heart, who is in Heaven and is intimately a part of your daily life.
Our Father which art in Heaven, keep Him there in your prayers and don't lose sight of what He did for you so that you could have a relationship with Him!

The Shack

So I want to step out and let you know about a little book that can transform some of you thoughts toward God. A few days ago I was over hanging out in Coach Wiles' office, he's the head football coach at St. Augustine High school, and he pointed me in the direction of a book he was reading. I was intrigued so I went the next day and bought a copy of it. The name of the book is "The Shack" I don't usually endorse books that I don't completely agree with so I want to put a disclaimer in here first.
THIS IS A THINKING BOOK ONLY! IT IS NOT A THEOLOGICALLY SOUND BOOK TO DERIVE YOUR VIEWS AS A BELIEVER!
There I feel better now, I just want to be careful that we don't buy a fictional book and give it too much presidence. This book was good from cover to cover and I enjoyed it a lot. There are 2 parts that jump out at me and make me think much more deeply about God and how we treat Him.
The first occurs in one of the late chapters of the book. A man who has lost his daughter is forced to stand in as the Judge. He isn't asked to judge a trial, to face a murderer, thief or criminal. He is actually asked to judge God, and the very thought strikes fear in his heart as it would any believer. He is scared to death to even think of doing such a thing, but then he is taught that, that is exactly what we do as humans when we doubt God, or question Him for things that happen in our lives. When we think that God had no care, no part in something bad that has happened in our lives. When we ask "Why me God?", or "Why God, why did that have to happen?" It takes me to Romans 8:28 which says, And we know that all things work together for the good, for those who have been called according to His purpose."
There you have it, that verse has a different meaning when you consider that whatever it is that has happened in your life is part of the good, that God is working in your life. Who are we to judge? Who are we to overstep our bounds and think that we have a better plan for our own lives than the very person who made us, who planned out our lives, and who sent His own Son to bring us salvation?
So if you have a chance, pick up the book, read it and keep in mind that it is fiction, but it is good thinking. It's written by William P. Young and it is 14.99 at Barnes and Noble. Have a great day!

mistaken identity

I am afraid that as human beings we have a very different picture of God and the world than was was intended. From our understanding of rules, to our basic understanding of why Jesus came and many other things that I don't have enough time in my lifetime to address completely or do justice to.
Think of what the world views the ten commandments as. The world sees them as confining where as we as believers should see them as freeing. The ten commandments actually were intended by God to give us freedom, without the ten commandments we could experience no freedom whatsoever.
And how about the way the world views Jesus. The majority believe that He came, that he was who He said He was, but that he came to put people down. That is actually the exact opposite. Jesus came to save us, to free us and to rescue us not to in any way condemn any man.
God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him."
John 3:17
There it is, Jesus came into the world to free us, to save us from our sins. He most certainly did not come to condemn us in any way. Jesus came to show us how we should live, that it is possible to please our HEavenly Father in all that we do, and most importantly He came to rescue us from our sins through His death on the cross. We deserve death, hell and so much more for all that we have done in our lives(atleast I know I do) but instead we are freely given eternal life. You will not find a better bargain than that in anything the world has to offer.
So remember, God's word frees us from the world, it doesn't tie us down or confine us. And, Jesus came to free us from sin and save us not to condemn or judge us in any way!

rejection

Have you ever been rejected? Have you ever dealt with that moment in life when someone or some group has decided not to let you in? Not to acknowledge you as capable or able to be a part of their group. These can be extremely trying times, but do you realize how rejected Christ was.
Acts 3 puts it this way:[13] "The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. [14] But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, [15] and you killed the Author of life."
Can you imagine coming to earth. You are in heaven, always have been and life is perfect. You have no wants, no needs and no problems. You Father has always told you it was up to you to save the sinners, so when it is time you step down. You leave the world that you know of perfection and absolute freedom to step down into a world full of sin, hate and deceit. Upon arrival as the Savior you are not only not accepted, but ultimately rejected completely and sentenced to death on a cross. Chosen for death over a murderer in public. You've just over 30 years earlier lived in perfection, now you are the object of everything that stands opposite all that Heaven is. You are suddenly on the receiving end of a punishment that no man could take in small doses, much less the full thing in one fatal time.
That person was Jesus, he was rejected far beyond any rejection the world can hurl at us. So, don't think that we serve a risen Savior who cannot identify with our hurts, our rejections and our shortfallings. He is and was right in the middle of far worse punishment and persecution than we will ever endure, and we should be happy to accept persecution from man knowing that our Savior took 100 times what we will ever endure.
So the next time you feel rejected by man, remember your Savior who was rejected as Savior by man.

Give freely

What is a gift? I mean really how do you define a true gift? I have heard a lot of different ways of doing this, but my all time favorite is this. A gift is something given freely with no expectation of repayment. We say we give, but do we really?
We give people our time, our talents but many times we expect them to do something for us in return. We give people money, but we expect some form of repayment in return. So are we truly giving, and if so how do we decide what to give.
I'm preaching on the second half of Acts the 3rd chapter but I want to recap the first half of that chapter. Here's the text:
One day Peter and were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth,rise and walk."
So clearly what this man wanted was some food or money. He was looking for a means to meet his needs, but instead his life was changed forever. We need to look closely at this as we understand we don't really have the money to give when others are asking, but there are things we have. We need to give what we have, we all have time, talents and a personal relationship with CHrist to share.
Don't pass up any opportunity you may have to meet someone's needs spiritually. That five minute conversation when you need to get somewhere. That extra stop on the way home from a long day to make a difference in someone else's day. Do those things, give what you do have and give it freely.
ANother translation of this verse says "what I have I give freely." We need to give, truly give what we have so that we can make a difference in the lives of others. ANyone can give when repayment is expected, but it's totally different when we give with no repayment plan in mind. Afterall this is exactly what Christ did for you on the cross!

one man show

I watched the past few NBA finals games and the play of one team was horrendous. The Lakers are a one man team, it's obvious and it doesn't work. No one man can carry one team past another team that plays together. When each person does their job, it's far better than when several people do nothing and one does an amazing job.
It's the same in the church setting. We all have different gifts, talents and abilities. We are all given different strengths, some are workers, some are prayers, some are leaders, and some are speakers. Altogether you have one unit.

Romans 12 says this about it.
Therefore, I urge you,brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices,holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual Or reasonable act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,so in Christ we who are many form one body,and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts,according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying,let him use it in proportion to his Or in agreement with the faith.If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously;if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
Basically it all boils down to attitude. On a team you can either want to win, or you can want to be a winner. There's a difference, someone who wants to win will do whatever it takes to help his team, on the other hand, a person who wants to be a winner will sit back and hope that they win.
In church it is not all that different, it boils down to the use of one word, service. When you are driving to church does your family's attitude reveal a want for service, or serve-us. I hope it's the first choice because that is what we are meant to do. We are meant to serve God, and serve other believers and non-believers in a way that is pleasing to God. Instead, far too many of us walk through the doors with a serve-us mentality. What is church going to do for me today? What is the church going to do to meet my needs, instead of what can I do to meet the needs of another for Christ. So be careful! When you go to church this Sunday, make sure you're ready to serve and not wanting to be serve. It will make all the difference in the world to both you and those who you serve.

Doing the little things

You hear them say it all the time, coaches say, "We can win if we do the small things well." I share it a lot as well, that relationships work best if you do the small things well. On Father's Day we shared a message that included the importance of doing the small things for your family to make the big things more meaningful.
Well, it takes preparation as well. Many times we go to a football game, whether on Friday night at the local highschool, Saturdays at a collge campus, or Sundays in a professional stadium without realizing the amount of work that went into it.
I am the chaplain for a local highschool where the coaches look at film and game plan all weekend some times to have a scouting report ready for Monday so they can practice all week for the next opponent. This is very important, but what if they had the winning playbook already? What if they didn't even need to look at the opponents because their gameplan was that good? That rarely happens in sports, but for us as Christians it happens all the time.
2 Timothy 3 says,
But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures,which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
So it is important that we recognize God's Word, use it and understand it. This is our great preparation for life as a believer. It isn't really the small stuff, but it is the simple stuff that will rescue us from evil and making bad mistakes in life. Reading, understanding and knowing God's Word is our greatest preparation for life.
Yesterday, I went to help a close friend move a refrigerator. They had pre-ordered it, and they had set up the place in their kitchen that it was going to go. But, when we got it to their house it wouldn't fit through the kitchen door, nor would it fit through the hall door. We in turn had to take it apart to get it in there. A little bit of preparation, 2 little measurements would have made all the difference in the world to us at 3:30 yesterday afternoon.
So, study the scriptures, learn them and know them so that you can be prepared for life's litle tests, and prove yourself to be equipped for every good work.

weeds

So a few weeks ago a family who had been coming to Freedom for quite some time mentioned that they have a landscaping business. They told me they would love to start taking care of the yard at the church. To which I replied "It's all yours." They began cutting the grass, edging and weedeating each week. Then one week they decided to spread some mulch and plant a lot of flowers in our flower beds. They looked wonderful. Then, the weeds started sprouting up. I took one Saturday afternoon and started pulling the weeds, the plants looked great again but nothing about them had really changed. They could just be seen for their beauty more without the weeds all around them. They looked great for a while and then again, the weeds came up. Many of the weeds I had not been able to get to the root of so they regrew, but this time I got all the way below the surface. This parable JEsus used to explain how to deal with "weeds in our lives."

Matthew 13 has this to say about it.
24 Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is likever a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 "The owner's servants came to him and said, 'Sir, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?' 28 " 'An enemy did this,' he replied. 28 "The servants asked him, 'Do you want us to go and pull them up?' 29 " 'No,' he answered, 'because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.'

I can tell you from experience that there have been times in my life and in my ministries when the beauty of things was not so clear. It took some time on my knees in prayer for God to reveal to me the things that were weeding their way into my life and ministry. You may very well have things going on in your life that need to go, you may have relationships in your life that need to go. My advice would be to pull those weeds and make sure you get to the root so they no longer sprout up in your life. I can honestly say, this is an exercise that I reluctantly went through over last few weeks, and boy what a difference! It made my Wednesday and my Sunday much better because the weeds were gone.
So spend time in prayer today asking God what things, relationships or possessions in your life need to be weeded out. That's what did it for me, I prayed and God actually made some of the weeds just go away far more efficiently than I could have ever done it, that's for sure. When God pulls a weed he gets the root and there's no need to go back over it, when I pull the weeds, I get the surface and it can take many more trips to get those weeds gone. Give it to God and let Him take care of you!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Father's Day

For anyone who is wondering, this Sunday is Father's Day. A day we set aside to thank our fathers for all that they have done for us, and all that they mean to us. This is yet another Sunday that I was forced to choose a sermon to go along with the occasion. This by far is my weakest area. Give me a passage and I can put together a sermon in hours, give me a topic and it's days or even weeks. I chose 1 Timothy 5:8 for my text. I don't want to give away too much of my sermon but I do hope to reinforce the importance of fathers in the spiritual lives of their children. According to a recent study these figures say it all:
If both your parents worship with you regularly as a child there is a 80% chance that you will worship regularly as an adult.
If only your mother worshipped with you regularly then there is only a 30% chance you will worship regularly as an adult(sorry moms)
If only your father worshipped with you regularly thent here is a 70% chance that you will worship regularly as an adult.
These are staggering numbers to see the difference between dad taking you to church or mom. Truth is there are less dads doing it alone than moms so that changes the numbers somewhat but the solid truth we take from those numbers is that if we want our kids to grow up and impact the church as adults, then fathers are going to have to get involved.
So if your dad worshipped with you as a child, make sure you thank him for that. In doing so he did far more for you as an adult than you will ever understand.
Hug your dad, tell him happy fathers day and make sure he knows that Fathers day isn't the only day that you feel that way.

Whose idea is it?

Have you ever had a great idea? Have you ever come up with something so good, so great that you were exploding with enthusiasm to use it? Was it something you never thought you could come up with on your own?
If so, I have great news! It probably wasn't your idea! That's right, I just snatched the rug out from under your feet.
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 58:8,9).
Our thoughts are nothing like Gods thoughts. Our ways are nothing like Gods ways. Gods thoughts are so far advanced that we cannot even understand the least of them. However, when we spend time doing His will and doing our devotions very quickly our thoughts become more like His. We are able to make decisions and do things that we could never think of on our own.
Next time you have a great thought. You come up with some idea that is incomprehendible, run with it. God wants you to use it for Him.
There are 3 places thoughts come from, God, man and Satan. One of them is very easy to decipher and the other two are obvious when we put thought into it. So spend time in devotion each day, let God give you ideas and thoughts and when he does, use them for His glory!

Honor

Exodus 20:12 tells us that we are to honor our mother and father. On Wednesday nights we are working through the 10 Commandments and as luck would have it this week we are on honoring your mother and father. The reason I say that it is lucky is because I didn't plan it that way. Proof that when you do things for God He makes sure we can't mess it up. It looks like I planned these things out perfectly with Fathers Day coming up, but truth is I didn't.
We are to "honor" them. It doesn't tell us to love them because that is automatic. It doesn't tell us to do anything outside of honor them. The word honor means to acknowledge the importance of something. In this case we are to acknowledge the importance of parents. They have given us physical life, shelter, food and clothing, love and direction. All of which we would not be where we are no matter the situation without some of these.
The second part of the verse brings results. This is the first commandment that gives results for following it. We are told to honor our mother and father so that we can live long in the land God has given us. How does that work?
By honor our parents we set a good example for our children. By honoring our parents we lessen stress in our lives, and we keep God's commandments. As I have mentioned before there is no list of importance on the commandments. We are to treat honor your mother and father with the same importance as not killing, stealing or coveting.
What is the best way to honor our parents? By showing them the respect, love and attention they deserve, after all they have done the same for us through out our "teenage years" and that is not an easy time for any parent.
So this weekend, honor your father. Make sure your kids see you doing it so that they understand this commandment!

Success

Have you ever met someone that seems to be good at everything? They're a little on the cocky side in all aspects of life aren't they. Well, it's important that we understand success, and understand where it comes from. Proverbs tells us that "pride goes before the fall." I believe that to be true. There are people that I know, even some working in the ministry, that are on that path. They don't listen to others, they don't view people as equals and therefore they are on their way to a fall. God humbles us in many ways, He humbles when we don't think we need to be and that is why our gauge for pride and GOd's will never match up.
When we think we accomplished something on our own, God sees that. When people are puffed up, arrogant or just downright proud we see that, God has seen that developing long before we see the warning signs.
How do we keep this in check? listen to Paul's words in in Romans.
"For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you" (Rom. 12:3).
Think of yourself in terms of the measure of faith God has given you. Remember you're a sinner, you're totally dependent on God and you do not deserve one second of His attention, much less His friendship.
God is great! He is patient with us, but we must learn to give credit where credit is due. All success comes from God, and all the talents and abilities to acheive such success come from Him as wel.

clean it up!

So I was preparing all last week for the Lord's Supper at church on Sunday. THe illustration that kept on jumping out at me was the simple picture of sitting down to lunch with your family. There are a few things you do:
1. You wash your hands and clean up. No one wants to eat lunch with someone who isn't clean, you don't want to see them dig into the food on the table or touch things that you are going to eat from. It's the same with the Lord's Supper, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that anyone who eats of the bread and drinks of the juice in an unworthy manner is guilty of the blood. In other words, every time we take the Lords supper in an unclean manner, we are throwing our sin on Christ at the Cross all over again.
2. You don't want to sit down to dinner with your family if there is a big fight going on. You sit down and there is friction, the focus is on that instead of eating, and bonding with your family. Likewise, you don't want to take of the Lord's supper with a grudge or anger toward another in the family. Fix your problems, mend your fences before you go to the table.
Yesterday was a great day for us as we shared in the Lords' SUpper together as a family, I hope you will carefully consider these things before you sit down to the Lord's table with your church family.

Finding strength in our struggles

Have you ever felt absolutely worthless to God. Like there is no way you can be of any value to God because of your weaknesses, or you struggles? I know I have gone through periods of this in my life and each time I am driven back to these verses. Paul knew exactly what his weaknesses were and where they came from, and how to deal with them. Simply give them to God!

7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

You see it is comforting when we see that Paul had struggles. He was one of the greatest leaders for Christ of all time, yet he had struggles. He puts it in perspective though. We should be glad when we struggle because that is when God's Power can be made most noticeable. No matter what your struggle, what you are dealing with God is stronger and bigger than the fix you are in. ANd, right there in that struggle you have the opportunity to feel God so much more than ever before.

When are we at our strongest? When we are at our weakest and letting God guide us through the valleys of life.

Sabbath

Last night was a great night at youth. We had Amber and Hali back and in full swing of things. Amber was checking out ideas and plans for the youth house and Hali lead worship. Outside of projector problems we pulled it off well.
We talked about the Sabbath and the importance of keeping it Holy. The sabbath was actually observed as the last day of the week(Saturday) in Old Testament times as part of Moses command after bringing the 10 COmmandments down. However, after Christ's resurrection the Sabbath officially became Sunday because Paul commanded us to give God our first fruits. How can we do that if we plug him in at the end of the week?
One interesting thing to put it in perspective is that all Commandments were created equal. Even though they came on 2 seperate tablets they are all equal. Taking God's name in vain, not making idols, stealing, dishonoring parents, killing and coveting are equal to keeping the Sabbath. When we don't honor that we are breaking a major Commandment. It was so important in Old Testament times that a man in Numbers was actually put to death by the believers for gathering sticks on the Sabbath.
What if we put that much importance in the Sabbath? What would the world be like really if we gave the Sabbath the attention that we give to killing, adultery and taking God's Name in vain?
So, remember the Sabbath and give God that day for His glory alone, throw away the flesh for one day! You'll be glad you did!